 A DISGRACED Muslim taxi driver tried to use the holy time of Ramadan as his defence against allegations he repeatedly grabbed the breast of a disabled female passenger. Abdul Majid Qazizada, 51, had argued that Ramadan was a time when Muslim men "don't even touch their wives". He was yesterday found guilty of the aggravated indecent assault of a 23-year-old woman who suffers cerebral palsy and epilepsy. Magistrate Jennifer Betts said Qazizada claimed he was a devout Muslim who was fasting when the attack occurred in September last year. " 'Men don't even touch their wives (during Ramadan)', were his words," Ms Betts said in Ryde Local Court. The court heard how the woman got into Qazizada's taxi to go home after going out with friends at Ryde-Eastwood Leagues Club. During the short ride home, she felt at first "a little scared", then later "very worried", when Qazizada repeatedly told her: "You're a lovely lady." After parking in the driveway of her home, Qazizada told the woman he would help her get out of the taxi. Throughout the assault, he asked the woman: "Are you all right?". Each time she replied: "No." Qazizada eventually left, saying: "Have a good night." The woman immediately went to her neighbour's home to report the attack. The court heard that the woman uses a walking frame to walk short distances, a wheelchair to travel long distances and suffers weakness to the left side of her body. Outside court his victim, who cannot be identified, told The Daily Telegraph she was happy to see her attacker brought to justice. "It's been a tough time for me and my family. I feel good about what's happened today," she said. Qazizada was granted bail pending sentencing on December 9. Daily Telegraph 
 Normally a branding consultancy waits for a brief before sharpening its pencils, but the Dubai office of GS Fitch decided to instigate its own project this summer.The result is a US$1 million (Dh3.6m) concept for a pair of sunglasses designed to replicate the burqa, but with a modern twist.
“We wanted to create a product that combines fashion with culture,” says Olivier Auroy, the managing director of GS Fitch in Dubai. The burqa was widely used by women from the Gulf in nomadic times. Not to be confused with the head-to-toe cover worn by women in Afghanistan, it covers the nose and forehead and is made of a piece of fabric dyed with indigo.
Aware that Ramadan would be slow for his business, Mr Auroy had his team come up with the design, branding, logo and website for a product that could be put into production instantly, assuming a GS Fitch fee of $1m is met. “I had always been fascinated by the burqa,” he explains in his funky office in Dubai Media City, which comes complete with a “playroom” full of Fatboy beanbags. “I wanted to create something for modern women in the Gulf that would reflect their culture.”
The sunglasses, with gold rims reminiscent of the burqa, also bear a striking resemblance to a pair of skiing goggles.
“I think this is the first time that a design company has instigated such a project,” says Mr Auroy, pointing to a feature on the website www.bq.ae where you can upload a photograph of yourself and see what you look like in the glasses. While critics might say he is making a spectacle of himself, Mr Auroy says the concept has been well received, with interest from a member of the Royal Family and a local manufacturer.
The company has also designed the interiors of a shop where the sunglasses would be sold and produced a small film that can be viewed on YouTube.
If this venture proves to be a success, GS Fitch in Dubai has plans to roll out similar concepts on a regular basis. Other designs for the drawing board include a modern take on the abaya and an Arab car.“It will be a four-wheel drive with a typically Arab design, full of curves,” Mr Auroy says. “My team is very excited about it.”
