Free Republic

Frontpage Interview’s guest today is Hossain Salahuddin, a poet, essayist and an ex-Muslim who is the author of several books. He is the editor of the magazine Maverick, which promotes literature, freethinking and rationalism. FP: Hossain Salahuddin, welcome to FrontPage interview. HS: Thanks very much for having me. It’s a real pleasure to be here. FP: Tell us about your childhood and your upbringing within Islam. HS: I was born in 1984, into a Muslim family in Bangladesh . My family was rather orthodox and they made sure I learn the Quran properly even before they enrolled me in a...

The secret war On the North-West Frontier, soldiers are trying to tighten the noose around bin Laden's forces. But in Europe and America, there is no clear enemy to fight - yet every expert knows that a terrorist atrocity is coming Mark Townsend in Tangier, John Hooper in Madrid, Greg Bearup in Peshawar, Paul Harris in Washington, Peter Beaumont in Baghdad, Antony Barnett, Martin Bright, Jason Burke and Nick Pelham in London Sunday March 21, 2004 The Observer There were shadows in the rocks. As the 12 US Special Forces soldiers arrived at a remote mountain region in eastern Afghanistan...

U.S. seeks info on American missing in Iran Former FBI agent was last seen in early March Associated Press April 2, 2007 WASHINGTON - The government is seeking information from Iran about a former FBI agent reported missing while on a business trip to the Islamic republic several weeks ago, officials said Monday. FBI spokesman Rich Kolko said the agent retired nearly a decade ago, and appeared to be in Iran on private business. He said the missing man was last seen in Iran in early March, and was not working for the FBI as a contractor. “At this time,...

Former FBI agent missing in Iran By PAT MILTON, Associated Press Writer NEW YORK - An American who disappeared in Iran while on a business trip is a former FBI agent in New York and Florida known as a meticulous investigator and an expert in busting Italian and Russian mobsters. The retired agent was identified as Robert Levinson, 59, of Coral Springs, Fla., a U.S. official familiar with the case told The Associated Press on Tuesday. He was last heard from around March 11 while in a coastal area of southern Iran, where he was working for an independent filmmaker,...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Iran said Wednesday it will look into the disappearance of an American man in Iran, a State Department spokesman said. The missing man has been identified as a former FBI agent. Iran replied to a U.S. request for information or help, and asked for additional details about the missing man's travel itinerary, State Department spokesman Tom Casey said. The response came through Swiss intermediaries in Iran. ``We'll see if they come up with anything, but they certainly didn't have any specific information,'' about the man, Casey said. The United States and Iran have no diplomatic relations, but...

TEHRAN (Reuters) - A former FBI agent is being held by Iranian authorities, the Financial Times reported on Friday, but U.S. officials said they were still unable to verify the whereabouts of the missing American. Florida resident and ex-FBI agent Robert Levinson went missing while on a visit to the Gulf island of Kish in Iran early in March. His family has not heard from him since and U.S. officials told Reuters they do not have any valid leads. Diplomats fear the case of Levinson could mark a new twist in apparent tit-for-tat detentions involving the United States, Britain and...

Missing American Feared a Victim of 'Dirty War' April 13, 2007 The Financial Times Guy Dinmore in Washington and Najmeh Bozorgmehr in Tehran Just why Robert Levinson, a former Federal Bureau of Investigation agent and now private investigator, should venture into Iran to meet a American fugitive wanted for murder in the US remains a mystery that the highest Bush administration authorities are trying to unravel. As the Financial Times revealed this week, Mr Levinson disappeared on March 8 after a six-hour meeting on the Iranian island of Kish with Dawud Salahuddin, an American who converted to Islam and was...

PHOENIX - An Army investigator has recommended the death penalty for four soldiers accused of murder during a raid in Iraq. Lt. Col. James P. Daniel Jr. made the recommendation in report obtained Saturday by The Associated Press. Daniel found several aggravating factors that warrant a sentence of death in the case of four soldiers accused of killing three men during the May raid in the Salahuddin province.

Chairman Sayed Salahuddin (R) with bodyguard ISLAMABAD, April 23 (Reuters) - The commander of Kashmir's largest militant group said on Sunday Pakistan had caused "irreparable damage" to the Kashmiri fighters' cause by pursuing peace without winning more concessions from India. Sayed Salahuddin, the leader of Hizb-ul-Mujahideen and chairman of the United Jihad Council grouping a dozen Kashmiri militant organisations, staged a protest last month over Pakistan's strategy in the peace process begun in early 2004. "One-sided pragmatism and confidence building measures, which are not reciprocated by the Indian side, have caused irreparable damage to the ongoing freedom struggle in...

Juror says verdict will send message Ishmael Salahud-Din was sentenced to the maximum punishment Friday for trying to kill five police officers during a 2003 shootout at the Park Apartments. A jury of seven men and five women sentenced him to life in prison and a $10,000 fine on five counts of attempted capital murder for shooting at Officers Javier Cantu, Phillip Bintliff, Israel Carrasco, Pedro Muniz and Jose "Joe" Smith. "Justice was served today," Bintliff said. Jurors also sentenced Salahud-Din to a life sentence and a $10,000 fine on one count of felony escape and 99 years in prison...