Libya's Gaddafi Chosen to Lead African Union
Indian Women cross borders to rise against terror
Man gets 30 lashes for smoking on Saudi plane
Three women abduct, rape man in
Palestine-Israel: The
'Pak may become a failed state with nuclear arsenal'
To stanch spread of radical
Two soldiers beheaded in Muslim southern
New Somali president faces a difficult task
Demonstrators in Al-Shabaab-held Baidoa oppose new Somali president
Sinners, Saints and Stocks: Guided by Faith
Obama has been conveying his "respect" for the Muslim world from his Inaugural festivities onwards
OIC calls for measures against rising vandalism in
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
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By AP / ANITA POWELL Monday, Feb. 02, 2009
(
Some African leaders offered tepid praise for the choice of Gaddafi, who grabbed power in a 1969 coup. Rights groups called him a poor model for Africa at a time when democratic gains are being reversed in countries such as
Once ostracized by the West for sponsoring terrorism, Gaddafi has been trying to increase
He attended the session dressed in a gold-embroidered green robe and flanked by seven extravagantly dressed men who said they are the "traditional kings of
Gaddafi arrived at the summit Sunday with the seven men, one carrying a 4-ft. gold staff, and caused a stir when security officials did not admit them because each delegation gets only four floor passes. All seven "kings" were seated behind Gaddafi when he accepted the chairmanship.
"I think the coming time will be a time of serious work and a time of action and not words," he said.
The chairmanship of the African Union is a rotating position held by heads of state for one year and gives the holder some influence over the continent's politics but carries no real power.
Diplomats who attended the closed-door meetings in which Gaddafi was chosen said several countries vigorously opposed him, seeking alternatives from
Meetings to select the chairman are held in private. The leader is usually nominated and then chosen by consensus. AU officials would not give details of the proceedings, including which countries objected.
Even in public the reception to his appointment — and the acceptance ceremony in which he invited two of the traditional kings to speak — was measured.
"I think his time has come," Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf told the Associated Press. "He's worked for it. I think it's up to us to make sure it comes out best."
Since he seized power Gaddafi has ruled the oil-rich state with an iron hand and the often quixotic ideology laid out in his famous "Green Book," which outlines Gaddafi's anti-democratic and economic policies.
In 2007, his regime released five Bulgarian nurses and a naturalized Palestinian doctor after eight years in prison for allegedly infecting Libyan children with HIV. They were released following a deal struck by the European Union that involved payment of millions of dollars in aid to
"The Libyan government continues to imprison people for criticizing Gaddafi," said Reed Brody, a Brussels-based lawyer with Human Rights Watch who watched Gaddafi take the helm of the AU. "Hundreds more have been 'disappeared.'
The large North African country is perhaps best known for the 1988 downing of a Pan-Am flight over
The bombing prompted United Nations-imposed sanctions and breaking of diplomatic ties with
Gaddafi renounced terrorism in 2003 and
Gaddafi has also been involved in mediating the conflict in
http://www.africanews.com/site/Ethiopia_Gaddafi_is_new_AU_chairman/list_messages/22955
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By Daniel Wallis and Barry Moody – Sun Feb 1, 6:55 am ET
Delegates said that although some countries are wary of the idea, and a 2007 summit in
Gaddafi, one of the continent's longest-serving leaders, has for years pressed for a federal pan-regional government, arguing that it is essential to meet the challenges of globalization, fight poverty and resolve conflicts without Western interference.
Some leaders, including
Erastus Mwencha, deputy chairman of the African Union (AU) Commission, said the first day of the February 1-3 summit would focus on Gaddafi's proposal.
"I remain optimistic that yes, it will be a reality," he told reporters ahead of the meeting. "The question we are discussing is not whether it will be a reality, but when, and how."
Commission chairman Jean Ping said recently views on the speed of integration varied from nine to 35 years, but the continent needed to speak with a united voice to be heard in international negotiations on trade and other issues including climate change.
All 53 AU member states agree in principle with the goal of continental integration. But some -- led by economic powerhouse
"Gaddafi has given a lot of money to these leaders over the years," said one east African delegate who asked not to be named.
"VAST CHALLENGES"
"It is important to him, so they will discuss it. But the challenges of making it work, obviously, are vast."
The official theme of this week's summit at AU headquarters in
But conflict and crisis in
Delegates have been given some breathing space by positive developments in recent days in two of the most intractable problems:
Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, a moderate Islamist leader, is attending the talks after he was sworn in as
He is attending the summit in the very country whose powerful army ousted him as leader of a sharia courts movement that briefly ruled
On Friday,
AU officials say the exclusion from the summit of Mauritania and Guinea, which both suffered military coups in recent months, proved the continent had moved on from its chequered past, when leaders seldom criticized or even commented on violence and tyrannical rule.
The latest trouble has been in
Late on Saturday, AU Commission chairman
(Editing by Dominic Evans)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090201/ts_nm/us_africa_summit
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Indian Women cross borders to rise against terror
1 Feb 2009, 0329 hrs IST, TNN
SAVE conducted a workshop in
LU will conduct a research to ascertain the causes that lead to violence. The research will be carried out by
"We have just begun but in due process we wish to bring in more and more women within this initiative's fold," said Nishi Pandey, director, UGC academic staff college, LU. The university wishes to sensitise women against violence and instill in them courage to stand against it.
The women who have suffered in recent terror attacks all over the world are being given a chance to interact about their sufferings with others through this group. There is no membership that the group accords to these women. It only provides a platform through which they can talk about their losses and victimisation.
"We are not into rehabilitating these women," said Archana Kapoor, who works for SAVE in
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Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi urges
Barbara Slavin
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi appealed Monday for the Iranian government to respect human rights and encouraged the
She spoke as the State Department disclosed that a
Ebadi
Thirty years after the Iranian revolution, Ms. Ebadi, whose
"Bad is bad," she told a packed audience at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "Human rights are universal. ... What we want is the application of the international obligations of the government of
Ms. Ebadi, 61, in 2003 became the first Muslim woman to win the peace prize. A judge before the revolution, she was forced to give up her post after 1979 and turned to defending the rights of women, children and religious minorities who face discrimination under Iran's Islamic system.
