http://www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader/news/breaking_news/15336507.htm
Posted on Tue, Aug. 22, 2006
Masked gunmen kill protester in Mexico
REBECCA ROMERO
Associated Press
OAXACA, Mexico - Masked gunmen killed a protester Tuesday as escalating violence increased pressure on President Vicente Fox to intervene in a three-month-long protest by leftists and striking teachers.
Thousands of protesters calling for Oaxaca Gov. Ulises Ruiz's resignation have occupied the southern city's center, stealing buses, setting up barricades and taking over radio and television stations to broadcast revolutionary messages. The protest started May 22.
On Tuesday, a group of about 15 men in three cars drove up to a private radio station that has been occupied by protesters and sprayed the building with gunfire, killing a 52-year-old man, officials said.
Prosecutor Lizbeth Cana said detectives would investigate the shootings, saying that the city was under siege from "urban guerrillas."
Ruiz and business leaders have urged President Vincente Fox to send federal police to the city but Fox spokesman Ruben Aguilar said the government will not use force to resolve the conflict.
"Only dialogue can solve problems. ... Violence will just lead to more violence," Aguilar said.
Prior to the shooting, thousands of protesters, some armed with clubs, marched through the center of the city throughout Monday night, burning piles of tires and smashing windows.
Most businesses in the center of city were closed Tuesday and garbage collectors could not operate because of the street blockades.
A group of masked men Monday fired on a government television station that the protesters have occupied since Aug. 1, injuring one man. Protesters responded by taking over 12 private stations and blocking the city's four main entrances with buses.
Some 70,000 public school teachers went on strike May 22 to demand salary increases totaling about $125 million, but the government said it couldn't afford that and counter-offered with less than a tenth of that amount.
The protesters have since expanded their demands to include the resignation of Ruiz, whom they accuse of rigging the state election in 2004 and of using force to repress dissent. Ruiz belongs to the Institutional Revolutionary Party, which has governed the state since 1929.
The teachers refused to halt their three-month-old strike to allow 1.3 million students to return to classes Monday, the start of the new school year. Private schools remained closed because of the unrest.
---
Associated Press Writer Ioan Grillo in Mexico City contributed to this report.
© 2006 AP Wire and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.timesleader.com
This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/2279
Terror plot that spans the globe : 11 British Muslims charged with plane bombing plot attempt to kill thousands
August 22, 2006
22/08/06 - News section
'Terror plot that spans the globe'
By BEN TAYLOR
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=401719&in_page_id=1770
The scale of the suspected liquid bomb plot to blow up nine transatlantic jets and kill thousands of passengers was revealed last night.
Related stories
• Liquid bomb plot - the 11 charged with planning terror
• Saudi dissident living in Britain makes mockery of terror laws
• CIA search of British banking transactions 'may breach privacy laws'
• George Alagiah: 'My fears for Apartheid UK'
• Firebrand Islamic academic: 'dying for your beliefs is just'
As 11 British-born Muslims were charged in connection with the alleged conspiracy, detectives said they have recovered caches of bomb-making equipment, lethal chemicals and martyrdom videos.
Hundreds of computers and mobile phones have also been seized along with hundreds of hours of surveillance footage and thousands of CDs, DVDs and electronic memory cards.
Police believe the death toll could have reached up to 4,000.
The alleged plan was to smuggle the chemicals on to planes by hiding them in soft drinks or bottles. They would be mixed together on board and detonated - possibly with an electronic MP3 music player.
Graphic details of the alleged plot emerged as police charged eight British Muslims with conspiracy to murder.
All the men will appear at a central London magistrates' court today also charged with intending to 'smuggle the component parts of improvised explosive devices on to aircraft and assemble and detonate them on board'.
A further three suspects, including a teenager and the mother of an eight-month-old boy, have been charged with offences under the Terrorism Act.
Announcing the charges, Scotland Yard Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke said: 'We must be realistic. The threat from terrorism is real.
'It is here, it is deadly and it is enduring. We cannot afford to be complacent. The investigation is far from complete. The scale is immense. Inquiries will span the globe.
'The enormity of the alleged plot will be matched only by our determination to follow every lead and line of inquiry.'
The alleged conspiracy to bring down a series of airliners in a terrorist 'spectacular' to mark the fifth anniversary of the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington was first revealed on August 10.
Police raided a string of addresses in Walthamstow, East London, the Buckinghamshire town of High Wycombe and Birmingham.
Further arrests were made in Pakistan where the alleged ringleader of the plot - 25-year-old former fridge salesman Rashid Rauf - is still being held.
In all, 11 of the 22 suspects still in custody have been charged.
Scotland Yard was last night granted a time extension warrant allowing officers to hold one of the 11 uncharged suspects until Wednesday.
Mr Clarke revealed that 69 houses, flats, cars and business premises have been searched along with woodland in High Wycombe.
He said that more than 400 computers, 200 mobile phones and 8,000 CDs, DVDs and electronic memory cards had been recovered and 6,000 gigabytes of computer data downloaded.
Bottles of the chemical hydrogen peroxide - a key component in a so-called 'liquid bomb' - have also been discovered.
Mr Clarke also disclosed that both video and audio surveillance footage shot before August 10 was 'highly significant'.
He added: 'All the data will be analysed. There will be thousands of forensic examinations and comparisons.
'Fingerprints, DNA, electronic data, handwriting comparisons, chemical analysis - indeed the full
range of forensic disciplines will be used.'
The discovery of so-called 'martyrdom videos' is seen by detectives involved in the arrests as significant.
Two of the July 7 bombers - Mohammed Sidique Khan and Shehzad Tanweer - both recorded films before they took their lives and those of dozens of London commuters last summer.
The discovery of the suspected plot provoked a huge security clampdown at the country's airports.
This led to huge restrictions on what can be taken on board planes - and lengthy queues which eventually brought protests from airlines.
Although some of the emergency rules have now been lifted, many see the discovery of the alleged plot as a watershed for the airline industry.
This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/2279
This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/2280
UK Hamas leader Azzam Tamimi tells crowd of 8.000 "Dying for your beliefs is just" "We are Muslims in Europe not European Muslims"
Head of Hamas terror 'think tank' The Instute of Islamic Political Thought expressed desire to become a sucide bomber
August 22, 2006
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=401481&in_page_id=1770
Firebrand Islamic academic: 'dying for your beliefs is just'
By BEN TAYLOR 15:39pm 21st August 2006
Comments Reader comments (15)
Headlines
* Terror suspects in court as chilling scale of plot is revealed
A British-based Muslim radical appeared to back suicide bombing yesterday when he claimed that dying for your beliefs was 'just'.
Dr Azzam Tamimi told an 8,000-strong crowd that standing up for your principles was the 'greatest act of martyrdom'. The 51-year-old was speaking at the ExpoIslamia convention in Manchester.
More here...
• Anger over radical's suicide bomb boast
• Twisted mind of the Agony Sheik
The Palestinian-born academic - who previously boasted he would carry out a suicide bombing in Israel - also repeated his public backing for Hamas, which remains banned in the UK.
He said: "The greatest act of martyrdom is standing up for what is true and just. Martyrs are those who stand up and stand up in defiance of George Bush and Tony Blair. You stand up to them and you say desist. Stop this injustice. Stop this oppression."
Dr Tamimi claimed the war on terrorism was a war on Islam. "We are Muslims in Europe, not European Muslims," he added.
"Being fair and just means finding the middle path. The middle path is not rubbing shoulders with Tony Blair and George Bush."
The crowd erupted with cheering and applause when he said that Israel had been defeated by Hezbollah. He continued: "Hamas is making sacrifices for you. We tell this government Hamas is not a terrorist group. It is elected by the people of Palestine. We are not terrorists. We are defenders of the truth. Fighting those who invade Muslims is a just cause.
"The government is trying to turn the war on terror into the war on Islam."
In November 2004, Dr Tamimi told the BBC that he was prepared to be a suicide bomber if the opportunity arose. In an interview which was roundly condemned, he said that 2sacrificing myself for Palestine was a noble cause. It is the straight way to pleasing my God and I would do it if I had the opportunity".
Dr Tamimi, a prominent member of the Stop The War coalition, is married with three children and lives in Willesden, North West London. After coming to Britain from the Middle East more than 30 years ago, he and his family have become British citizens and live in a council block.
