Free Republic

China is considering sending ships to fight pirates off the Horn of Africa in what would be the country’s first significant long-range naval combat mission since the 15th century. Senior Colonel Huang Xueping, spokesman for China’s ministry of national defence, told the FT an anti-piracy mission was “still in the consideration stage”. But he said: “There will be an announcement very soon.” Since late October, more than 30 ships have been attacked by pirates based in Somalia and up to 19 vessels captured. These include a Chinese fishing vessel with 30 crew seized off the coast of Yemen on Tuesday....

The Taliban have defeated the primary tribal opposition organized against it in the insurgency-wracked district of Swat in Pakistan's northwest. The leader of the tribal resistance was killed and two of his aides were beheaded last weekend after the Taliban overran the region controlled by the opposition. Pir Samiullah, a rival tribal and religious leader opposing Mullah Fazlullah's forces in the Matta region of Swat, and eight of his followers were killed in a Taliban assault on Dec. 16. Two of his aides were subsequently beheaded in public, while an estimated 40 of his followers have been captured. "The Taliban...

Iraq's parliament speaker announced his resignation Wednesday after a parliamentary session descended into chaos as lawmakers argued about whether to free a journalist who threw his shoes at President George W. Bush. The speaker, Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, has threatened to resign before and has been suspended for embarrassing the prime minister with erratic behavior. On Wednesday, after arguments erupted among lawmakers over the fate of the journalist Muntadhar al-Zeidi, the speaker said: 'I have no honor leading this parliament and I announce my resignation.' Al-Zeidi's family went to the Central Criminal Court expecting to attend a court hearing for him, said...

Within a few unlikely seconds, a pair of size 10 shoes have become the most destructive weapon the people of Iraq have managed to throw at the occupying powers, after nearly six years of occupation and formidable resistance. One Iraqi writer called the shoes, hurled by a journalist at George Bush, “Iraq’s weapon of comprehensive destruction”. While the uprisings of Fallujah, Najaf, Basra and Baghdad against the occupation will always remain as landmarks of a people resisting occupation, these incredible seconds have united Iraqis in the most dramatic fashion. Contrary to most media coverage, the 28-year-old TV reporter Muntadar Al-Zeidi...

Iraqi journalist Muntadar al-Zaidi will be known for a long time as the shoe thrower. He who succeeded in throwing a pair of shoes at U.S. President George Bush last Sunday in Baghdad. The shoes are now priceless. A Saudi entrepreneur has offered $10 million for one of the pair of shoes. The shoe throwing incident has been hailed as heroic by many people around the world, especially those who opposed the foreign policies of the outgoing US president. What are the reactions of Southeast Asian bloggers and residents? Hafriz from Singapore thinks al-Zaidi should become president of the world:...

Hizbullah, also an Islamist group, has long been using the mixed language of Islam and Arabism, which is why Chuck Freund and I came up with the labels "Pan-Arabist Islam/ism" or "Arabo-centric Islam" (see also Matt Frost, who has an interest in this particular subject. Cf. Lee Smith's old article in Slate, and, Josh Landis' excellent post on the Baath and whether it's "secular"). In fact, speaking of Nasser, that's precisely the sort of image Hassan Nasrallah has been projecting: a Shiite Nasser. If you take a look at Avi Jorisch's Beacon of Hatred, you'll see in the accompanying DVD-Rom...

NEW South Wales Premier Nathan Rees wants to appeal the reduction in the sentences given to brothers Bilal and Mohammed Skaf over the gang rape of a teenage girl. "I'm just off the phone to the acting attorney-general (Verity Firth) to see if we can appeal that decision, and if we can, we will," he said. "This is exactly the sort of decision by the judiciary that gives rise to claims in the community that the judiciary is out of touch." Bilal Skaf, 26, and his 25-year-old brother, Mohammed, were appealing their convictions and sentences for the gang rape of...

There are about,1.6 million Muslims in Great Britain and while they represent only 3% of the population it is a very vocal and radical minority. Almost half of Britain’s mosques are under the control of a hard line Islamic sect whose leading preacher loathes Western values and has called on Muslims to “shed blood” for Allah, an investigation by The Times has found. Riyadh ul Haq, who supports armed jihad and preaches contempt for Jews, Christians and Hindus, is in line to become the spiritual leader of the Deobandi sect in Britain. The ultra-conservative movement, which gave birth to the...

