Sweetheart deal for jihadists: Pakistan's envoy to Afghanistan released in exchange for 55 Taliban jihadists (one former Gitmo inmate) and 20 million rupees

Almost as lopsided a deal as Nolan Ryan, Leroy Stanton, Frank Estrada and Don Rose for Jim Fregosi. Or Paul O'Neill and Joe DeBerry for Roberto Kelly. Or maybe Rico Carty for Jim Panther. Or Manny Trillo, Julio Franco, George Vukovich, Jay Baller, and Jerry Willard for Von Hayes. Shoeless Joe Jackson for Braggo Roth, Ed Klepfer and Larry Chappell. Jay Buhner, Rich Balabon and Troy Evers for (arrrrgh) Ken Phelps.

"Pakistani militants savor a sweet deal," by Syed Saleem Shahzad for Asia Times, May 20 (thanks to the Constantinopolitan Irredentist):

KARACHI - Pakistani authorities claim that no deal was made regarding the release at the weekend of the country's envoy to Afghanistan, Tariq Azizuddin, who had been in the captivity of the Pakistani Taliban for three months.

But this is pure fantasy. There certainly was a deal, orchestrated by pro-al-Qaeda Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, and far from indicating any move on the part of the militants to negotiate, they are expected to launch more and more attacks on Pakistan to build up pressure and minimize Islamabad's role in the United States-led "war on terror".

To underscore this, a suicide bomber on Sunday killed 11 people and wounded 22 at a market in Mardan close to a Pakistani military camp in North-West Frontier Province.

On Saturday, Islamabad freed 55 Taliban militants ranging in importance and also paid a sum of 20 million Pakistani rupees (US$287,000) to the militants. In turn, Azizuddin, who had been abducted in Khyber Agency, and dozens of Pakistani security officials were released by the militants.

The freed Taliban included the top commander from eastern Afghanistan, Mufti Yousuf, who had been arrested in Peshawar in Pakistan by a team of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and who was being held in detention at the IB's Karachi's office. Muslim Dost, a former Guantanamo Bay prisoner who was in the custody of the Inter-Services Intelligence, was also handed over to militants in Razmak, North Waziristan.

Maulana Abdul Aziz of the Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) in Islamabad is expected to be released soon. Aziz was apprehended during the military operation against the radical mosque last year....

Iran cracks down on women's rights websites

Sharia Alert: "Iran launches fresh crackdown on websites: report," from AFP, May 20 (thanks to Morgaan Sinclair):

TEHRAN (AFP) — Iranian authorities have blocked access to several websites and blogs of women's rights advocates and journalists critical of the government, a press report said on Tuesday.

The move follows a new directive sent out by a committee tasked with identifying illegal websites to Internet service providers, the reformist Etemad Melli newspaper said without giving a source.

"There seems to be a tougher approach this time as some sites and weblogs belonging to women's rights and human rights campaigners, writers critical of the government and well-known journalists" have been singled out, it said....

Germany: Brother stabs sister in honor killing; had prior record of assaults against her, another sister

"The man was sentenced in March on an assault charge to one year and five months without possibility of probation ... The man had requested his March sentence be deferred, prosecutors said. He was notified in writing on Wednesday - a day before the stabbing - that the request had been rejected."

"Suspect in Hamburg 'honour killing' had assault record," from The Local, May 19:

A 23-year-old Hamburg man suspected of stabbing his sister to death in an honour killing last week had already been prosecuted for assaulting her and others, prosecutors confirmed on Monday.

The man was sentenced in March on an assault charge to one year and five months without possibility of probation, the Hamburg prosecutor's office told German press agency DDP on Monday, confirming media reports.

The man had requested his March sentence be deferred, prosecutors said. He was notified in writing on Wednesday - a day before the stabbing - that the request had been rejected.

Police were also investigating earlier claims that he assaulted two of his sisters, including the girl stabbed last week.

Police arrested the man on Friday after the stabbing death of his 16-year-old sister early Friday morning in Hamburg's Sankt Georg district. Neighbours and a passing group of youths heard the girl screaming near the Berliner Tor metro stop and called police at 11:21 pm on Thursday. The girl died about an hour later at the scene of the stabbing.

The girl's oldest brother - like her a German citizen of Afghan origin - admitted to police he had killed her because she had turned away from her family, DDP reported. The family immigrated to Germany from Afghanistan 13 years ago, German news magazine Der Spiegel reported in its online edition.

The brother was charged in February with assaulting the 16-year-old girl and another of his sisters, DDP reported. Senior prosecutor Rüdiger Bagger denied reports that the man had already been sentenced in that case, saying that it was still pending.

The girl's cousin, Mujda O., told Der Spiegel's television unit that the 23-year-old had been getting into fights every two weeks.

"If you were to call this an honour killing, you would be correct. Very correct," the girl, who was not identified with her last name, told Der Spiegel.

Taliban chief escapes: "Bridge builder" German forces not allowed to fire

Absurdity. "Top Taliban chief escapes," from The Sun, May 19 (thanks to Jeffrey Imm):

A TOP Taliban commander in Afghanistan with links to the killers of several British Army soldiers has escaped from German special forces because they were not authorised to kill him.

