Mohammed Hussain grows grapes and wheat on the farm in the Panjwai district that was passed down to him from his father and grandfather. But he no longer lives there. "We were waiting for the promised stability and security but it just didn't come," he said this week through an interpreter.
Mr. Hussain, his wife and their eight children fled to Kandahar city about a year ago. They left their home, their vineyards, their cow and their chickens. "In the city we don't have those things," Mr. Hussain said. "But in the city there is no fighting and no bombs."
Massive numbers of people have already been forced from their villages in the fighting zones, and the numbers are going up as security continues to deteriorate. It is a displacement that is fostering social upheaval and crime. It is straining the limited resources of a city with little food and shelter to offer. And it is creating a growing legion of young men with no land to farm and no jobs - young men who are ripe pickings for the Taliban.
The exodus from the rural areas into Kandahar "is increasing day to day due to the ongoing conflict within these districts," said Javed Amin, the operations manager for Mercy Corps, one of the few aid groups still operating in Kandahar. "It's not clear how long they will be staying here and when the situation will get normal enough for them to return back safely to their families and their houses."
Mr. Hussain said his village of Sperwan in Panjwai district had two different governments by the time his family fled. During the day it was ruled by NATO forces. During the night it was ruled by the Taliban. The constant warring forced nearly everyone to move to safer ground, Mr. Hussain said. Some went to the Arghandab district, north of Kandahar, where the insurgents had yet to become a dominant force. Most went to Kandahar.
But the city presents its own problems. The streets are rubble. Robbery and kidnappings are commonplace. Housing is expensive and hard to find. And there is no work. "My young son tried every day to find a job but he can't find a job," Mr. Hussain lamented. There are constant pressures for unemployed young men to join the army or the Taliban. Mr. Hussain said his son will not succumb to either option. Eventually, he said, he will get a job with the government, a "secure job." But not everyone can afford to be discriminating.
"The people are jobless and they have no other option," Mr. Amin said yesterday. "And if anyone is paying them for any reason to do anything, they will be ready. If the number of Taliban insurgents is increasing, this is the reason. Because they are being paid. [The men] must feed their families. There is no legal way to find a job and find money for their families so they have no other option."
The only way Mr. Hussain can make a living is to continue to farm the land he left behind. That means he must make regular trips back to Sperwan over roads that have been planted with mines. Many of his former neighbours do the same commute. And many have been killed making the trip, he said. "But this is my obligation, to go there and to come back."
Ghulam Hazrat once lived in Pashmul in the Zhari district. He and his wife and his seven children moved to Kandahar 2œ years ago. "I couldn't stay there," he said. "There was fighting every day." Mr. Hazrat has set up a store that sells building materials. But business is not good because there are no homes being built. There is a great need for housing in Kandahar, but few can afford to buy.
When they first arrived, Mr. Hazrat's family of nine moved in with relatives who gave them two rooms. They stayed there for four months until they could afford to rent a house. Today, his children go to school. But he worries about their safety on the crime-ridden streets of Kandahar. Still, Mr. Hazrat said, "the city is more secure than Pashmul. I don't hope to go back."
Said Mohammed is also a new arrival in Kandahar. Like Mr. Hussain, he came from the Panjwai. Three years ago, the NATO forces told him to move out of the village of Zangabad where his family had their home. Mr. Mohammed, his wife and their family of nine children moved into a tent village on the eastern edge of Kandahar known as Khana. After about a year they were able to afford a rental house. Mr. Mohammed also makes trips back to his farm, risking his life to keep his family fed. "If I leave the vineyards, they will dry," he said.
But the violence is ever present. On Monday, there was fighting near the village and one of his relatives was killed. Since the family moved to Kandahar, their house has been looted and most of their possessions stolen. One day he arrived to find the Taliban had taken up residence. "They said 'You have not made jihad, so this is your jihad. We are using your things,' " Mr. Mohammed said. Another day it was a group of Canadian soldiers who had occupied his home.
Today, he said, the area is relatively quiet. It is also ruled by the Taliban. The NATO forces came with the promise of security, he said. "But unfortunately insecurity has increased and they have lost the villages."
TOKYO - Japan on Friday ordered two warships on an anti-piracy mission off Somalia where US, European and Chinese naval vessels have already been fending off pirates who staged over 100 attacks last year. The two destroyers are due to set sail Saturday for the Gulf of Aden from a western Japanese port, the defence ministry said. The ships are expected to arrive in waters near the Suez canal in about three weeks.
'Following the decision at today's cabinet meeting, I ordered the Self-Defence Forces to engage in the maritime security activity,' said Defence Minister Yasukazu Hamada. 'Piracy off Somalia is a threat to Japan and the international community,' the minister told reporters at a briefing. 'It is an important duty for the Self-Defence Forces to protect Japanese lives and assets.'
The period of the deployment had not been fixed, Hamada said, but he added that 'six months could be an idea'.
Recent newspaper polls have shown growing public support for the mission, with a survey this week by the top-selling Yomiuri Shimbun showing 61 percent of respondents in favour and 27 percent against.
Under their current rules of engagement, the two Maritime Self-Defence Force ships, carrying about 400 sailors and coastguard officers, would protect only Japanese ships, nationals and cargo. But Prime Minister Taro Aso's Liberal Democratic Party has proposed legislation that would widen the scope of the mission and allow the destroyers to engage pirates who threaten other nations' ships.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/13/2009 00:00 ||
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Thousands of Somalis are demonstrating for the fourth day between Mogadishu and the town of Afgoye demanding food, water and shelter.
Press TV's correspondent reported from Somalia's capital city Mogadishu on Thursday that the demonstrators condemned the World Food Program (WFP) and United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) for having stopped food aid deliveries.
Thousands of people living in refugee camps in southern Somalia have run out of food, our correspondent said and added that the elderly and the women were near death as they had nothing to eat or drink. He continued that he had contacted the aid agencies and their reply had been that they were helpless as aid deliveries had ceased due to the increasing insecurity.
Somalia has become an increasingly hostile environment for humanitarian aid workers, who provide crucial assistance to those affected by the country's protracted conflict.