He has repeatedly spoken out in support of Hamas and described their suicide bomb tactics as 'the courage of man'.
In July 2004, he invited the radical Sheikh Yusuf Al Qaradawi to the UK. Al Qaradawi, who spoke at a taxpayer subsidised conference in London - has called for a war on Jews and the execution of homosexuals.
This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/2280
This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/2276
The Magical Muslim Brotherhood Tour : FBI and US Embassy court the ' Egyptian American Group' both home and abroad
August 21, 2006
MIM: The FBI and the US Embassy seem to be taking the concept of keeping one' enemies close to you to a new level. Now it involves partying with potential terrorists, obstensibly with the notion that if you show them a good time they are not going to be inclined to blow you up, and might just decide to love you death instead. For more on this see "Homeland Security Chief veteran FBI agent beloved by Muslims" (below)
Nasser Abdelaziz Saber watched the aftermath of last summer's London subway bombings on TV at his home in Bloomfield and vowed that the same senseless bloodshed wouldn't happen here.
Saber, who runs a construction company and owns 20 Dunkin' Donuts outlets, paid particular attention to the grieving parents of the suicide bombers.
So Saber called the FBI, where he spoke with Leslie Wiser Jr., the agent in charge of the Newark office. "We need to build bridges," Saber told him.
Together they planned, among other events, a meet-and-greet Saturday, bringing together a dozen FBI agents and about 40 Arab-American youngsters at the Giants' practice facility -- "the bubble" -- for give-and-take about mutual concerns, informal chats about Internet safety and crime-scene investigations, a guided tour of an FBI helicopter and a little tossing around of the old pigskin.
Most people like us when they get to meet us," Wiser said, smiling. Then, more seriously, he added, "These are good folks who are invested in America. If we don't have people like this helping us, we won't win the war on terror."
The website of the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism which co sponsors the Egyptian American Group that partied with the FBI in New Jersey and was feted by the US Embassy in Cairo;
" Dear Friends of Egypt: "
We wish you a mystical trip and look forward to seeing you in Egypt in the near future".
http://www.egypttourism.org/New%20Site/index.htm
This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/2283
Saudi born Al Qaeda/Taliban operative Muhammed Al Massari of CDLR " threatens to kill civilians " while living on welfare benefits in UK
August 22, 2006
Saudi-born dissident living in Britain is making a mockery of new laws supposed to outlaw the glorification of terrorism.
Dr Muhammed Al-Massari has been posting declarations on his website praising suicide bombings in Iraq for several years. The 59-year-old also boasted: "If you kill our civilians, we kill your civilians."
That's despite new laws being passed earlier this year making it a crime to glorify or incite terrorism anywhere in the world. And so far no police action has been taken against him.
Shadow Minister for Homeland Security, Patrick Mercer, said: "This should come as no surprise. Twelve months after Tony Blair's much-vaunted twelve-point terror plan all we have had is spin, but no action. "It is about time the Government started using the powers the have available to deal with individuals like this.
"The problem is not a lack of legislation, but a lack of Government spine to use this legislation to address the problem."
Al-Massari, who lives on benefits in Wembley, North London, has said it would be legitimate for Muslims to assassinate Tony Blair. He has been repeatedly condemned for running a website which has shown videos of suicide bombings and beheadings in Iraq, including footage of the deaths of British soldiers.
But the Government's new terror laws, passed as part of the controversial 2006 Terrorism Act, were intended to stop Al-Massari and other extremists from operating in public. The New York Times newspaper said Al-Massari was continuing to post extremist material on the website tajdeed.org,uk, which is in Arabic.
Last week, the Council of Holy Warriors, a group affiliated with al Qaeda, posted a declaration on the site praising a suicide bombing in Iraq that killed or wounded 55 people.
The posting on his web site said: "We ask God to accept our brothers as martyrs."
Al-Massari said he approved of violence against British and American soldiers in Iraq, as well as against most of the governments in the Middle East. He said that it "is legitimate for Iraqis to kill Tony Blair, the same with Bush." In yet another blow to the Government's credibility in the 'war on terror', the New York Times said Al-Massari was proof that British law 'has not silenced calls to kill for Islam'. It quoted other rants which continue to be made in the UK, including an incendiary speech before 8,000 followers in Manchester by Palestinian-born academic Azam Tamimi.
Dr Tamimi, an Islamic scholar, told an Islamic conference: "The greatest act of martyrdom is standing up for that is true and just. Martyrs are those who stand up in defiance of George Bush and Tony Blair."
Al-Massari, who has been granted refugee status by the Government, is known for choosing his remarks carefully, and does not advocate the use of violence in Britain.
He makes several distinctions that he says insulate him from being deported or prosecuted by the government. He says that he does not post any material on the website himself, he lets his members do that, most of whom sign up anonymously.
In 2004, he told the Sunday Times: "I am telling you (British soldiers in Iraq) are legitimate targets for the Iraqi people they are invaders, nobody invited them, they came by force and if we live long enough, we'll see them running out. Wait and see."
This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/2283
This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/2282
Yusuf Qaradawi advisory board member of Islamic 'think tank' which includes Georgetown U's Esposito gives advice on suicide bombing and hostage taking
August 22, 2006
Twisted mind of the "Agony Sheikh"
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=401634&in_page_id=1770
On a popular Islamic website he runs, Sheik Yusuf Al-Qaradawi and his colleagues host an advice column under the jaunty title 'Fatwa Corner', where all manner of thorny religious dilemmas are given an airing.
Questions seeking his advice range from whether it is permissible to put down a sick cat to asking for guidance on sending a teenager to a mixed summer camp.
But other subjects upon which the 'Agony Sheik' sits in judgment often have a considerably more chilling edge, such as: 'Is it lawful, under Islam, to take hostages?'
The answer, in his view, is yes.
But then this is the character claiming to be a man of peace who has heaped praise on Palestinian suicide bombers, called for the execution of homosexuals and backed a war on the Jews.
The opinions of Dr Al-Qaradawi in the Muslim world and beyond are well-aired, whether from his website or his weekly programme on the Arabic television channel Al-Jazeera. Much more worryingly, they are also extremely influential.
But the first thing you need to understand about the Professor of Sunni Studies at the University of Qatar is that he seems to vary his opinions to suit the audience receiving them.
On the one hand he can condemn 9/11 yet on the other he can back suicide bombing – even where the victims are women and children – as 'heroic martyrdom'.
One U.S. think tank, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, described him in 2001 as a 'Jekyll and Hyde figure'.
The contradiction, it explained, lay in the fact that Al- Qaradawi wanted to maintain his status not only in the eyes of Islamist fanatics, but also moderate Arab countries, where his scholarship still commands great respect.
Hypocrisy might be acceptable in the Gulf states, where unelected rulers are forced to tread the fine line between placating the West and quelling the near-revolutionary fervour of fundamentalist groups.
But beneath such ambiguities no one, least of all London mayor Ken Livingstone, should doubt the fanaticism of his venomously gaybashing and anti-Semitic views.
For if there are indeed two sides to Al-Qaradawi, then Mr Hyde certainly appears to have gained the upper hand – although it must be said in his defence that the Muslim Council of Britain, an umbrella organisation representing some 400 different bodies, describes him as 'a voice of reason and understanding'.
On homosexuality, Al-Qaradawi is clear. It is a 'sexual perversion' for which the penalty should be death.
The only matter left for debate is whether participants should be thrown from a high cliff or flogged to death.
This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/2282
This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/2254
YMCA Camp Bernie hosts in New Jersey hosts Young Muslims Sisters 'Jihad' Camp with radical Islamist speakers Negm and Wahhaj
August 16, 2006
The Muslimah's Pearl Necklace 'Pearls of Her Character Unstrung" is the deceptively innocuous name for the upcoming Young Muslims Sister's 'Jihad' Camp being held on the premises of the YMCA's Camp Bernie in New Jersey. One of the speakers, Ibrahim Negm was a speaker at the 2001 YM Jihad Camp, which took place before 9/11. Negm is an 'educator' who has put together a curriculum which includes instruction for Young Muslims on how and when to wage Jihad. In 2001 Negm explained to a journalist that terrorism and jihad was simply mischief.
"Terrorism is not jihad, and aggression is not jihad. Such brutal and
violent acts, to use an Arabic word, are `fasad,' or mischief.