The fiasco highlights the absurd role played by the German military, which is known to other combat nations as "the bridge builders", because Berlin will not let them fire shots in any situation other than self-defence.

German special forces had an important Taliban commander in their sights in Afghanistan. But he escaped because the Germans were not authorized to use lethal force....

Pakistan moves towards Sharia in seven districts

This will mean, of course, the subjugation of women and non-Muslims.

"Pakistan Takes Steps Towards Shari'a State In Seven Districts," from MEMRI, May 16 (thanks to Sr. Soph):

On May 11, 2008, the secular government in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province (NWFP) finalized a deal with the Taliban groups for the implementation of shari'a in the province's seven districts. The Pashtun nationalist government in the NWFP, which came to power last month, had vowed to talk to the Taliban in order to establish peace in the region. The talks were held between the government, Pakistani Taliban and the outlawed Tehreek-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e -Muhammadi (Movement for the Enforcement of Islamic Shari'a).

The Tehreek-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhammadi, led by Maulana Sufi Muhammad, the Islamist leader recently released from prison under a deal with the government, is the dominant Taliban group in the NWFP. It is also a constituent of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, which is led by Baitullah Mehsud.

[...]

Under the deal between the NWFP government and the Tehreek-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhammadi, which is controlled by Sufi Muhammad's son-in-law Maulana Fazlullah, a shari'a system of administration and justice will be implemented in seven districts. This will effectively create the world's first mini-shari'a state within Pakistan, with the provincial government practically ceding control to the Taliban in roughly 45% of the province.

[...]

According to the Roznama Khabrain report, "the [ulema of the] department of Amr Bil Maroof will train [sic] people in Islam, Islamic teachings, Islamic norms and laws." There will be total ban on singing and dancing, and the ulema, who will not be paid a salary, will be based in the local police stations of the seven districts and offer their services as part of their work for Islam.

Courts Will Deliver Islam-Compliant Punishments

The paper stated that shari'a courts will be created in the seven districts, and that these courts will have the power to deliver Islam-compliant verdicts such as amputating the hands of individuals convicted of theft, administering 80 lashes or stoning for convicted rapists, or enforcing qisas - a principle that permits "like punishment" for a crime....

Afghan journalism student insists "he only confessed to questioning the religion's treatment of women because he was tortured."

"Prosecutor Ahmad Khan Ayar told the appeals court that the primary court sentence [of death] was "the right decision" according to Islamic law and the Afghan Constitution."

Yes, Afghanistan, where the constitution stipulates that "no law can be contrary to the beliefs and provisions of the sacred religion of Islam" (Chapter 1, Article 3). How many U.S. policymakers didn't even see this one coming?

Sayed Parwez Kambakhsh Update. "Afghan Journalist Charged With Insulting Islam Appeals Death Sentence," from the Associated Press, May 18:

KABUL, Afghanistan — An Afghan journalism student sentenced to death for insulting Islam denied the charges before an appeals court Sunday, saying he only confessed to questioning the religion's treatment of women because he was tortured.

Back in February, an Afghan government official said Kambakhsh would not be executed. We'll see about that.

During an hour-long hearing, a judge read aloud a transcript of the Jan. 22 proceedings against 24-year-old Sayed Parwez Kambakhsh at the primary court in northern Balkh province.

It was the first time the public and the media heard full details from the closed-door trial, which highlights the influence of conservative religious attitudes in post-Taliban Afghanistan's still-nascent justice system.

Kambakhsh was studying journalism at Balkh University in Mazar-i-Sharif and writing for local newspapers when he was arrested Oct. 27.

The transcript said Kambakhsh disrupted classes at the university by asking questions about women's rights under Islam. It also said he distributed an article about the subject and wrote an additional three paragraphs for the piece.

The only people with him in the courtroom in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif were three judges, a court scribe and the prosecutor. Kambakhsh said he had no defense lawyer, and only three minutes to defend himself.

He was transferred to Pul-e Charkhi prison on March 27, and his case was moved to Kabul, where human rights groups believed he would have a fair trial.

On Sunday, Kambakhsh spoke in the court in Kabul, again without a defense lawyer.

"I'm Muslim, and I would never let myself write such an article. All these accusations are nonsense," he said during an emotional 15-minute statement.

"These accusations come from two professors and other students because of private hostilities against me. I was tortured by the intelligence service in Balkh province, and they made me confess that I wrote three paragraphs in this article."

According to the transcript from the Balkh court proceedings, the prosecutor said Kambakhsh admitted to writing three paragraphs of the article and had initialed them.

He also was accused of writing, "This is the real face of Islam ... The prophet Mohammad wrote verses of the holy Quran just for his own benefit."

Prosecutor Ahmad Khan Ayar told the appeals court that the primary court sentence was "the right decision" according to Islamic law and the Afghan Constitution.

"Kambakhsh has insulted Islam by writing these paragraphs, and he has insulted the Prophet Muhammad," Ayar said. "I ask the appeals court today to uphold the decision of the primary court of Balkh and sentence him to death."

