http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-md.benway29sep29,0,3380324.story?coll=bal-local-headlines
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-md.benway29sep29,0,3380324.story?coll=bal-local-headlines
Port supervisor's death accidental
Medical examiner's office rules 3 months after incident; delay laid to co-workers' false account
By Michael Dresser
sun reporter
Originally published September 29, 2006
After almost three months of investigation, the Maryland Transportation Authority Police said yesterday that a Maryland Port Administration maintenance supervisor who died under suspicious circumstances was fatally injured in an accidental fall.
The state medical examiner's office said the determination of the cause of death of Robert L. Benway Jr., 45, was delayed because two co-workers who were with him at the time of the June 26 incident initially gave a false account. Benway died of his injuries July 1.
Advertisement
The medical examiner determined that the co-workers' revised explanation was consistent with the 21-year state employee's injuries.
According to transportation authority police, the death was ruled an accident on the basis of the autopsy, physical and forensic evidence and the revised eyewitness account.
"The important thing in these cases is not to get it done quickly, but to get it done right," said Chief Gary W. McLhinney.
The police said they are continuing to investigate "possible illegal activity on the part of co-workers of Mr. Benway."
Richard Scher, a spokesman for the port administration, said the two men who were with Benway at the time of his death are no longer employed by the agency. Scher said their departures were voluntary.
Benway died at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center five days after the accident at Clinton Street Marine Terminal, a largely vacant MPA-owned warehouse, of massive injuries to the back of his head.
The circumstances of Benway's death raised suspicions in the mind of his widow, Linda Benway, 49, a fellow MPA employee. Instead of calling 911, one of his co-workers rushed Robert Benway to Bayview in his truck.
Police were not notified of the accident when it occurred, and an investigation began only after he died. And neither the MPA nor the police notified the media of the death before Linda Benway brought her concerns to The Sun in August.
At the time, she expressed doubt that the incident took place at the Clinton Street terminal, as first reported. But the investigation concluded the accident did occur in that building, though not necessarily at the location police were first told.
Benway's injuries were inconsistent with the original account that he fell from a ladder about 12 feet high that was bolted to a wall, according to the medical examiner's office.
"The original story didn't add up to anybody because the guys who were with him lied," an official with the medical examiner's office said.
Under further questioning, officials said, the co-workers changed their account and said Benway fell from a much higher extension ladder after his feet became tangled while he was pulling out wiring that apparently came loose more abruptly than he expected.
Linda Benway said she was told by port officials that the ladder and copper wiring were disposed of before the investigation began. Neither Scher nor the police would comment, saying the investigation is continuing.
Investigators suspect the wire was being removed from the building to be sold illegally, Linda Benway said. Police would not comment.
Benway said she is not satisfied with the explanation she has been given.
"They would have to prove that to me that Rob was doing something he wasn't supposed to be doing," she said.
But the medical examiner said there is now no question that Benway's death was accidental. Toxicological tests showed that he was not intoxicated or impaired by drugs.
The medical examiner's office also concluded that Benway would not have lived if his co-workers had called 911.
"This gentleman had nonsurvivable injuries - period," said the official, who asked to not be identified because of office policies. "His brain was not going to recover."
michael.dresser@baltsun.com
http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/013335.php
September 28, 2006
Al Qaeda in Iraq leader calls scientists to jihad
Better dying through chemistry. From AP: "Iraq terrorist calls scientists to jihad"
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Al-Qaida in Iraq's leader, in a chilling audiotape released Thursday, called for nuclear scientists to join his group's holy war and urged insurgents to kidnap Westerners so they could be traded for a blind Egyptian sheik who is in a U.S. prison.
The fugitive terror chief said experts in the fields of "chemistry, physics, electronics, media and all other sciences -- especially nuclear scientists and explosives experts" should join his group's jihad, or holy war, against the West.
"We are in dire need of you," said the speaker, who identified himself as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir -- also known as Abu Ayyub al-Masri. "The field of jihad can satisfy your scientific ambitions, and the large American bases (in Iraq) are good places to test your unconventional weapons, whether biological or dirty, as they call them."
The 20-minute audio was posted to a Web site that frequently airs al-Qaida messages. The voice could not be independently identified, but it was thought to be al-Masri's. He is believed to have succeeded Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who died in a U.S. airstrike north of Baghdad in June, as head of the al-Qaida-linked organization.
Thursday's message focused attention on Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman, an Egyptian cleric who was convicted in 1995 of seditious conspiracy for his advisory role in a plot to blow up five New York City landmarks, including the United Nations.
Barghouti isn't the only one scheming about prisoner swaps:
"I appeal to every holy warrior in the land of Iraq to exert all efforts in this holy month so that God may enable us to capture some of the Western dogs to swap them with our sheik and get him out of his dark prison," said al-Masri, who is also Egyptian.
He also said more than 4,000 foreign militants have been killed in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 -- the first known statement from the insurgents about their death toll.
It was unclear why al-Masri would advertise the loss of the group's foreign fighters, but martyrdom is revered among Islamic fundamentalists, and could be used as a recruiting tool. Analysts said the announcement was likely a boast aimed at drumming up support.
"It's showing the level of dedication to their cause, the level of sacrifice jihadists are making," said Ben N. Venzke, director of the Washington-based IntelCenter, which monitors terrorism communications.
