http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,297981,00.html
Man Wanted in Oregon Terror Camp Plot Extradited From Czech Republic
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
PRAGUE, Czech Republic — A Lebanese-born Swede wanted on suspicion of plotting to set up a terrorist camp in Oregon was extradited to the United States on Tuesday, officials said.
Czech Justice minister Jiri Pospisil ruled on Sept 18 there was no reason to refuse a U.S. extradition request for Oussama Kassir, spokeswoman Zuzana Kuncova said.
Kassir was arrested on Dec. 11, 2005, at Prague’s Ruzyne international airport while flying from Stockholm, Sweden, to Beirut, Lebanon. The United States requested his extradition in February 2006.
The U.S. complaint alleges that Kassir and others conspired to establish a training camp for holy war, or jihad, in Bly, Ore. According to the complaint, Kassir and others wanted to set up the camp to teach military-style methods so a community of Muslims could move to Afghanistan to fight or receive further training there.
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http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,297982,00.html
Iran Does Far Worse Than Ignore Gays, Critics Say
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s seemingly ridiculous claim that “we don’t have homosexuals, like in your country” masks the cruel reality that his government does far worse than ignore gays, human rights groups charge.
“There are criminal laws on the books in Iran that allows for people to be killed for being homosexual,” said Paula Ettelbrick, executive director of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission.
Just how many gays may have been killed — some say the figure is more than 400 — is impossible to determine. But Ahmadinejad’s flip follow-up answer to the question posed to him Monday at Columbia University — “We do not have this phenomenon. I don’t know who has told you that we have” — suggests he won’t take the issue seriously.
Human rights groups have long railed against the Iranian government’s persecution of gays, which Ettelbrick calls “a campaign by the government to draw attention to the risks of people expressing their sexuality.” Some believe that repression has only worsened since Ahmadinejad became president.
“When I first heard his comments yesterday, I laughed,” said Arsham Parsi, founder of the Toronto-based Iranian Queer Organization.