A number of rights groups have demanded that the case be annulled and Kambakhsh set free. A U.S. State Department spokesman expressed concern that Kambakhsh was sentenced to death for "basically practicing his profession."

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said it was concerned that Kambakhsh may have been targeted because his brother, Yaqub Ibrahimi, had written about human rights violations and local politics.

Malaysian government to appeal Court decision allowing woman to leave Islam

When the Court first handed down this decision, I wrote here that "this is a small step in the right direction, but not as much of one as you might think," because some schools of Islamic jurisprudence don't mandate the death penalty for women who leave Islam anyway -- and now it looks as if it is even less of a step in the right direction, as the modern, moderate Malaysian government is going to appeal the decision.

"Appeal against woman renouncing Islam in Malaysia," from IANS, May 18 (thanks to the Constantinopolitan Irredentist):

The Malaysian government has said it would challenge a court decision allowing a Chinese woman to renounce Islam and revert to Buddhism.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the court verdict was not final and an appeal before the higher court was almost complete.

He noted that the court decision favouring the woman, Tan Ean Huan - who called herself Siti Fatimah Tan Abdullah as a Muslim - was protested by Islamist groups including a Kuala Lumpur-based political group, Hizbut Tahrir....

Pakistani Christian doctor jailed for "blasphemy," mob attacks his home

“This is the house of a blasphemer,” reads a sign on his house.

"Pakistan: Doctor Jailed On ‘Blasphemy’ Charges," from Compass Direct News, May 16 (thanks to Cindy):

ISTANBUL, May 16 (Compass Direct News) – Pakistani police have jailed a Christian doctor after “blasphemy” charges incited a mob attack on his home last week in Punjab province.

Officials said Dr. Robin Sardar is being held in Punjab’s Gujranwala Central Jail. His wife and six children have left their home in the town of Chak Chatta, 200 miles southeast of Islamabad.

“This is the house of a blasphemer,” reads a sign on the gates of Sardar’s now empty home where a crowd of angry villagers gathered on May 5, Union of Catholic Asia News (UCAN) reported. The group bore sticks and kerosene and chanted death threats against the doctor, family members told Sharing Life Ministries Pakistan (SLMP), a Christian prison ministry.

“A huge number of Muslims wearing green turbans surrounded our house, most of them armed with weapons and wooden sticks,” Sardar’s wife told SLMP. “They were shouting ‘The punishment of the blasphemer is death.’”

She said that police arrived at the house after several hours and used a ladder to climb the property wall and transport Sardar to safety.

[...]

Local Christians said that the incident began when a Muslim vendor filed a blasphemy complaint with police on May 4 against the Christian doctor. Sardar and the vendor had reportedly clashed over whether the merchant could set up shop in front of the doctor’s clinic.

But a May 4 First Information Report (FIR) filed by the vendor, Muhammad Rafique, claimed that Sardar had insulted Islam’s prophet Muhammad during a friendly visit between the two men two days prior.

“[Sardar] began preaching about Christianity, saying bad words against the prophet Muhammad,” Rafique said in the written testimony given to police. “He also compared the prophet Muhammad’s beard with the beard of a Sikh.”

At this, Rafique and several friends came to blows with Sardar and attempted to force him to apologize, the FIR stated.

But Sardar denied having said anything against Muhammad....

Pakistani's blasphemy law is so often used for score-settling. But once again, the indifference of the human rights establishment will allow this sort of thing to go on, and on, and on.

EU called upon to work harder to teach coexistence between Muslims, Christians and Jews

Here again, the responsibility is entirely upon non-Muslims to foster integration. There seems to be no awareness whatsoever of the fact that Islamic leaders in Europe are discouraging integration, or any discussions of the manifold implications of that fact. "Culture Dialogue: EU Needs To Teach Coexistence At School," from ANSAmed, May 16 (thanks to Insubria):

(ANSAmed) - BRUSSELS, MAY 16 - In order to build up a European society where Muslims, Jews and Christians can live together in harmony we must act on the schools and on the children: this is the "recipe" which the EU must apply, according to what has emerged from the public debate organised by the EU Commission under the initiatives of the European Year of intercultural dialogue. "We must contribute to the conciliation by focusing on education," Education and Culture Commissioner Jan Figel said, explaining that he has just signed an agreement which multiplies by four the EU contribution for the Erasmus Mundus programme, which allows the students of the southern coast of the Mediterranean to study in Europe.

According to the leader of the Muslim Council in the UK, Abduljalil Sajid, it is necessary that the institutions try to establish a dialogue with the religious communities, "because the churches are always a resource: when there is a crisis, the religious communities are always ready to help without asking for anything in return," he said in a speech at the conference. Mario Mauro, vice-president of the European Parliament, also agreed with the work to be done in the schools: "We must promote education policies which also include religion and help to understand the differences, because the future of Europe depends on how we will integrate". (ANSAmed).