The National
 Antonios Grigoriou, 11, says he was chased and assaulted after a confrontation over the contents of his lunch. Antonios, a Year 5 student of Greek-Australian background at a Sydney primary school, said he and a friend were locked inside a library for safety after being chased by a group of Muslim boys offended by his choice of food while they were fasting. The Grigoriou family said Antonios was threatened after the following exchange: Muslim student to Antonios: "Why are you eating ham, it's Ramadan?" Antonios: "My mum packed this for lunch today." Muslim student: "Don't eat that. How can you eat pig, it's disgusting." During the confrontation a Muslim boy allegedly accused Antonios of saying: "F--- the Muslims", but Antonios denied swearing. But Antonios's family took him out of Punchbowl Public School, in Sydney's south-west, on Tuesday after he was again attacked by a Muslim student. He was punched in the eye and kicked in the legs. "It has broken my heart to see this happening to my boy," Andrew Grigoriou said. "When I got down to the school he was in the sick bay," he said. Antonios, who recorded the experience in words and drawings, remains terrified of his attackers and has nightmares. Other parents have also complained about ethnic bullying at the school. One said her son was scared to open his lunch box because he was "harassed about what is in it". Coburg Mosque spokesman Baha Yehia said the behaviour was not what Islam promoted. "I would say this sad incident is a result of the upbringing of the children rather than Islam," he said. "Regrettably there's no silver bullet to end this kind of behaviour. To remove these barriers requires a process that involves multi-faith and multicultural education." Source: Herald Sun H/T: JR
 By Alan Caruba
On Monday, September 28, Jews around the world will celebrate Yom Kippur, fasting and seeking to begin the new lunar year with a clean slate. The holy day is traditionally celebrated after one has paid debts and sought forgiveness for any wrongs.
For the Israelis, in 1973, it included having to go to war after a sneak attack by Syria and Egypt.
It is not a coincidence that the Muslim month of Ramadan occurs during this same period. Muhammad borrowed a lot of Judaism, but he brought to his new religion some decidedly Arab traits and one of them was intolerance.
When a Jewish tribe residing in Arabia refused to acknowledge him as the prophet of Allah, he had all the men executed and the women and children sold into slavery.
When Muslims captured Jerusalem, Judaism’s and Christianity’s most holy city, they chose a site sacred to Jews to build a mosque, al Qud, on the Temple Mount. In Islamic mythology, it is the site where Mohammad ascended to Heaven to meet his fellow prophets after flying to Jerusalem in a dream. There is no indication he ever set foot in Israel, nor is Jerusalem even mentioned by name in the Koran. One of the reasons for the Crusades was to restore Jerusalem to its rightful owners.
In a fashion that Jews and Christians can never quite understand, Islam insists that it is the only religion that should be practiced on the planet. While it gives lip service to Judaism and Christianity because the two faiths have a holy book, it holds Hinduism, Buddhism, and other faiths in complete contempt for lack of a similar scripture.
Americans should pay attention when, on Friday, September 24, some in the American Islamic community hope to bring together up to 50,000 Muslims to surround the U.S. Capitol for Jummah prayer, otherwise known as their Sabbath, celebrated on Fridays, just as Jews do.
The Capitol celebration will be led by Sheikh Ahmed Dewider, a Manhattan cleric who reportedly once said that “through the domination of Islam and its ideas, the White House will change” and expressed the hope that someday the White House would become the Muslim House.
According to The New York Times, the main organizer of the event, Hassen Ibn Abedellah, was “the most aggressively combative of the lawyers” representing the terrorists who staged the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Abdellah has claimed that Zionists “control the government, the politics, the economy, and the media in the U.S.”
Thus, the Friday event will be led by men who are both anti-Semitic and who harbor dreams of turning America into a Muslim nation subject to Sharia, Islamic law.
Occupied elsewhere, President Obama will not be able to participate, but he was also too busy to participate in the National Day of Prayer, acknowledging it with a perfunctory proclamation. Busy as he is, he did host a White House dinner celebrating what he called “The Holy Month of Ramadan” and recently issued a proclamation at the end of Ramadan which concluded with an Arabic blessing.
I suggest Friday’s Capitol event is part of Islam’s endless jihad against all other faiths and reflects its ambitions for the United States of America.
Editor’s Note: Our thanks to the American Family Association for their contribution to this commentary.
Morocco-France: Mysterious disappearance of an anti-fasting journalist
Wednesday 23 September 2009 / by Stéphanie Plasse Zineb El-Rahzoui’s disappearance, Thursday, has innondated the Moroccan media. For some six days now, members of her family and the Moroccan Association of Human Rights are desperately seeking the founder of the Movement for alternative civil liberties (MALI). September 13, the activist took part in a "non-fasters" demonstration in Morocco to protest against a law that punishes "public non-observation of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan." Read more: http://en.afrik.com/article16203.html H/T: WomenAgainstShariah.blogspot.com
“Might I ask, what has Omar Khadr got to
do with Eid or Ramadan or with Muslims?"