"In a strange kind of way, it's almost showing a sense of strength and purpose in their cause to other people around world who might be thinking about joining the fight," Venzke said in a telephone interview.
The statement followed the release of a U.N. report Wednesday that said fewer foreign fighters have been killed or captured in Iraq in the last few months, "suggesting that the flow has slackened." The report also said some fighters had expressed dissatisfaction they were asked to kill fellow Muslims rather than Western soldiers and that the only role for them was to be suicide bombers.
Still, the report said al-Qaida "has gained by continuing to play a central role in the fighting and in encouraging the growth of sectarian violence; and Iraq has provided many recruits and an excellent training ground."
Posted at September 28, 2006 10:16 PM
http://www.jihadwatch.org/
September 29, 2006
Teacher forced into hiding after writing article describing Qur'an as "book of extraordinary violence"
Say we're peaceful, or we'll kill you. Robert Redeker Update: "Teacher forced into hiding after attacking Islam," from the TimesOnline, with thanks to Jeffrey Imm:
A philosophy teacher today described how he was forced into hiding after a newspaper article in which he attacked Islam provoked death threats against himself and his family.
Robert Redeker, 52, from Toulouse in south-west France, is receiving round-the-clock police protection and changing addresses every two days, after publishing an article describing the Koran as a "book of extraordinary violence" and Islam as "a religion which ... exalts violence and hate".
He told French media today that he had no regrets about writing the article and that it was part of his job as a philosophy teacher to ask difficult questions.
In an interview with i-TV he said that he had received several e-mail threats targeting himself and his wife and three children and that his photograph and address were available on several Islamist internet sites.
"There is a very clear map of how to get to my home, with the words: ’This pig must have his head cut off’," he said.
Another e-mail says: "You will never again be safe on this earth. One billion, 300 million Muslims are ready to kill you."
And interviewed over the telephone from a safe house by Europe 1 radio, he complained that the education ministry had left him alone and abandoned. He said the ministry "has not even contacted me, has not deigned to get in touch to see if I need any help."
He accepted that his detractors had "already won a victory of sorts."
"I cannot do my job. I have no freedom of movement. I am in hiding. Already they have succeeded in punishing me ... as if I was guilty of holding the wrong opinions."
Dominique de Villepin, the French Prime Minister, said that the threats were "unacceptable".
He said: "We are in a democracy, everyone has the right to express his views freely -- of course while respecting others. That is the only restriction that is acceptable on this freedom.
"This shows to what extent we live in a dangerous world... and how vigilant we must be to ensure people fully respect one another in our society."
The Paris state prosecutor’s office today launched a preliminary inquiry for "criminal conspiracy in relation with a terrorist enterprise", asking the intelligence agency to look into the death threats.
Gilles de Robien, the Education Minister, yesterday expressed "solidarity" with M Redeker, but also warned that "a state employee must show prudence and moderation in all circumstances".
Even when "300 million Muslims are ready to kill" him.
Michelle Malkin has the text of Redeker's article, along with the one by German historian Egon Flaig that was banned in Egypt.
Posted by Robert at 05:33 PM | Comments (40) | Email this entry | Print this entry
Pakistan's intelligence agency backs Al-Qaeda: British report
Friend and Ally Update: "ISI backs al-Qaeda: British report," from Associated Press, with thanks to F.:
London, September 28: A leaked British document accuses Pakistan's intelligence agency of indirectly supporting terrorist groups including al-Qaeda, and it calls on Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf to disband the agency.
Musharraf, who is scheduled to meet British Prime Minister Tony Blair in London on Thursday, told the British Broadcasting Corp. that he rejected the assessment and would raise the matter with his counterpart.
"ISI is a disciplined force, breaking the back of al-Qaeda," Musharraf told the broadcaster, claiming his intelligence service had secured the arrests of 680 suspected terrorists.
Sure, Pervez. They started breaking the back of al-Qaeda right after Armitage threatened to bomb Pakistan back to the stone age, right?
Posted by Robert at 05:20 PM | Comments (8) | Email this entry | Print this entry
Al-Qaida urges 'month of jihad'
Ramadan mubarak! Abu Hamza al-Muhajir adds to the love note just received from Al-Zawahiri. More on this tape from China Daily:
Al-Qaida's leader in Iraq called for the kidnapping of Westerners to swap for a Muslim cleric jailed in the United States, according to an Internet audio tape issued yesterday.
"I call on every holy fighter in Iraq to strive during this holy month (Ramadan)... to capture some dogs of the Christians so that we can liberate our imprisoned sheikh," said the speaker, identified as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir.
He accused US jailers of "torturing" Egyptian cleric Omar Abdel-Rahman, held over links to the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center in New York.
The speaker also called for attacks on US military camps in Iraq using "unconventional bombs such as biological and dirty bombs."
The tape's authenticity could not be verified but it was posted on major websites used by militants....
But it is the holy month, after all, and so he offers clemency for those who collaborated with the enemies of Islam:
"As for those who supported the occupiers and their agents, becoming their eyes and ears, and who betrayed their religion, honour and land for material or social gains ... I declare a general amnesty during this month of generosity and forgiveness," the speaker on the tape said.
"We waive the right to (avenge) the blood that was shed by your hands and your betrayal," he said.
