Free Republic

Survivor tells of girls' beheadings POSO: A thick scar running from the back of her neck to just under her right eye, the lone survivor of a machete attack in which three Christian girls were beheaded on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi has spoken for the first time of her terror. "All I could do was pray to Jesus for his help," said 16-year-old Noviana Malewa, who fled the October attack with a gaping head wound. "I was streaming with blood." Noviana, who now lives under police guard in the Christian town of Tentena, described how the girls were taking...

ALBANY, N.Y. - Two Muslim men caught up in an anti-terrorism sting operation pleaded innocent Friday as details emerged about 10 new charges against them. Yassin Aref and Mohammed Hossain were accused Thursday of attempting to provide support to Jaish-e-Mohammed, a Pakistan-based group listed by the federal government as a terrorist organization. Aref, who leads a mosque, also was charged with lying to federal officials. The pair were initially charged in August 2004 with conspiring to launder money and promoting terrorism. They now face a total of 30 charges. Entered as new evidence against Aref were entries in his personal...

Roligt og metodisk skræver storebroderen over sin lillesøster, mens han skyder det ene projektil efter det andet ind i hende. Hendes ægtemand er ramt af flere skud i maven og kan blot se hjælpeløst til, mens hans kone henrettes af sin egen familie. (rough translation) Calm and methodically big brother stoops over his little sister while shooting one projectile after the other into her. Her spouse, affected by several shots to the abdomen, can only look on helplessly, while his wife is executed by her own family.

THE UNSMILING GIRL in the black hijab defined her identity thus: “I am a Muslim of Arab origin, living within British society.” Hadil, 18, could not attend a more racially integrated school than Quintin Kynaston in West London where, according to its Ofsted report, “the wealth of cultures and faiths is valued, respected and appreciated”. Hadil, along with a number of fellow pupils, had taken part in a documentary called Young, British and Muslim and here she was up on stage, giving her views to an audience at the National Film Theatre. Yet in reply to the question “Do you...

McLEAN, Va. (AP) - A man accused of plotting to assassinate President Bush was indicted Thursday on additional charges that could bring life in prison, and prosecutors now say he also planned to establish an al-Qaida cell in the United States. Prosecutors say Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, 24, of Falls Church joined al-Qaida in 2002 while studying in Saudi Arabia and that he discussed possible terrorist operations, including a plot to kill Bush either by shooting or by a suicide bombing.Prosecutors also allege Abu Ali discussed plans to assassinate members of Congress and to hijack aircraft and fly them into...

Bush Administration Censors Hughes' Speech To Islamist Group September 7, 2005 - PipeLineNews.org - On Friday September 2, Karen Hughes, State Department Undersecretary for Public Relations addressed the Islamist group, ISNA [Islamic Society of North America] at their 42nd convention in Chicago, Illinois. In the wake of a firestorm of criticism over her appearance before the organization, the State Department is now refusing to release the text of the speech, on the grounds that it was not a public event. In advance of the address we were advised that the full text would be made available at the appropriate...

Iran will send the United States 20 million barrels of crude oil to help it overcome the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, if Washington waives trade sanctions, a senior Iranian oil official said. In a gesture that mirrors American aid offers after a devastating 2003 earthquake in Iran, Tehran's envoy to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries announced his government would ship up to 20 million barrels of oil to the U.S., state radio reported late Tuesday. "If U.S. sanctions are lifted, Iran is prepared to send that quantity of oil to America," the radio quoted Hossein Kazempour as saying. U.S....

Tehran, Iran, Sep. 06 – Women who violate Iran’s strict Islamic dress code will be flogged immediately, prosecutor’s offices in provincial centres announced on Tuesday. In the central Iranian city of Shahin-Shahr, the prosecutor’s office posted huge notices on billboards and shop windows warning women that dress code violators will appear before an Islamic judge immediately after arrest to receive a sentence, usually 100 lashes in public. The prosecutor will be demanding maximum penalties, the notice warned. “Individuals whose state of attire and make-up is against religious laws in public will be prosecuted without having to first wait in a...

Eventually, the school district acknowledged it had no policy preventing a student from praying during free time, and allowed Yasmeen to use an empty classroom to unfurl her prayer rug, face Mecca and touch her head to the floor in a few moments of worship. Her case was part of a nationwide grass-roots effort by Muslim parents to make public schools more friendly and accommodating to Muslim students. The movement has gained strength since the September 11 terror attacks. "The reality for many Muslim students in public schools is very difficult," said Ingrid Mattson, vice president of the Islamic Society...

Former S. Side mosque official pleads guilty to meth charges September 4, 2005 BY NATASHA KORECKI, Federal Courts Reporter The onetime treasurer of a Chicago mosque with ties to two people accused of funding terrorism admitted he delivered drugs to an undercover federal agent. Tariq Isa, 57, of Cicero pleaded guilty Friday to conspiracy to distribute and attempted distribution of pseudoephedrine, knowing it was intended to be used to make methamphetamine. Isa is the third member of the Al Qassam Mosque, also known as the Chicago Islamic Center, on the South Side, to face federal charges. Two other former mosque...