Aid workers, who had managed to assist Somalia even during the most lawless periods before 2006, have been the target of dozens of killings and kidnappings in 2008 and now watch helplessly from neighboring Kenya as the country's security situation spirals out of control.
Meanwhile, two other large demonstrations were held on Thursday in Mogadishu in support of peace and the new government led by President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/13/2009 00:00 ||
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#3
HMMMM, HMMMM, well, iff Afghanistan-Pakistan is gearing up to be the Bammer's "REAL/NEW VIETNAM", dare AFRICA be his [anti-Soviet/
USSR] "NEW ASIA/CHINA", ala POTUS NIXON???
* STAR TREK's SPOCK in "SG:THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY"" > As an old Vulcan saying goes, "ONLY NIXON COULD GO TO CHINA"!
Commerce Minister Lt Col (retired) Faruk Khan yesterday linked the carnage at BDR Pilkhana headquarters to Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB). He said some of the border troops rounded up for alleged role in the bloody mutiny are found to have connections with JMB, the banned Islamist outfit responsible for terrorist attacks including the near-simultaneous countrywide blasts in 2005.
Faruk, who has lately been tasked with coordinating the probes into February 25-26 bloodbath at Pilkhana, was talking to reporters at his secretariat office around noon.
"We have gathered that a number of BDR jawans arrested in the mutiny case were involved in JMB somehow or other. I won't give more details as that might alert others having links to the mass killings," he said.
The minister made the disclosure at a time when speculation runs rife that militant groups might have something to do with the BDR massacre. The way Col Gulzar Uddin Ahmed's body was mutilated adds weight to that line of reasoning.
Gulzar, who had recently been posted to BDR from Rapid Action Battalion, was revered for his role in anti-militant drives.
Criminal Investigation Department (CID), which is investigating the case in connection with the mass killings, however would not say anything about JMB links to the carnage that left 74 people including 52 army officers killed and scores injured. ASP Abdul Kahar Akand of CID said, "As investigation officer of the case I cannot say at this stage if JMB were involved. At least not until the investigation is complete."
Recently, a team working under 'Operation Rebel Hunt' has raided in vain houses of four suspected BDR mutineers--Anwar, Ismail, Kawsar and Aftab--at Bagmara in Rajshahi, an area once considered a militant bastion. The four are believed to have been JMB operatives before joining the paramilitary force.
Of them, Anwar gained notoriety as a close associate of Bangla Bhai, JMB operations commander executed along with Mujahideen supremo Shaikh Abdur Rahman and four others in 2007. He was allegedly involved in Awami League leader Yasin's murder at Bagmara in 2004.
An officer who is among those in the hunt for the four, said around a dozen rebel soldiers took shelter at Ismail's house at Sakoa village in Bagmara after February 26.
FARUK KHAN AT IBFB
Coming out of the inaugural session of the annual general meeting of International Business Forum of Bangladesh (IBFB) at a city hotel yesterday morning, Faruk Khan said JMB links to the BDR massacre have been found, and that things would get clear after inquiry. Earlier, addressing the function there, he said, "The barbaric acts of violence at Pilkhana were a deep-rooted conspiracy against the country and its secular-minded people."
Faruk blasted the opposition parties for 'not standing by the government' during the crisis stemming from BDR mutiny. He alleged they [BNP and allies] were nowhere to be seen on the first two days of the mayhem. They did not utter a word at that time.
Meanwhile, a Dhaka court yesterday placed 12 more suspected BDR mutineers on five days' remand each for interrogation. Those remanded are subedar Gofran Mallick, havildar Rezaul Karim, lance nayeks Gausul Alam and Yusuf Ali, sepoys Joyanta Kumar Sarkar, Jamir Ali, Abdul Latif, Sohrab Hossain, Shariful Islam, Rafiqul Islam, Ismail Hossain and Masudur Rahman.
Metropolitan Magistrate Mohammad Abdur Rahim passed the order after CID produced the 12 with a prayer seeking a 10-day remand for each.
This article starring:
Bangla Bhai
Posted by: Fred ||
03/13/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
How did they identify the hand? Fingerprints? Was it still attached to an arm?
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
03/13/2009 15:58 Comments ||
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#2
Was it a "foreign hand"? Or do they only find those in Pakistan?
The Centre for Social Cohesion (CSC) has learned that the UK Home Office has barred Hezbollah spokesperson Ibrahim el Moussawi from entering the UK.
The announcement follows the CSCs pledge to seek an arrest warrant should el Moussawi enter the country. The CSC had previously revealed that el Moussawi had been due to address a conference of police and government officials at the School of Oriental and Africa Studies (SOAS) at the University of London.
Douglas Murray, Director of the Centre for Social Cohesion, says:
The decision to bar a spokesman for the terrorist group Hezbollah is a victory for all those who believe that terrorists and their spokesmen should not be allowed to incite violence and hatred in the UK.
Last month the Home Secretary forbade the elected Dutch MP Geert Wilders from entering Britain in case he threaten community harmony and therefore public security.
El Moussawis job is to act as a spokesman for a group currently engaging in terrorism with a specifically genocidal intent against the Jewish people.
It is perverse that the government ever considered barring Wilders from entering Britain and even more perverse that they ever considered allowing Hezbollah in.
Alexander Meleagrou-Hitchens, a researcher at the Centre for Social Cohesion, says:
The barring of Dr. el-Moussawi will now prevent him from teaching pro Hezbollah propaganda to British Civil Servants and the police. It is a pity however, that SOAS refused to recognize the danger he posed and that it required the government to step in and stop them.
Anjem Choudary says he understands that the Islamic protesters who this week greeted British troops returning from Iraq with placards calling them "murderers" and "butchers" are not helping to improve community relations. "I can see that the British public will regard the protesters as insensitive," he says, smiling. "But in my opinion, that is outweighed by our sensitivities to families in Iraq who've lost relatives at the hands of the British. The troops were not heroes, but cowards, doing the bidding of a British government engaged in state-sponsored terrorism."
Speaking exclusively to the Evening Standard in an East London coffee shop that has been cleared of other customers ahead of our arrival - a 6ft 4in minder sits off to the side - the British-born Muslim extremist crudely likens the home-coming troops of the 2nd Battalion Royal Anglian Regiment to "Nazis". "Those British troops are guilty of torture and atrocities in Iraq and we Muslims will not swallow the argument that as soldiers, they were just following orders."