This story ran on page A27 of the Boston Globe on 10/19/2001.
Another speaker is Siraj Wahhaj, an unindicted co conspirator in the 1993 WTC bombings, who has said that America will be destroyed and replaced with an Islamic state.
Wahhaj was recorded in a speech he gave at a mosque as saying, "I see the demise of the Soviet Union as a sign for the American people that what happened in the Soviet Union will definitely happen in America unless America changes its course from the new world order and accepts the Islamic agenda." http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/389\
http://www.icna.org/icna/index.php?option=com_extcalendar&Itemid=33&extmode=view&extid=19
Young Muslims Sisters' Northeast Regional Camp will take place August 18-20 at Camp Bernie in Port Murray, NJ. Many sisters have wished to attend a real summer camp without stepping into settings that are unaccommodating to Islamic ideals. InshaAllah YM is determined to deliver a camp filled with inspirational lectures and activities focusing on the character of a Muslimah, which will encourage a long lasting connection between the creation and the Creator of the Heavens and the earth. With invited speakers such as Imam Siraj Wahaj, Br. Nouman Khan, Sr. Sumera Khan, Sheikh Ibrahim Negm, and Dr. Obeyd Choudry, sisters will get the personal attention they deserve while enjoying various outdoor activities such as archery, outdoor games, camp fires and more. Transportation will be provided from for those traveling from NY and NJ. Sisters ages 13-27 can register at http://www.ymonline.org/summercamp.
For more information visit our forum at www.forum.ymonline.org and click on
'YM Summer Camps 2006'.
The Young Muslims Sisters group have advertised their August Camp which will feature several radical Islamist speakers including Siraj Wahhaj and Ibrahim Negm. Negm is the editor of The International Mirror the magazine of the Islamic Circle of North America located in Jamaica, Queens in New York. Both Siraj Wahhaj and Ibrahim Negm lectured at the 2001 Jihad Camp and a 2002 ‘Preparing for the Afterlife (Akhira) camp. http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/2090 Ibrahim Negm has written a study syllabus for Young Muslims which includes entries about Jihad which includes the following entries: ‘Jihad, the highest act, sacrificing everything , Jihad, and dying in the way of Allah' and ‘The importance of waging Jihad',.
Negm is the editor of ‘The Mirror International' ICNA magazine and explained to Yong Muslims that the afterlife is more desirable then this life ; We should not be distracted or exploited by the greedy multi- national companies out to shape our beliefs and values as well as to rip us off. While these Satanic institutions try hard to keep us busy, we must bear in mind that Islam gives the young person a very high and rewarding role of being active followers of the true Deen. There are countless rewards available for the young person who fights the ills and temptations of this world in return for the sanctity of the hereafter, and those who can see beyond the fake surface of the media and capitalism..." http://www.readmirror.com/youth.html
Siraj Wahhaj is an unindicted co conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombings and appeared as a character witness on behalf of Omar Abdel Rahman the who was jailed for his role in the thwarted day of terror which targeted New York landmarks.
Wahhaj is best known for having his name on the list of potential co-conspirators in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, as compiled by the office of then-U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White. During the 1996 trial for the World Trade Center bomb plot,Wahhaj served as a character witness for the leader of the conspiracy, Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman He testified that it had been an honor to host Rahman at his (Wahhaj's) mosque, and he described Rahman as a "respected scholar." In addition, he called another convicted member of the bomb plot, Clement Rodney Hampton-El (a.k.a. Dr. Rashid), "one of the most respected brothers [of his congregation]." It was around this time that Wahhaj was recorded in a speech he gave at a mosque as saying, "I see the demise of the Soviet Union as a sign for the American people that what happened in the Soviet Union will definitely happen in America unless America changes its course from the new world order and accepts the Islamic agenda." http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/389
At a recent demonstration against the Danish cartoons Wahhaj warned that Muslims "Had to make sure that they (infidels) do not do this again." Young Muslims is the youth division of ICNA and MAS. ICNA is the Islamic Circle of North America, and MAS is the Muslim American Society. Both groups have documented ties to Al Qaeda and the international terrorism network. One prominent New Jersey Imam, who often speaks at Muslim Youth camps, Mazen Mokhtar, is under investigation by the FBI for running an Al Qaeda website and was linked to a London bomb plot which targetted landmarks in New York City.http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/216 http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/212 The Muslim American Society has raised legal funds on behalf of Omar Abu Ali, who was jailed for a plot to kill President Bush http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/1302 MAS also defended Ali Al Tamimi, who was jailed for recruiting students to wage Jihad. http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/799
This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/389
Terror U Part I and II - Florida Atlantic University - Siraj Wahaj and the Muslim Student Organisation's radical Islamist ties
MIM press release urges FAU president Brogan to disallow use of campus facilities for radical Islamist event 1/22/05
January 21, 2005
Militant Islam Monitor Press
Release MIM urges Florida Atlantic University to disallow use of it's premises to unindicted co conspirator in 1993 WTC bombings Siraj Wahaj
1/20/05
MIM is calling on President Frank Brogan of Florida Atlantic University to deny the use of campus facilities to host Siraj Wahaj, an unindicted co conspirator in the 1993 WTC bombings, and an associate of Omar Abdel Rahman , who was jailed for orchestrating the attack. http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/382
The Muslim Student Organisation of FAU, presided over by Asmaa Metwally, is bringing Siraj Wahaj to speak at an event on Sat. January 22, at the Lifelong Learning Center on the university's Boca Raton campus. Last year Metwally attempted to bring neo Nazi William Baker to the FAU campus. http://bocanews2.accrisoft.com/index.php?src=news&prid=8268&category=LOCAL%20NEWS
The event is being co sponsored by the MAS youth group (The Muslim American Society ), an Islamist group which merged with the Islamic Circle of North America, and aims to Islamise the United States . Several affiliates of MAS and ICNA have been linked to terrorism. http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/216
Siraj Wahaj is a board member of the Council of American Islamic Relations(CAIR) which is a Saudi fronted front group for Hamas which was named as a defendant in a 9/11 terror lawsuit. http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/394
Wahaj has repeatedly called for the replacing the US government with an Islamic state and extolled the joys of martyrdom. In a taped speech Wahaj declared: "I see the demise of the Soviet Union as a sign for the American people that what happened in the Soviet Union will definitely happen in America unless America changes its course from the new world order and accepts the Islamic agenda". http://www.freeman.org/m_online/sep96/emerson.htm
Wahaj extolled the joys of martyrdom in this Jihad website entry: "No one who dies and go to Paradise is going to want to come back to this world, except a Martyr, a person who gave their life for Islam, for Allah, they will want to comeback to the earth and die ten more times in the way of Allah, because of the great gifts Allah has given them in Paradise."http://www.geocities.com/minutesage1/jihad.html
Wahaj often writes and speaks on the subject of martyrdom in Islam. Some of his works are entitled: "Are you ready to die ?" "The Blessing of Death ", "The easy way to Paradise - How to get there" .In addition to martryrdom Wahaj is a proponent of polygamy and has produced many tapes on the subject.
Several organisations which Siraj Wahaj is a member of, including CAIR and ISNA have been connected with terrorism funding. At a time when United States is currently waging a war on terror both at home and abroad it is a travesty that FAU university administration is allowing the Muslim Student Organisation to bring an unindicted co conspirator of the 1993 WTC bombings to their campus and use the Lifelong Learning Center auditorium as a venue.
Militant Islam Monitor is urging people to voice their concern to FAU President Brogan that Siraj Wahaj's appearance on campus is a threat to Homeland Security and to appeal to the FAU administration to disallow the use of their facilities and premises for the event . http://islamicbookstore.com/audio-lectures-speeches-single-tapes-imam-siraj-wahaj.html
Please contact FAU president Frank Brogan and voice your concern that Florida Atlantic University is allowing use of its campus as a forum to Siraj Wahaj ,who is an unindicted co conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
Florida Atlantic University Office of the President
Administration Bldg., Room # 339 777 Glades Road Boca Raton, FL 33431
Tel: 561-297-3450 Fax: 561-297-2777 brogan@fau.edu
Above this post there are several posts on mosques and imans.
This has up to the date reports, mosques, imans.
http://www.americansagainsthate.com/
South Florida Intifada
By Joe Kaufman
FrontPageMagazine.com | August 22, 2006
American universities rank among the best in the world, but they also boast another, more dubious distinction: They are home to some of the world’s most radical academics.