Tarek Fatah - National Post The annual Muslim holiday of Eid has come and gone, and once more the community has been showered with messages from politicians tripping over one other to prove their credentials as lovers of Islam and all things Muslim.I have an offer to make to all these men and women who stumble and mumble to utter “Salaam Alaikum” messages written by their Muslim staffers: If you are so enamoured by my faith and impressed by the conduct of my community, then stop these annual shenanigans and once and for all come join our ranks. Convert to Islam. Perhaps, some have already taken the plunge. Take for example this year’s Eid message by Jack Layton. Addressing us Muslims as “Dear brothers and sisters” the NDP leader preaches the end of Ramadan “is an opportunity to renew the spirit and faith in Islam.”I am waiting with bated breath to see Layton “renew” his faith in Islam. Will he be following... Read more...
By Angus Hohenboken COMMUNITY tensions are running high in the western Sydney suburb of Auburn after police from the Middle Eastern organised crime squad raided four houses during the Muslim festival of Ramadan. The raids on Tuesday evening prompted a gathering of about 150 mostly Middle Eastern youths and then the arrival of about 100 police. Police have denied their timing was culturally insensitive and labelled angry mobs who threatened police during the raids as "cowardly". Auburn mayor Irene Simms yesterday said she did not know the ethnicity of those arrested by police, but said locals were sick of a trouble-making minority dragging down the suburb's name. She said protests about the interruptions of religious rituals were "no excuse" in the face of criminal allegations, adding that immigrants to Australia caught breaking their citizenship oath by committing crimes should be kicked out of the country. "I think the police did an exceptional job in this situation," Ms Simms said. "No religion condones breaking the law." Detectives from the Middle Eastern organised crime squad seized a hand gun, stun guns, cannabis, ecstasy, pills, a large sum of cash and ammunition from three residences in Cumberland Road and one home in Normanby Street, in Auburn, at about 6pm on Tuesday. This is the time Muslims observing Ramadan break their daily fast. As news of the raids spread, an angry crowd of up to 150 people gathered on Cumberland Rd, prompting detectives to call in the riot squad, the dog squad and Polair. Police said the crowd was dispersed after a standoff and three people were arrested. A heavily-tattooed Lebanese local, who asked to remain anonymous because his police record was "as long as the street", said police in Auburn were racist and should have had the courtesy not to interrupt the breaking of a fast during Ramadan. "They target the same families, they don't care if your mum's in the shower, they've got no respect," he said. Detective Chief Superintendent Ken McKay made no apology for the raids, saying search warrants were executed in response to a shooting incident on the weekend. The man injured in the shooting had refused to co-operate with police in their investigations, but Superintendent McKay said police had "a very good idea of what occurred and why". Police allege a police officer was punched in the face during the raids by a 25-year-old man, who was yesterday granted bail after being charged with one count of wounding an officer and two counts of assaulting police. A 17-year-old boy arrested in the raids, also charged with assault, was granted bail to appear in Parramatta Children's Court on September 29. A woman was also arrested and is expected to face charges in the future. Source: The Australian
Non-U.N. View of Human Rights in Somalia
Somalia, September 10, 2009 Ramadan fighting in Mogadishu is "worst in 20 years"
Dead bodies lay near a street in Somalia's capital Mogadishu on Friday after Islamist insurgents battled government forces and African Union peacekeepers. (Source: AP
* Clashes kill 32 civilians in four days* Activists blame rebels, government forces* Insurgents amputate thieves' hands in capital) MOGADISHU, Sept 10 (Reuters) - Fighting in Mogadishu during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan has so far been some of the worst in 20 years, killing 32 civilians in four days this week, a human rights group in the Somali capital said on Thursday. The Elman Peace and Human Rights Organisation said 18 women and seven children were among the dead, and that 82 civilians were wounded between Sept. 5-8 as Islamist insurgents battled the U.N.-backed government and African Union (AU) peacekeepers. Western security agencies say the failed Horn of Africa state has become a safe haven for militant groups linked to al Qaeda who are plotting attacks across the region and beyond. "The current human rights situation in Mogadishu is one of the worst in the last 20 years for the displacement, injuring and killing of civilians," the Elman group said in a report. Read All here: http://www.eyeontheun.org/voices.asp?p=999 H/T: Reuters
 by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz Jihadists close to al-Qaeda explicitly warned in new communications that Germany will be the target of the next 9/11-scale terrorist attack. The timing of the strike, they say, will be within the next few weeks. According to analysts with the Institute of Terrorism Research and Response (ITRR), a recently intercepted jihadist communication declares that "everyone knows" that the "next strike is very near, a strike that will surprise everyone in its effect, which will be much more shocking than that of 9/11/2001."