<p>GENEVA (AP) - Islamic proposals to ban criticism of religion, which have gathered strength since the publication of cartoons of the prophet Muhammad two years ago, threaten to derail an already troubled U.N. anti-racism conference planned for next year. The European Union rejects suggestions by Algeria—backed by other Muslim and African countries—that limits on free speech are needed to stop the publication of offensive articles and images.</p>

A prominent Tajik cleric and politician has accused the country's education officials of misinterpreting many historical facts about Islam and the Prophet Muhammad in Tajik schoolbooks. In an open letter to the Ministry of Education and numerous media interviews, Hoji Akbar Turajonzoda has said that the textbooks' authors have taken an "unprofessional, irrational, and sometimes insulting and offensive stance" toward Islam and Islamic values. Turajonzoda, who is a member of Tajikistan's upper house of parliament, said the textbooks portray the Prophet Muhammad as a creator of a new religion -- not as the messenger of God -- and suggest that...

The British finally take a step to wake up their country by showing the Islam truth movie Fitna and the EU turns around and helps the enemy out by banning the screening. The reason that they gave for banning the film was that there were protests in Pakistan, Iran, Indonesia and Afghanistan after a Dutch screening. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon calls the film "offensively anti-Islamic".

BANGALORE: An employee of a company here who reportedly lauded the Iraqi journalist for hurling his shoes at President George Bush, landed in trouble as he is being questioned by police. Jameel, working in Motor Industry Corporation now taken over by BOSCH, was taken in for questioning yesterday after his colleagues complained that his comments supporting the journalist, Muntazer al-Zaidi, raised suspicion. "He has not been taken into custody. We are asking him some questions," said Gopal Hosur, Joint Commissioner, Crime. "There are no charges against him as of now. We are interrogating him to remove possibility of any doubt,"...

My goal today is to put you into the mind of an Islamist — to think like an Islamist. It is only possible to understand the events occurring by understanding their thinking and what it would mean to live under Shariah law. There is a well-worn Cliché “It’s the economy stupid” that appears around election times. So it is with Islamic Economics and the Clash of Ideologies we are witnessing today. See also: Islamic Economics and the Final Jihad: The Muslim Brotherhood to the Leftist/Marxist - Islamist Alliance It should be realized that the goal of the Islamists, following in...

The Bush administration moved Wednesday to clamp down financially on a New York City business suspected of acting as a front company for Iran's Bank Melli, which has been accused of providing support to Iran's nuclear program. "This scheme to use a front company set up by Bank Melli - a known proliferator - to funnel money from the United States to Iran is yet another example of Iran's duplicity," said Stuart Levey, the Treasury Department's under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.

ATLANTA – A Muslim woman arrested for refusing to take off her head scarf at a courthouse security checkpoint said Wednesday that she felt her human and civil rights were violated. A judge ordered Lisa Valentine, 40, to serve 10 days in jail for contempt of court, said police in Douglasville, a city of about 20,000 people on Atlanta's west suburban outskirts.

British-born NHS doctor Bilal Abdulla launched car bomb attacks on London and Glasgow despite having been identified as a terror suspect by MI5, it can be disclosed today. The 29-year-old, an Iraqi doctor born in Aylesbury, Bucks, plotted to bring murder and mayhem on an "indiscriminate" scale to London's West End and Glasgow airport. He was found guilty yesterday of conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to cause explosions. However, it can be disclosed today that the Security Service had earlier identified Abdulla following a surveillance operation based around another group of radicals. Security sources said they had a name for...

At the urging of the US government, the UN Security Council on Tuesday adopted a resolution declaring peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians “irreversible.” The resolution makes no room for changing circumstances or non-compliance by the parties involved. It appears to have been passed in response to Israeli prime ministerial frontrunner Benjamin Netanyahu’s stated intention to alter the flow of the peace process as a result of Palestinian non-compliance.

How will America react if diplomacy fails and Tel Aviv is hit with a nuke? How will America react if New York is hit with a terrorist nuke?

A call by the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan to formally start a third intifada by carrying out suicide bombing attacks to “slaughter the Jews” in Israel has sparked widespread interest around the globe. “This could be the breakthrough we need,” exclaimed Hamas spokesman, Imah Mohran. “With new leadership from the United States, a final resolution of the Jewish problem may be within our grasp. This is the change we believe in” UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the proposal has stimulated sufficient interest to be “worth a closer look” and that the UN would likely debate and possibly vote on the...

In "Uncle Shariah" in the Washington Times, December 16, Frank Gaffney details why AIG's nationalization is so worrisome: The insurance giant AIG has lately become the poster child for corporate risk-taking, mismanagement and greed. Its unimaginably large losses, rooted in insurance it extended to financial companies engaged in subprime mortgage-backed transactions, have destroyed both AIG's corporate reputation and balance sheet. Indeed, but for the fact that Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson - who during his days running Goldman Sachs had extensive ties to AIG - deemed the insurance firm "too large to fail," the company would surely have gone under by...