Last month, one of these select individuals, UC Berkeley professor Hatem Bazian, brought his hate-filled show to two extremist Islamic Centers in South Florida. Both of these institutions are in the process of building large-scale mosques in their respective cities. And, given that their guest had previously called for attacks on the United States, the question naturally arose: Were these institutions looking to make friends in the community or to start a holy war?
Past evidence suggests that the latter possibility is more likely. From October of 1999 through July of 2001, the Islamic Center of Boca Raton (ICBR) contained material on its website calling Jews “people of treachery and betrayal” and discussing the murder of Jews. A founding director of ICBR, Syed Khawer Ahmad, who stayed on in his position till the middle of 2002, doubled as a webmaster for the official website of Hamas’s Islamic Association located in Gaza. In October of 2000, the Imam of ICBR, Ibrahim Dremali, amidst burning Israeli flags and shouts that “Zionist blood will wet the sand,” told a crowd not to be sad for “those who were martyred” (i.e., suicide bombers). Despite this history, the ICBR had no trouble securing a zoning permit for a proposed 9,000 square-foot mosque. No one -- not the police department, not the mayor’s office, not the zoning board -- raised an objection.
What transpired after the permit was given is a matter of record. A Hamas-related charity connected to ICBR, the Health Resource Center for Palestine, was shut down; a founding director of ICBR and associate of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) leader Sami Al-Arian, Bassem Alhalabi, was charged by the U.S. government with illegally shipping a $13,000 piece of sensitive military equipment to Syria; the Imam that took the place of Dremali, Munir Arafat, admitted under oath that he himself was a member of PIJ; and a member of the center, Rafiq Sabir, was arrested by the FBI for being an Al-Qaeda operative, to which he is currently awaiting trial.
The Islamic Center of South Florida (ICOSF), located in Pompano Beach, Florida, not unlike ICBR, has had its own extremist behavioral problem. In the beginning of 2003, the Imam of ICOSF and past teacher at ICBR, Hassan Sabri, stated on a local radio program his wishes for Allah to rid Jerusalem of all its Jews. He also stated his belief in an Islamic prophesy announcing an impending extermination of Jews. Yet, this center, too, was recently given the go-ahead to construct its own mosque: a 29,000 square-foot superstructure situated right in the middle of Broward County.
One would think that, in view of these centers’ pasts, they would shun the spotlight. But the opposite is the case. If anything, they have become more brazen. Hence, last month, both ICBR and ICOSF invited Hatem Bazian to deliver a speech. If they wanted to avoid feeding their reputation for radicalism, it was altogether the wrong decision. Bazian is a senior lecturer in the Department of Near Eastern Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. But he is better known for his unreserved contempt for the United States and Israel.
Nowhere did this hatred manifest itself more than at a rally held in San Francisco, on April 10, 2004, where Bazian was caught on videotape calling for an intifada or armed uprising against America. To raucous agreement from the crowd, Bazian asked, "Are you angry? Are you angry? Are you angry?" Inspired, he proceeded to call for an armed uprising against American corporations. "Well, we've been watching intifada in Palestine, we've been watching an uprising in Iraq, and the question is that what are we doing? How come we don't have an intifada in this country?... Chevron, Bechtel, Carlyle Group, Halliburton; every one of those lying, cheating, stealing, deceiving individuals are in our country and we're sitting here and watching the world pass by, people being bombed, and it's about time that we have an intifada in this country that change[s] fundamentally the political dynamics in here...They're gonna say some Palestinian being too radical--well, you haven't seen radicalism yet!”
Bazian’s outburst was entirely in keeping with his extremist history. In an article titled "The Price of the PLO Surrender: Almost a State!," which he wrote as a Ph.D. student at Berkeley in March of 1994, Bazian denied Israel’s existence and unapologetically described Palestinian terrorism against Israel as a “struggle.” He wrote: “We, as Palestinians, have not reconciled our differences with Israel, and we do not offer any apologies to Israel for conducting our rightful struggle against a colonial Zionist occupation. In addition, we do not concur with Yasir Arafat's recognition of Israel as a sovereign country in the region."
Bazian, a Palestinian himself, went on to describe the violent intifada against Israel, led by such terror groups as Hamas and PIJ, as “the most effective weapon in the hands of the Palestinians against an oppressive Israeli occupation.” Two years later, in March of 1996, he reportedly served as the spokesperson for an event where participants dressed up as suicide bombers. Also, in June of 2004, he represented KindHearts, a charity that was shut down by the U.S. government for raising millions of dollars for Hamas, in a fundraising dinner held in honor of "Palestinians in Agony."
Bazian has labeled the PLO police force “enemies,” while commending the “militant activities” of young Palestinians who “have presented a continuous challenge to the Israeli army.” After repeatedly calling Saudi Arabia and Egypt “surrogates” for the United States, he has lamented, “As Palestinians, we were told to put down our guns and depend on the Arab leaders who were organizing for our eventual liberation. No one helps you liberate yourself by taking away your weapons.” Bazian further believes that the U.S. and Israel are conspiring against the Mid East. “We now are awakened to the reality that the leadership is asking us to recognize the right of the occupier to own our houses and land," he once said. "We are being asked to accept the Israeli and the American Middle East agenda.”
On February 6, 2004, during a speech he gave at McGill University on the "New American Empire," Bazian was quoted as saying, “The empire has to be resisted both internally and externally. The Iraqis resisted, and we must also resist, as it subjugates people around the world.” The “empire” that Bazian was referring to was, of course, the United States. His call for resistance meanwhile can reasonably be interpreted as a declaration of war against the United States and a call for violence against Americans.
Lending credence to this interpretation is Bazian’s labeling of terrorist organizations as “resistance” groups. During a March 2005 speech he gave, entitled "Empire’s Imbedded Intellectuals," he stated, “Hezbollah was born after Israel’s invasion, in 1985, as a result of Israel’s atrocities in Lebanon. When Israel invaded Lebanon, the Shiia were welcoming the Israeli troops… It was just a short time that that changed into a resistance that resulted in evicting the Israelis out of South Lebanon.” In that speech Bazian also said: “Three months ago, they [Syria] allowed an assassination to take place in the middle of Damascus. A major leader of the Islamic resistance was assassinated right in the middle of Damascus.” The “resistance” leader Bazian was most probably referring to was Hamas operative Izz Eldine Subhi Sheik Khalil, who was executed by Israel in September of 2004, when his car exploded.
During another speech Bazian gave, in February of 2005, titled "The New COINTELPRO Campaign Directed at Arabs, Muslims and Southeast Asians," he defended Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader Sami Al-Arian, saying, “He has not committed any crime whatsoever.” Bazian then lauded what he referred to as “resistance” groups in Chicago, New York and Texas for their raising of $650,000 for Al-Arian. Al-Arian, of course, later admitted to raising funds for the PIJ and conspiring to hide the identities of other members of the terrorist group. In April of 2006, he plead guilty to conspiring to provide material support to PIJ.
In this same speech, Bazian spoke of his disgust at encountering an FBI booth while attending the 39th annual Islamic Society of North America national convention in August of 2002. Bazian argued that Muslims should not allow the FBI to participate in their events and called it a “miscalculation” on the part of Muslim groups to do so.
When the Islamic Center of Boca Raton and the Islamic Center of South Florida granted an invitation for Hatem Bazian to speak, one has to wonder if they considered the possible ramifications for doing so. However, considering that they were granted permits to build two large-scale mosques in their communities – even after having been exposed as extremist institutions – tells us two things. First, that the ramifications, if any, would be negligible. Second, that neither center cares. And why should they? After all, time and time again their defiance gets rewarded.
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The Coming Wars
By Caroline B. Glick
Jerusalem Post | August 22, 2006
Since the cease-fire was implemented in Lebanon, we have heard scattered reports indicating that a prisoner swap with the Palestinians may be in the works. In exchange for hundreds if not thousands of Palestinian terrorists now held in Israeli prisons, IDF Cpl. Gilad Shalit, who has been held hostage by Palestinian terrorists for nearly two months, may be released from captivity.
These reports lend weight to the view that things are back to normal. Terrorists kidnap Israelis and hold them hostage and Israel releases terrorists in order to free them. It is a comforting thought for people like Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his colleagues and the members of Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz's General Staff who continue to believe that it will be possible for Israel to sign on a dotted line and achieve "a normal existence."