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Malaysian Muslims protest Court ruling allowing woman to leave Islam for Buddhism

Islamic Tolerance Alert and Siti Fatimah Update: "M'sian muslims protest ruling on renunciation of Islam," from AFP, May 16 (thanks to Twostellas):

PENANG (Malaysia) - A GROUP of Muslims in Malaysia's northern Penang state staged a protest on Friday to denounce an Islamic sharia court's rare ruling allowing a Chinese convert to renounce her faith.

Last week the Penang Sharia Court allowed 38-year-old Siti Fatimah Tan Abdullah, or Tan Ean Huang, to renounce Islam and return to Buddhism.

Siti, a cook, told the court she had never practised Islamic teachings since converting in 1998 to marry Iranian Ferdoun Ashanian.

The couple married in 1999 but her husband left her months later and she filed for renunciation two years ago.

Hizbut Tahrir Malaysia, an Islamic hardline group, gathered outside the court and submitted a memorandum urging a judicial review of the decision.

'We outrightly disagree with the court decision as it is against Islamic laws. In Islam, a person who insists on leaving the religion must be punished with death,' the group's president Abdul Hakim Othman told reporters....

I trust Ali Eteraz will soon be winging his way to Malaysia to explain the True, Tolerant Islam to Abdul Hakim Othman.

Iranian intelligence agents arrest six Baha'i leaders

"The early morning raids on the homes of these prominent Baha'is were well-coordinated, and it is clear they represent a high-level effort to strike again at the Baha'is and to intimidate the Iranian Baha'i community at large."

Islamic Tolerance Alert. "Iran's arrest of Baha'is condemned," from CNN, May 16:

(CNN) -- Six Baha'i leaders in Iran were seized and imprisoned this week, the religious group said. The act prompted condemnation and concern from the movement and a top American religious freedom panel.

Iranian intelligence agents searched the homes of the six on Wednesday and then whisked them away, according to the Baha'i's World News Service. The report said the six are in Evin prison and that the arrests follow the detention in March of another Baha'i leader.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry could not immediately be reached for comment, and the incident has not been mentioned in Iran's state-run media.

"Their only crime is their practice of the Baha'i faith," said Bani Dugal, the principal representative of the Baha'i international community to the United Nations.

The group -- regarded as the largest non-Muslim religious minority in Iran -- says the arrests are reminiscent of roundups and killings of Baha'is that took place in Iran two decades ago.

"Especially disturbing is how this latest sweep recalls the wholesale arrest or abduction of the members of two national Iranian Baha'i governing councils in the early 1980s -- which led to the disappearance or execution of 17 individuals," Dugal said.

"The early morning raids on the homes of these prominent Baha'is were well-coordinated, and it is clear they represent a high-level effort to strike again at the Baha'is and to intimidate the Iranian Baha'i community at large," she added.

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom -- a government panel that advises the president and Congress -- condemned the Wednesday arrests, as well as another in March. The commission chairman called the acts the "latest sign of the rapidly deteriorating status of religious freedom and other human rights in Iran."

The commission said the seven were members of an informal Baha'i group that tended to the needs of the community after the Iranian government banned all formal Baha'i activity in 1983.

The commission chairman, Michael Cromartie, echoed the fears that the "development signals a return to the darkest days of repression in Iran in the 1980s when Baha'is were routinely arrested, imprisoned, and executed."

The Baha'is are regarded as "apostates" in Iran and have been persecuted there for years.

"Since 1979, Iranian authorities have killed more than 200 Baha'i leaders, thousands have been arrested and imprisoned, and more than 10,000 have been dismissed from government and university jobs," the commission said.

The commission said that since President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came to power a few years ago, Baha'is "have been harassed, physically attacked, arrested, and imprisoned."

"We suspect him of insulting people": Dutch cartoonist could face years in prison

He could end up serving more time than some jihadists in European criminal justice systems do on terrorism charges.

More on the circumstances of Gregorius Nekschot's arrest, including the charges and possible penalties he faces. "Dutch cartoonist arrested," by Toby Sterling for the Associated Press, May 16 (thanks to GS):

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - A Dutch political cartoonist is facing possible hate crimes charges.

The cartoonist, who works under the pseudonym Gregorius Nekschot, was arrested Tuesday and held overnight before being released.

Officials say a criminal investigation is continuing into whether Nekschot's work targets people because of their race or religion.

Nekschot is known primarily for cartoons mocking Muslims and leftists.

However, spokeswoman for his publisher describes him as a satirist who targets "any strong ideology." [...]

A spokeswoman for the Amsterdam public prosecutor, Sanne van Meteren, said Nekschot remains a suspect in a criminal investigation.

"We suspect him of insulting people on the basis of their race or belief, and possibly also of inciting hate," she said.

Each is a crime punishable by up to a year in prison under Dutch hate laws - or two years for multiple offences.

Van Meteren said prosecutors were investigating a complaint that dates to 2005. They are now focusing on eight or nine published cartoons, she said, but prosecutors are not disclosing which ones.

Nekschot did not answer police questions during his arrest, she said, citing his right to remain silent to avoid self-incrimination.

The spokeswoman for Xtra said police had seized Nekschot's computer, sketches, CDs, DVDs and telephone at the time of his arrest.

CSI meets Orwell, in a story that has all of the trappings of a counter-terror operation -- except it's about cartoons.

