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NEW YORK For the second time in less than a week, The New York Times today admitted to a serious error in a story. On Saturday it said it had misidentified a man featured in the iconic "hooded inmate" photograph from Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. Today it discloses that a woman it profiled on March 8 is not, in fact, a victim of Hurricane Katrina--and was arrested for fraud and grand larceny yesterday. As it did in the Abu Ghraib mistake, the Times ran an editors' note on page 2 of its front section, along with a lengthy news...

SAN FRANCISCO -- A lead FBI agent on Tuesday linked two local Muslim clerics to the Taliban and Osama bin Laden, contending the two were planning to set up a school near Lodi that would breed anti-American terrorism. The agent testified that Lodi clerics Shabbir Ahmed and Mohammed Adil Khan were prepared to relay information on terrorist plots from sources close to bin Laden. The allegations were dismissed by Ahmed's lawyer, who said the FBI and federal prosecutors have "made the whole thing up." The striking allegations came during an immigration hearing for Ahmed at which Immigration Judge Anthony Murry...

"Muhammad Ali, born Cassius Marcellus Clay in Louisville, Ky., on Jan. 17, 1942, grandson of a slave, began boxing at the age of 12, and, by 18, had fought 108 amateur bouts." In the very first sentence on Ali's life in her essay, "The Cruelest Sport," noted author Joyce Carol Oates shares with the reader one observation beyond the superficial: Ali was born the "grandson of a slave." Oates apparently sees this as the defining fact of Ali's existence. More influential than Oates or anyone else in interpreting Ali to the world was sportscaster Howard Cosell. In his 1973 book,...

Philly Cleric Sentenced for Corruption By JOANN LOVIGLIO, Associated Press Writer Mon Sep 19, 2:12 PM ET A prominent Muslim cleric on Monday was sentenced to more than seven years in prison on racketeering and other charges, the latest in a string of convictions stemming from the FBI's sweeping probe of municipal corruption. Prosecutors said that Shamsud-din Ali, 67, used his political connections to obtain dubious loans, donations and city contracts. In addition to his 87-month sentence, Ali was ordered to pay restitution. He was released pending an appeal. The investigation of the so-called "pay to play" culture in Philadelphia's...

Paroled TWA Hijacker Returns to Lebanon Tuesday, December 20, 2005 BEIRUT, Lebanon — A Lebanese man serving a life sentence in Germany for the 1985 hijacking of a TWA jetliner and killing of a U.S. Navy diver has returned to Lebanon after being paroled in Germany, security and guerrilla officials said Tuesday. Mohammed Ali Hamadi arrived in Beirut four days ago on a commercial flight from Germany, a Lebanese security official and a Hezbollah guerrilla group said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

In an article two days ago, "Muhammad Ali v. George W. Bush," I castigated President Bush bestowing a prestigious award on former boxer Muhammad Ali and for lavishly praising Ali's beautiful soul, his compassion, and his being a man of peace. I offered some evidence to the contrary and concluded by calling this incident "the nadir of his presidency."The column prompted a fair amount of comment, positive and negative. I'd like to note here two noteworthy responses. One is from Judea Pearl, father of the late Daniel Pearl, murdered by Islamists in Pakistan in 2002: When Danny was in captivity,...

George W. Bush honored the boxer, Muhammad Ali, and 13 others with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, called "the nation's highest civilian award," on November 9 at the White House. The president praised Ali for his sports accomplishments and called him "The Greatest of All Time."Fine, but he then proceeded to laud Ali's character: "The real mystery, I guess, is how he stayed so pretty. It probably had to do with his beautiful soul. He was a fierce fighter and he's a man of peace. … Across the world, billions of people know Muhammad Ali as a brave, compassionate, and...

Ali does the "Rope-a-Dope" on Bush. This draft dodger, Cassius Clay, changed his name to Muhammad Ali and became a Muslim in order to avoid serving his country during the Vietnam war. For some reason (does anyone know?) everyone now loves to kiss his ass. What did he ever do for his country to deserve this honor? As a further insult, they do it right before Veterans Day.

Three women facing death threats appeared in public under heavy security last night to denounce a provincial move that would allow Muslims here to settle family disputes in accordance with religious laws, outside the court system. The activists, including Dutch parliamentarian Ayaan Hirsi Ali, say the religious laws known as sharia discriminate against women. "Why, if you have equal rights in Canada, would you take them away from Muslim women?" Hirsi Ali asked. She was joined by Iran's Homa Arjomand and Irshad Manji in a University of Toronto auditorium for an event in support of the International Campaign Against Sharia...

When Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh was stabbed to death last year, the assailant pinned a note to the dead body claiming Ayaan Hirsi Ali would be next. But she isn't cowering. Instead, the Dutch filmmaker is in Toronto, speaking out against the implementation of traditional Islamic law, Sharia, in Canada. "I'm here because the rights of women and the rights of Muslim women are threatened," she said. Supporters of Sharia say Muslims have the right to live as their religion dictates. They want Canada to permit Sharia arbitration in civil disputes. In a recent report, Marion Boyd, a former...