Choudary, who offers no proof to back up his claims, is a lawyer by training. While almost all the other high-profile "preachers of hate" find themselves imprisoned or deported, Choudary, 41, enjoys freedom in the UK, despite the fact that he has helped found two jihadist Islamist groups - Al Muhajiroun and Al-Ghurabaa - both since banned for "glorification of terrorism".
His fanatical views have made him possibly the most reviled man in Britain, but he is unrepentant. "That's a badge I would wear with pride," he says. "It's inevitable that when you offer an alternative morality and way of life, many people will hate you for it." He characterises Britons - "with their alcohol, gambling, prostitution and pornography" - as "living like animals in a jungle". But if he hates the British way of life, why stay? "There are parts of the lifestyle, such as fish and chips, I like very much," he quips. "For the rest," he shakes his head. "But I was born in this country, I was educated here, I have every right to stay."
He refuses, though, to see any hypocrisy in the fact that his East London-based family - he is separated from his wife, Rubana Akhtar, with whom he has three young children, aged 13, nine and three - live on benefits of allegedly £25,000 a year, funded by the taxpayers he despises. He does not deny that he receives benefits (he won't confirm how much), or that he uses the NHS, or that his children attend state-funded faith schools, but he bristles at my proposition that taking handouts compromises his position. "I don't think it's of any importance," he says. "People think that those who live off benefits are in some way criminal or less intelligent. It's a way of vilifying me, but it's irrelevant to my ideological views and to what I do."
Another subject Choudary is sensitive about is reference to his undergraduate days at Southampton University where he was known as "Andy" and earned a reputation as a womaniser into "cider, casual sex, cannabis and LSD". Although fellow students who say they took drugs with him have come forward to substantiate these claims and to remark that "he didn't seem very religious at the time", Choudary insists the story is "a fabrication" peddled by his enemies to discredit him.
These days, Choudary is associated with the radical website Islam For the UK and the fundamentalist sect Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaah, a secretive group founded in London in 2005 as a successor to Al-Muhajiroun. They claim up to 1,000 members, and it was the Luton branch of this sect, admits Choudary, who organised the anti-troops demonstrations this week. Their ultimate aim, he says, is "to fly the flag of Allah above 10 Downing Street" and bring about - "through jihad" - "a pure Islamic State with Sharia law in Britain".
Asked what the system of Sharia would mean for westerners living in England, Choudary, who no longer practises conventional law and is now a judge in the Sharia Court of the UK, says: "Every woman, whether Muslim or non-Muslim, would have to wear a traditional burkha and cover everything apart from her face and hands in public. There is a view that women would also wear the niqab [full face veil], but only in certain circumstances. In matters to do with the judicial system and the penal code, one male witness is sufficient to counter the testimony of two females. Also, anyone one becomes intoxicated by alcohol would be given 40 lashes in public. And people who commit adultery would be stoned to death."
The fact that no pure Islamic state exists outside Saudi Arabia, and that it's unlikely to win many converts in Britain, does not deter Choudary. But the mechanism for turning our liberal democracy into a regressive Islamic state is a trickier subject to broach. Such a revolution can only come about through "jihad", Choudary admits. There are two types: jihad of the sword, and jihad of the word. "I am engaged in jihad of the word," he states. But that could entail inciting people to violence: is he guilty of inspiring the next generation of suicide bombers?
Only last month, British Army officers in Afghanistan complained they were engaged in "a surreal mini civil war" with homegrown jihadists "bizarrely sporting British accents who'd travelled there to support the Taliban. Has he ever had young Muslims come to him and say they want to leave Britain to do jihad against our troops abroad?
"You know," he says, looking me in the eye, "there are some things one can't discuss. If it were true that people came to me, it would not be wise for me to tell you. But let me say this: what I say publicly is what I say privately. If they ask about doing jihad in this country, I tell them they live here under a covenant of security and that they are not allowed to kill people or target their wealth."
If Choudary is being on the level, you'd logically expect him to condemn, outright, the home-grown terrorist attacks of 7 July 2005 on London, yet invited to do just that, he refuses. "I'm not in the business of condemning or condoning them," he says. "If I condone them, you will say I am supporting terrorists and glorifying terrorism. But if I condemn it, tha t'll give the green light [for British troops] to do whatever they want abroad without thinking there'll be repercussions in this country. Rather I think what we should do is look at the root causes of 7/7, like the bombing by the British and the Americans of Afghanistan and Iraq."
But what does he say to those who want to leave to do jihad abroad? Does he fire them up or deter them? "If your family is subject to terrorism by Britain, I think it's natural you'd want to go help them," he says. "But now you're asking me questions which you know, and I know, are contrary to the glorification of terrorism [laws] and inciting people to acts of terrorism, and I'm not going to be entrapped." But it's only a trap if he encourages them to go. All Choudary has to say is that he doesn't, wouldn't. But he won't.
I remind him of inflammatory comments he'd made four months ago at a public meeting in Newham when he said: "There are three types of Muslims: those in prison, those of us on our way [to prison], and non-practising Muslims." Which one is he? "I live under the expectation that I could be taken to prison at any time. We have an absurd kangaroo legal system in this country. The sooner we overthrow it and implement Sharia, the better."
Does he model himself on Osama bin Laden? "I am an ordinary Muslim but let me tell you something: Sheikh Osama bin Laden is more popular in the Muslim world than any leader in charge. If there were elections in countries across the Muslim world today, he would win every one of them."
How would he like to be remembered? As a terrorist or a man of peace? "If terrorism is calling for the Sharia, supporting the innocent civilians being tortured and abused abroad, then yes, I'm the biggest terrorist in the world. But if by terrorism you mean the use of violence for political ends and not caring about the lives of ordinary people, then the biggest terrorists in the world are Gordon Brown and George Bush."
Our time is almost up, but I test his sense of humour with one last question: does he ever bump into anyone from his Southampton days who still remembers him as Andy? His face clouds over. "Turn off your tape recorder," he demands, "I'm ending the interview here and now." Suddenly his minder is towering over me. "If you don't turn that off, I will take it off you and you'll never see it again," he says menacingly. And with that Choudary stands abruptly and makes some bizarre derogatory comment about me probably being a paedophile. The veneer of gentility shattered, he strides out of the café without so much as a backward glance.