This is not a joke: Afghan hijacker now working at Heathrow airport

Well, he has experience.

"Afghan hijacker 'working at Heathrow,'" by Graham Tibbetts in the Telegraph, May 16 (thanks to Sr. Soph):

An Afghan hijacker who forced an airliner to fly to Britain is now working at Heathrow, it has been disclosed.

Nazamuddin Mohammidy, 34, was one of a gang of nine that threatened to blow up an internal flight in Afghanistan, along with 173 passengers and crew, unless they were granted political asylum.

The Afghan hijackers forced the Boeing 727 to divert to Britain where they surrendered to police and the SAS after a 70-hour stand-off at Stansted Airport, Essex in February 2000.

Mohammidy, of Hounslow, Middlesex, is now working as an office cleaner for British Airways....

Egyptian Parliament: Female Genital Mutilation is A-OK [UPDATE: Or is it?]

UPDATE: Jihad Watch reader Anonymous has kindly alerted me to this MEMRI blog post, "Egyptian People's Council Nixes Sections Of New Children's Law," May 16. It says, "However, the People's Council did decide to ratify the section banning female circumcision."

This flatly contradicts the Ynet story below. So what did the People's Council actually do? If anyone knows, please email me at director[at]jihadwatch.org.

--------

The lukewarm condemnation of this practice by a group of Islamic scholars in Cairo in 2006 got enormous international publicity. Will this? What do you think?

"Egyptian Parliament Okays Female Genital Mutilation," from Israel National News, May 16 (thanks to Pamela):

(IsraelNN.com) Conservatives in the Egyptian parliament have made female genital mutilation (circumcision) legal again in Egypt. The conservatives succeeded in striking several laws that had been passed by the parliament's religious Shura Council in the past. The laws canceled also include a law limiting marriage age to 18 and up, a law permitting a mother to register a child on her name and a law allowing neighbors of a family that beats its children to report the beatings to the police....

Dutch police arrest cartoonist for "publishing cartoons which are discriminating for Muslims and people with dark skin"

Gregorius Nekschot is quite the equal opportunity offender, having penned cartoons offensive to Catholics and Jews (e.g., Muhammad molesting Anne Frank) alongside his emphasis on lampooning Islam and Muhammad.

What did he get arrested for? Lampooning Islam and Muhammad. Thomas Landen at the Brussels Journal has the story:

The Dutch authorities have arrested the cartoonist Gregorius Nekschot (a pseudonym. Nekschot means deathblow, litt: “shot in the back of the neck” [An interview with Nekschot here]). The judicial authorities in Amsterdam said yesterday that the cartoonist was arrested as a suspect for the criminal offense of “publishing cartoons which are discriminating for Muslims and people with dark skin.”

Prior to the Islam-related complaint, the "dark skin" aspect doesn't seem to have mattered as much. And by the way, how does a cartoon discriminate?

The cartoonist was arrested on Tuesday, while the police searched his house for “discriminating evidence.” His computer, backups, usb sticks, mobile phone and a number of drawings were confiscated. Nekschot was released two days later but it is possible that he will be charged following a complaint in 2005 by the Dutch imam Abdul Jabbar van de Ven, an indigenous Dutchman who converted to Islam.

And the poor, offended imam is on record approving of Theo Van Gogh's murder.

According to the Dutch public prosecutor Nekschot “makes his profession” of drawing cartoons of “an insulting and/or discriminating nature.” Ernst Hirsch Ballin, the Dutch minister of Justice, a Christian-Democrat, said that it took the police three years to discover the real identity of the cartoonist.

Nekschot, a friend of the late Theo van Gogh, the Dutch film maker who was ritually slaughtered by a Muslim fanatic in 2004, hides his real identity in order to avoid unnecessary risks. Hans Teeuwen, a Dutch stand-up comedian and friend of Nekschot’s, told the Dutch media yesterday that the police had told Nekschot as they released him earlier that day that “he has now lost his anonymity.” Teeuwen said this was “a rather intimidating remark.”

As spokeswoman of Xtra, Nekschot’s publisher, said today: “He was arrested with a great show of force, by around 10 policemen.” The spokeswoman asked that her name not be used because the cartoonist and publisher have received death threats. Nekschot told the Dutch newspaper Het Parool today that police officers had told him: “What you draw is worse than what they did in Denmark. Do you realize what can happen to you if your identity gets known?” The cartoonist fears for his live if he is being sent to jail. “As the maker of those cartoons my life is in danger in prison,” he said.

Nekschot’s work is rude and often sexually explicit. As such it is characteristic for the Dutch liberal mentality and not beyond the limit in the Netherlands. In his cartoons, however, he mocks the multicultural society, and that does seem to be beyond all bounds.

Queen Elizabeth II dons headscarf to visit Turkish mosque

When you're in a Muslim country, you should adapt your behavior to accommodate Muslim sensibilities. And when Muslims are in a non-Muslim country, non-Muslims should adapt their behavior to accommodate Muslim sensibilities.

Got it?