The writer of the chilling message notes that this is the Muslim month of Ramadan and that "we pray that it will indeed be in this month." After referring to a previous boast by Osama Bin-Laden, that the enemy is afraid and unable to prevent the next attack, the communication says: "And the Germans, grandchildren of the Nazis, know more than everyone else that they will be the first ones to taste [the nightmare]. It is just a matter of time - that is, days or weeks - and God willing you'll see things that you've never heard of before." While Germany and German assets have been singled out in the past, due to that nation's involvement in the war in Afghanistan, the threats have been general and motivational in nature. According to ITRR, the latest jihadist communication was unusual in that it was very explicit and open in targeting the Germans, in discussing a coming attack, and in specifying its timing. Aside from Ramadan, which ends 19 September 2009, the upcoming German national election on September 27 has been marked as a "red flag date" by ITRR. Jihadists keen on disrupting and influencing European foreign policy are likely to attempt attacks around the time of the elections. German security services have also been cited in local media discussing stepped up jihadist chatter, threats and intelligence warnings aimed at the German state in recent months. Earlier this year, video messages delivered in German by an al-Qaeda fighter going by the name of Abu Talha, purportedly in Afghanistan, called on Germans to convert to Islam and remove their several thousand troops from the Afghan theater.
According to a June report by Der Spiegel weekly, American intelligence agencies believe that al-Qaeda's leaders have decided to attack Germany, supposedly assigning the job to al-Qaeda of the Islamic Maghreb (North Africa). Source: INN
 The Washingon Post reports that the Iranian regime is canceling some major Ramadan events due to fears that protests will erupt. Other events are being scaled back. One of the events that will not take place is a celebration at the mausoleum of Ayatollah Khomeini. This is an annual event organized by the "founding father's" grandson who himself is a supporter of unsuccessful presidential candidate turned dissident, Mir Hossein Musavi. Millions of Iranians were expected to attend. Moreover, although a speech by the current "supreme leader," Ayatollah Khamenei, marking the end of Ramadan will proceed, it will be given at a much smaller venue than was to be used originally. I'm not an expert on Iran, but this certainly sounds like a fearful regime that has lost confidence in its legitimacy. The survival of such regimes is not particularly high. One gathering that, as things now stand, will neither be cancelled nor scaled back is a September 18 officially sponsored demonstration against Israel. To this regime, apparently, religious celebrations are optional but Israel bashing is obligatory. Mousavi and his fellow unsuccessful candidate Mehdi Karroubi are calling for Iranians to use the anti-Israel event as a vehicle for protests against the regime.
At this point, many Iranians undoubtedly believe they have more of a beef with their own tyrants than with Israel. Source: Powerline
 By Daily Mail ReporterLondon Mayor Boris Johnson today encouraged people to undergo a day of fasting to help understand their 'Muslim neighbour'. He said Muslims in the capital were 'challenging traditional stereotypes' to show they wanted to be part of the mainstream during a visit to the East London Mosque and London Muslim Centre.
Mr Johnson's visit coincided with the holy period of Ramadan in which participating Muslims fast from dawn until sunset.