#4
Musilm population is only 3% of the population so amongst the rest i would say that 97% revile him.The latest panto baddie after Bakri and Abu Hamza!!!!
#5
Bakri's in Lebanon pining for Anjem's purty mouth and Hooky's looking at a life of contemplating a jail cell wall in Colorado. Since this douchebag was born there, there's probably not much they can do about him. Unless, of course, he falls under a subway train some dark and stormy night...
One of the Muslim extremists who waved hate-filled placards at soldiers during a homecoming march works as a baggage handler at Luton Airport, it has emerged.
Jalal Ahmed - who brandished a sign saying 'Anglian soldiers: Butchers of Basra' - has an airside pass which gives him access to secure areas. His duties involve loading luggage on to conveyor belts into aircraft holds.
Yesterday Ahmed's employer, Menzies Aviation, said it had rescinded his airside pass and he would not be working for them until a full investigation was complete. He is not a full-time employee and is understood to work mainly during holidays or peak periods. Rest at link
Posted by: ed ||
03/13/2009 00:00 ||
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U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon on Thursday expressed concern over North Korea's stated plan to launch a satellite. ''I'm concerned about DPRK's recent moves to launch a satellite or long-range missiles,'' the U.N. chief said, referring to the acronym for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/13/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
ION TOPIX > SCIENTIST'S NEW MISSLE DEFENSE - KILLER DRONES!?
#2
I saw a post somewhere that indicated that there is a standing UN resolution that prohibits the DPRK from acquiring, developing or testing ballistic missile technology.
North Korea has informed an international maritime agency that the first stage of a rocket it is to launch will fall into the Sea of Japan while the second stage will fall into the northern Pacific Ocean, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported Thursday.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/13/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Hopefully still attached to any subsequent stages.
#3
I wonder if their intent is to provoke and cause invasion, it seems the only way to get their people fed, then wage a war just like the Hamas/ n Vietnamese/Muslims and keep their own Ideology going through terror?
It makes sense to their(My) twisted mind, force an invasion and mount a fifth column type of war until either our administration gives up, changes presidents, decides it's too costly etc and leaves just like we did in Vietnam.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/13/2009 20:57 Comments ||
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#4
Did you ever read or see The Mouse That Roared, Redneck Jim? ;-) There's also Saddam Hussein's strategy, only the poor man not only got himself captured and judicially killed, but got his line wiped out, surely not his intention when he was planning his little tour de force.
Sunday's election of North Korea's Supreme People's Assembly, the country's parliament, has replaced just under half of its 687 members, a Tokyo-based organization monitoring North Korean media said Wednesday. Radiopress said its analysis showed a total of 299 of the delegates on the list of those elected were new to the assembly's seats, while 367, or 53.4 percent, were reelected.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/13/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
in other words 43.5 % of the ppl, who where in it are now dead
Japanese Ambassador to the United Nations Yukio Takasu said Tuesday Japan will ask the president of the Security Council to convene an emergency meeting if it is confirmed that North Korea has launched a missile. ''Japan, in the event of the North's missile firing, will ask the council to take an immediate action regardless of how other U.N. members would react, as it is a country that would directly face a missile threat,'' Takasu told a news conference.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/13/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
ION WAFF > US SHOOTS DOWN IRANIAN UAV/DRONE OVER IRAQ; versus PAKISTANI DEFENSE FORUM > IRAN CLAIMS ITS AIRSPACE WAS VIOLATED BY ISRAELI DRONES.
Also on PDF > HAINAN NAVAL INCIDENT [redux- USS IMPECCABLE]: BEIJING TO USA - CAN'T YOU READ THE MAP/SIGN, "SOUTH CHINA SEA" MEANS IT IS CHINESE TERRITORY!
* SONG LYRIC > Signs, signs, everywhere there are signs ... [ D *** NG IT]can't you read the signs.
At a "Great Conversations" event at the University of Minnesota [Monday] legendary investigative reporter Seymour Hersh may have made a little more news than he intended by talking about new alleged instances of domestic spying by the CIA, and about an ongoing covert military operation that he called an "executive assassination ring."
Hersh spoke with great confidence about these findings from his current reporting, which he hasn't written about yet.
In an email exchange afterward, Hersh said that his statements were "an honest response to a question" from the event's moderator, U of M Political Scientist Larry Jacobs and "not something I wanted to dwell about in public."
Continued on Page 49
#1
I think Mondale and Hersh should take a piss test. If they include UCLU and garbage like the ones from Hollywood, am all for it. He is right about bad leaders, why he never mentioned the first drug dealer elected to office, Clinton...
#4
So JSOC going after Lehman and Citibank execs? Bernie Madoff a marked man? Rangel and Dodd better get out of Dodge and to their Caribbean and Irish hideaways?
Posted by: ed ||
03/13/2009 22:12 Comments ||
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#5
talked about the patterns by which presidents seem to get intoxicated by executive power, frustrated by the limitations on that power from Congress and the public, drawn into... actions that exceed their constitutional powers
Kind of hard to argue against this as a generality.
His supporters claim he's a victim of extraordinary rendition
Despite threats of prosecution from the federal government, more than 100 people have chipped in to buy a plane ticket to Canada for a Montreal man who has been suspected of terrorist affiliations. Abousfian Abdelrazik has been living in the weight room of the Canadian embassy in Khartoum, Sudan, unable to come home because he's named on a United Nations terror watch list.
I thought all proper-thinking people supported the UN ...
Most of the 115 contributors from across Canada, including university professors, teachers, lawyers, artists and even a couple of farmers, have given sums of $10 or $20 to buy Abdelrazik's $996 ticket from Khartoum to Toronto. They called it an attempt to "call the government's bluff" on charging them under anti-terror laws. "Because it's a serious federal offence to directly or indirectly collect money for him, these people ... have done so at great peril and risk," his lawyer Yavar Hameed said.