"Queen dons Muslim headscarf to visit Turkish mosque," by Gordon Rayner in the Telegraph, May 15:

Wearing a Muslim-style headscarf and walking in stockinged feet, the Queen toured one of Turkey's most important mosques during her first state visit to the country in 37 years.

Her Majesty, who had been wearing a wide-brimmed hat and white shoes, adhered to the Islamic dress code, which requires women to cover their heads and all visitors to remove their footwear, during the visit to the 15th century Green Mosque in the eastern city of Bursa.

The monarch is making a four-day state visit to highlight and strengthen Britain's ties with Turkey, which the UK is supporting in its campaign to become a member of the EU.

The Queen was accompanied on the trip to the former capital of the Ottoman empire by the Duke of Edinburgh and President Abdullah Gul's wife Hayrunnisa.

The party listened to an Imam reciting a passage from the Koran and visited the tomb of Sultan Mehmet I, who built the holy complex....

Fitzgerald: Where Muslims prefer to live

There are, within Robert Spencer’s General Evisceration of CAIR’s Omer Subhani, some details that deserve to be held up for special inspection.

This is the part that struck me the most. Spencer says:

What's more, the Spanish Muslim Ibn Jubayr (1145-1217), who traversed the Mediterranean on his way to Mecca in the early 1180s, found that even Muslims preferred living in Crusader lands. He lamented that near Tyre he passed a series of farms where "the inhabitants were all Muslims, but they live in comfort with the Franj [Franks, or Crusaders] -- may Allah preserve them from temptation! Their dwellings belong to them and all their property is unmolested....Now, doubt invests the heart of a great number of these men when they compare their lot to that of their brothers living in Muslim territory. Indeed, the latter suffer from the injustice of their coreligionists, while the Franj act with equity."

Does anyone doubt that Muslims today flock to non-Muslim lands because they are better run? They are safer, the lives of the citizens are more secure, and the possibility of redress against authority is greater. There is access to the wonders of the modern world that are the product of a mental freedom, and an absence of the inshallah-fatalism that is the hallmark of mind-forged-manacled Muslims.

UK dhimmi cops fail in attempt to whitewash jihadism in mosques

A major victory for truth and common sense. "Police apologise over mosque show," from the BBC, May 15 (thanks to all who sent this in):

West Midlands Police and the Crown Prosecution Service have apologised for accusing the makers of a Channel 4 documentary of distortion.

The apology and the promise of £100,000 were made at the High Court on Thursday.

It follows comments made about a Dispatches programme, Undercover Mosque, which tackled claims of Islamic extremism in the West Midlands.

The police statement said the force was wrong to make the allegations.

A press release issued by the police and the CPS in August 2007 claimed the Dispatches programme, broadcast in January of that year, misrepresented the views of Muslim preachers and clerics with misleading editing.

One preacher was shown saying a homosexual should be thrown off a mountain, another that women were born deficient.

Police also reported Channel 4 to television watchdog Ofcom for "heavily editing" the words of Islamic imams.

But in November, Ofcom rejected the police and CPS claims, and Channel 4 said it was going to sue the CPS and police for libel.

'Damage and distress'

The statement, released to the media after the High Court hearing by West Midlands Police, said they accepted there had been no evidence that Channel 4 or the documentary makers had "misled the audience or that the programme was likely to encourage or incite criminal activity".

It added that the Ofcom report showed the documentary had "accurately represented the material it had gathered and dealt with the subject matter responsibly and in context".

The police statement concluded: "We accept, without reservation, the conclusions of Ofcom and apologise to the programme makers for the damage and distress caused by our original press release."...

Belgium: Police protect "Muhammad Pulpit" after threats

A "hideous insult" -- like the jihad against Europe

This pulpit is part of European history and heritage. The figure in the photo above is not even certainly Muhammad, but in any case if Muslims want to regard this as a "hideous insult," they should likewise regard the Ottoman invasions of Europe, and the broken siege of Vienna in 1683 that this pulpit may be commemorating, as insults as hideous or more hideous -- or doesn't regard for other faiths go both ways?

Of course it doesn't, for the Islamic supremacists.

Thomas Landen reports at Brussels Journal, May 13 (thanks to all who sent this in):

Belgian police is protecting a 17th century pulpit in the Flemish town of Dendermonde. The pulpit in the Catholic church of Our Lady dates from 1685, two years after the battle of Vienna when the Christian armies of the Polish King John III Sobieski defeated the Turks poised to overrun Europe. The sculpted wooden pulpit, made by Mattheus van Beveren, depicts a man subdued by angels and represents the triumph of Christianity over Islam. The man is generally thought to be Mohammed. He is holding a book which is generally assumed to be the Koran.

Two years ago, on April 16, 2006, during the height of the Danish cartoon affair, this website published a photo of the pulpit to show that there is a long tradition of depicting Mohammed in European iconography. Last Friday the Turkish newspaper Yeniçag reprinted our picture on its front page with the caption “Stop this hideous insult.” Yeniçag demands that Belgium remove the pulpit. The paper writes that “We have had the crusades and now they are still trying to humiliate us. This is as bad as the Danish cartoons and Geert Wilders’s Fitna movie in the Netherlands. Even Pope Benedict does nothing to stop these humiliations.”