Posted by Robert at 05:07 PM | Comments (22) | Email this entry | Print this entry
Somali jihadists close down radio station for reporting on protests
Sharia Alert and Somali Jihad Update from News.com.au: "Somali Islamists close down media"
ISLAMIST gunmen who captured the Somali port of Kismayo have forcibly closed a private media network there which they accuse of distorting news about protests against the takeover, journalists said today.
Islamist fighters on battle-wagons turned up at HornAfrik Radio's Kismayo offices late yesterday, ordering staff to stop operations, the National Union of Somali Journalists said.
"We are strongly bothered by this show of aggression against this media house, which is a conscious attack on the freedom of the press and fundamental freedom of expression," said union secretary general Omar Faruk Osman.
[...]
... there have been anti-Islamist protests this week in Kismayo, and Somalis in general are becoming increasingly worried about signs of hardline practices by the movement, which was born out of sharia courts.
The Islamists' rise has challenged the aspirations of Somalia's western-backed interim government - based in the provincial town of Baidoa - to restore central rule to the Horn of Africa nation for the first time since 1991.
Islamist sources said HornAfrik had made false broadcasts about this week's protests in Kismayo, including reports that a boy had died and women were mistreated in the violence.
The Islamists say they are simply restoring law and order to Somalia after 15 years of anarchy since the ousting of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre. They are also openly calling for mainly Muslim Somalia to be ruled by a sharia system.
The above paragraph seems to separate the aims of the jihadists to "restore law and order" and to establish Sharia law. But a decline in crime rates is only part of their larger agenda, which would impose the entirety of the Islamic social order, including the governance of minute details of individual behavior.
Posted by Marisol at 04:49 PM | Comments (3) | Email this entry | Print this entry
A prescription from the Good Doctor Al-Zawahiri
In a new video from the boys at Al-Qaedawood, ol' Doc Zawahiri, like his boy Adam Gadahn, prescribes conversion to Islam as the cure for what ails ya -- or else, of course. Sounds as if the Good Doctor has been reading off Howard Dean's teleprompter.
"A Video Speech from Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri: Bush, the Pope of the Vatican, Darfur, and the Crusader Wars, by as-Sahab Productions," from the SITE Institute, with thanks to Schoolraider:
As-Sahab, al-Qaeda’s multimedia production arm, issued today, Friday, September 29, 2006, a 17:51 minute video speech featuring Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri and titled: “Bush, the Pope of the Vatican, Darfur, and the Crusader Wars”. He appears in two scenes: one, subtitled in English, with an office-setup background with a lamp, flag bearing “No God, but Allah”, and a cannon; the other is without a background, and depicts Zawahiri dressed entirely in white, without subtitles.
To U.S. President George W. Bush, Zawahiri brands him a "deceitful charlation" and liar, and questions: “why don't you tell them how many million citizens of America and it's allies you intend to kill in search of the imaginary victory and in breathless pursuit of the mirage towards which you are driving your people’s sons in order to increase your profits?” He questions his motives for initating the War in Iraq, ridiculing the false prexets under which it was conducted. To this end he cites the purported links of Saddam Hussein to al-Qaeda, and the presence of weapons of mass destruction. He also addresses the capture of Khalid Shaikh Muhammad and questions that if it helped in the "war on terror" then “why are your troops retreating in secrete from the south and east of Afghanistan?... Bush...be aware that the liberation of our captives is a debt on our shoulders which we must fulfill”. Other individuals who have been captured, such as Ramzi Yusef, Omar Abdul Rahman (the "Blind Sheikh") and Abu al-Faraj al-Libi are also cited.
That, I trust you understand, is a threat of violent actions to free these jailed jihadists.
Then al-Zawahiri retails some jihad recruitment pretexts:
In the Arabic portion, Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri discusses the issue of the Pope Benedict XVI's slanderous comments to Islam and the Prophet Muhammad, by prefacing such attacks as beginning with the Satanic Verses of Salmon Rushdie, followed by desecration of the Qur'an at Guantanamo Bay, and banning of the hijab in French schools. He states that the current pope is reminiscent of Pope Urban II, who "provoked the people of Europe to fight the Muslims" in the Crusades. Zawahiri disregards Christinaity due to its "supersitions" and alleged irrationality, but avers that Muslims are not enemies of Jesus as Pope Urban II claimed. On the pope's comments directly, Zawahiri adds: "if Benedict attacked us, we will respond to his insults with good things. We will call upon him, and all of the Christians to become Muslims who do not recognize the Trinity or the crucifixion, and say that Allah united with the human."
What a generous offer!
SITE has made available a one-minute clip of this masterpiece.
Posted by Robert at 03:53 PM
http://www.jihadwatch.org/
http://www.jihadwatch.org/
"We vow to God that we will never recognise Israel even if we would be all killed"
Holding-Political-Power-Will-Exert-A-Moderating-Influence-On-Hamas Update: "Hamas rally in Gaza draws tens of thousands, denounces Israel," from Reuters, with thanks to the Constantinopolitan Irredentist:
Tens of thousands of Hamas supporters held a peaceful rally in Gaza on Friday to denounce the state of Israel and declare that they would never recognize its right to exist.
"We ask God to punish the so-called Israel and the allies of Israel and to punish those who recognize Israel and those who called on us to recognize Israel," Hamas lawmaker Mushir al-Masri told the crowd that thronged the Jabalya refugee camp.