The fault is not Islam, she said, but the way it has been interpreted in
"Religion has to be interpreted such that human rights can be applied," she said. "You don't find any religion that says that people can be murdered or tortured. All religions say people are created equal."
Ms. Ebadi said U.S.-Iran contacts should continue despite the arrests of Iranians who have participated in conferences with Americans about subjects as nonpolitical as the treatment of HIV/AIDS.
Americans participating in exchanges have also been harassed. Iranian security officials interrogated Glenn Schweitzer, head of the Eurasia program of the National Academies of Science, for nine hours in
Ms. Ebadi said there should be three levels of dialogue between the
President Obama, who while campaigning promised to seek direct talks with
Briefly jailed in 2000 for representing the relatives of intellectuals killed by regime vigilantes in the mid-1990s, Ms. Ebadi has faced new pressures in recent months.
In December, government-organized protesters demonstrated outside her home and office in
Despite the harassment, she said Monday that she would return to
"I'm an Iranian," she said. "I was born in
[Get Copyright Permissions] Click here for reprint permissions!
http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/feb/03/nobel-winner-urges-iran-to-change-us-to-help/
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By Soner Cagaptay
Monday, February 2, 2009; Page A13
Consider the domestic situation in
ad_icon
Then there is foreign policy. Take
The AKP's commitment to
For years,
Emerging anti-Semitism also challenges
The erosion of
Soner Cagaptay, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, is the author of "Islam Secularism and Nationalism in Modern Turkey: Who Is a Turk?"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/01/AR2009020101672.html
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Three women abduct, rape man in
3 Feb 2009, 0130 hrs IST, AGENCIES
days, and later throwing him near
The victim identified as Khalil, 23, works as a waiter at a restaurant. Khalil revealed that, on the night of January 27, an identified man ordered him to deliver food to the women sitting in a car outside the restaurant.
“After giving me the order, the man went towards the car. I took the order to the car where the women told me that they had recently shifted to the area,” the Daily Times quoted him as saying. The women then asked him to deliver food to their house every day. “They asked me to go along with them in the car to see me where their house was,” he added. Once they got to the house, “they gave me milk that had some drug in it ... I fell unconscious after drinking it”.
As he regained consciousness, Khalil found that the women “were forcing themselves onto me”. According to assistant superintendent of police Asad Raza, the women sexually assaulted Khalil for four days, and then threw him near Qayyumabad river. “His condition is really bad ... his genitals are bleeding and he cannot walk properly,” said Raza.
Raza said the women belonged to rich families of
Meanwhile, in another bizarre case in
SSP CID Police Chaudhry Aslam said incidents of robbing passengers returning home from foreign countries were on the rise. The CID, after receiving a tip-off, asked a car and two bikes’ riders to stop. However, they opened fire at the cops, who retaliated.
All four people riding the car, were arrested. One of the four accused, Khalid Amir, is a police constable, serving at Shara-e-Faisal Police Station.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Pakistan/Three_women_abduct_rape_man_in_Karachi/articleshow/4067214.cms
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Man gets 30 lashes for smoking on Saudi plane
2 Feb 2009, 1523 hrs IST, AFP
The unnamed man had refused to put out his cigarette on the flight to the Red Sea port city of
He was arrested by police when the aircraft landed in Jeddah and sentenced to 30 lashes by a local court. The man apologised and said he was attending clinic to help him stop smoking, according to the report
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Middle_East/Man_gets_30_lashes_for_smoking_on_Saudi_plane/articleshow/4064864.cms
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Mail Today Bureau
Muslim intellectuals and organisations from across the country have condemned the Uttar Pradesh Board of Madrassa Education's (UPBME) order banning girls from co-educational madrasas, terming it "Talibani high-handedness". Various organisations have called it a "fatwa inspired by Taliban" and declared that it would be unacceptable to the masses. They allege that it was a design of the anti-education elements to push Muslim society into the dark ages.
"The people will reject this decision simply because it is neither practical nor religious. It is against the masses and also against the spirit of Quran," says Dr Ali Ahmad Fatmi, head of the Urdu department of
The board finds co-education un-Islamic. Haji Rizwanul Haq, chairman of the UPBME, asked all 1,900 board-affiliated madrassas to show the doors to all girl students in and above Class IX because it was "against Sharia". This order will interrupt the education of over 25,000 girl students in the state, who will be given their school-leaving certificates and asked to sit at home.
Small consolation that girls in lower classes have been spared. "We are not going to disturb the girls from classes I to VIII. But those in higher classes wouldn't be allowed to study. Purdah is essential in Islam.
Allowing girls to continue in madrassas means defying the spirit of Islam," Haq says.
"We can follow the Islamic law only by doing away with co-education. We also want to follow it meticulously and to ensure that the madrassas follow the instruction," he adds.
Dr M.A. Siddiqi, president of the All India United Muslim Morcha, rejects the order calling it "Talibani highhandedness". "The Quran doesn't prohibit co-education.
If these people had any problems with girls, they should have ensured more schools for them before taking such an' extreme step," Siddiqui says.
Lyricist Javed Akhtar minces no words when he says, "What else can you expect from them? They should make it clear whether they want girls to be educated at all, by giving them separate madrassas." Akhtar echoes Siddiqui when he says, "Instead of first setting up separate madrasa for girls, they preferred to throw out the girls and stop their education." "Sometimes I feel that fundamentalists of all religions don't like women. Everything is done to segregate women and reduce their space.
"It's as if the responsibility of culture, tradition, morality is only with women.
Men can drink, wear western clothes, go to pubs but women can't. This attitude is common to all fundamentalists of all religions and all communities," Akhtar adds.