He said: 'Whether it's in theatre, comedy, sports, music or politics, Muslims are challenging the traditional stereotypes and showing that they are, and want to be, a part of the mainstream community.
'That's why I urge people, particularly during Ramadan, to find out more about Islam, increase your understanding and learning, even fast for a day with your Muslim neighbour and break your fast at the local mosque.
'I would be very surprised if you didn't find that you share more in common than you thought.'
He added: 'Muslims are at the heart of every aspect of society. Their contribution is something that all Londoners benefit from.
'Muslim police officers, doctors, scientists and teachers are an essential part of the fabric of London.
'Islamic finance is contributing to the economy by changing the way Londoners invest, save, borrow and spend.
'There are valuable lessons that people of all backgrounds can learn from Islam such as the importance of community spirit, family ties, compassion and helping those less fortunate, all of which lie at the heart of the teachings of Ramadan.' Source: Daily Mail H/T: Vlad Tepes and Gramfan
Everyone should fast for a day ‘to understand Muslims’, says Boris Johnson
By taffyincanada September 4, 2009 Is it haram to for the mayor to be serving Londoners dhimmi soup during Ramadan?
Boris Johnson arrives at the East London Mosque with his Director of Communication Guto Harri this afternoon where he talked about the need for greater understanding of Muslims
MailOnline… London Mayor Boris Johnson today encouraged people to undergo a day of fasting to help understand their ‘Muslim neighbour’. He said Muslims in the capital were ‘challenging traditional stereotypes’ to show they wanted to be part of the mainstream during a visit to the East London Mosque and London Muslim Centre.
Mr Johnson’s visit coincided with the holy period of Ramadan in which participating Muslims fast from dawn until sunset. He said: ‘Whether it’s in theatre, comedy, sports, music or politics, Muslims are challenging the traditional stereotypes and showing that they are, and want to be, a part of the mainstream community. ‘That’s why I urge people, particularly during Ramadan, to find out more about Islam, increase your understanding and learning, even fast for a day with your Muslim neighbour and break your fast at the local mosque. ‘I would be very surprised if you didn’t find that you share more in common than you thought.’
He added: ‘Muslims are at the heart of every aspect of society. Their contribution is something that all Londoners benefit from. ‘Muslim police officers, doctors, scientists and teachers are an essential part of the fabric of London. ‘Islamic finance is contributing to the economy by changing the way Londoners invest, save, borrow and spend. ‘There are valuable lessons that people of all backgrounds can learn from Islam such as the importance of community spirit, family ties, compassion and helping those less fortunate, all of which lie at the heart of the teachings of Ramadan.’ Source: Vlad Tepes Blog
 Bombings rocked Iraq on Thursday, killing at least six people and wounding at least another 85, an Iraqi official told CNN. Eleven of the 12 bombs struck in the evening, when streets are busier than usual during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
At least four people were killed and 42 others were wounded Thursday evening when a car bomb and three roadside bombs exploded in quick succession in Musayyiba, a town south of Baghdad, said an official with the Iraqi Interior Ministry. The bombs went off near a Shiite shrine, and a number of Shiite pilgrims were among the dead and wounded, the official said. Another roadside bomb near a Shiite shrine in Mahauil, south of Baghdad, wounded at least eight others, the official said. At an outdoor market in Aun, near the Shiite city of Karbala, a sticky bomb affixed to a car killed two people and wounded three, the official said. In Baghdad, at least 28 people were wounded in bombings that rattled the city, the official said. Ten were hurt in two separate bombings in southwestern Baghdad, the official said. In the predominantly Sunni district of Adhamiya in northern Baghdad, five people were wounded when a roadside bomb detonated, the official said. Two other bombings in Baghdad wounded five members of anti-al Qaeda groups known as Awakening Councils, the official said. A sticky bomb attached to the car of an Awakening Council member in southern Baghdad's Dora district wounded him and four of his guards, the official said. Four of the eight people wounded in a bombing in a busy street in northern Baghdad's Kasra neighborhood were also members of the council, the official said. Awakening Councils, or Sons of Iraq, are made up mainly of former Sunni insurgents who turned on al Qaeda in Iraq. They are credited for playing a key role in reducing violence across the country since 2007. Earlier on Thursday, a car parked near a busy restaurant in Baquba blew up and wounded four people, local police said. Baquba is northeast of Baghdad in the provincial capital of Diyala. Source: CNN