"We vow to God that we will never recognise Israel even if we would be all killed," Masri told the cheering audience of men, women and children, many of whom were wearing green Hamas baseball caps and held aloft Hamas banners.
Masri, a popular young lawmaker, also aimed criticism at Fatah, a rival movement headed by Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, saying it was trying to pressure Hamas, which now runs the Palestinian government, into recognizing Israel.
"Those people are demanding us openly to recognize the occupation and that will never happen," Masri said.
Posted by Robert at 11:25 AM
Islamic prison chaplain sentenced to year at his New York home
Warith Deen Umar Update from AP, with thanks to Jeffrey Imm:
NEW YORK (AP) -- The former head Islamic chaplain for the state prison system was sentenced Thursday to a year of home detention by a judge who said he deserved leniency on a gun charge after decades of achievements that followed childhood poverty.
Warith Deen Umar will be permitted to leave home for work, medical care and religious services, Judge Robert P. Patterson said.
Earlier this year, Umar, 62, pleaded guilty to a gun charge after admitting he waved an empty shotgun at an angry tenant who struck him at a Bronx building he owns. He also owned a .22-caliber rifle and four shotgun shells.
The government charged Umar with gun possession, saying he was not allowed to have one because he had been convicted in 1971 of possession of a dangerous weapon.
The judge rejected efforts by the government to get him to take into consideration a published report that quoted Umar as saying in an unpublished memoir that even Muslims who say they are against terrorism secretly admire and applaud the Sept. 11 hijackers.
That would be this Wall Street Journal piece (subscribers only). Prison officials took it seriously enough to ban him from the prison system:
Umar was banned from state prisons shortly after the article was published in 2003 despite his assertion that his comments were taken out of context and that he never said the terrorists were martyrs or honored them.
The judge said he considered the article and two others cited by prosecutors "unreliable for sentencing purposes."...
He said he was shunned by many in his religious community after a false report that he had sympathized with Sept. 11 hijackers. He said one New York mosque has permanently banned him.
Good for them.
He said he had been comforted by neighbors around his home in Glenmont, N.Y., near Albany, where he said a mostly white group of people including Christians, Jews and gays came to his defense.
"These are Americans," he said....
Yes, probably. And besotted dhimmi fellow travelers also, probably.
Umar has said he believes "they are persecuting me because I'm Muslim and I'm black and I speak out and because I was the Muslim chaplain in the state prison system for 25 years."...
Get real, Umar. Being Muslim and black, if you were an outspoken anti-jihadist, would get you front-page, above the fold coverage, plus seats on all the pseudo-fearless conservative talking head shows. There is nothing that American officials and media want to find more than an outspoken, passionate, articulate moderate Muslim. If you were one, you'd be everyone's hero.
The judge told Umar that some Christians and others in the United States had trouble understanding how some Muslims could interpret the Quran in a way to permit people to blow themselves up in Afghanistan and Iraq in an effort to kill others.
"I happen to be Christian," the judge said. "That's very difficult for me to understand."
Well, judge, why don't you explain to us how you think Muslims should interpret the Qur'an? Here is another non-Muslim lecturing a Muslim about how to understand a book that he probably hasn't actually even read.
Posted by Robert at 08:40 AM |
http://www.jihadwatch.org/
http://www.jihadwatch.org/
U.S. Says Iran Buys Iraq Militia with Arms, Cash
Iran's "long-term influence is bound to wane." Among Iraqi Shi'ites? Really? Why?
And of course they don't want a "destabilized Iraq." They want a Shi'ite client state in Iraq, and they're doing all they can to establish one.
From DefenseNews.com, with thanks to DFS:
Iran is funneling weapons and cash to buy the loyalty of armed groups in Iraq, but its long- term influence is bound to wane as Iraqis focus more on their own interests, a senior U.S. military official said.
The United States and Britain have in the past accused Iran of fostering violence in Iraq. The Islamic Republic denies it.
But the official gave far more detail, and said the latest weapons finds -- including explosives bearing factory stamps indicating they come from Iran -- show that the policy of arming Iraqi militia is supported at high levels in Iran and not the work of rogue Iranian operatives.
"You see them enabling all comers," he said. "And by the way, nobody in this country stays bought. You’re rented."
The senior military official was discussing intelligence issues under condition he not be named, in a briefing with journalists in Baghdad on Sept. 27, the transcript of which was made available on Sept. 28.
He estimated that Iran has sent "millions of dollars" to the Mehdi Army militia of Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, including rogue elements that had slipped out of Sadr’s direct control.
Iranian weapons found in Iraq include surface-to-air missiles and anti-tank rockets like those used by Hizbollah in Lebanon against Israel, as well as tank-destroying Explosively Formed Projectiles (EFPs) that have become common in roadside bombs used to attack U.S. and British troops....
But the official said parties seen as pro-Iranian were already falling behind in Iraq, losing ground to groups like Sadr’s who portray themselves more as Iraqi nationalists.
"For them to function effectively inside Iraq, they have to make a decision to be Iraqi," he said.
"Iran only has a window of opportunity to influence Iraq before Iraq -- and its natural tendencies as both an Arab state and one who’s got a whole series of friction points with the Islamic Republic -- will start to take over."