Shaista Amber, chairperson of All India Mulsim Mahila Personal Law Board, an advocate of appointment of women as Maulvis, says: " Such orders shouldn't be taken seriously. It is unfortunate that such people are trying to pull back the community into oblivion. How can we expect an educated family without having an uneducated woman there?" " Those who have little idea about educating our girls shouldn't be given the power to decide the fate of their education. I request responsible members of the community to ensure better educational opportunities for our girls so that they can join the mainstream of development," she adds.
Chairman of National Minorities Commission, Mohammed Shafi Qureshi, says: "Have those who had passed this order given the solution in the longer run? Where would our girls go to find all- girls institutions if they want to study engineering, medical and other professional courses? Will girls becoming doctors from our community only operate on women? Can somebody give a reply to this before passing the order? Segregation at schools will only end careers of minority women, who are already lagging in education.'' Anees Ahmed, the state minority welfare minister, under whose ministry the UPBME falls, has come out in support of the board. "I agree that after an age, girls and boys shouldn't study together. Co- education is unwise not only in Islam but also in Hinduism," he says.
Courtesy: Mail Today
http://indiatoday.digitaltoday.in/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=27121§ionid=4&issueid=91&Itemid=1
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'Pak may become a failed state with nuclear arsenal'
Press Trust Of
First Published: 10:33 IST(1/2/2009)
Last Updated: 10:38 IST(1/2/2009)
With
"
The report, titled 'Jihadism in 2009: The trends continue' and released in January, said
"Given the number of plots linked to
Slamming
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?sectionName=Cricket&id=8f915584-4389-44ee-bb3a-aae242a9565f&MatchID1=4907&TeamID1=8&TeamID2=6&MatchType1=2&SeriesID1=1238&PrimaryID=4907&Headline=%27Pak+may+become+a+failed+state+with+nuclear+arsenal%27
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The
By Elie Elhadj, author of The Islamic Shield / Special to
Feb-02-2009
For a durable solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict, the Bible and the Quran must be de-politicized. In political terms, de-politicization means a single secular democratic state for Jews and Palestinians.
Defeated in 1948, powerless and humiliated in every war since that time, Arabs took refuge in Islam.
They invoked hostile Quranic Verses (such as chapter 2: verse 65, 2:120, 5:51, 5:60, 5:78), recounted purported stories of the Prophet Muhammad's troubled relationship with the Jewish tribes in Medina (Banu Qurayza, Banu Al-Nadir, and Banu Qainuqa), and drew lessons from the symbolism of substituting Friday for the Sabbath and of changing the direction during prayer from Jerusalem to Mecca. Other Quranic verses urge jihad against Muslims enemies (2:191, 2:193, 8:60, 9:5, 9:29) and promise (2:82) the martyred the delights of paradise; wine (47:15), beautiful women (44:54), silk, brocade, and gold (18:31), etc… Combined, these verses made a jihadist's career worthwhile.
In the hands of jihadist leaders, these verses transformed political frustrations into religious crusades and the jihadists into walking bombs.
For thirteen centuries, however, these were non-issues. Hundreds of thousands of Jews lived harmoniously among Muslims in
Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, Britain's first and thus far the only person of Jewish parentage to reach the premiership (1868 and 1874-1880), described in his novel Coningsby the "halcyon centuries" during the golden age of Muslim Spain in which the "children of Ishmael rewarded the children of Israel with equal rights and privileges with themselves." Disraeli described glowingly how Muslims and Jews alike "built palaces, gardens and fountains; filled equally the highest offices of the state, competed in an extensive and enlightened commerce, and rivaled each other in renowned universities."
In 1492 the Muslim Ottoman Sultan Bayezid-II (1481-1512) encouraged great numbers of Jews to settle in the Ottoman Empire following their expulsion from
Islam venerates Judaism. Arabs believe they share a common ancestry with the Jewish people going back to the sons of Abraham, Ismail and Ishaq. The Quran praises Abraham as the first Muslim, describing Islam as the Religion of Abraham. The Quranic Chapter 14, with its 52 Verses is named after Abraham and to Joseph the Quran names Chapter 12, with its 111 Verses. Muslim men are allowed to marry Jewish women, without the need to convert them to Islam (the children must be Muslims).
Today, Jewish-derived Arabic names like Daoud, Ibrahim, Ishaq, Mousa, Sara, Sulaiman, Yacoub, Yousef, Zakariyya are common in every Arab society. [Unfortunately, this is bunk. Jews are simply the common white racist, nothing more, nothing less. - WVNS]
Politicizing the Bible politicized the Quran. A vexing religious confrontation has been created pushing the moderates among Arab Muslims into orthodoxy and the orthodox into Islamism and Jihadism.
The victory of Hamas in the January 25, 2006 parliamentary elections in the
Experience suggests that, like its previous victories,
Unless the Arab Israeli conflict is resolved politically and quickly, Islamism and Jihadism will continue on their march. Avraham Berg, speaker of
The Bible and the Quran Must be De-politicized
For a durable solution to the Arab Israeli conflict, a single democratic and secular state for Jews and Palestinians needs to evolve. A single state promises a more durable long-term solution than the two-state solution, currently in vogue. The two-state solution is inherently unstable for four reasons:
1. First, demographically, a purely Jewish state is impossible to attain. Had
The Zionist dream of creating an exclusive state for the Jewish people in
The Palestinian-Israelis are in addition to the 4.2 million Palestinians who live under
Unless the Palestinian-Israelis somehow vanish,
Apartheid regimes have short lives: Witness
2. Secondly, intractable issues stand in the way of a two-state solution:
3. Thirdly, even if a miracle patches up a two-state agreement the extremists on both sides would undermine the agreement. The extremists believe that they are divinely ordained to keep-up the struggle until they control the entirety of the land.