The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (also known as the 9-11 Commission), an independent, bipartisan commission created by congressional legislation...is chartered to prepare a full and complete account of the circumstances surrounding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, including preparedness for and the immediate response to the attacks...

The Iraqi government has announced that it has arrested two senior members of Abu-Musab al-Zarqawi's al-Qaeda in Iraq operating in the northern city of Mosul. The government said the two men were arrested on June 19 and were candidates to replace al-Qaeda's leader in Mosul who had been captured on June 14. They two men were identified as Salim Mohammed Ahmed, also known as Abu Nabhan, and Mohammed Thaer Ibrahim, also known as Abu Sarhan. "The two terrorists surrendered without resistance," the announcement said. It offered no other details about the arrests other than to say they were the result...

<p>In the year since Saddam Hussein was deposed, insurgents have killed nine former Iraqi weapons officials. All had been questioned by the Iraq Survey Group (ISG); at least two had been cooperating with it. Last October, ISG head David Kay said that one scientist was killed because "he was engaged in discussions with us." The most recent victim was Majid Hussein Ali, a well-known nuclear scientist. He took two bullets to the back in February.</p>

The links between Nick Berg and Zacarias Moussaoui, once described as the 20th hijacker of 9/11, opened now room for new speculations, if there are deeper ties between the OKC Bombing'95 and 9/11, than thought before. Apparently Berg knew also Moussaoui's roomates. One of them was Mujahid Menepta, who is connected to both 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the 1995 OKC bombing. But Menepta wasn't arrested in Summer 2001, when Moussaoui got caught. The FBI waited until after Sep11th.Why?Berg, Moussaoui and the OK bombing tieshttp://inn.globalfreepress.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=269 By Ewing20012004/5/24 On May 18th, 2004, according to Newsmax, Nick Berg's family insisted that...

Asking few questions makes a difference. There's a change of mentality that started to occur in Iraq even before the 9th of April, but toppling Saddam marked a surge in the change process that made it transfere into an active form and spread wider than before. I think one of the main problems in Arab-Muslim communities is that the vast majority from the illiterate to even highly educated people do not ask enough questions. On the other hand, I've noticed (mainly through blogging ) that westerns in general and Americans in particular always have so many questions to ask and...

EVERY year on March 8, feminists across the world celebrate International Women's Day. As it happens, the holiday was first proclaimed in the early 20th century by the Socialist International – making it the perfect symbol of a movement that, it has become increasingly clear in the past four years of the war on terror, is more dedicated to leftist, utopian politics than to women's rights. For many years before September 11, 2001 – and much to their credit – Western feminists tried to rouse a sleeping world to the plight of women in increasingly radical Islamic countries. In the...

I'm angry. I'm going to let off some steam. But don't think for a minute that the recommendations I make in this commentary are made in haste or without careful reflection. I waited a few days to cool off after I read the news stories that prompt this column. I didn't want to say something I would regret later. Now I feel like I will regret it later if I don't say something right now. Last month, the United States pressed charges against Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, 23, a U.S. citizen of Arabic extraction, for plotting to assassinate President Bush....

Virginia man charged in alleged plot to assassinate Bush By MATTHEW BARAKAT Associated Press Writer ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) -- A former high school valedictorian in Virginia was charged Tuesday with conspiring to assassinate President Bush and conspiracy to support the al-Qaida terrorist network. Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, 23, a U.S. citizen, made an initial appearance Tuesday in U.S. District Court. He claimed that he was tortured while detained in Saudi Arabia since June of 2003 and offered through his lawyer to show the judge his scars. The indictment said that in 2002 and 2003 Abu Ali and an unidentified coconspirator...

Feb 22, 10:51 AM (ET) By MATTHEW BARAKAT ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) - A former Virginia high school valedictorian who had been detained in Saudi Arabia as a suspected terrorist was charged Tuesday with conspiring to assassinate President Bush and with supporting the al-Qaida terrorist network. Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, 23, a U.S. citizen, made an initial appearance Tuesday in U.S. District Court but did not enter a plea. He claimed that he was tortured while detained in Saudi Arabia since June of 2003 and offered through his lawyer to show the judge his scars. The federal indictment said that in...

AMSTERDAM — The Dutch Cabinet has promised it will act quickly to protect seriously threatened immigrant women, many of whom are Islamic and living in fear of an "honour killing". The cabinet partially met an impassioned plea from Liberal VVD MP Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who threatened during an emotional parliamentary debate on Thursday to lodge a "motion of sadness" against Justice Minister Piet Hein Donner. Hirsi Ali, an outspoken critic of Islam, said Donner was not doing enough to protect Islamic women. In fact, she claimed the Christian Democrat CDA minister had never woken up from fairytale land, news service...