Donor Cory Legassic, a Montreal teacher, told a news conference yesterday he's fearful of being charged, but is comforted by the fact the government would presumably have to go after 114 others. The list of donors includes Joseph Carens, political science professor at the University of Toronto, and Canadian peace activist James Loney, once held hostage in Iraq.
Abdelrazik is listed under a UN resolution that imposes sanctions on individuals associated with either Al Qaeda or the Taliban. Canada must abide by this resolution, which includes a travel ban for such individuals, the government says. A spokesperson for the foreign affairs department would only say yesterday that consequences would be decided later.
Abdelrazik's supporters believe he's a victim of a Canadian version of extraordinary rendition, the highly criticized practice used frequently by the former Bush administration, under which Canadian Maher Arar was sent to Syria, where he was tortured. Abdelrazik, a Canadian citizen who was living in Montreal, alleges he was jailed and tortured in the Sudan, after returning there to visit his ailing mother in 2003.
Any medical examination to back this up? Sudanese torturers are, after all, not known for their discretion ...
His lawyer obtained internal government documents as part of the federal court battle to bring his client back to Montreal. The documents, Hameed said, reveal Abdelrazik was jailed on the Canadian Security Intelligence Service's recommendation. Eventually cleared of suspicion in the Sudan, he has not been able to make it home. Last December, the lawyer received a letter from the government that an emergency travel document could only be issued if Abdelrazik presents a paid-for plane ticket, something the man could not afford.
#2
If he is on the UN's watch list, he probably was just visiting his mother. Still, university professors, teachers, lawyers, artists--all the usual libs--are defying law and sense and should be charged.
#3
Donor Cory Legassic, a Montreal teacher, told a news conference yesterday he's fearful of being charged, but is comforted by the fact the government would presumably have to go after 114 others.
First conviction under Canada's anti-terrorism law
Momin Khawaja, the first person to be sentenced under Canada's anti-terrorism law, was a determined Islamic jihadist who has shown no remorse, Justice Douglas Rutherford said yesterday as he handed the convicted terrorist 10 1/2 years in prison.
Acknowledging the historic moment, Rutherford said he wanted to send a message that terrorism in Canada won't be tolerated, but at least one expert said the judge failed by not handing out at least one life sentence to the Ottawa software developer. The Ottawa-born Khawaja, 29, has already spent five years behind bars, and must serve five years before he is eligible for parole.
"Momin Khawaja was clearly aware and knowledgeable of some of the terrorist activities," the judge said, pointing to Khawaja's association with internationally known Islamic terrorists, his work on remote-control detonating devices, his eager involvement in a terrorist training camp in Pakistan and his role in directly and indirectly financing terrorism from 2002 to 2004. Khawaja was the first person to be charged under the 2001 Anti-Terrorism Act, pushed through Parliament following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.
Khawaja, a former contract federal government employee, was convicted in the fall of five counts of financing and facilitating terrorism for providing cash to a group of British extremists, offering them lodging and other assistance, and undergoing training at the remote camp in Pakistan. He was also found guilty of two criminal offences related to building a remote-control device, known as the Hi-Fi Digimonster, meant to detonate bombs. Five associates of Khawaja, including bomb-plot ringleader Omar Khyam, were sentenced to prison in 2007 after being convicted in London of a foiled plot to target a nightclub, a construction firm, and gas, water and power utilities.
Rutherford told the court that Khawaja's activities were "directed at assisting his terrorist associates in a way that could only result in serious injury, death and destruction." Not once during his 27-day trial did Khawaja indicate he was "repentant for his misdeeds or willing to make amends," Rutherford said.
Even so, the judge ruled out a sentence of life in prison, saying he didn't consider Khawaja in the same league as the London bomb plotters, who were sentenced to life in jail. Rutherford added the sentence would have been longer if not for the glimmer of hope that Khawaja could be rehabilitated. The judge also took into account the fact Khawaja has been held in custody since his arrest by RCMP on March 29, 2004, at his home in Orleans.
The defence and Crown each said they are considering appealing the sentence. "That is a very severe and potentially appealable sentence," said Khawaja's lawyer, Lawrence Greenspon, who had asked that the sentence be limited to time already served.
Prosecutor David McKercher said the sentence was "less than the Crown was asking for" and that his team would consider the decision carefully" before deciding whether to appeal. McKercher had been seeking two life sentences, with an additional 44 to 58 years in prison. Greenspon accused the Crown of "creating an unrealistic expectation" among the public by asking for such a harsh sentence.
Wesley Wark, a University of Toronto professor who specializes in anti-terrorism issues, said Rutherford seemed to contradict himself when he repeatedly reinforced the seriousness of what Khawaja did, and then handed him a relatively light sentence, including three-month sentences for two of the terror-related charges. "The terrorism act, I think, has passed its test as an act," Wark said. "It works (because) Mr. Khawaja was convicted, but I think the real question at issue today was how to reach appropriate sentences for those people convicted.
"From my perspective the surprising thing is that Mr. Khawaja comes away with a relatively light sentence ... and certainly my expectation was that he would face at least one life sentence," Wark said.
#1
The governments new standard relies on the international laws of war to inform the scope of the presidents authority under this statute, and makes clear that the government does not claim authority to hold persons based on insignificant or insubstantial support of al Qaeda or the Taliban.
We will now call the former terrorists Fuzzy Bunny Muzzis insignificant to the Taliban holding a bound toilet roll formally known as the koran.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
03/13/2009 17:34 Comments ||
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#2
So capturing them in combat with AK47s and not in uniform means muslim terrorists get free airplane fare home, a hero's welcome and a teenage bride. Methinks the Obama administration is putting perverse incentives into action.
Posted by: ed ||
03/13/2009 17:45 Comments ||
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#4
So just GITMO? What about the detainees at Camp Cropper or Camp Bucca in Iraq? These guys at the Obama DoJ can only kick the can for so long on this baby.
#5
"insignificant or insubstantial support of al Qaeda or the Taliban."
So does the purden of proof for "insignificant or insubstantial vs significant or substantial support" rest with Private Suffy..., or must he call to the rear and get a legal opinion prior to detaining someone? This is a very dangerous finding and will eventually effect or ROE. But of course, that's probably the intent.