He said Iran had fomented violence in Iraq, especially places like Basra in the south, but this could be counter productive because of mainly ethnic-Persian Iran’s own worries about unrest among its Arab and Kurdish minorities.
"It’s not in their best interest to have a destabilized Iraq, because guess what? There are Arabs in the south (of Iran) and Kurds in the north that pose significant challenges to Iranian internal stability," he said.
"But nonetheless, they’re not sure who is going to come out on top. And so basically they fund everybody."
Posted by Robert at 08:09 AM | Comments (6) | Email this entry | Print this entry
U.S.: Afghan attacks triple since truce
Pakistan's "peace agreement" with the Taliban is quickly yielding predictable results. From AP:
KABUL, Afghanistan - American troops on Afghanistan's eastern frontier have seen a tripling of attacks since a truce between the Pakistani army and pro-Taliban tribesmen that was supposed to stop cross-border raids by militants, a U.S. military officer said Wednesday.
Pakistan's Foreign Ministry rejected the U.S. claim and said home-based insurgents were behind the violence in Afghanistan, where at least 25 militants were reported killed in fighting Wednesday.
Raising further questions about the cease-fire, a Pakistani political leader maintained Taliban leader Mullah Omar approved the deal. A government official denied that.
The developments could add to the feuding between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, who were having dinner Wednesday night with President Bush at the White House to try to patch up their dispute over how to quell Islamic extremists.
The U.S. officer said the cease-fire that began June 25, cemented by the signing of a peace accord Sept. 5, contributed to the Taliban's resurgence in Afghanistan. He said ethnic Pashtun insurgents are no longer fighting Pakistani troops and are using Pakistan's North Waziristan border area as a command-and-control hub for attacks in Afghanistan.
Pakistani tribal elders brokered the truce between Musharraf's government and militants, which ended years of unrest in the tribal region bordering Afghanistan.
But the agreement appears to have bolstered Taliban infiltrators, with the number of attacks in eastern Afghan provinces rising threefold since July 31, said the U.S. officer, who agreed to discuss the situation only if not quoted by name due to the sensitivity of the issue.
"That's why they had the chance to rest and refit, because they were in a sanctuary," he said, referring to a surge in Taliban attacks over the last several months without giving specific numbers for incidents before or after the truce.
[...]
Meanwhile, Latif Afridi, a top official in Pakistan's Awami National Party, said he received a letter containing Taliban leader Mullah Omar's approval of the North Waziristan peace deal.
He said the letter also claimed Pakistani militants who back the Taliban in North Waziristan would fall under the command of Jalaluddin Haqqani, a front-line Taliban commander.
[...]
The U.S. officer said the Taliban's connections with Pakistan run so deep that wounded fighters seek treatment on the Pakistani side of the border and even carry their dead to Pakistan for burial.
Some of the suicide bombers in Afghanistan have been recruited in Pakistan, including a 17-year-old boy who blew himself up in front of a U.S. military convoy in Kabul this month, killing a bystander and wounding three American soldiers, Afghan police say.
Posted by Marisol at 12:01 AM |
http://www.theconservativevoice.com/article/18760.html
Reflections on Ramadan:The Pope Must Die
Here we go again.
The often-outraged Muslim mob is once again garbed in full and bloody
rage.
This time the offense involves comments made by Pope Benedict XVI
during a
lecture. Quoting a 14th century Byzantine emperor who described the
prophet
Mohammed's view of forced conversion by the sword, as "evil and
inhuman."
The words caused mayhem within the Islamic world, escalating to
firebombed
churches and culminating with the murder of an Italian nun working in a
Somali hospital.
In London, extremists have declared that those offending Islam must
die.
"Whoever insults the message of Mohammed is going to be subject to
capital
punishment," declared Anjem Choudary, a lawyer who organized the brutal
violence that occurred after the publication of Danish cartoons deemed
offensive earlier this year.
So now, the Pope must die.
"We swear to send you people who adore death as much as you adore
life," was
the not-so-veiled threat, evoking images of zealot suicide bombers. In
response, the Vatican sent emissaries to Muslim countries attempting to
quell the chaos.
Though Pope Benedict issued a rare papal apology, American Muslims
joined
the fray, deeming the apology inadequate. Ahmed Rehab, Chicago director
of
the Council on American-Islamic Relations, was quoted as saying, "Pope
Benedict's apology is incomplete because it expresses remorse for
Muslim
anger to his questionable selection of quotations, rather than his own
poor
judgment in choosing them." The Los Angeles Times editorially chastised
the
Pope, but was curiously hushed regarding the threats against him.
The past is prologue. Turkish Muslim, Mehmet Ali Aca, critically
wounded
Pope John Paul II in 1981. Frail and ailing, he was also targeted by Al
Qaeda-funded militants during a visit to the Philippines in 1995.
Pope Benedict's efforts at deflecting further unrest have met with
disfavor.
His apologies, it seems, are not quite good enough. An Iranian
newspaper
wrote his words were, "code words for a new crusade."
Turkish clerics
decreed his contrition wasn't properly articulated, suggesting the Pope
fall
on his knees before leading Muslim clerics in issuing his regrets.
Radical Muslims illogically promote the idea that the war against
terrorism
is a war against Islam. Many mosques seethe as hotbeds of anti-American
hatred, yet we hear little opposition from the faithful-even the
"home-grown." The same is true in European counties where Islamic
communities spawn violence. Certainly, not all Muslims follow this
mantra,
but where is the outcry in opposition to the militant fanatics in their
midst?