4. Fourthly, the Arab masses w ill shun a Zionist state. Judging from
Western democratic and secular ideals should inspire the development of a single, democratic, and secular state for Palestinians and Jews. There are three reasons in support of such a development:
1. First, the intractable obstacles that have bedeviled the two-state solution would disappear.
2. Secondly, a single state will commingle Palestinians and Jews into an inseparable mix. The Jewish settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, estimated at about half a million in more than 125 settlements, could become instruments of integration between Palestinians and Jews, not segregation; a mixture of Jews among Arabs as difficult to unscramble as removing the Palestinian Israelis from Israel. A single state would lead the Arab governments to recognize the new state. Muslims everywhere, Arabs especially, would no longer have an excuse to boycott their Jewish "cousins." Economic, cultural, educational, and social interaction would follow. The two sides would quickly learn=2 0how much they could benefit from one other.
3. Thirdly, a single state solution would allow Arabs and Jews full access to the entirety of
The secular democratic one-state solution has been gathering pace. A well attended conference by Arabs and Israelis at
Arab and Jew Can Live Together in Peace
Around the time of
During this period, 531 Palestinian villages were depopulated and 805,000 refugees lost their homes, according to Palestinian sources (650,000 to 700,000 refugees, according to Jewish sources).
Had Zionism adhered to the stipulation in the 1917 Balfour declaration: "Nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in
Durable peace and the long-term prosperity of the Jewish people in the Arab World require the genuine welcome of the Arab masses. Smart bombs and nuclear weapons cannot force Arab peoples' acceptance of a Zionist Israel. The 600,000 Jews, who had lived in Arab countries for centuries and are today a major proportion of
Whether it would be a good bargain to exchange a partial and declining Jewish exclusivity in an unstable two-state solution for a durable single state embracing Jews and Muslims is a question
In provoking the enmity of their age-old Muslim friends, Zionism has disserved the long-term interests of the Jewish people.
* Elie Elhadj is the author of Elie Elhadj, author of The Islamic Shield: Arab Resistance to Democratic and Religious Reforms, and many articles which can be read here: daringopinion.com
http://www.salem-news.com/articles/february022009/one_state_israel_2-2-09.php
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Islamic-based legislation may be a key issue in this year’s elections.
Monday February 02, 2009
With legislative elections coming in April and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono likely to form a coalition with several Islamic parties for the July presidential election, such laws could become a key campaign issue.
Although Aceh is the only province completely governed by sharia (Islamic law), more than 50 regencies in 16 of 32 provinces throughout
The form of these laws varies widely. Legislation in Padang, West Sumatra, requires both Muslim and non-Muslim women to wear headscarves, while a law in Tangerang allows women found “loitering” alone on the street after 10 p.m. to be arrested and charged with prostitution. Other laws include stipulations for Quran literacy among schoolchildren and severe punishment for adultery, alcoholism and gambling.
“Generally the legal system regulates and guarantees religious freedom of Indonesian citizens … but in reality, discrimination prevails,” a lawyer from the legal firm Eleonora and Partners told Compass.
Some regencies have adopted sharia in a way that further marginalizes minority groups, according to Syafi’I Anwar, executive director of the
“For instance, the
Freedom of religion is guaranteed by Article 29 of the country’s constitution, he added. “Therefore the government must assist all religious communities to practice their beliefs as freely as possible and take actions against those who violate that right.”
While
KPPSI has also encouraged members to vote for politicians who share their goals, according to local news agency Komintra.
‘Threatening’ Decision
In February of last year, Home Affairs Minister Mardiyanto declared that the government saw no need to nullify some 600 sharia-inspired laws passed by local governments. His announcement came after a group of lawyers in June 2007 urged the government to address laws that discriminated against non-Muslims.
Moderates were alarmed at Mardiyanto’s decision, fearing it would encourage other jurisdictions to pass similar laws. Last August, Dr. Mohammad Mahfud, newly re-elected as head of the
“[These] laws are not constitutionally or legally correct because, territorially and ideologically, they threaten our national integrity,” he told top military officers attending a training program on human rights, according to The Jakarta Post.
Mahfud contended that if
Under the 2000 Regional Autonomy Law, the central government has the power to block provincial laws but showed little willingness to do so until recently when, bowing to pressure from advocacy groups, it pledged to review 37 sharia-based ordinances deemed discriminatory and at odds with the constitution.
Such reviews are politically sensitive and must be done on sound legal grounds, according to Ridarson Galingging, a law lecturer in
“Advocates of sharia-based laws will stress the divine origin of sharia and resist challenges [that are] based on constitutional or human rights limits,” he told The Jakarta Post. “They maintain that sharia is authorized directly by God, and political opposition is viewed as apostasy or blasphemy.”
Empowering Vigilantes
A national, sharia-inspired bill regulating images or actions deemed pornographic sparked outrage when presented for a final vote in October last year. One fifth of the parliamentarians present walked out in protest, leaving the remainder to vote in favour of the legislation.
The bill provided for up to 15 years of prison and a maximum fine of US$1.5 million for offenders.
“This law will only empower vigilante groups like the Islamic Defender’s Front (FPI),” Eva Sundari, a member of the Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP) told reporters. FPI is widely-regarded as a self-appointed moral vigilante group, often raiding bars and nightclubs, but also responsible for multiple attacks on churches.
“Many of the members are preparing for elections and looking for support among the Islamic community,” she added. “Now they can point to this law as evidence that they support Islamic values.”
Although several Golkar Party politicians support sharia-based laws, senior Golkar Party member Theo Sambuaga has criticized politicians for endorsing such legislation to win support from Muslim voters. Several major parties openly back sharia laws, including the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), the United Development Party, and the Crescent Star party.
Key Election Issue
Sharia-based laws may become an even hotter election issue this year as a change to the voting system means more weight will be given to provincial candidates.
Political analysts believe Yudhoyono must form a coalition with most if not all of the country’s Islamic parties in order to win a majority vote against the Golkar party, allied for this election with former president Megawati Sukarnoputri’s PDIP.
