A Mississippi-based immigration activist is appalled that potential terrorists were among a group of illegal aliens apprehended by federal agents in a sting operation along Interstate 20 in the Magnolia State.
Operation Uniforce was conducted during a two-week period this month by a special Border Patrol task force targeting I-20 because federal agents believe it is a new corridor for smugglers to ferry illegal aliens to the East Coast. A similar operation was conducted on I-10 last year at Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama. According to the Border Patrol, greater scrutiny of the I-10 corridor prompted smugglers to move further inland to I-20 -- which is 800 miles from the Mexican border.
While most of the illegal immigrants nabbed came from Mexico, two individuals from "special interest" countries -- one Egyptian and the other a Palestinian from the West Bank -- were also apprehended. Rodney Hunt with the Mississippi Federation for Immigration Reform and Enforcement says people are concerned that terrorists are entering the U.S. across the porous border. "And I think this just shows [that] these people from these special interest countries ... [are not just] ... people coming here taking jobs from Americans, but we have potential ... terrorists," warns Hunt.
Hunt is also fearful that Mississippi's illegal alien population in general will grow dramatically because I-20 cuts right across the state. "You know one of the things I think that'll be a big problem here in Mississippi," he continues, "[is that] we'll become a sanctuary state. We already have a large illegal population probably of 120,000."
The activist believes Mississippi will have to take a more active role in dealing with the issue of illegal immigration into the state.
That’s interesting, thanks Oorang.
RAFAH, Egypt: Egyptian security forces arrested two Palestinians carrying a bomb Saturday who managed to slip through the border with the Gaza Strip and were trying to sneak further into the Sinai Peninsula, security and policy officials said.
Authorities arrested Hani Hamdan, 26, and his younger brother Rami, 21, in el-Massoura village, some 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) west of Egypt's border with Gaza, said a Sinai security official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.
A police official in Cairo, speaking anonymously for the same reason, confirmed the arrests, adding that the two were trying to reach the town of el-Arish, some 35 kilometers (22 miles) from the border, and move from there into southern Sinai where several beach resorts are located.
Excerpted
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/02/02/africa/ME-GEN-Egypt-Palestinians-Arrests.php
Female Muslim medics 'disobey hygiene rules' (UK)
03/02/2008
Muslim medical students are refusing to obey hygiene rules brought in to stop the spread of deadly superbugs, because they say it is against their religion.
Women training in several hospitals in England have raised objections to removing their arm coverings in theatre and to rolling up their sleeves when washing their hands, because it is regarded as immodest in Islam.
Universities and NHS trusts fear many more will refuse to co-operate with new Department of Health guidance, introduced this month, which stipulates that all doctors must be "bare below the elbow".
Excerpted
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/02/03/nislam403.xml
Thanks, Oorang. Frightening indeed. All the more so because I’ve just returned from an evening with Brigitte Gabriel and her wonderful family. In the midst of a great Lebanese “Hafli”, complete with good food, dancing, and socializing, we talked about some of the more disconcerting things coming down the pike. One of them is a group in New York that is actively and openly recruiting for an islamic revolution in America. This group was discovered by an employee for Brigitte’s publisher who happened to walk past a group of people handing out flyers. I asked Brigitte what else I could do, and she said, “Tell everyone you can on Free Republic to join ACT (www.americancongressfortruth.org). We need people, and we need money.”
She does have a new book coming out in August, and I’m not allowed to say much about it, but she did tell me that she may need some bodyguards when it hits the shelves.
Thanks for the ping, Oorang. Thanks for posting President Bush’s speech, Cindy (#42). Thanks to all contributors/researchers. Every post read to 102. Placemark BUMP!
Thanks for the info. It has now been posted.
A federal prosecutor disputes defense claims that two Egyptian college students arrested near a South Carolina Navy weapons station were carrying harmless fireworks and not dangerous explosives.
An attorney for Youssef Samir Megahed filed a motion last week asking a judge to reconsider granting bail. He cited an FBI report that characterized the items found in the trunk of the car as a pyrotechnic mixture that burned but didn't explode when tested.
But federal prosecutor Jay Hoffer, in a motion filed Monday opposing bond for Megahed, said defense attorney Adam Allen "mischaracterized" the FBI report in describing the items in the trunk as harmless.
Hoffer said the items — including PVC pipe containing a mixture of sugar and potassium nitrate and capped with cat litter — meet the federal legal definition of explosives. FBI analysts determined that the mixture could explode if it was packed more tightly in the pipe and capped, Hoffer wrote.
$70,000 in explosives stolen from Pistons game
Someone in metro Detroit is hauling a stolen trailer carrying about $70,000 worth of explosives meant to pump up the crowd before Pistons games.
Employees of Band-Ayd Systems International Inc., which provides the flames and flash that kick off home games, discovered the trailer was missing at about 8 a.m. Sunday.
Loaded inside were dragons -- the devices that shoot flames skyward during the starting lineup's introductions -- and concussive explosives that easily could blow off body parts.