#6
ION PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > WORLD POPULATION TO RISE TO 9.0BILYUHN BY 2050. PAKISTAN RANKED FIFTH IN NUMBER OF EMIGRANTS [USA ranked #1 in migrant destination].
ALso from PDF > IMMIGRANTS WILL COMPRISE 40% OF HOUSEHOLDS IN THE UK.
IOW, DARE THE GITMO MIL-TERR DETAINEES BE FUTURE US CITIZENS AND IMMIGRANT RESIDENT-WORKERS???
* REMINDER > AMERICAN DREAM DECLINES/FADES TO GUAM RUMOR FOR IRAQIS [sent to Guam].
Pakistani foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi complained of "alienation" resulting from US drone strikes on his country on Friday, a day after a suspected US strike killed 24 people there.
"There is collateral damage that accompanies these attacks, and it leads to alienation," he said after meeting European Union officials in Prague.
"Not to mention how people keep bumping into each other on sidewalks since they're looking at the sky all the time," he added.
"If we want a success in this fight against extremism and terrorism, we have to carry the people along," added Qureshi, whose country is a key regional ally of the US.
Qureshi praised unmanned drones whose missiles destroyed a Taliban training camp in northwest Pakistan on Thursday as "superior technology" that can "take out high-value targets," but he also warned the US to weigh the pros and cons of its tactics. "The US government should weigh the advantages with the disadvantages. If these disadvantages outweigh the advantages, we feel there is a case to review the strategy," Qureshi said.
And he'd like to make that call, thank you ...
The US military as a rule does not confirm drone attacks but the armed forces and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operating in Afghanistan are the only forces that deploy drones in the region. More than 30 such strikes have killed over 330 people since August 2008, shortly before key Washington ally President Asif Ali Zardari was elected.
Thursday's attack was the fifth missile strike blamed on unmanned US aircraft since President Barack Obama came to power, dashing Pakistani hopes that the new administration would abandon the policy.
Qureshi said in Prague that Pakistan would discuss this issue with the new US administration "perhaps next month," without elaborating.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, unable to persuade the United States to stop the strikes, said last month he had asked the U.S. to transfer the unmanned aircraft to Pakistan.
#3
Hot pursuit is legal when a harboring state cannot deal with perpetrators. The Punjabi majority should be making war against NATO's enemies. Instead they attack NATO. Treat them as non entities.
The Islamic states circulated a new resolution at the current session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Wednesday that would criminalize defamation of Islam as a human rights violation and encourage the imposition of Shari'a.
According to the nonbinding governmental resolution, titled "Combating Defamation of Religions," anything deemed insulting to Islamic sensitivities would be banned as a "serious affront to human dignity" and a blatant violation of religious freedom.
The resolution would attempt to influence "local, national, regional and international levels" to incorporate such guarantees of this perceived freedom in their "legal and constitutional systems."
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
03/13/2009 00:00 ||
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#2
I think we should criminalize calling of Islam a "religion of peace", talking about "Islamic tolerance", calling Jihad "an inner struggle". Oh wait, you're talking about the other kind of defamation!
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
03/13/2009 11:34 Comments ||
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#3
I piss on your religion, pal. Go ahead, come arrest me.
If it is not by choice (Skin color, nationallity (excluding political identity and/or religion), gender, handicap by birth) it defamation should not be allowed.
If it is by choice (religion, political identity, culture, self-imposted handicap such as Drug Addiction) then it defamation should be allowed.
An American fighter jet took down an Iranian drone over Iraq last month, U.S. military sources told Wired.com.
The U.S. has long accused Tehran of supplying militant groups in Iraq with weapons and training, Wired reported. While the flow of Iranian weapons into Iraq has slowed, Shiite militias have fired Iranian rockets at U.S. troops and Sunni militias reportedly use Iranian bombs to destroy U.S. military vehicles.
Iran has supplied the terrorist group Hezbollah with several models of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Iran's deputy defense minister claimed in February that the country's latest UAVs can fly as far as 600 miles. If true, the Iranian drones could fly over any U.S. military installation in the Middle East, including Iraq, Wired reported.
Multi-National Corps would not confirm or deny the previously unreported incident to Wired.com.
The alleged incident comes at a particularly sensitive time, when the Obama administration is looking for ways to reach out to Iran diplomatically and trying to spark renewed relations.
Sistani, who was born in Iran, is an Iranian citizen and holds an Iranian passport. Although he has lived in Iraq since his teens, the 78-year-old theologian had always made a point of visiting Iran at least once a year - until 1979, when Ruhollah Khomeini seized power in Tehran.
Sistani couldn't visit Iran without meeting Ali Khamenei, a mid-ranking mullah presented by the government as the "supreme guide" of the world Islamic community, and thereby virtually endorsing that extravagant claim. Nor could Khamenei call on Sistani - for he'd then be acknowledging Sistani's status as the primus inter pares of the Shiite clergy.
A visit to Iran by Sistani - recognized as the world's most senior Shiite cleric, with millions of followers throughout Iran - would be a major political event. His refusal to visit Iran is a rejection of the system created by Khomeini.
Sistani had little organized contact with Iran until 2003, when the US-led Coalition overthrew Saddam Hussein's regime. Sistani was then able to reopen his seminary, revive contacts with outside Shiite communities and dispatch emissaries to set up offices throughout Iran.
He has now appointed representatives to more than 800 Iranian localities, creating the largest network of any grand ayatollah. By unofficial estimates, his network now collects the biggest share of private religious donations in Iran. Its offices finance thousands of theological students and run social-support services for the poor and the needy in both Iran and Iraq.
What explains Sistani's spectacular success? To start with, most Shiites regard him as the spiritual heir of the late Grand Ayatollah Abol-Qassem Mussavi Kho'i, the last major 20th century Shiite theologian.
Then, too, Sistani represents the classical quietist version of Shiism - based on a separation of the mosque and the state. That is, classical Shiism rejects rule by the clergy - a theory developed by Khomeini under the slogan "guardianship of the cleric."
Those Shiites, perhaps a majority, who want a clergy that is independent of government now look to Najaf as the true center of their faith. Many regard the Khomeinist version of Shiism that Tehran espouses as a political doctrine rather than a religious faith.