Unfortunately, the chance that Shalit will be released is almost as small as the chance that Israel will be able to achieve a “normal existence.” Palestinian sources explain that the decision of whether or not to release Shalit is firmly in the hands of the Iranians and Syrians, and they are not in any mood to horse trade with the Jews.
Today, the Palestinian Authority is nothing more than yet another Iranian proxy. During the past month of war in Lebanon, it was the supposedly moderate Fatah terror group and the supposedly moderate Fatah-led Palestinian security forces that organized mass rallies in the streets of Ramallah and Gaza cheering on Hizbullah and calling for Hassan Nasrallah to bomb Tel Aviv.
Now, in the aftermath of the cease-fire, which handed Hizbullah and its state sponsors Syria and Iran the greatest victory in their history, forces in the PA are actively preparing for a new round of war against Israel. As Hamas spokesmen have put it, Israel's defeat in Lebanon has convinced them that it is possible to adopt Hizbullah's methods to destroy the Jewish state. Amid false reports that he was planning to dissolve the Hamas government and replace it with a government of technocrats, Abbas went to Gaza on Monday morning and asked Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh if Fatah could join his government.
As instructed by his commanders in Teheran and Damascus, Haniyeh has not yet agreed to Abbas's offer. Rather he set humiliating conditions which Abbas must accept first. Abbas already agreed to Hamas's demand that he allow the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization to also join the government. He is similarly expected to agree to Hamas's demands that Fatah join the government as a junior partner and that it abandon its negotiations with Israel.
Throughout the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian areas of Judea and Samaria, the Palestinians are gearing up for their next round of jihad with Israel. As was the case six years ago, they are beginning with public executions of Palestinians accused of helping Israel combat terrorism. Just this week, a crowd of hundreds hooted and stomped their feet in ecstasy as unmasked murderers killed one such Palestinian "collaborator" in Jenin.
So while all eyes are glued on Lebanon, the Palestinians may well start the next war. And we know exactly how that war will look. They will use missiles, mortars and rockets that they will smuggle in from Egypt to kill Israelis in their homes in the South. They will infiltrate Israeli cities by digging tunnels under the security fence around Gaza, and from Egypt and from towns and cities in Judea and Samaria and murder us in ever growing numbers. They will receive money, weapons and combat instruction from Hizbullah and Iranian operatives in Gaza and abroad and they will attack us while protesting their everlasting dedication to jihad and their anger over Israel's "aggression."
Then there is Syria. Syrian President Bashar Assad's address Tuesday was a watershed event. After 14 years of beating around the bush, Syria finally came clean. Peace, Assad said, is dead. We hate Israel and we want to destroy it. If not us, then our children will destroy it. All the Arabs that want peace with Israel are traitors. Long live Hizbullah and we're going to war to conquer the Golan Heights as a first step towards destroying Israel.
So Syria is planning to attack us. Perhaps it will do so while Hizbullah is carrying out what Nasrallah called the “the building and reconstruction of jihad” where with Iranian funding Hizbullah will rebuild Lebanon for the Lebanese and so nail one more nail in the coffin of the Lebanese nation state and move 10 steps ahead in the Iranian colonization of Lebanon. Yes, while Hizbullah goes forward with Lebanese reconstruction, and with Iranian and Syrian assistance reequips and upgrades its arsenal of war and rebuilds its force structure, Syria will likely open a new front on the Golan Heights.
Like the Palestinians, the Syrians will be following the Hizbullah model. Assad knows that his antiquated conventional forces are incapable of conquering and holding the Golan Heights. But, if Israel fights Syria the same way it just fought Hizbullah, then that doesn't matter. Syria, with its arsenal of Scud missiles whose range covers the entire country and armed with its chemical and biological arsenals that can act in the best case as a deterrent force, will be able to kill thousands in not tens of thousands of Israeli civilians and soldiers in the coming battle and cause property and economic damage to the tune of tens of billions of dollars.
Syria believes that it will be able to cause sufficient damage to make Israel sue for a cease-fire as we just did with Hizbullah. So like Hizbullah, Syria expects to gain at the UN Security Council what it could never hope to achieve on the battlefield. Specifically, given the precedent of Resolution 1701, Syria no doubt believes that in exchange for its aggression, it will receive international recognition for its territorial demands against Israel; an international force on the Golan Heights that will make it difficult for Israel to respond to future attacks; a major upgrade in its international profile; and billions of dollars in international assistance to rebuild in the wake of any damage caused to Syrian infrastructures by IDF operations.
Behind the Palestinians and the Syrians lies Iran, the guiding light behind the present jihad. Iran, with its burgeoning nuclear weapons program, is the single greatest danger to international security. It is the single greatest danger to Israel's survival. To date, Iran has made do with fighting Israel through its proxies, to great advantage. But Iran has made it absolutely clear that it intends to join the fray directly - when it is good and ready. And of course it will be good and ready when it has nuclear weapons.
If Iran is allowed to attain nuclear weapons, there is no reason to doubt that it will use them. If Iran attacks Israel with nuclear weapons, then of course we are looking at a future war scenario involving not thousands of dead, but millions.
As all of Israel's leaders have been quick to point out over the years, the threat of a nuclear armed Iran is not just dangerous for Israel but for the entire world. Iran has its Persian Gulf neighbors in its gun sites. It has directly threatened the US and Europe.
Although this is true, the fact that Iran is a threat to the entire world does not give Israel the ability to shirk from its responsibility to contend directly with Iran. Doing so would be tantamount to signing the death warrant of the Jewish people.
In the not so distant future, we will find ourselves at war with Iran. Today, the choice of whether we fight that war in our own time, and before Iran gets nuclear weapons is in our hands. If we hesitate, if we and the rest of the free world waste precious time with worthless diplomatic wrangling with the ayatollahs, war will come to us, but on the enemy's terms. And we will have only ourselves to blame.
All of these future wars present us with a clear challenge as a country. We must prepare for war. This means, that technologically, we must engage in a crash program to find means to protect our cities from missile attack. We got off relatively easy this time. Hizbullah chose not to attack our industrial centers but showed it has the ability to do so through its missile attacks near Haifa's port and its attacks near Hadera's power plant.
Militarily, we must not relent in targeting our enemies. The IDF must target every Palestinian terrorist. It must reassert control over the international border between Gaza and Egypt. Israel must accept the reality that the PA is a terrorist organization, not a legitimate regime, and stop viewing Abbas and his associates in Fatah as potential peace partners. Obviously, Israel must give up the idea of transferring Judea and Samaria to Palestinian control and take all necessary measures to stabilize the situation on the ground in a manner that neutralizes the threat of Palestinian jihad.
Furthermore, the war in Lebanon exposed the results of years of neglect of the IDF reserve forces. These forces must be properly equipped, properly trained for war, and properly led. The talk of releasing men from reserve duty at 35 must be abandoned. The IDF has to accept that it is a fighting force in war. Commanders have to stop acting like yuppies in uniform and understand that they have a war to train for and fight and win.
Finally, Israel needs a political leadership that will be capable of telling the Israeli public the truth that has been ignored for the past decade and a half. We are not a “normal” nation and we are not going to get peace in the coming years. We are an abnormal nation in our neighborhood and in the world and will always remain so, as is our right. Our people must be ready to sacrifice for the survival of the state and the defense of our freedom to be abnormal. We need leadership that will tell the Israeli people that a struggle awaits us but that our democracy, our freedom, and our values give us the power of creative thought that will allow us to beat the dull forces of jihad that surround us.
In response to Assad's speech on Tuesday, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said that Assad has to decide if he's on the side of peace or on the side of war. Defense Minister Amir Peretz outdid even that when he said that now that the war is over, it is time for Israel to get down to the real business of peace and to set the conditions for a renewal of the peace negotiations with Syria.
In so responding to Assad's unequivocal warmongering, our leaders again have shown us that they have learned nothing and are incapable of learning anything from the disaster into which they led us with Hizbullah in Lebanon. There is no missile that is capable of penetrating their walls of self-deception and delusion. They are blind and deaf to all evidence that their way of appeasement has failed.