Islam cannot be discussed by non-Muslims without insult being inferred.
Their standards regarding freedom of speech differ greatly from
Westerners.
Islamic law stipulates Muslims can peacefully co-exist with Christians
and
Jews only if the non-Muslims acknowledge their second-class status;
agreeing
to such harsh restrictions in numerous areas of society, as the
inability to
hold authority over Muslims, being subject to imposition of extra
taxes, and
not insulting Muhammad. A perceived slur, even unintentional, results
in the
revocation of the non-Muslim's conditional co-existence.
We are in the midst of a clash of civilizations, in which one side
desires
supreme dominance. As Muslim populations swell throughout Europe and
the
United States, this crisis will exacerbate. As long as parents find
pride in
their children's martyrdom as human missiles, with no sane voices
calling
for a halt to the madness, implications for the future are terrifying.
It is
inconceivable that Christians or Jews would behead those with whom they
disagree, or celebrate their holiest of days with a call for the
execution
of the religious leader of another faith; though such actions are
commonplace for practitioners of the "religion of peace."
If we care about our progeny, we must address this malevolence with
swift
certainty. Otherwise, how do we answer the generations we leave exposed
to
irrational fundamentalist zealots posing as credible religious agents?
http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/115943567445510.xml&coll=2
FBI, bomb squads to work closer
Bomb technicians will be federally deputized
Thursday, September 28, 2006
CAROL ROBINSON
News staff writer
The FBI announced Wednesday it is joining forces with bomb squads throughout the state to better respond to the threat of improvised explosive devices or weapons of mass destruction.
Though bomb technicians statewide have always worked closely together, under the new partnership with the FBI, they will be federally deputized. That means that in the event of a major incident, jurisdictional boundaries would be more easily crossed. Any overtime, training and equipment costs will be covered by the federal government.
"The events of 9-11 taught us that we cannot defeat our enemies alone," said Carmen Adams, special agent in charge of the FBI's Birmingham division. "We need to find new ways of doing things to defeat today's sophisticated criminals and terrorists."
All certified bomb technicians nationwide already are trained at the FBI's Hazardous Devices School at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville. The six-week program teaches them everything from rendering a package safe to operating bomb robots.
Under the new partnership, "We're going to do some post-blast and other training events so we can be up to date on some of the render-safe policies that are out there," said FBI bomb technician Kerry Straub.
Adams said the partnership won't change the regular duties of local police department bomb squads. "The daily incidents will remain the primary jurisdiction of those departments," Adams said. "What this does is a force multiplier for the FBI."
The agencies included in the partnership are the FBI and the Alabama Bureau of Investigation; the Birmingham, Hoover, Tuscaloosa, Huntsville, Gadsden, Florence and Trussville police departments; and the Tuscaloosa County and Jefferson County sheriff's departments.
The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives isn't named in the partnership, but has its role, Adams said. "While the FBI has primary jurisdiction with regard to the terrorism investigations, ATF absolutely has a role," Adams said. "I think we've reached a point in time that we don't have the luxury of being territorial. We respond together as a law enforcement community.
"I would call it being prepared for the worst and hopefully we don't have to encounter it and deal with it, but we would certainly rather be trained and all be operating off the same sheet of music in responding than to have an incident and try to figure out what's the best way to do something," she said.
Jefferson County Sheriff Mike Hale and other law enforcement leaders lauded the plan.
"We've done it on a handshake a lot of times," Hale said. "9-11 has ensured that we've come together formally and closes the gaps. It's a good day."
E-mail: crobinson@bhamnews.com
© 2006 The Birmingham News
© 2006 al.com All Rights Reserved.
http://www.columbiamissourian.com/news/story.php?ID=21884
Students demand answers from FBI
By Xianglin Liu
September 28, 2006
The Muslim Students Organization and Students for Progressive Action, waving signs that read “Charity is not Terrorism” and “FBI: We want answers,” vented dissatisfaction Wednesday at Speaker’s Circle over the Sept. 18 FBI search of the home of Shakir Hamoodi, a Columbia Islamic leader and charity activist.
“This is not just a Muslim issue, this is an American issue,” said Faeza Khan of the Muslim Students Organization. “We are not here to condemn the FBI. We are here to raise awareness of what has happened and what effect that can have on all MU students.”
The FBI searched Hamoodi’s home on the same day it searched the offices of Life for Relief and Development, a Muslim charity in Detroit with which Hamoodi is affiliated.
Arreya Bond of Students for Progressive Action said she will send a letter that bears approximately 200 signatures and demands an explanation for the search by the FBI. The letter was
drafted by Steve Jacobs, a member of Mid-Missouri Peaceworks.
— Xianglin Liu
.
Copyright © 2006 Columbia Missourian
http://www.kctv.com/global/story.asp?s=5476861&ClientType=Printable
FBI Joins Probe of Racist Graffiti in Sedalia
Sep 29, 2006 03:07 PM
SEDALIA, Mo. (AP) -- Sedalia Police say the FBI is helping them in their investigation of racist graffiti scrawled on property belonging two interracial couples.
