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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1812932/posts

“Sharia gangs roam streets of capital city to enforce their law with threats”
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article1620554.ece ^

Posted on 04/05/2007 10:34:09 PM PDT by bruinbirdman

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “Shiraz Ahmed was tending his music store in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, when a group of 15 bearded young men walked in bearing bamboo poles and a chilling message.

Politely but firmly, they instructed him to take down the colourful array of Bollywood and bhangradance tunes on display and to restrict his business to Islamic music.

“They told me I had to change my business,” said Mr Ahmed, 25, whose family has run the store for 15 years. “I am so confused. I don’t know what to do.”

Until last week he might not have worried about these men from Islamabad’s Lal Masjid (Red Mosque). After all, his shop is legal and within walking distance of Pervez Musharraf’s presidential palace.

But this was just one of several signs in the past ten days that a creeping campaign to “Talebanise” Pakistan has spread from tribal areas on the Afghan border right to the heart of the capital. And to judge from the Government’s response, even here it is reluctant to confront the radical clerics who openly preach jihad (holy war) and defy the writ of the state.”

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “Creeping influence

— Leaflets distributed to barbers in the North of Pakistan last month said that growing a beard was an Islamic practice. Barbers no longer offer to shave patrons

— Militants destroyed CDs of Urdu, English and Indian films at a video shop in Bannu, northern Pakistan, in February

— Zil-e-Huma, a woman Punjabi minister, was killed in February by a vigilante because “she was leading an unIslamic life and spreading an evil influence over other women”

— A report by International Crisis Group this month said that madrassas were breeding religious militants

— In Tank, in the North West Frontier Province, the Taleban were discovered recruiting students at a boy’s school. The school head confronted them and was kidnapped the next day”

ON THE NET...

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=srilanka

http://www.satp.org
http://www.saag.org

http://www.saag.org/searchb10.asp?search=sri+lanka&searchtype=all&B1=Submit

Note: The following text is a quote:

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_3011.html

Travel Warning
United States Department of State
Bureau of Consular Affairs
Washington, DC 20520

This information is current as of today, Thu Apr 05 2007 23:37:11 GMT-0700.

SRI LANKA

April 05, 2007

This Travel Warning provides updated security information and alerts American citizens traveling to or living in the northern and eastern areas of Sri Lanka of the heightened potential for terrorist actions, including attacks against civilians. While most of the rest of the country remains largely unaffected, the Department continues to warn Americans against traveling to areas in the North and East of the country given the dangers caused by the ongoing fighting between LTTE, other armed groups, and Sri Lankan military forces. This situation is likely to continue for some time. This supersedes the Travel Warning for Sri Lanka dated October 23, 2006.

The Department of State alerts American citizens to the dangers posed by recent acts of terrorism throughout Sri Lanka, and warns against travel to the most seriously affected regions. Although there is no specific indication that American citizens or institutions are targets, there is a general risk of American citizens being victims of violence simply by being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Politically motivated assassinations have taken place throughout Sri Lanka, including several in the Colombo area. In many cases, these assassinations involve the use of fragmentation bombs. American citizens in Sri Lanka should be aware of their personal surroundings and follow good security practices. Americans should avoid large crowds or public gatherings and should particularly stay away from political rallies and military bases in Sri Lanka.

Since mid-2006, bombings, political assassinations and other acts of terrorism have occurred in Sri Lanka, including the capital, Colombo. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE) and Sri Lankan military forces continue fighting in the North and East of Sri Lanka.

The areas in the North and East are of special concern. These areas are defined as the regions north of a line following the highway from Puttalam through Anuradhapura to Polonaruwa, Bibile and Pottuvil. The Department of State warns U.S. citizens that travel to these areas and into any LTTE-controlled territory may pose severe hazards. Official travel by U.S. Government personnel to these areas is restricted, and unofficial travel is prohibited. In March 2007 the U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka sustained a minor injury just after a Sri Lankan military helicopter he was traveling in landed at a military base in Batticaloa. The Ambassador was not the specific target of the LTTE attack. We have no indication at this time of a threat to tourist areas in the Cultural Triangle, including territory around Anaradhapura and Polonnoruwa.

In areas outside of the North and East, Sri Lankan nationals have been the targets of assassinations and bombings. On October 18, the LTTE targeted a Sri Lankan naval facility in Galle, on the southwest coast. On March 26, 2007, the Katunayake Air Force Base in Colombo came under attack from LTTE aircraft, causing the adjacent Bandaranaike International Airport briefly to curtail operations. Foreign tourists were not the objects of the attacks and none were injured.

Americans should comply with all instructions from security forces and police when traveling in Sri Lanka. American citizens, including those of Sri Lankan origin, living in Sri Lanka or traveling there for even a few days are strongly urged to register with the Embassy. Registration will allow the embassy to provide direct information on the security situation as necessary. Registration is done on-line and can be done in advance of travel at https://travelregistration.state.gov/ibrs/ . Information on registering can also be found at the Embassy website: http://srilanka.usembassy.gov or at the Department of State’s Consular Affairs website: http://travel.state.gov/travel/tips/registration/registration_1186.html .

As the Department continues to develop information on any potential security threats to U.S. citizens overseas, it shares credible threat information through its consular information documents, available on the Internet at http://travel.state.gov . In addition to information on the Internet, travelers may obtain up-to-date information on security conditions by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll-free in the U.S. and Canada or, outside the U.S. and Canada, on a regular toll line at 1-202-501-4444.

IN THE USA...

UPDATE:

“PRO-KHOMEINI IMAM TO PRAY BEFORE TEXAS SENATE ‘Moderate’ scheduled to deliver today’s invocation participated in ayatollah tribute”
(April 4, 2007)

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55031

http://www.senate.state.tx.us/avarchive/ramav.php?ram=00003242

http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55049

“Texas Senate prayer excludes Christians
Pro-Khomeini imam seeks protection from ‘those who have lost the way’”
Posted: April 5, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “A controversial Texas imam who at one point participated in a “tribute to the great Islamic visionary” Ayatollah Khomeini, has offered a prayer to open the state Senate that excluded both Christians and Jews.

“Oh, Allah, guide us to the straight path, the path of those whom you have favored, not of those who have earned your wrath or of those who have lost the way,” prayed Imam Yusuf Kavakci of the Dallas Central Mosque.

Islam, of course, teaches that Jews and Christians both have earned the wrath of Allah by failing to follow Islam, and also have lost the way by following the teachings of the Torah for the Jews or the Bible for Christians.”