Since Friday, we have received threats while the authorities in Belgium, which has a large population of Turkish immigrants, fear that the pulpit and the church may be attacked. The Belgian press reported today that the police is guarding Dendermonde’s Our Lady church to prevent vandalism to church and pulpit.

Brian C. Ledbetter at Snapped Shot has some trenchant observations on this.

OPEC looks the other way as inflation driven by oil prices causes food riots in Egypt

On the other hand, "The United States leads all donors at more than a $1 billion" given to the World Food Program.

Death to America! Wait-- save us, America! And then, you know, die. More on this story. "OPEC Stands Silent While Oil Prices Spark Food Riots In Neighboring Egypt," by Steve Harrigan for Fox News, May 14:

Despite being surrounded by petroleum-rich neighbors, Egypt is suffering the effects of record-high oil prices that have touched off deadly riots over the simplest of commodities: bread.

Somalia has also seen its share of food riots recently.

Since the beginning of April, at least 10 people have been stabbed to death while waiting in Cairo bread lines — others have died from exhaustion.

The crisis comes as the U.N.’s World Food Program appeals to member nations to contribute $750 million for aid to affected countries.

But as FOX News reported last week, internal documents from the WFP show a failure by OPEC nations to help out their Arab neighbor. Saudi Arabia, for instance, has committed to give zero dollars for 2008, while the United Arab Emirates has pledged just $50,000 — an amount several times less than impoverished nations like Bangladesh.

The United States leads all donors at more than a $1 billion.

Egypt, the world's largest importer of wheat, heavily subsidizes the sale of flour. Government flour sells for about $3 per 100 pounds. On the black market, however, that same bag can fetch $45.

Unlike other Arab nations awash in petrodollars, almost half of Egypt’s population gets by on less than $2 a day — and for an estimated 30 million people, bread means everything.

For now, the Army has been called out — to bake and distribute the bread.

UK: Second attack on Anglican priest by teenage Muslim thugs

The first time it happened was in March. This time, the good dhimmi who was attacked wants to make sure that no one plays up the religious aspect of the attack -- thereby ensuring that nothing will be done by anyone to try to make sure this kind of thing doesn't happen again.

"Second attack on East End clergy by teenage thugs," by Michael Parker for the East London Advertiser, May 9 (thanks to Sparta):

A SECOND priest has been beaten up in his own churchyard in the space of just eight weeks in London’s East End — this time over an argument about a football.

The Rector of St Matthew’s in Bethnal Green, The Rev Kevin Scully, was attacked on Tuesday afternoon by three drunken youths who had returned to take their revenge for a row three days before.

He had taken their ball last Saturday after he saw them using a cross on the church as a basketball hoop.

He has been taunted with religious and racist abuse in the past, but believes the beating was more alcohol-fuelled than anything more sinister.

The attack follows the vicious assault on Canon Michael Ainsworth at St George-in-the-East church in Shadwell in March.

But although that attack was treated as a ‘faith hate’ crime, police consider the latest incident as simple assault.

Fr Scully, 45, who was left with two black eyes, cuts and bruises, told the Advertiser: “I’m still a bit shaken up.

“It came out of an incident where some teenagers were using the front of the church as a basketball hoop.

“I took their ball and told them to leave—but they came back on Tuesday, drunk, to demand their ball back and attacked me.”

He recalled: “One of them was instigating the violence.

“I thought the other two were going to stop it, but in the end they joined in.

“Even a passer-by who saw what was going on and tried to intervene got a kicking too.

“I was punched twice in the face, hard, hit again, and kicked from behind.

“I crouched down to ward off the blows before running to the Rectory and calling police.”

Fr Scully added: “My biggest concern was getting the door locked as I thought they might follow me inside.

“But they ran off and I’ve not seen them round here since.”

He branded them “drunken yobs” and said the area suffered anti-social and criminal behaviour.

Mr Scully, however, insists it was not a ‘policing’ problem, but a ‘community’ problem.

“These are someone’s sons, someone’s brothers,” he said. “These people are known in the community.”

“There is a certain racial and religious element to this,” adds.

“I have been and was taunted religiously — and that is a worrying aspect of it.

“But I would not make that a ‘flag of convenience.’

“These are drunken yobs and that is the shame of it.

“They could probably have a very bright future ahead of them if they only did something about it.”...

Yes, of course. If only they did something about it.

University student leaves school after Muslim threatens his service dog

Unconscionable. The student who made the threat should be expelled. But because this is an issue involving Islam, instead the multiculturalists start speaking soothingly about "misunderstanding," which means surrender.

"SCSU student leaves training at Technical High School," by Dave Aeikens for the St. Cloud Times, May 12 (thanks to all who sent this in):

A St. Cloud State University student in a teacher-training program at Technical High School left the school in late April because he says he feared for the safety of his service dog.

The school district calls it a misunderstanding, and officials there say they hoped Tyler Hurd, a 23-year-old junior from Mahtomedi who aspires to teach special education, would continue his training in the district.