With the Olmert government's stubborn insistence that Israel won the war it just lost, with the General Staff's absurd statements that the mission was successful, it is clear that both our political and military leadership must be replaced as quickly as possible. Our enemies give us no time for hesitation. They plan their next wars in broad daylight as our leaders squawk in the darkness of their ideological stupor.
http://www.surreyleader.com/portals-code/list.cgi?paper=73&cat=23&id=708735&more=
Big rig used in road rampage
By Monique Tamminga
Black Press
Aug 16 2006
A Surrey man with a lengthy criminal record is facing new charges after a wild road rampage that saw police pursue a stolen Peterbilt semi-trailer truck through Langley, Surrey and Delta on Saturday.
Murray William Buck, 29, was just recently released from jail and has a long history of violent criminal convictions, said police.
He is now back in custody, and is facing numerous charges including possession of stolen property, dangerous driving, causing a police pursuit and assault with a weapon.
In 2004, Buck had three arrest warrants and was accused of five counts of theft and one charge of break and enter.
His record includes multiple convictions for theft and possession of stolen property.
The stolen semi truck blew through stoplights, drove into oncoming traffic, tried to ram police cars and attempted to carjack a vehicle.
Around 2 a.m., a Langley RCMP officer attempted to pull over a semi-truck that had been driving erratically on 200 Street. The truck, a white 2003 Peterbilt which turned out to have been stolen earlier that day from Abbotsford, fled west on the Langley bypass. The officer started a pursuit but terminated it while police chopper Air 1 headed to Langley to offer assistance. As soon as the pursuit was terminated the driver doubled back and attempted to ram a police vehicle. The officer managed to avoid the charging truck, which turned around and headed into Surrey.
Police said the driver raced through Surrey at excessive speeds, ignoring stoplights and stop signs.
Air 1 updated ground units and a spike belt was deployed by Delta Police. It pierced the driver’s side front tire of the truck, but that didn’t slow the suspect, as he continued driving dangerously, forcing Delta officers to block off intersections for motorists’ safety.
The suspect ran through a red light, tried to hit police cars and continued his way back to Langley.
The truck’s front tire gave out as it sped along 40 Avenue in Langley, trailing a shower of sparks and flames. At one point, the truck’s driver passed two motorists, nearly running them off the road. He then stopped the semi in front of them and tried to carjack one of the vehicles, police said. The carjacking attempt was unsuccessful, so the suspect climbed back into the truck and continued on.
With one front wheel ground halfway through the rim, the suspect struck a low concrete road divider at the intersection of 240 Street and Fraser Highway. Seeing that the truck could no longer move, Air 1 informed unmarked police dog units who captured the suspect as he tried to run.
As officers approached the smoking truck they saw a large stuffed gorilla sitting on the passenger seat.
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Train leaves rails, knocks out power
JOHN MORROW Abbotsford News
Ten rail cars came off the tracks on Saturday afternoon as a 40-car train headed to New Westminster on the Southern Railway line derailed near Glenmore Road. The cause is still under investigation, but Southern Railway is looking into the possibility of a broken rail.
By CHERYL WIERDA
Abbotsford News
Aug 22 2006
More than 2,100 B.C. Hydro customers were affected by power outages on Saturday following a train derailment in Matsqui Prairie.
Shortly before 3 p.m., a 40-car train headed from Abbotsford to New Westminster derailed just before it approached the Glenmore Road crossing in Matsqui Prairie.
Southern Railway of B.C. superintendent Don McGregor said the 12th car came off the tracks, causing 10 of the cars to derail.
Six of the cars were empty, and four were loaded with grain.
The crash resulted in a high voltage power line being hit, cutting power to more than 2,100 B.C. Hydro customers in the area.
The derailment is the second in just over three months for Southern Railway in Abbotsford. On May 16, an 18-car train carrying grain and lumber derailed on the tracks near Whatcom and Vye roads in Sumas Prairie.
As a couple of cars rolled off the tracks, they took out two power transmission poles, and the downed wires arced on the train tracks.
That led to one of the power poles catching fire, as well as some of the surrounding brush.
The downing of the power lines caused a small power outage and prompted a larger outage as hydro crews repaired the lines. More than 10,000 B.C. Hydro customers lost power.
The cause of that derailment is not known.
Saturday’s derailment remains under investigation, but McGregor said they are looking at the possibility that a rail was broken.
“We’re starting to focus in on that,” he said.
Saturday’s derailment affected traffic in the area. Crews also spent Sunday clearing the tracks.
The tracks were expected to be back in service yesterday afternoon.
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Driver's return a surprise
By TRUDY BEYAK
Abbotsford News
Aug 19 2006
Terry Driver, the infamous Abbotsford Killer, is back in town despite the outrage of the victims' families.
The Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) neglected to inform the victims' families that Driver was moving from Kent Institution to the Pacific Institution-Regional Treatment Centre on King Road to take programs.
CSC apologized for the "oversight" of not informing the families according to its victim notification policy.
The families are furious.
Gail Smith, mother of slain teenager Tanya Smith, said prison officials should immediately move the murderer out of Abbotsford.
And Abbotsford (Conservative) MP Ed Fast sent a letter on behalf of the families asking CSC prison administrators to transfer the inmate out as soon as possible.
Driver was described as a "monster" by Supreme Court Justice Wally Oppal when he convicted him on Oct. 16, 1997.
Driver abducted two girls - Misty Cockerill, then 15, and Tanya Smith, 16, - on Oct. 14, 1995, as the pair walked along Bevan Avenue in the early-morning hours.
He beat Smith to death and her body was found later that morning in the Vedder River. Cockerill survived the vicious baseball-bat attack.
Driver then terrorized the public, taunting Abbotsford Police with phone calls and notes following the attacks, vowing to kill again. He also desecrated Tanya's tombstone.
In a note he sent to police, Driver bragged about other murders, claiming he had killed females in B.C., Alberta and Washington State and raped other women.
"Hey guys, I'm bad. I will strike again one day . . . I will not move away from Abbotsford," the note said.
Tanya's mom is almost speechless that CSC sent Driver back here.
"I do not believe that someone who abducted and murdered a young girl, taunted the police and community that he would murder someone else, stole the victim's headstone from her grave and defaced it with vile gestures, and committed all these crimes within Abbotsford should ever be allowed within its boundaries again," Smith said.
Oppal sentenced Driver to life for murdering Tanya and attempting to murder Misty.
He is designated as a dangerous offender, but according to CSC, he is eligible to apply for parole on May 20, 2018.
Driver was being held in the protective-custody unit at the maximum-security Kent Institution.
Smith said she knows that CSC has a responsibility to serve the needs of prisoners, but why should Driver be allowed in Abbotsford?
"If they want to try and rehabilitate the person who killed my daughter so viciously and held this community hostage for eight months, do so as far away from Abbotsford as possible," Smith said.
"It is an insult to my family and the citizens of Abbotsford to have Driver here again."
Fast agreed that it is unacceptable, noting that the families of the victims live in this community and Misty is attending UCFV, down the street from the prison.
Fast is asking CSC to conduct a review.
Driver was transferred to Abbotsford about nine months ago, said Kent warden Alex Lubimiv.
He explained that someone new was handling the victim notification program and that's why the families weren't told.
"It was human error," Lubimiv said.
When he found out that the notification had slipped through the cracks, he said he apologized on behalf of CSC to Tanya's father.
"We're parents too. We're not insensitive to victims. I can only imagine how people feel about this," Lubimiv said.
Driver may be here to stay.
Lubimiv said he doesn't believe that CSC has the legal power to move Driver out of province, unless he requests the transfer or if CSC can't provide the necessary programs for him in the Pacific Region.
The Regional Treatment Centre is an appropriate facility because of the provision of a range of mental-health treatment programs, Lubimiv said.
Inmates have the right to be held in custody at an institution that provides an appropriate level of security, and where they can have access to family visits and to programs, Lubimiv said.
Driver had a wife and two children who lived in Abbotsford at the time of his conviction.
Lubimiv said that CSC must abide by the laws and policies of the federal government in terms of Driver's placement.
Smith said she heard that Driver has put in a request to stay here permanently.
"Well, it's a lot nicer here than in Kent, where it's a hell hole," Smith said, adding that hell is where Driver belongs.
Fast said the rights of the victims' families should be more important than the perpetrator's.
"The victims' families and their rights should trump the rights of the perpetrators of the crime," Fast said.
Driver was caught when his mother and brother recognized his voice in telephone calls police released to the media.