Detectives say they have four possible suspects, but no arrests have been made. Those still considered suspects have agreed to take voice stress analysis, similar to a lie detector test.
FBI agents are helping with handwriting analysis, but police say the process is difficult because the graffiti was printed.
The interracial couples said racial slurs were written on a car and a house on Sept. 9th and 10th.
The property damage could be considered a hate crime if police can prove that it was racially motivated.
---
Information from The Sedalia Democrat: http://www.sedaliademocrat.com
Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.ktvn.com/dyn_fullnews.asp?area=fullTopStory&storyid=7409
Teen Who Vandalized Churches Sentenced
9/26/2006
A 19-year-old man who vandalized six Douglas County churches in June has been sentenced to four year probation.
Jonathan Walker was sentenced to probation on Monday. He’ll also have to complete 200 hours of community service.
Walker and three minors admitted to the crimes and are responsible for paying back the $7,000 it cost to clean up the mess.
On June 6, Walker and his accomplices spray painted obscenities and satanic graffiti on area churches.
Walker say it’s a prank that went too far.
If Walker violates his probations in the next four years, he’ll be sentenced to two years in the Douglas County Jail.
Found this odd article, will try to post the heart of it]
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/09/30/world/printable2053800.shtml
But authorities later said they were no longer certain the disappearance was caused by a collision with a private jet as they earlier maintained.
"During the afternoon, there was another incident with a Legacy airplane, made by Embraer," federal aviation authorities said in a statement issued early Saturday morning. "It is impossible to confirm that there is a relation between the incident which caused the (Legacy) crew to perform an emergency landing in Cachimbo and the disappearance of the Gol airplane."
Initially, authorities reported the collision was near the Serra do Cachimbo region in Para state but the Legacy managed to land at the Cachimbo base despite suffering damage. The aviation agency said the plane disappeared about 130 miles south of the city of Cachimbo, some 1,250 miles northwest of Rio de Janeiro.
The jetliner had been scheduled to make a stop in Brasilia before heading to Rio's Antonio Tom Jobim International Airport. Manaus is a major river city in the heart of the Amazon rainforest some 1,700 miles northwest of Rio.
Snipped from the article................
http://www.zaman.com/?bl=international&alt=&trh=20060928&hn=36861
http://www.zaman.com/?bl=international&alt=&trh=20060928&hn=36861
Summit Likely to Give Islam Official Status in Germany
By Yusuf Bal, Berlin
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
zaman.com
http://www.zaman.com/
The Islam Summit, organized by the Federal Ministry of the Interior in
Germany, convenes Wednesday in Berlin under the chairmanship of
Interior
Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble from the Christian Democratic Union (CDU)
party.
Some 15 institutions representing Muslims, as well as federal and local
representatives from Germany, joined the summit.
The guest list became an issue of conflict, just like in the Adaptation
Summit previously held by Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The Milli Gorus (National View) movement was not called to the summit,
whose
aim was to solve problems with Muslims in different areas.
A message to accept Islam as an official religion such as Christianity
and
Judaism is expected to be given at the summit.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1711046/posts
Woman Accused of Supporting Terror Group
AP ^ | 9/29/6 | DAISY NGUYEN
Posted on 09/29/2006 10:23:01 PM PDT by SmithL
A naturalized U.S. citizen from Iran who was found in Iraq was indicted Friday on charges of providing support to a terrorist organization that seeks to overthrow the Iranian regime, federal prosecutors said.
Zeinab Taleb-Jedi, 51, then a resident of Herndon, Va., went to Iraq in 1999 to attend a training camp run by the Mujahedin-e Khalq, or MEK, the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles said in a statement.
MEK, also known as the People's Mujahedin of Iran, and its affiliates were deemed foreign terrorist organizations by the U.S. State Department in 1997. The designations bar anyone in the United States from providing material support.
The group was founded in Iran in the 1960s and moved to Iraq in the early 1980s to base its activities against Iran's government. The group had sided with Iraq in its 1980-88 war against Iran.
The State Department says the MEK groups were funded by Saddam Hussein, supported the seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979 and are responsible for the deaths of Americans in the 1970s.
Taleb-Jedi was discovered by coalition forces at a camp called Ashraf Base about 40 miles northwest of Baghdad, the U.S. attorney's office statement said. It was unclear when.
U.S. forces took control of the camp and sent many members back to Iran on condition that they leave MEK, said Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the attorney's office.
"An investigation reveals that she played an active role at the camp," Mrozek said.
Taleb-Jedi was indicted by a federal grand jury in New York City on one count of providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization. She faces up to 15 years in federal prison if convicted.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
World War III is already started in Europe and it is not about terrorist...
Wrap: Moscow continues tough line on Georgia after officer release
19:08 | 03/ 10/ 2006
MOSCOW, October 3 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's foreign minister continued the diplomatic offensive against Georgia Tuesday in the wake of an acrimonious dispute centering on four alleged spies that were released Monday.
Sergei Lavrov accused the Georgian government of pursuing a patently anti-Russian line and announced Moscow would seek to close channels of illegal funding from Russia to Georgia because money was ultimately being used for military aims. He also said a Russian ban on travel and postal links would remain in force for the time being.
Although Tbilisi handed over the four Russian officers at the heart of the scandal Monday evening, Lavrov made it clear that Moscow saw their arrest was part of a broader strategy aimed against Moscow.