Hurd said a student threatened to kill his service dog named Emmitt. The black lab is trained to protect Hurd when he has seizures.

The seizures, which can occur weekly, are from a childhood injury.

The dog has a pouch on his side that assists those who stop to help Hurd.

Hurd said he was unable to finish his 50 hours of field training at Tech. The university waived the remaining 10 hours, he said. He plans to do his student teaching outside a high school setting.

“We came up with a solution because I felt threatened by it," Hurd said.

The school district and university are working to make sure a similar situation doesn't happen.

Kate Steffens, dean of the college of education at St. Cloud State, and Tech assistant principal Lori Lockhart met Thursday.

The threat came from a Somali student who is Muslim, according to Hurd, St. Cloud State and school district officials.

The Muslim faith, which is the dominant faith of Somali immigrants, forbids the touching of dogs.

Hurd trained at Talahi Community School and Tech. He said his experience at Talahi was good. The Somali students there warmed to the dog and eventually petted him using paper to keep their hands off his fur, Hurd said.

Things didn't go as well at Tech, Hurd said. Students there taunted his dog, and he finally felt he had to leave after he was told a student made a threat. Hurd met with Lockhart but said he did not feel comfortable continuing.

Julia Espe, director of curriculum, instruction and assessment for St. Cloud school district, said the school needed to do a better job communicating.

“I think it was a misunderstanding where we didn't really prepare either side for possible implications," Espe said.

Really? So the Muslim student's threats are just a misunderstanding? They ought to be grounds for expulsion.

Turkey: New law restricting sale of alcohol comes into effect

Sharia is creeping forward everywhere, but in modern, moderate, secular Turkey it is creeping even faster than it is elsewhere. "Turkey: Law Banning Alcohol, Sigarettes [sic] Comes Into Effect," from ANSAmed, May 13 (thanks to Insubria):

(ANSAmed) - ANKARA, MAY 13 - A new law to overhaul tobacco and alcoholic beverages usage drew fierce criticism from sector representatives, and is seen as another negative factor in Islamist-rooted AKP's record of conservative arrangements. Law No. 5752, which will take effect tomorrow, bans the sale of alcoholic beverages and cigarettes "by breaking its packaging or dividing them."

Sector representatives say if implemented, it would mean that the sale of alcoholic beverages by the glass at establishments like restaurants and bars would not be allowed. Sector representatives say the government should make new regulations detailing the implementation of this article of the law.

The government passed the law to ban smoking in public areas and the sale of single cigarettes in small markets, a practice commonly used. The representatives of sector organizations say this law makes it virtually impossible to consume alcohol anywhere but in the home. The marketing director of Doluca Wines told Hurriyet the confusion about alcoholic beverages arises because the law described the new arrangements together with those relating to tobacco usage. "The recent shape of the law would kill the sector. Clear definitions should be made," Sibel Kutman said. She added that 35% of annual wine sales are sold by the glass.

Turkish alcohol producers have already been under pressure since the AKP government took the helm. Winemakers had complained of a heavy tax burden and a government which they feel is unsympathetic to the wine industry due to its Islamist roots, however many Turks drink alcohol. Turkey's Islamist-rooted AKP, who faces a closure case on the charge of becoming the focal point of anti-secular activities, denies the charges but has so far not taken any steps to soothe concerns caused mostly by the implementations of local administrations.

Under the law no cocktails will be made by mixing different kinds of alcohol, and giving alcoholic beverages as a gift is also banned. The chairman of the Tourism, Restaurants, Clubs Investors and Operators said he does "not want to believe" such ban will take effect. "I don't think this will be a problem as long as you have a license to sell open bottle alcohol," Baris Tansever added. (ANSAmed).

U.S. drops charges against accused "20th hijacker"

Why?

By Kristin Roberts for Reuters (thanks to all who sent this in):

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon said on Tuesday it dropped charges against a Saudi who U.S. officials say intended to be the "20th hijacker" on September 11 but sent five others to trial for allegedly planning the 2001 attacks.

A Pentagon appointee who oversees the U.S. war court at its Guantanamo Bay military prison did not say why she rejected the charges that prosecutors sought earlier this year against Mohammed al-Qahtani.

She dismissed the charges "without prejudice," a distinction that allows the U.S. government to try to bring charges against Qahtani again.

Murder and conspiracy charges against the five other men accused of planning the attacks, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, were approved, the Pentagon said. That means the men, all held at Guantanamo, must be arraigned within 30 days.

They will be tried together in proceedings that should start within 120 days. If convicted, they may face the death penalty....

UK firm to supply communications and data systems to Libya's armed forces

John VI Cantacuzenes Alert: "General Dynamics UK Secures New Export Opportunity: Program builds on aims of UK Government and International Community," a press release, May 9 (thanks to Davsmi):

LONDON, May 9, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- General Dynamics United Kingdom Limited has confirmed that it has signed an 85m pounds Sterling GBP ($165m USD) contract to supply a tactical communications and data system as part of the United Kingdom's initiatives to improve economic, educational and defense links with Libya. It will provide communications and data handling capabilities, together with technical and training support, to the Elite Brigade of Libya's armed forces.