The coalition Yudhoyono could form, however, likely would come with strings attached. As Elizabeth Kendal of the World Evangelical Alliance wrote in September 2008, “The more the president needs the Islamists, the more they can demand of him.”
In 2004, Yudhoyono partnered with the NU-sponsored National Awakening Party, the National Mandate Party (founded by the Islamic purist organization Muhammadiyah) and the PKS to achieve his majority vote. Analysts predict PKS will again be a key player in this election.
Few realize, however, that PKS draws its ideology from the Muslim Brotherhood, a group formed in
The Brotherhood took root at a university in
Since then, PKS has gained widespread support and a solid reputation for integrity and commitment to Islamic values. Simultaneously, however, PKS leaders are vocal supporters of Abu Bakar Ba’asyir, leader of the terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI).
Sadanand Dhume, writing in the Far Eastern Economic Review, says the two organizations have much in common. In its founding manifesto, PKS calls for the creation of an Islamic caliphate. Unlike JI, however, “the party can use its position in Parliament and its … network of cadres to advance the same goals incrementally, one victory at a time.”
http://compassdirect.org/en/display.php?page=lead&lang=en&length=long&idelement=5783
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To stanch spread of radical
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia—Alarmed to find that detainees are emerging from the Guantanamo Bay prison camp and other U.S. detention centers more devoted than ever to radical Islam, Saudi Arabia is offering counseling, financial aid and even matchmaking to pull young militants away from terrorism.
To keep the former detainees from deep-pocketed militant recruiters, Saudi officials have treated them to perks that have included new cars, resort stays, job placement and help in finding brides. They've also exposed them to moderate clerics and reminded them of Islam's restrictive rules for waging holy war, or jihad.
Saudi officials said the goal is to stop the proliferation of radical ideology that they said is bred in prisons and on the Internet. The ideology has flourished at
"When you associate with those guys, you become one of them," said Mansour al Turki, the Saudi government's security spokesman.
The multimillion-dollar rehabilitation program is available to most Saudis who've been accused of terrorism-related crimes, and officials estimate that as many as 2,000 have participated in the program since its inception in 2004.
The program pays special attention to those released from the
The
The Interior Ministry here said 65 Saudis have been released from
Counselors in
Distracting former detainees with new jobs and marriages helps Saudi authorities keep them out of trouble and away from vengeance missions.
"People still kill each other for revenge, you know, and it's part of the custom," Turki said. "It's no good for a man to be treated in that situation and just go back and sit at home. ... If you do not actually get involved at least in the beginning of their life, then there might be actually somebody who could take advantage of this and recruit them again for terrorism."
Researchers monitor all the program's cases for common threads they've used to profile a "typical" Saudi militant: born to a middle- or upper-class family, educated past high school, in his 20s and single. His No. 1 role model is al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, a fellow Saudi; he's highly knowledgeable about Islam; and he uses the Internet to communicate with like-minded Muslims across the globe.
The U.S.-led war in
"In
That's why the program enlists counselors such as Sheik Mohamed al Nejeimi. He's one of 100 state-backed clerics who counter radical teachings with moderate passages from the Quran, Islam's holy book. The detainees pepper Nejeimi with easy questions such as when jihad is valid or how to fight tyranny within the framework of Islam.
But he said there's one frequently asked question that always stumps him: "Why did you let us go to Afghanistan to fight the Russians then, but won't let us go there now to fight the Americans in similar conditions?" The government's reply is that jihad should be in the interest of one's homeland. Fighting the secular Soviets in the 1980s was permissible; fighting
Critics of the rehabilitation program say the
Reform activists said the program will fail until it addresses how the kingdom's stifling social conditions, intractable monarchy and powerful religious establishment contribute to Islamist extremism.
"Most of those who were detained in
Eager to highlight a success story, Saudi security officials recently introduced journalists to a short, wiry man they said had been detained at
Abu Suleiman said that when he was 20 years old and impressionable, he was recruited into a militant cell in the
In his four years at
Instead, Saudi authorities enrolled him in the then-nascent rehabilitation program and offered him a monthly stipend of $800. He's among 750 of the 2,000 graduates to be fully released and back in society.
Abu Suleiman jokes that his last vestige of
"I was shocked by the good treatment," Abu Suleiman said. "They make it easy for me to forget what happened in
http://www.idahostatesman.com/1425/story/653036.html
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Two soldiers beheaded in Muslim southern
Mon Feb 2, 200
BANGKOK, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Suspected Muslim rebels killed and then decapitated two Thai paramilitary rangers on Monday in the Muslim-majority far south, which has been plagued by five years of separatist unrest, police said.
"They were both shot dead while they were riding out of the village and were then decapitated," a policeman, who did not wish to be identified, told Reuters.
The head of one of the soldiers, a Muslim, was removed from the scene, while that of his Buddhist colleague was burnt along with his body and motorbike, the officer said.
There was no claim of responsibility, a feature common to all the attacks that have claimed more than 3,000 lives in
The region abutting the Malaysian border was a Muslim sultanate until annexed by predominantly Buddhist Bangkok a century ago. Since then it, has been plagued by intermittent unret.
The majority of the population are Muslim and Malay-speaking, and have few links to the rest of
The violence has ranged from drive-by shootings and bombings or beheadings, and appears to target both Buddhist and Muslims associated with the Thai state. Police, soldiers, government officials and teachers are frequent victims.
Since the unrest erupted in 2003, the rebels have never revealed themselves publicly or claimed responsibility for the violence, which has remained limited to the rubber-producing region.
There have been no signs of links to international militant networks such as Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda or its regional affiliates. (Reporting by Papitchaya Boonngok; Editing by Ed Cropley and Sanjeev Miglani)
http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSBKK405634
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By by Our correspondent
ISLAMABAD: The Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) is organising a roundtable conference on ‘Future Agenda of Change — Islam and West’ here tomorrow (Tuesday) to deliberate on the changes on the world political horizon in general and in Pakistan in particular, The News learnt here on Sunday.
