Free Republic

Hussain bin Ibrahim Al Hammadi, Minister of Education, and Chairman of the Federal Authority for Government Human Resources, has declared Thursday, December 24, an official holiday for the public sector to mark the birth anniversary of the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH), postponed from December 23. A circular issued by the Minister of Education stated that the decision is in implementation of the provisions of Paragraph 5, Article 100 of the Cabinet Resolution No. 13 of 2012 and regulations of the decree of Federal Law No. 11 of 2008 on human resources in the federal government and its amendments, which defines the...

An Egyptian court on Saturday sentenced ousted President Mohammed Morsi to death over his part in a mass prison break that took place during the 2011 uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak. As is customary in passing capital punishment, Judge Shaaban Shami referred his death sentence on Morsi and others to the nation's top Muslim theologian, or mufti, for his nonbinding opinion. He set June 2 for the next hearing. Morsi, Egypt's first freely elected president, was ousted by the military in July 2013 following days of mass street protests by Egyptians demanding that he be removed because of his divisive...

Saudi king vows to destroy 'devilish' Al-Qaeda WASHINGTON (AFP) -Saudi King Abdullah vowed in his first television interview as monarch to eliminate Al-Qaeda even if the battle took decades to win, condemning the terror network as "the work of the devil".Abdullah also told US channel ABC in an interview due to be broadcast later Friday that Riyadh would work to bring down oil prices whose rise he admitted had helped Saudi Arabia while damaging other countries. The new king, who took over from late half-brother Fahd in April, insisted Saudi Arabia was doing all it could to halt terror following...

Al Qaeda in Iraq says Zawahri letter is fake: Web DUBAI (Reuters) - Al Qaeda's wing in Iraq on Thursday rejected as a fabrication a letter by top group leader Ayman al-Zawahri which was issued by U.S. officials this week, according to an Internet posting. "We in Al Qaeda Organization announce that there is no truth to these claims, which are only based on the imagination of the politicians of the Black (White) House and their slaves," the group said in a statement posted on an Islamist Web site. According to the letter, released this week by U.S. intelligence officials,...

WASHINGTON - When the White House wanted to talk to its political base about a Supreme Court nominee this week, there was no doubt where to go: talk radio. Vice President Dick Cheney took the administration's case to the Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity programs, speaking simultaneously to the normally sympathetic hosts and their audiences of like-minded Republicans. A decade after Republicans credited Limbaugh with helping them win control of Congress - they called him the Majority Maker - they still look to his conservative-dominated medium for a lopsided communications edge over Democrats. Today, they count on talk radio to...

Iraq Supporters to Rebut Anti-War Rallies WASHINGTON - Military families and other defenders of the war in Iraq were claiming their turn to demonstrate, responding to a huge war protest with a rally of their own on the National Mall. Organizers hoped to draw several thousand people to their noontime event near the National Air and Space Museum. They acknowledged the rally would be much smaller than Saturday's anti-war protest in Washington but said their message would not be overshadowed. "People have been fired up over the past month, especially military family members, and they want to be heard," said...

London bombing suspect's mind ‘poisoned': widow Friday, September 23, 2005 Posted at 6:01 AM EDT Associated Press London — The mind of a suspected London suicide bomber was poisoned by contacts with radical mosques, his widow said in an interview published Friday. Samantha Lewthwaite told The Sun newspaper that her husband Jermaine Linsday had been visiting mosques in London, Luton and northern England. “How these people could have turned him and poisoned his mind is dreadful,” she was quoted as saying. “He was an innocent, naive and simple man. I suppose he must have been an ideal candidate.” Mr. Lindsay...

JTF2 in combat in Afghanistan Secretive commando unit in high gear conducting counter-insurgency operations, officials confirm CANADIAN PRESS OTTAWA — Canadian special forces soldiers in southern Afghanistan have killed Taliban and Al Qaeda rebels over dozens of operations in recent months as they work secretly in small units, military sources say. The modest contingent of troops from Joint Task Force 2 is an integral part of coalition efforts to stem the tide of insurgency that has risen since campaigning began for Sunday's parliamentary elections. JTF2 commandos have joined counterparts from the United States and some British Commonwealth countries, such as...

Students heckle Iranian president Iranian students have interrupted a speech by President Mohammad Khatami to mark Student Day at Tehran university.