Free Republic

The controversy over the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed is expanding, as more Muslims join the boycott and protests against Denmark and various European newspapers decide to publish the cartoons, mostly out of solidarity with Jyllands Posten and to make a strong political stand. One issue that puzzles many Danes is the timing of this outburst. The cartoons were published in September: Why have the protests erupted from Muslims worldwide only now? The person who knows the answer to this question is Ahmed Abdel Rahman Abu Laban, a man that the Washington Post has recently profiled as “one...

Last week, Muslims marched in the centre of London chanting "Freedom go to Hell!" There could be no more graphic illustration of the paradox at the heart of the cartoon row. These protesters were exercising - and in many cases abusing - the freedom of protest and freedom of assembly that are foundation stones of British democracy. Yet, even as they exploited these hard-won liberties, they were calling for them to be abolished. This newspaper would not have published the cartoons of Mohammed at the centre of this controversy, images which we regard as vulgar and fatuously insulting. But -...

Last September, Danish author Kåre Bluitgen was set to publish a book on the Muslim prophet Muhammad, but there was just one catch: he couldn’t find an illustrator. Artistic representations of the human form are forbidden in Islam, and pictures of Muhammad are especially taboo — so three artists turned down Bluitgen’s offer..

Scouted L.I. for camp - feds The son of a former Malcolm X aide was nabbed yesterday, along with a Florida doctor, in a plot to start an Al Qaeda training camp in the U.S. - even scouting out a Long Island warehouse for a terror school, officials said last night. Tarik Shah, 38, a self-proclaimed martial arts expert from the Bronx, and Dr. Rafiq Sabir, 50, presented themselves as a "package deal" to help Muslim "brothers" wage jihad here and in the Middle East, said Manhattan U.S. Attorney David Kelley. Kelley said Shah - son of Lieutenant X, one...

A children's toy sold at a local mall is upsetting some people. It bears the picture of Osama bin Laden. Area veterans and one mother say the toy has no place under anyone's tree. It all began with a shopping trip at Mall of the Mainland in Texas City. But what was found at one store inside has ignited a chain reaction of complaints. The store sells merchandise advertised for just about a dollar, including small toys. It's attractive to a young mother on a budget. But she was startled by what she found with her son. "I was kind...

NEW YORK (AP) - An FBI informant who set himself on fire in front of the White House played a role in at least three terror investigations, court documents show. Defense attorneys said Wednesday they are re-examining Mohamed Alanssi's role in the cases against their clients, who are accused of helping fund Osama bin Laden, al-Qaida and the Palestinian group Hamas. "Ultimately what I'm heading for is a motion for dismissal," said Frank Hancock, the lawyer for Abad Elfgeeh, a Yemeni-born man accused of illegally sending millions of dollars overseas. A spokesman for U.S. Attorney Roslynn Mauskopf, who filed the...

AMSTERDAM — Film director Theo van Gogh was shot and killed in Amsterdam on Tuesday morning, his production company said. Theo van GoghBy midday, police had confirmed the film director's death, but earlier reporters at the scene say Van Gogh was shot and stabbed at the front door of the city council office on the Linnaeusstraat in Amsterdam around 9am. He managed to get to the other side of the street where he was again shot and stabbed. He died at the scene, Planet News reported. Reporters at the scene said his body was covered by a white sheet. The police said...

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - A Dutch filmmaker who had criticized the treatment of women under Islam in a movie and in newspaper columns was shot dead Tuesday outside a city government office in Amsterdam, police said Police spokeswoman Elly Florax confirmed media reports the victim was filmmaker Theo van Gogh and that a suspect had been arrested after a shootout in a local park. The suspect, who was not identified, and a police officer were injured, she said. No motive was given for the attack. Van Gogh had made headlines recently with a film critical of some elements of Islamic culture....