The ambassadors of various countries (Islamic and others) based in Islamabad as well as eminent scholars and foreign policy experts of the country would attend the conference to be held at the auditorium of the CII.
“Changes are imminent on the global political scene after takeover of the
The CII chairman said that the main objective of the conference is to calculate the viewpoints of the political, religious and other quarters in the country because all of them have their own views on various issues.
“The conference will also discuss as to what sort of relations the country should have with its neighbours, particularly Afghanistan and India,” Professor Dr Khalid Masood said, “This will also be deliberated whether we should solicit opinion on various issues from outside the country or not and whether foreign dictates should be accepted or not,” he added.
http://www.thenews.com.pk/print1.asp?id=160342
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New Somali president faces a difficult task
Sheikh Sharif Ahmed
February 1, 2009, 13:40
Unless President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, 42, starts to deliver on his pledges soon, the promise of a bright new chapter in Somali history will flounder, like the 14 other attempts to form a unity government since a dictator was ousted in 1991.
"To the extent that any Somali can reunite the country under the existing situation, his choice is a good one. The challenges remain enormous and clan politics will not go away,“ said David Shinn, a Horn of Africa expert and former
Establishing some security fast is a must. Government troops and some 3,500 African peacekeepers control little more than a few blocks of the capital
The African Union expects to bolster its force as countries commit during a summit of African leaders in
Some analysts and Ahmed’s aides worry that creating a U.N. force would be counterproductive because it could be seen as Western interference and encourage those who fought invading troops from
"If the international community over-reaches again and sends foreign troops, any possible chance for success will be undermined,“ said
More important in the short-term will be tackling an array of Islamist insurgents. Ahmed hopes the promise of peace, a steady wage and the chance of an education can lure many of the young fighters into a national security force.
Analysts say his record as chairman of the Islamic Courts Union in
Shinn said al Shabaab had internal rifts -- which Ahmed’s aides hope will now widen -- and that many young fighters were opportunists who could be persuaded to switch sides.
CASH INJECTION NEEDED
But to keep any fighters on board they will need to be paid, and that will require injections of cash from outside so a 10,000-strong police force can be established. Ahmed also plans to employ experienced former generals and military officers.
Mark Schroeder,
Ahmed will also need to woo the more hardline opposition Islamists who were strong in the Islamic Courts Union and are in exile in
Getting
"The tent Sheikh Sharif will preside over will have to be wide and deep, and consciously include genuine representatives of all clans, ideologies and regions,“ said Prendegast.
The first hurdle will be choosing a prime minister with nationwide respect that placates the semi-autonomous northern region of Puntland, which has so far refused to back Ahmed.
Ahmed’s party includes various clans and he would ultimately like to create a meritocracy, not necessarily bound by strict rules that now dictate the clan composition of government.
But Somali political realities mean the prime minister will almost certainly be a member of the Darod clan, and one who placates the sub-clan of former President Abdullahi Yusuf.
He will also need to appease members of the previous government who did not want an Islamist president.
"A broad-based unity government could isolate al-Shabaab,“ said Shinn. "The question is whether Sheikh Sharif can create a broad based government.“
Besides ending violence, forging peace with
Ahmed’s aides say delivering results on these will be crucial to show Somalis the government is making a difference.
This will require massive investment. The
And Shinn said getting support from wealthy Arab nations may be crucial to the government’s success.
Ahmed’s Islamist roots may prove to be an advantage. Aides say
"It’s very important that we give an injection to this new hope,“ said Abdirasak Aden, a senior political adviser to Ahmed.
"Our vision is that
http://www.welt.de/english-news/article3128612/New-Somali-president-faces-a-difficult-task.html
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Demonstrators in Al-Shabaab-held Baidoa oppose new Somali president
www.chinaview.cn 2009-02-02
Somali Islamist militants of a coalition of four insurgent groups parade on the outskirts of the Somali capital
Somali Islamist militants of a coalition of four insurgent groups parade on the outskirts of the Somali capital
BAIDOA,
Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed, leader of the opposition
The demonstrators carried placards and posters and chanted slogans against the new administration which they accused of departing Islamic Sharia law in favour of a secular constitution.
Although none of the senior leaders of Al-Shabaab were present, officials of the group who spoke at the rally in the local Stadium said they were opposed to any government which is not implementing Sharia law in
The group took over the town of
Al-Shabaab, which has not yet officially opposed the election of Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed as president, was against the Djiboutipeace process which resulted in a power-sharing deal between the Somali transitional government and the ARS.
"We cannot accept a secular constitution with which the new government wants to rule our country. We will keep fighting until the Sharia Islamic law is implemented in
Speakers vowed to confront any attempt by the new administration to impose "non-Islamic laws" in the country" and accused the new president of siding with "the enemy and collaborators".
Since his election, the new Somali president has received strong support from a number of towns and cities in the south and center of
This is the first rally against the new president in Al-Shabaabheld areas.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-02/02/content_10753008.htm
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'I'm not afraid'
Last Updated: Tuesday, 3 February 2009, 10:10 GMT
They say they will introduce Sharia law in the city.
Marian Zeila, chairperson of the Somali Media Women's Association, based in the city, give her views on the takeover.
I'm concerned that the al-Shabab militants will prevent me from carrying out the work I do here in Baidoa - fighting gender-based violence.
The fact that al-Shabab are bringing in Sharia law doesn't really worry me.
Sharia law is a part of Islam, it's in the Koran. But it's their interpretation of the law that I disagree with.
They are turning Islam into a harsh religion, which I don't believe it actually is.
My organisation is trying to empower women who suffer domestic violence - and I don't think al-Shabbab will like us encouraging women to speak out.
I am not angry with them yet, but I do wonder what effect their presence will have on the women of Baidoa.