One of President Bush’s closest confidants, Karen Hughes, this weekend is scheduled to address the annual conference of an organization whose primary purpose is the propagation of Saudi-sponsored Wahhabist Islam—and which has praised suicide bombers, whose president has publicly denied that al Qaeda was behind 9/11, and whose web site to this day sells a book that lavishes praise on Osama bin Laden. Not only is Hughes publicly endorsing the Islamic Society of North America with her mere presence, but this is the first major public address in her new role spearheading outreach to the Muslim world. In the process,...

In reaction to Hurricane Katrina and the destruction in its wake, a high-ranking Kuwaiti official, Muhammad Yousef Al-Mlaifi, who is director of the Kuwaiti Ministry of Endowment's research center, published an article titled "The Terrorist Katrina is One of the Soldiers of Allah, But Not an Adherent of Al-Qaeda." [1] The article appeared August 31, 2005 in the Kuwaiti daily Al-Siyassa. The following are excerpts from his article: "The Terrorist Katrina is One of the Soldiers of Allah…" "…As I watched the horrible sights of this wondrous storm, I was reminded of the Hadith of the Messenger of Allah [in...

Riyadh (AsiaNews) – With the death of King Fahd and the arrival of King Abdullah, the persecution by the Saudi Kingdom of believers of religions other than Islam, especially Christians, is on the rise. Sources close to AsiaNews in the Saudi capital have confirmed that the religious police, the Muttawa, has raided the homes of foreigners, especially suspect homes (i.e. those where Christians live). This has forced many groups, who used to meet in the privacy of their home to pray, to stop this activity. Furthermore, fear is such that people have stopped meeting out of fear that the police...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The FBI has launched an inquiry into the activities of a grocery store owner who is allegedly the U.S. leader of a radical Islamic group banned in parts of Europe and the Middle East, authorities said. Iyad Hilal, an Islamic author and philosopher who owns an Orange County market, hasn't drawn much attention to his writings or his role in the group, Hizb ut-Tahrir, which means Party of Liberation. But since the July 7 bombings in London, British Prime Minister Tony Blair has suggested banning the group there. Hilal is apparently not suspected of any terrorist...

The Council on American-Islamic Relations has filed a $1.35 million lawsuit against the founder of a website that accuses the controversial lobby group of supporting terrorism. The Washington, D.C.-based CAIR charges five statements made by its Internet critic, Anti-CAIR, amount to "libelous defamation." CAIR seeks $1 million in compensatory damages and $350,000 in punitive damages in addition to its legal fees and interest. Anti-CAIR's founder is Andrew Whitehead, 46, a retired Navy enlisted man in Virginia Beach, Va., who says he simply wants to see CAIR "go away." He told the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot newspaper last week he has no money,...

Set on an arid plain southeast of Kirkuk, Hasira looks like a place forsaken by time. Sheep amble past mud-brick houses and the odd sickly palm tree shades children's games. There is no electricity. Yet along with 39 other villages in this region that Iraq's Kurds have named Germian (meaning hot place), Hasira and its people have become noted for presenting the first statistical evidence in Iraq of the existence of female circumcision, or female genital mutilation (FGM), as critics call it. "We knew Germian was one of the areas most affected by the practice," says Thomas von der Osten-Sacken,...

After my column titled “World War III” was published last week, I received an email from a woman who unsubscribed because I mentioned that Mohammed, the so-called “Prophet” of Islam was a pedophile who “married” a six year old girl named Aisha when he was 53, but at the request of her parents waited to start raping her until she was nine. The subscriber stated that she did not want to receive “hate mail.” I responded to the woman that if she wanted to understand hate, she should go to a Moslem country and talk about Jesus. As her head...

Porn, pork and Pabst -- you're safe from them at Caribou Coffee. In an SEC filing last week for its initial stock offering, the Brooklyn Center-based coffeehouse chain noted that it operates its business according to the Islamic principles known as Shari'ah. "A Shari'ah-compliant company is prohibited from engaging in derivative hedging transactions such as interest rate swaps or futures, forward options or other instruments designed to hedge against changes in interest rates or the price of commodities we purchase," Caribou said in its filing. "Also, a Shari'ah-compliant company is prohibited from dealing in the areas of alcohol, gambling, pornography,...

The following letter was sent by a Baptist Minister to the head of the 'moderate' Muslim Council of Britain a few days ago in the wake of the terror campaign on London transport. Dear Sir Iqbal Sacranie, BBC2 NewsNight: ‘The teachings of Islam are very, very clear.’ I was very surprised to hear your public statement before the whole nation, which would therefore include Her Majesty’s Government and the Church, that the teachings of Islam condemn and forbid acts of violence such as the odious acts that were carried out last Thursday. I would, as a community leader, find it...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) -- More than 2,000 supporters of a coalition of radical Muslim groups rallied Friday in the Pakistani capital to condemn a crackdown on Islamic militants that has netted more than 200 suspects. Chanting "God is great," and "Down with America," the protesters - mostly Islamic students and members of a coalition known as Mutahida Majlis-e-Amal, or United Action Forum - marched on a main road in Islamabad, briefly clashed with police, and demanded the release of all detainees. There were no reports of violence at rallies elsewhere in the country, where hundreds of Islamic radicals also protested...