His lawyers argued that his medical condition, Tourette's Syndrome, should have factored more heavily in his trial.
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© Copyright 2006 Abbotsford News
http://www.abbotsfordpolice.org/misc/druginfo.html
Tuesday, August 22, 2004 "Protecting with Pride" http://www.abbotsfordpolice.org
Crime Stoppers
A cash reward of up to $2,000.00 will be paid for any information which leads to an arrest and charge. If you have any information, please call Crime Stoppers at:
604-855-TIPS (8477)
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How to Spot Grow Operations and Clandestine Drug Labs
Grow Operations | Clandestine Lab Operations
While all Abbotsford Police members are responsible for enforcing Canadian drug laws, the Abbotsford Police Department has a section who works full time within our community. These plainclothes members work within the City of Abbotsford conducting drug related investigations. Information from citizens often assist the section in successful prosecutions.
General Drug Information
Drug offenses in Canada fall under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, the Food and Drugs Act and related sections of the Criminal Code.
The Abbotsford Police Department relies on public support to combat drug-related crime. In accordance with the law, the Abbotsford Police Department respects the privacy and confidentiality of persons who provide drug-related information.
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Marijuana Indoor Cultivation Indicators
As a citizen of Abbotsford, YOU can assist the Abbotsford Police Drug Section.
If you, members of your family, friends or neighbours have suspicion regarding any of the following indicators, please contact the Abbotsford Police Department at 604-859-5225 or Crime Stoppers @ 604-855-TIPS. (604-855-8477)
*WARNING*Members of the general public are asked not to put themselves in any compromising position if you suspect a marijuana grow operation or other criminal activity in your neighbourhood.
How To Spot A “Grow Operation”
* Rental Accommodations: Almost all marijuana growers will utilize rental property, residence & commercial to avoid damage to their own properties. E.g. high humidity levels & alterations to accommodate the grow. *Important Note To Landlords*: Tenants may pay rent in cash and while having no known source of income, drive expensive cars and use cell phones & pagers.Tenants may be reluctant to allow landlords to inspect their rented property and/or make arrangements to meet landlords away from the property to pay rent and/or discuss problems.
* Discarded Equipment: Sometimes growers leave equipment lying around the yard such as nutrient containers, pots, wiring, soil, root balls, aluminum shrouds and PVC piping. On garbage day, a grow-op residence most likely will not put out any garbage due to the fact that grow houses are commonly used for the sole purpose of growing marijuana.
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* Unusual visitor behaviour: Inconsistencies in visitors to & from the residence, ranging from no visitors giving the appearance of seclusion, to frequent visitors for short time periods. Visitors will often leave one person waiting in the car while the other enters the premises.
* Covered windows: Covered with black plastic, heavy curtains pressed against the windows or blinds that are tightly shut & pressed against the windows.
* Condensation: Humidity inside a grow room is approximately 65% with temperatures ranging between 80 to 90 F. These conditions manifest themselves through condensation on windows.
* Smells & Odors: Skunk-like odor mixed with a sweet vegetative smell or the unique smell of rotting cabbage. Also, the odor of moth balls, chlorine, manure, soap and/or air freshener is frequently utilized ways of trying to mask the smell of the operation.
* Electrical humming, fans, trickling water: Some electrical components in an indoor operation create humming sounds similar to a transformer on a hydro pole.
* Bright lights: High intensity 1000 watt lamps are normally used and sometimes not completely disguised. These lights are the same as used in outdoor public swimming pools, school gyms, outdoor football & baseball parks.
* Localized power surges/browning: Neighbourhood residences experience unexplained power surges or power “browning” (decrease of power which dims lights & slows down appliance use) with the return of normal power flow approximately 12 hours later.
* “Beware of Dog” or “Guard Dog on Duty” signs: Used to deter trespassing, protect against theft and detection by police.
* History of premises: Residence and/or commercial premises have been used as marijuana grow operations in the past. Many of these rental properties are known among the criminal element as having been used for growing marijuana then repeatedly used again.
* Other indicators used as props to deflect any attention by neighbours and police: Outdoor and/or indoor lights, radio and/or TV on for 24 hours, flyers left in mailbox or on the front steps, children’s toys & bikes outside without children living or seen at the residence, realty signs posted on front lawn.
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Clandestine Lab Site Indicators (Methamphetamine, Speed, Ecstasy) These drugs are being produced in illegal laboratories hurriedly set up in basements, bathrooms, garages and many other places in and around a residence. They pose a danger to our neighbourhoods by being toxic chemicals with the potential for explosions and/or fires.
WHAT CAN YOU DO? Drug dealers and manufacturers have common habits, which can easily be observed.
*WARNING* Members of the general public are asked not to put themselves in any compromising position if you suspect a clandestine lab operation or other criminal activity.
How To Spot A Clandestine Lab Site
* Windows blackened out or curtains always drawn.
* Unfriendly tenants appear secretive about their activities. Tenants display paranoid or odd behaviour; watch cars suspiciously when passing by their residence.
* Coming outside to smoke cigarettes.
* Frequent visitors, often driving expensive vehicles.
* Frequent late night activity.
* Unemployed tenants, yet they drive expensive cars, seem to have plenty of money and pay their bills with cash.
* Premises have been outfitted with expensive security.
* Chemical odor coming from the house, apartment, garage or detached building.
* Garbage frequently has numerous bottles and containers: Acetone, Toluene, Muriatic Acid, Red Phosphorus, Ephedrine, Pseudoephedrine, veterinarian products, methanol, Rubbing Alcohol, sodium hydroxide, Ether, paint thinner, ammonia, etc.
* Tenants setting out their garbage in another neighbour's collection area.
* Metal drums and boxes with labels removed or spray-painted over.
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Wild Ride
KAKE News
Deb Farris & Theresa Freed
August 17 - A semi driver leads police on a wild chase Thursday morning. A Cherryvale trucking company called police because it hadn't heard from one of its drivers since midnight. Wichita Police found the semi at 9th and Grove. When officers approached it, the semi took off, nearly hitting the officers in the process. A second man in the semi bailed out as the chase began.
Along the way, the chase lead to an accident involving an officer's cruiser and a car driven by a pregnant woman. She was taken to the hospital with minor injuries. Another woman's car was actually hit by the semi, knocking her rear view mirror off. She worries if she'd turned just an inch more things could have turned out much worse.
During the chase, three Wichita schools were put under lock down. The schools affected were Isley Elementary, Northeast Magnet High School and Little Early Childhood Education Center. The lock down lasted just 30 minutes. Students were sent home with a letter explaining what happened and that everyone was alright.
The chase finally came to an end when the semi hit a dirt road near Andover. The driver veered off the road and on to private property. The owner of the property quickly got her children in to the house until everything was clear. The semi eventually hit a tree. The driver bailed out, but officers quickly arrested him. He's been booked into the Sedgwick County Jail on charges for evading police and aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer. The trucker was apparently carrying a load of meat from southeast Kansas, but dumped it at Douglas and Madison. Police believe some of the meat was stolen.
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http://www.kake.com/news/headlines/3595086.html
http://www.kake.com/news/headlines/3709671.html
Train Derailment
KAKE News
Jennifer Bocchieri
Train Derailment
August 22 - A train traveling through Reno County jumped the tracks near Arlington Tuesday night. A connector between cars broke sending 10 of the cars off the track. Six of the cars landed on their side, four others jutted into the air. The train had been heading west from Kansas City to Los Angeles. The trip was cut short for 80 brand new Toyotas now left mangled. This isn't the first time a train has derailed at this location. Six years ago, a train dumped 48 cars off the tracks.
No one was hurt in Tuesday's derailment. It did shut down the highway overnight. Crews are loading up the wrecked trucks. They'll be taken to Kansas City to be crushed. It will take at least another day before the derailment is all cleaned up.
Links referenced within this article
Train Derailment
http://www.kake.com/news/headlines/925479
Find this article at:
http://www.kake.com/news/headlines/3709671.html
http://www.kake.com/news/headlines/3712106.html
Local Merchant Selling Stolen Goods
Teresa Freed
Local Merchant Selling Stolen Goods
August 22 – Wichita police find thousands of dollars worth of ''stolen'' merchandise in a local store.
A tip to police led to the discount store bust, they delivered a search warrant to the store Tuesday.
Wichita police raiding a local business believe there is tens of thousands of dollars in stolen merchandise inside.