From talking to other women, it's my impression that civil society groups here are not happy with al-Shabab.
I haven't been to work since al-Shabab took over Baidoa.
Everything seems calm at the moment, but I plan to stay at home for another four days until I can be sure that it's safe to go to work.
I did go out briefly today to the centre of town to do some shopping.
I would say that today the atmosphere in Baidoa is relatively good - I saw women and children out in the streets, they were walking around freely.
I am not afraid of al-Shabab and I don't think people in Baidoa fear them.
Wait and see
I saw members of al-Shabab around town carrying guns today. They look incredibly young.
I know that they have encouraged teenagers in Baidoa to join their movement, but they are not forcing anyone.
People working for the transitional government in Baidoa are staying indoors.
Al-Shabab have promised they will not harm them, but it remains to be seen whether this is the case.
While the transitional government was in charge there was insecurity in Baidoa, they were unable to protect civilians.
At least the al-Shabab have restored stability - for the time being.
I am 23 and I got married just one month ago.
If things stay calm in Baidoa, my husband and I will stay here. But we want to wait and see how this goes. Nobody knows what al-Shabab are planning to do."
http://news.myjoyonline.com/international/200902/25875.asp
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Sinners, Saints & Stocks: Guided by Faith
Investors following Islamic and conservative Christian ideals have their faith to thank for avoiding the rocky performance of financial stocks over the past year.
02/02/09 - 11:39 AM EST
Investors following Islamic and conservative Christian ideals have their faith to thank for avoiding the rocky performance of financial stocks over the past year.
Islamic investing follows the laws of Sharia, or the laws of Islam. Generally speaking, whatever the Koran forbids a Muslim to do -- for example, drink alcohol, eat pork or gamble -- is also off limits to Islamic investors. Giving, taking and writing down a contract with interest is also prohibited, meaning no companies involved in financial services or mortgages or anything along those lines.
Monim Salaam, director of Islamic investing and portfolio manager of the Amana Funds, says his income fund avoids interest-bearing instruments by instead going after stocks that pay high dividends. The approach has won his funds five-star ratings from Morningstar.
Conservative Christian investors have avoided some of the investment houses, due to their financial backing of certain community groups supportive of homosexuals, says Jay Peroni, author of Faith Based Millionaire.
Peroni admits that some of the corporate policies are necessary to comply with the law. For instance, if the law requires companies to extend health care benefits to same-sex partners, Peroni won't hold it against them. But if a company goes beyond the basics that the law requires of it, he will count that as hostile to the pro-family agenda. He notes Aflac (AFL Quote - Cramer on AFL - Stock Picks) features many abortion foes among its top executives and its corporate policies like flexible schedules are very pro-family, making the insurer an attractive investment to like-minded Christians.
Peroni prefers companies that avoid cultural wars. For example, several financial companies are listed as corporate sponsors of the national gay and lesbian chamber of commerce. Wal-Mart (WMT Quote - Cramer on WMT - Stock Picks) supported the organization at one time, but no longer does after a Christian backlash.
Both Salaam and Peroni believe their style of investing will benefit from the current level of distrust by investors. Scandals from the likes of money managers Bernie Madoff, Nicholas Cosmo and Arthur Nagel have all lost investors thousands of dollars and even life savings.
Peroni assists his clients with incorporating their beliefs into their financial planning. Free sites like MoralMoney highlight potential advisors and provide free screening tools and subscription sites like IW Financial provide professionals with additional data collection, Peroni says.
"I see more and more people now losing trust in individuals and corporations," Peroni says.
http://www.thestreet.com/story/10461362/2/sinners-saints-stocks-guided-by-faith.html
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Al-Kandari also said the executive authority should address the problems of expatriate workers, especially human trafficking because this was the main reason why
Al-Hujailan, on the other hand, called on the concerned authorities to quickly take concrete steps to address the economic crisis. He also emphasized the need to hold all those behind the collapse of some companies accountable, asserting these companies have incurred huge losses due to the negligence of their boards of directors, not the global financial meltdown. “We should support companies facing real economic problems provided their assets are safe. However, some companies will not survive even if they obtain support from the government due to their administrative problems. In this case, we should evaluate the assets, investment portfolios, and behavior of the administrators of these companies to find appropriate solutions to the problem,” Al-Hujailan opined.
On the grilling of HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, Al-Hatlani agreed that MPs have the right to grill erring ministers but is not good for the country if the parliamentarians will grill the premier due to controversies surrounding the Dow Chemical deal. “The timing is not right, especially since the Parliament is now close to passing the Private Sector Labor Law. An investigative committee has been formed, which represents the opinion of all MPs, so we should respect it and wait for its report on the issue,” he added.
Meanwhile, Speaker of the Parliament Jassem Al-Khorafi said he will nominate former MP Abdulaziz Al-Adasani as head of the Audit Bureau in the parliamentary session on Feb 10, adding he believes a majority of parliamentarians support this nomination despite a few holdouts.
Meanwhile, five parliamentarians on Sunday presented a draft bill requiring the government to ‘purchase’ the consumer loans of citizens and reschedule payments.
The proponents of the bill — MPs Dr Daifallah Buramiya, Ali Al-Deqbasi, Saleh Ashour, Abdullah Al-Fahma and Saadoun Al-Otaibi — said in the explanatory note “the economic condition of citizens with unpaid consumer loans has worsened and the magnitude of this problem is beyond the government’s procedures and abilities”. They went on to add that the Needy Fund, set up in 2007 with a value of KD 300 million to help citizens pay their debts, has only assisted 8000 of the 275,000 borrowers. These MPs felt duty-bound to look to other means to help the citizens, especially as the whole world is still grappling with the economic crisis.
Article One of the bill states that it is incumbent upon the government to purchase the consumer loans of citizens obtained from banks and investment companies, not exceeding KD 70,000 per borrower.