In that context, the grand ayatollahs of Najaf, with Sistani as their head, are seen as protectors of the faith against those who wish to transform it into an anti-Western, anti-modern and anti-democratic ideology.
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
03/13/2009 12:35 ||
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#1
And the ripples of our Iraq policy spread wider. This could get interesting as long as Sistani lives.
Posted by: Large Snerong7311 ||
03/13/2009 15:11 Comments ||
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#5
Large I guess I didn't make myself clear. You sell life insurance to someone on the odds that he'll keep living long enough to more than pay for it.
#6
What the hell? When did Rantburg get the Muslim mail-order bride side-ad?
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
03/13/2009 15:55 Comments ||
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#7
Click on it and throw some change Fred's way.
Posted by: ed ||
03/13/2009 16:07 Comments ||
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#8
Thanks. ed. I did - and then immediately deleted their cookie. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
03/13/2009 16:51 Comments ||
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#9
Mitch H i have already asked that question and just about drawn and quartered. Somethin about the search engine pulling up ads that help pay for the site when key words are typed. Or JosephMendiola payed for it i don't know which. j/k joe
#10
There is nothing quite as dramatic as high level clerical scheming. Khomeini spent years intriguing in Paris until he was able to topple the Shah. Sistani is essentially pulling the same gambit on Khamenei.
Ironically, if Sistani can pull it off, he will be the equivalent of the Shiite Pope. Iran will be an absolute nuthouse for a month, then heaven knows what.
Aswat al-Iraq: The Iraqi journalists' syndicate on Thursday appealed to Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to release al-Baghdadia channel correspondent Muntadhar al-Zaydi, who was sentenced to three years in jail for throwing his shoes at former U.S. President George W. Bush.
"While the syndicate respects the Iraqi judiciary's decision and impartiality, it appeals for President Talabani and Prime Minister Maliki to show a fatherly mercy to colleague Zaydi," read a syndicate release received by Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
Talabani and Maliki "are known for sublime and noble stands marked by pardon and tolerance. Hence, the syndicate hopes the president and prime minister should reconsider the imprisonment term and release Zaydi," the syndicate added.
"The Iraqi press syndicate wishes to see Iraqi prisons clear of any Iraqi journalists just like the case after the year 2003," it noted.
Iraq's courts, earlier on Thursday (March 12), has sentenced Zaydi to a three-year imprisonment term for throwing his shoes at former U.S. President Bush in a press conference during his last visit to Iraq on December 12, 2008.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/13/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
If anything, this alleged man is getting off easy. Politics aside, he disrespected a foreign head of state, and dishonored and insulted his own nation.
I do hope the President and PM can see past the ludicrously transparent sycophantic pleading of these journalists and hold fast to their nation's laws.
#2
From what I'm reading they sure do lard up their begging.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/13/2009 2:05 Comments ||
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#3
And here I thought they were doing something substantial like complaining about Kurdish regional anti-free-speech thuggery.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
03/13/2009 15:59 Comments ||
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#4
While the syndicate respects the Iraqi judiciary's decision and impartiality, it appeals for President Talabani and Prime Minister Maliki to show a fatherly mercy to colleague Zaydi," read a syndicate release received by Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
Talabani and Maliki "are known for sublime and noble stands marked by pardon and tolerance. Hence, the syndicate hopes the president and prime minister should reconsider the imprisonment term and release Zaydi," the syndicate added.
C'mon, boys and girls. Nobody likes a suckup. Especially one so blatant...
An American demonstrator was critically wounded Friday in a clash between protesters and Israeli troops over Israel's West Bank separation barrier. another Ugly American
Peace activists with the International Solidarity Movement said Tristan Anderson, of the Oakland, Calif., area, was struck in the head with a tear gas canister fired by Israeli troops. The military and the Tel Aviv hospital where Anderson was taken had no details on how he was hurt. "Luckily, he has a head wound, so no major organs were damaged"
"He's in critical condition, anesthetized and on a ventilator and undergoing imaging tests," said Orly Levi, a spokeswoman at the Tel Hashomer hospital. She described Anderson's condition as "life-threatening."
The protest took place in the West Bank town of Naalin, where Palestinians and international backers frequently gather to demonstrate against the barrier. Israel says the barrier is necessary to keep Palestinian attackers from infiltrating into Israel. But Palestinians view it as a thinly veiled land grab because it juts into the West Bank at multiple points. and Americans ....should stay out of it
The military says the area where the protests take place is a closed military zone off-limits to demonstrations. of course
About 400 protesters turned out in Naalin on Friday, the military said. Some of them hurled rocks at troops, who used riot gear to quell the unrest, it added, without elaborating.
Ulrika Jenson, an International Solidarity Movement activist, said troops fired tear gas canisters into the crowd from a hill above.
"Tristan was hit and fell to the ground," Jenson was quoted as saying in an ISM statement. "He had a large hole in the front of his head, and his brain was visible." "it was small...and dusty from disuse"
In 2003, another ISM activist, 23-year-old American Rachel Corrie, was crushed to death in Gaza by an Israeli bulldozer as she tried to block it from demolishing a Palestinian home. good times....good times
The driver said he didn't see her, and the Israeli military ruled her death an accident.
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/13/2009 17:43 ||
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#1
Her lefty friends held a pancake breakfast in her honor....not kidding..Oh the irony
YJCMTSU
Hamas rulers on Thursday made some rare criticism of Palestinian rocket fire on Israel, saying now was the wrong time for such attacks.
The criticism comes as Hamas is trying to reach a long-term cease-fire with Israel and holding reconciliation talks with Fatah. Hamas apparently is wary of disrupting these efforts.
The group has fired thousands of rockets into southern Israel over the past few years, but it said Thursday that it has not been involved in recent attacks, including two rockets fired Wednesday.
"Regarding the report about rockets fired from Gaza, we emphasize that these rockets have no link to any of the Palestinian resistance groups and are being fired at the wrong time. We emphasize also that the security agencies are investigating who is behind such acts," the Hamas-controlled Interior Ministry said.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/13/2009 00:00 ||
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#4
But those rockets were given to Hamas by Iran. Have they been stolen by unnamed parties from their rightful owners? Why was there no report in the press, no fiery sermons against theft in the mosques and on Hamas television?