Much of the property was claimed by employees of a local dollar store.
Now, police are working to return the merchandise. No arrest has been made.
Links referenced within this article
Local Merchant Selling Stolen Goods
http://www.kake.com/news/headlines/926030
Find this article at:
http://www.kake.com/news/headlines/3712106.html
http://www.paulsvalleydailydemocrat.com/homepage/local_story_230095306.html?keyword=leadpicturestory
[Texas and Oklahoma]
Burglary ring keeps growing
By Barry Porterfield
Staff Writer
— New turns and twists have literally been developing each day since a Texas man was arrested last week for his connection in a Wynnewood area car dealership burglary.
The investigation into Justin Paul Anderson, 27, who currently faces double-digit criminal charges here in Garvin County, now appears to have led authorities to a large scale burglary ring that covers multiple counties and states.
Garvin County deputies said an ongoing closer look into Anderson and those associated with him continues to grow every day with burglaries and stolen equipment stretching from Stillwater to Sherman, Texas.
“We have two in custody and are currently investigating five other individuals that are associates or accomplices and they’re all from the McClain County area,” said Garvin County Deputy Travis Crawford.
“Information is coming in daily that seems to open up further investigations,” he said.
Still, Anderson is described as the “primary” suspect as authorities work to recover about $1 million worth of stolen property from six Oklahoma counties.
Crawford and other officials believe Anderson and others involved in the burglary ring routinely stole high value items from one county and would then transport the property to other counties, where it would be sold or altered.
Anderson’s arrest on Aug. 8 at a Pauls Valley residence seemed to jump-start a burglary case that at the time appeared to be somewhat limited in scope.
His arrest was on the suspicion he stole a pickup truck, a 48-foot enclosed trailer, three motorcycles, computers and tools from a car dealership located west of Wynnewood. The burglary took place the previous weekend.
Evidence also tied Anderson to two others thefts as trucks and trailers were previously stolen from a site north of Paoli and a drilling company located in northern McClain County.
All of that has added up to 10 criminal charges being filed against Anderson in Garvin County alone with nine of the counts being burglary-related felonies.
The one other suspect currently in custody is Kevin Shawn Easley, 28.
Easley, a former Garvin County resident, was arrested earlier this week when Carter County authorities conducted a search of his large shop building near Springer described as being the size of a basketball gym.
“Stolen property recovered here, at one time or another, had been at this shop,” Crawford said.
Found at Easley’s shop were stolen items that authorities estimated to be valued at about $300,000.
The items included three semi-trucks, two of which were reportedly stolen from Payne County, and a John Deere tractor taken from Grady County. Also found at the site and believed to be stolen were four trailers.
Even more evidence was found when Grady County authorities searched a second large shop building, this one located west of Dibble.
This other building also is reported to belong to Anderson.
Found inside were tools stolen from here and McClain County and vehicle parts that seems to indicate the facility might have been used to store stolen items or alter them.
“There were parts there that lead us to believe it was a chop shop,” Crawford said.
Tools were also recovered that were taken from the Wynnewood car dealership, which means all the stolen items reported in Garvin County with a connection to Anderson have been recovered.
Computer related items stolen from Cleveland County were also found at the shop.
“All of this is based on the investigation that started here,” Crawford said.
“We started passing information onto these other agencies and things really started happening,” he said.
“It opens up those investigations into burglary cases that are still open. We have multiple suspects to begin investigating for those burglaries.”
Copyright © 1999-2006 cnhi, inc.
[True terror, hard to think of it happening over and over in America]
http://www.paulsvalleydailydemocrat.com/local/local_story_233102230.html?keyword=secondarystory
Four arrested in abduction case
By Barry Porterfield
Staff Writer
— The last of four suspects was taken into custody Friday afternoon after kidnapping and taking a Durant woman on a scary and potentially deadly ride that finally came to an end near Stratford.
The suspects, who are fellow Durant residents, are accused of turning on their friend by abducting her from Lake Texoma after the group had gone there to party and have a good time.
Just the opposite occurred as the 26-year-old woman was bound with duct tape, attacked with a tire tool and rocks and driven away in the trunk of her own car as the suspects were apparently on their way to Shawnee for an unknown reason.
That plan was interrupted in a big way Thursday morning when the partially clothed woman escaped from the trunk about a mile north of Stratford on U.S. 177.
With the assistance of two men working on some nearby property, the woman’s escape proved successful and allowed word to get out about the abduction.
“She was covered in blood,” Deputy Travis Crawford said as Garvin County authorities assisted at the scene.
“They immediately tended to her and gave her aid before contacting authorities,” he said about the two men.
Information about the incident began to piece together as deputies questioned the injured woman, who was among a group of five people arriving at Lake Texoma late Wednesday night.
“They were just down there partying and drinking and swimming,” Crawford said.
At some point an argument broke out between two women who would later assume the roles of victim and attacker.
It is believed drug use could have been involved in the dispute that led to the kidnapping.
According to the victim’s statement to deputies, she fell asleep at the lake before awaking to the others placing duct tape around most of her upper body, including wrists and arms to her side and complete coverage of her head area.
It was then she was allegedly beaten by the other woman using a tire tool.
“The next thing she knows is she’s in the trunk of a car. She doesn’t recall how she got in the trunk,” Crawford said.
After regaining consciousness, the woman realized she was in the trunk of her own car and began screaming for help.
On at least three occasions the car would stop and the female driver, whose name was unavailable, would open the trunk and threaten her before using a “huge rock” to strike the victim on the head.
She later got partially free from the duct tape and used a release button to open the trunk and get out. It was there she ran to the two nearby workers for help as the suspects drove away from the scene.
Authorities later learned a flat tire brought the vehicle to a stop in the Oil Center area of Pontotoc County
Although the female driver reportedly used a gun to threaten the other suspects, they all scattered before officials caught up with them.
Reports then came in of another woman being kidnapped at gunpoint and being forced to drive two of the suspects to Pauls Valley.
As it turned out the woman, who was eventually stopped by a state trooper, was not threatened in any way. She did, however, give Wesley Daniels, 27, and Stephanie Burch, 18, a ride to a convenience store on the west side of Pauls Valley, where they were quickly taken into custody and questioned.
“They confirmed the victim’s story,” Crawford said, adding the suspects claimed the only attacker was the woman earlier threatening them.
It was later learned the suspect had acquired a ride to Ada. She was later arrested at a convenience store there.
The fourth suspect, Gordon White, 22, was arrested near the Oil Center area.
The female victim was initially treated in Pauls Valley for lacerations to her head and bruising and swelling around her neck. She was later transferred to Norman.
The four suspects will be transported back to Bryan County, where they could face kidnapping, attempted murder and stolen vehicle charges.
Copyright © 1999-2006 cnhi, inc.
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/15296908.htm
Posted on Thu, Aug. 17, 2006
Police capture runaway truck driver
BY TIM POTTER AND JON SCHUBIN
The Wichita Eagle
A truck driver led police on a 37-minute chase today that briefly shut down three schools and wound across northeast Wichita before ending in a pasture near the Butler County line.
No one was injured.
The chase started about 11:40 a.m. at Ninth and Grove after police were called to check on the welfare of the truck driver.
Wichita police Lt. Alan Prince said police found him sitting in the cab of the semi, minus its trailer. He refused to get out of the truck and gunned the engine, throwing two officers off the running boards as he sped off, Prince said.
The chase wound through neighborhoods near Wichita State University before heading east along 13th Street, with police in cars and a helicopter in pursuit. In the process, the truck hit tree, a fence and utility pole and clipped a Mustang.
Isely Elementary, Northeast Magnet High School and Little Early Childhood Center were locked down for about 20 minutes as a precaution because the truck passed nearby.
When the truck driver reached 143rd Street East, he headed north. In the 3100 block, he encountered a "bridge out" sign, veered around a farm house, rumbled through a pasture and got stuck near a creek, Prince said.
The man ran from the cab and tried to hide in a clump of trees, where officers arrested him without a struggle, Prince said.
The driver, age 34, was being held on a suspicion of a variety of felony charges, including aggravated assault on law enforcement officers and traffic violations. Prince said the man gave a Florida address, and there is an outstanding warrant for him in that state.
Contributing: Icess Fernandez of The Eagle
© 2006 Wichita Eagle and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.
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