This move will cancel all interests on the loans as the government will reschedule payment. Borrowers should then pay the loans monthly for 15 years. They can also define the period of payment but salary deductions should not be more than 25 percent of the borrower’s monthly salary.
Article Three prohibits banks and investment companies from granting loans with interests, which should be replaced with Sharia-compliant loans.
Article Four stipulates the transformation of the banking system to Sharia-compliant methods which, the parliamentarians claim, will be more successful and secure and is being adopted by the West due to the current economic downturn.
As for banks rejecting the Islamic system, they can construct affiliated branches or companies that provide Sharia-compliant services.
The bill also specified the ceiling for citizens loans, which should not be more than 15 times the borrower’s salary and monthly payments should not be more than 50 percent of the salary or pension.
Article Six defines the loan payment procedures by the government to banks and companies operating according to the Islamic Sharia. Citizens benefiting from this bill are permitted to take other loans according to the tenets of Islamic Sharia as long as the monthly installment will not exceed 50 percent of the salary. The bill also obligates the government to rehire Kuwaitis who have been dismissed from their jobs due to their failure to pay their debts and were either imprisoned or chased by security forces and thus failed to go to work. Article Nine excludes ministers, parliamentarians and their first relatives from being beneficiaries of this law. Money required to execute this bill will be taken from the state’s general reserves and loans paid by citizens will be returned to these reserves. Bouramiya said the discussion on any draft bill for writing off consumer loans was postponed to collect more signatures, indicating he has, so far, collected 24 signatures.
By Dahlia Kholaif and Abubakar A. Ibrahim
Arab Times Staff
http://www.arabtimesonline.com/client/pagesdetails.asp?nid=28042&ccid=9
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The new American President has been conveying his "respect" for the Muslim world from his Inaugural festivities onwards
GAFFNEY: S-U-B-M-I-S-S-I-O-N
Frank Gaffney
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
COMMENTARY:
How appropriate that Barack Obama featured Aretha Franklin in his Inaugural festivities since her signature song is "Respect." Literally from the moment she finished belting out "My Country 'Tis of Thee" on Jan. 20, the new president has been conveying his "respect" the Muslim world. Unfortunately, the way he practices it seems to be spelled S-U-B-M-I-S-S-I-O-N.
Several observers have noted in recent days that Mr. Obama's outreach to the Muslim world is not only defensive and apologetic. It explicitly embraces a narrative that is factually erroneous and deprecating to his own country.
For example, in his Inaugural address, the president spoke of seeking "a new way forward [with the Muslim world], based on mutual interest and mutual respect." He amplified this idea during his first post-Inaugural interview, which was granted to a Saudi-owned network, Al Arabiya: He is determined to "restore" the "same respect and partnership
The problem with this formulation is that it misrepresents the more distant as well as the recent past, even as it panders to those (abroad and at home) who would blame the
The president also told Al Arabiya that: "My job is to communicate the fact that the
For good measure, the new president described America as a country of "Muslims, Christians, Jews" and others - a presumably intentional upgrading of adherents to the faith of his father, Islam, from the second place position he accorded them in his State of the Union address several days before. (The rankings of both orderings obviously reflect something other than demographics; there are far fewer Muslims than Christians in the
Mr. Obama has also seriously mischaracterized our enemy as "a far-reaching network of violence and hatred," averring "We cannot paint with a broad brush a faith as a consequence of the violence done in that faith's name." Such statements deliberately ignore the animating and unifying role in jihad of authoritative Islam's violent and hateful theo-political-legal program: Shariah.
What is really worrying is that Mr. Obama's actions and rhetoric are almost certainly being perceived by his target audience as evidence not of respect but of subservience - precisely what Islam (literally, "submission" in Arabic) requires of all of us, Muslims and non-Muslims, alike. Consider the following:
c Mr. Obama has made no secret of his desire to cultivate improved relations with the mullahs of
c According to GeostrategyDirect.com, a newsletter published by The Washington Times' ace national security reporter Bill Gertz, "Diplomatic sources said Barack Obama has engaged several Arab intermediaries to relay messages to and from al Qaeda in the months before his elections as the 44th
If surrender in Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran were not enough, upcoming opportunities for Mr. Obama to exhibit American submission to Islam include ordering U.S. participation in the United Nations' "Durban II" conference - thereby legitimating its Iranian-dictated, rabidly anti-Israel, anti-American, Holocaust-denying and "Islamophobia"-banning agenda; adopting the program for undermining Israel promoted by longtime Friends-of-Barack Rashid Khalidi and Samantha Power (the latter just appointed a senior National Security Council official); and reversing the FBI's long-overdue decision to end its association with the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), a prominent front organization of the Muslim Brotherhood (whose stated mission is "to destroy America from within.")
Whatever Barack Obama's intentions, the kind of "respect" he is exhibiting toward Shariah-adherent Muslims will surely be seen by them as submission. And that spells only one thing: D-I-S-A-S-T-E-R.
Frank J. Gaffney Jr. is president of the Center for Security Policy and a columnist for The Washington Times.
http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/feb/03/s-u-b-m-i-s-s-i-o-n/
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OIC calls for measures against rising vandalism in
OIC expressed "concerns about the rising of vandalism targeting holy places and shrines of Muslims in
Tuesday, 03 February 2009 07:15
World Bulletin / News Desk
A spokesman of the OIC Observatory on Islamophobia expressed "concerns about the rising of vandalism targeting holy places and shrines of Muslims in
OIC said in a statement on its website, "mosques was desecrated and the monuments of famous figures of the Crimean Tatar people erected in Crimean towns as well as gravestones in cemeteries were destroyed and defaced by extremists".
He said that "such deplorable activities are beyond all accepted norms of civilized behaviour and would pose threat to inter communal peace and harmony in the society."
The spokesman "called for immediate strong measures to be taken by the authorities against the perpetrators of such extremist and hateful acts who are common enemies to the entire international community and to put an end to such incidents."