From AP: WASHINGTON – U.S. military officials say no guard at the Guantanamo Bay prison for terror suspects flushed a detainee’s Quran down the toilet, but they disclosed that a Muslim holy book was splashed with urine. In other newly disclosed incidents, a detainee’s Quran was deliberately kicked and another’s was stepped on. On March […]
Indonesian Police Deployed to Protect Churches/Christians
An update on this story, from AFX via Forbes, “Indonesian market bombing sparks fears of new sectarian clashes” TENTENA, Indonesia – Security forces were deployed at churches on Indonesia’s Sulawesi island today after yesterday’s bomb attack on a Christian town killed 20 people and threatened to re-ignite a violent conflict with Muslims. About 3,000 troops […]
Iraqi forces’ security net draws Zarqawi retaliation
Our Iraq update comes from the Lebanese Daily Star. Thousands of Iraqi forces on Sunday threw a security net over Baghdad to snare insurgents, who quickly struck back with a string of car bombings said to have been masterminded by Al-Qaeda’s Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Operation Lightning came a day after two of Iraq’s most influential […]
Financial Jihad Against the Infidels
Lt. Col. Jonathan D. Halevi writes in IMRA, “What Drives Saudi Arabia to Persist in Terrorist Financing?” The U.S. offensive against terrorism has succeeded in reducing the extent of global terrorism. However, under the surface, the financial channels that are the arteries of radical Islamic movements from Hamas to the Chechens continue to operate. U.S. […]
Houser: French Muslims battle internal, external strife
Mark Houser continues his series in the Pittsburgh Tribune Review, with thanks to KAOSKTRL. PARIS — Waiting for his train in a metro station named for the battle of Stalingrad, Moun R’Quibe spoke with pride of the men he considers heroes fighting in another bloody conflict — Iraq. R’Quibe, 20, born in France of Moroccan […]
Many Iraqis See Sectarian Roots in New Killings
An unsurprising assessment from the New Duranty Times. BAGHDAD – No one knows who tortured and killed Hassan al-Nuaimi, a Sunni Arab cleric whose body was found in an empty lot here last week, with a hole drilled in his head and both eyes missing. But the various theories have a distinctly sectarian tinge. The […]
Review May Shift Terror Policies
A long-overdue reassessment. “U.S. Is Expected to Look Beyond Al Qaeda,” from the Washington Post, . The Bush administration has launched a high-level internal review of its efforts to battle international terrorism, aimed at moving away from a policy that has stressed efforts to capture and kill al Qaeda leaders since Sept. 11, 2001, and […]
Pakistanis Have Head, Seek Bomber’s Identity
A update on this story from the Washington Post, “Pakistanis Find Bloodied Head of Suicide Bomber,” . ISLAMABAD, Investigators have found the head of a suicide bomber who attacked a Muslim festival in the Pakistani capital, killing at least 19 people, and are trying to establish his identity, officials said on Saturday. The attack occurred […]
US: Critics Want Probe of Islamic School in Virginia
From the Washington Times, “Critics want probe of Alexandria Islamic school” The Islamic Saudi Academy in Alexandria is an outpost of militant Islam, say critics who point out that the school’s 1999 valedictorian is charged with joining al Qaeda and plotting to assassinate President Bush. Two other persons connected to the academy also have been […]
Syria Arrests 300 Saudis
From Arab News, “Syria Arrests 300 Saudis: Report,” . JEDDAH “” More than 300 Saudis have been arrested at the airport in Damascus and along the Syrian border on suspicion they were en route to Iraq to fight alongside insurgents, press reports said yesterday. Relatives of some of the arrested told Al-Watan Arabic daily that […]