(AKI) - Negotiations to free kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit should produce "concrete results" before the end of March, a source from the Islamist Hamas group told Adnkronos International in Damascus. "The prisoner exchange issue is in the hands of Egypt, which is taking slow but rational steps," the unnamed Hamas source told AKI.
The source added that Hamas "has accepted many possible mediators, but insists that Egypt takes the lead role," as it is considered trustworthy in reaching a prisoner exchange agreement with Israel.
Another Palestinian source considered close to Hamas said he was convinced that Shalit is alive.
"We heard the news from Hamas leaders soon after the end of the Israeli offensive against Gaza and the announcement of the truce," the source told AKI.
The Palestinian source also said he was surprised that Hamas had maintained total secrecy regarding Shalit's destiny.
"We support Hamas in regards to the prisoner exchange, but we believe if Israel was sure that Shalit was alive, the negotiating power (of Hamas) would be much stronger."
Posted by: Fred ||
03/13/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
You'll get back his bones, maybe.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/13/2009 2:02 Comments ||
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British MP receives honorary Palestinian passport from Hamas leader at undisclosed Gaza location. But don't tell nobody, okay? It's a secret. This means he doesn't need his British one anymore, right?
Posted by: Fred ||
03/13/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
The "secretly" here refers to the fact that Haniyeh is still in hiding?
Hamas said Wednesday it would demand the right to choose the next Palestinian premier and a majority of cabinet seats in any unity government with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction. Hamas' opening position in Egyptian-mediated reconciliation talks in Cairo appeared to dim chances of a deal.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/13/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
These folks remind me of Bluto, in Popeye cartoons, gets beat to hell each cartoon, and never learns.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/13/2009 2:08 Comments ||
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#2
Yeh, Bluto. Good analogy. I've wondered why he didn't just hide the spinach? A ounce of prevention and all that.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
03/13/2009 12:45 Comments ||
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WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama said on Thursday he was extending sanctions against Iran as it continued to pose an extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy and economy of the United States. Obama declared the routine extension of economic sanctions imposed by former President Bill Clinton in March 1995 in a public notice. I am continuing for one year the national emergency with respect to Iran, he said.
Sounds like Bambi got a briefing from an adult today ...
In a change of policy from the Bush administration, Obama has said he would be open to engaging with Iran on a range of issues, from its nuclear ambitions to how it could help in Afghanistan, where NATO-led forces are struggling against a worsening insurgency. The Obama administration intends to invite Teheran to an international conference on Afghanistan, which borders Iran, planned for this month. Iran has said it is prepared to consider the invitation.
The United States, however, is still at loggerheads with Iran over its nuclear program, which Washington says is aimed at building atomic weapons, while Teheran insists it is for the peaceful generation of electricity.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/13/2009 00:00 ||
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(AKI) - By Syed Saleem Shahzad - With Washington aiming to bring Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan together for a joint approach to fight the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, regional powers have held talks in Tehran. Pakistani president Asif Ali Zardari and Afghan president Hamid Karzai agreed to closer cooperation between their countries, regular meetings between the three countries on regional issues, and increased cooperation in the fight against terrorism.
The leaders of the three Islamic countries Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan met on Tuesday ahead of the annual Economic Cooperation Organisation Summit which opened on Wednesday.
Foreign ministers and other senior officials from the three countries also attended the talks.
According to a statement from the Pakistani ministry of information and broadcasting, Ahmadinejad (photo) said that the three countries had a strong bond as well as geographical and cultural links that strengthened links between the three Islamic countries.
Ahmadinejad reportedly said that the three neighbouring countries shared such a strong link that if they trusted each other a little more, the whole region could move forward.
Ahmadinejad said that if the three countries could find regional solutions to their problems, they would not need any outside forces.
President Zardari called for increased cooperation and suggested representatives of the three nations meet on a monthly basis and work closely with each other to boost mutual cooperation.
Foreign ministers from the three countries are expected to come up with an agenda and venue for the first of the tripartite meetings.
The 10th annual ECO summit opened in Tehran on Wednesday.
The ECO was founded in 1985 by Iran, Pakistan and Turkey and the latest summit was expected to focus on the global financial crisis and its impact on the region, as well as other key issues.
The 10-member ECO consists of Iran, Pakistan, Turkey, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/13/2009 00:00 ||
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#4
OOPSIES, also from WAFF > EU PARLIAMENT: TURKEY SHOULD RECOGNIZE CYPRUS BEFORE 2010; + GREECE'S [strategic, pragmatic] IMPORTANCE TO THE USA: THEN VERSUS NOW?
WAFF Poster - opined that TURKEY should destroy GREECE + CYPRUS first, followed next by BULGARIA.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Mohammed Hussain grows grapes and wheat on the farm in the Panjwai district that was passed down to him from his father and grandfather. But he no longer lives there. "We were waiting for the promised stability and security but it just didn't come," he said this week through an interpreter.
Thousands of Somalis are demonstrating for the fourth day between Mogadishu and the town of Afgoye demanding food, water and shelter. 
Anjem Choudary says he understands that the Islamic protesters who this week greeted British troops returning from Iraq with placards calling them "murderers" and "butchers" are not helping to improve community relations. "I can see that the British public will regard the protesters as insensitive," he says, smiling. "But in my opinion, that is outweighed by our sensitivities to families in Iraq who've lost relatives at the hands of the British. The troops were not heroes, but cowards, doing the bidding of a British government engaged in state-sponsored terrorism." 
His supporters claim he's a victim of extraordinary rendition
First conviction under Canada's anti-terrorism law 
The Islamic states circulated a new resolution at the current session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Wednesday that would criminalize defamation of Islam as a human rights violation and encourage the imposition of Shari'a. 
Hamas rulers on Thursday made some rare criticism of Palestinian rocket fire on Israel, saying now was the wrong time for such attacks. 
(AKI) - By Syed Saleem Shahzad - With Washington aiming to bring Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan together for a joint approach to fight the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, regional powers have held talks in Tehran. Pakistani president Asif Ali Zardari and Afghan president Hamid Karzai agreed to closer cooperation between their countries, regular meetings between the three countries on regional issues, and increased cooperation in the fight against terrorism. 