"The actions of the Georgian leadership have unquestionably become consistently anti-Russian," Lavrov told a news conference.
Since Mikheil Saakashvili came to power in Georgia on the back of the 2003 "rose revolution," both the government and parliament have visibly sought to remove Russian peacekeepers from conflict zones with two self-proclaimed republics and force the withdrawal of Russian troops from two Soviet-era bases that are due to close under agreements in 2008.
Lavrov said the espionage scandal was perfectly in line with the anti-Russian policy persistently pursued by the Georgian government in recent years.
"The officers' [case] is not even the culmination, but a reflection of the policy conducted by the Georgian leadership," he said.
Travel bans stays
With the European Union and United States appealing to both Russia and Georgia to avoid provocations in the ongoing dispute, Moscow seems likely to maintain economic sanctions against its southern neighbor.
Moscow banned Georgian wine and mineral water imports, a major source of revenue for the struggling Caucasus economy, earlier in the year. And on Monday Moscow announced it was closing travel routes to Georgia and suspending postal services. It also hinted it might suspend banking operations and money transfers between the two countries, which would hit Georgia's economy given that around 300,000 citizens of Georgia are said to work in Russia to support their families at home.
Asked Tuesday whether Russia will restore transport links with its former Soviet ally, which has a population of 5 million, Lavrov said. "Not yet."
Although the Organization for Security and Cooperation Europe officially received the freed Russian officers Monday night, Lavrov dismissed suggestions that international mediators should become involved in the dispute. He said sarcastically that third countries were already energetically involved in their relations.
"We have many times drawn the attention of those third parties, you may call them sponsors - those who supply weapons to Georgia and blocked a resolution at the UN Security Council designed to make Georgia take on obligations - to the problem," Lavrov said.
Moscow moved last week to refer the arrest of the army officers, which it dismissed as unsubstantiated from the start, to the Security Council, but the ambassador of the United States, which has provided financial aid and military training to Georgia, blocked the initiative pending, as he put it, White House approval.
Situated at the strategically important crossroads between the Caspian and Black seas, Georgia has become a subject of serious rivalry between Moscow and Washington in recent years. The U.S. has invested heavily in an oil pipeline from Azerbaijan via Georgia to Turkey and recently announced that it would provide $10 million to help Tbilisi's bid to join NATO.
Territorial issues
Lavrov also said the disputes with breakaway Abkhazia and South Ossetia were conflicts between Georgia and its regions, rather than the Russian-Georgian issues.
But he said the Georgian leader wanted to use NATO, which his country wants to join in 2008, as a cure-all for the ongoing standoffs. "It is clear now that Saakashvili's main goal is accession to NATO," Lavrov said. "He is hoping to resolve all other problems through this."
He also said Moscow had warned Western countries about the danger of conniving at the Saakashvili regime's policies with regard to Russia, its own people, and the conflicts on Georgian territory.
He pinned the blame for the persisting problems with South Ossetia and Abkhazia on Saakashvili, who he said has refused to fulfill agreements with the self-proclaimed republics. Lavrov said the country has also rejected the UN and OSCE's proposal to sign agreements not to use force while addressing problems with the breakaway regions.
"If the agreements had been honored, then the way to resolving [the problem] would have been simple," he said. "Unfortunately, all the problems are down to the Georgian side's rejection of agreements adopted earlier."
The minister said Tbilisi had backtracked on its commitment to set up a center to coordinate cooperation between law enforcement bodies of Georgia and South Ossetia in August and to resume a railroad service with Abkhazia.
Instead Georgia stepped up demands for Russian peacekeepers' withdrawal, Lavrov said, suggesting Georgia had received closer cooperation promises from NATO at the time.
The NATO foreign ministers decided in September that the alliance would step up contacts with Georgia to facilitate its bid to join the organization, whereas the U.S. promised financial support to help the country join the alliance this year.
Russia has been uneasy about its southern neighbor's NATO ambitions, which were declared by Saakashvili as a core objective for his government.
Georgia's "militarization"
Against the backdrop of Georgia continuing to build up its army and its defense minister reiterating a pledge to celebrate New Year's in the capital of breakaway South Ossetia, Lavrov said Moscow was alarmed by Georgia's militarization.
The foreign minister said the country had been purchasing large quantities of weapons financed, among other sources, by Russian criminal groups.
"They are purchasing arms in violation of regulations on the international arms market," he said, adding the weapons were mainly of Soviet or Russian origin earlier exported to countries in eastern and central Europe on contracts prohibiting re-sales to third countries.
He said Russia would not connive at the military preparations and pledged to shut down criminal channels in Russia and substantially cut the flow of illegal funds to Georgia. Just prior to the news conference, the Interior Ministry announced that it had temporarily shut down a Moscow casino that allegedly was controlled by the Georgian mafia.
Lavrov said the release of the Russian officers has not improved the situation.
"We do not want things to be as they were before, because everything was very bad," he said. "In addition to military preparations, to obvious preparations to seize South Ossetia and Abkhazia, repeated anti-Russian rhetoric and insults at the highest level, including personal insults cannot be ignored."
Although Russia resumed the withdrawal of two Soviet-era bases - another irritant for Georgia which demands their withdrawal ahead of schedule in 2008 - suspended following the arrest last week, the bases remain on high alert.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20061003/54486806.html