 JAKARTA, Indonesia — Children were crowded around a video game console, passing the time before they could break the Muslim holy month's daily fast, when an earthquake touched off a landslide that smothered their Indonesian village. Rescuers were searching Thursday for those 13 children and several dozen more people buried alive, as officials warned the death toll of 57 is sure to rise. Thousands of others were spending the night in tents after Wednesday's 7.0-magnitude quake flattened or seriously damaged more than 10,000 homes, offices, schools and mosques on the western side of the densely populated island of Java. Aid workers distributed provision kits, blankets and medicine, but said they were concerned remote areas had not received help following the temblor, which was felt for hundreds of miles (kilometers). At least 125 people were hospitalized with serious injuries and more than 5,300 others were in need of shelter, said Health Ministry Crisis Center chief Rustam Pakaya. Dede Kurniati's 9-year-old son was with a group of boys gathered at a friend's house in Cikangkareng village, in the district of Cianjur, West Java, to play video games on a rented console. Read more here,,, Source: FoxNews
 The disclosures reported by the country's official news agency were highly unusual. The agency, SPA, reported the attacker, Abdullah Hassan Talea' Asiri, a wanted Saudi militant who had been hiding in Yemen, got in touch with Saudi authorities telling them he wanted to turn himself in to Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Naif, the assistant minister of Interior for Security Affairs. After arriving back in Saudi Arabia, Asiri spoke by phone to Mohammed, who agreed to see him during a Ramadan reception at his home in the city of Jeddah. According to a transcript provided by SPA, during the phone call the men exchanged greetings and discussed the importance of the holy month of Ramadan. Mohammed is quoted as telling Asiri that "one should be careful; evil people would like to exploit all of you. Now only you to fear Allah Almighty and come home." Later in the conversation, Asiri asked if a special plane could be dispatched to take him to meet with Mohammed. Asiri, escorted by security, was transported to Jeddah, where he met with the prince at his palace. During the meeting, Asiri explained to Mohammed that other Saudi militants in Yemen also wished to surrender but sought reassurances from the prince. According to SPA, a call was then placed to one of the militants in Yemen. While the prince was on the phone, Asiri blew himself up, SPA reported. Read more here,,, Source: CNN
 September 1 Invited guests include three Cabinet secretaries, numerous diplomats, five members of Congress including the lone Muslim, Keith Ellison of Minnesota, and chief of the Palestine Liberation Organization mission. Here is the list of invited guests, as provided by the White House: Cabinet: Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr., and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. Deputy Cabinet secretaries: Commerce Deputy Secretary Dennis Hightower and Education Deputy Secretary Adam Miller. Congress: Reps. Andre Carson (D-Ind.), John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.), Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), Rush D. Holt (D-N.J.) and Sen. Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.). Diplomats: Ambassador Prince Zeid Ra'ad Zeid Al Hussein of Jordan; Ambassador Adel A.M. Al Jubeir of Saudi Arabia; Ambassador Husain Haqqani of Pakistan; Ambassador Erlan A. Idrissov of Kazakhstan; Ambassador His Excellency Said ... ... Tayeb Jawad of Afghanistan; Ambassador Aziz Mekouar of Morocco; Ambassador Peter N.R.O. Ogego of Kenya. Also, Ambassador Roble Olhaye of D’jibouti; Ambassador Michael Oren of Israel; Ambassador Sudjadnan Parnohadiningrat of Indonesia; Ambassador Klaus Scharioth of Germany; Ambassador Meera Shankar of India; Ambassador Nabi Sensoy of Turkey; Ambassador Sir Nigel Elton Sheinwald of Britain; Ambassador Sameh Hassan Shoukry of Egypt; Ambassador Samir Shakir Mahmood Sumaida’ie of Iraq; and Ambassador Pierre Nicolas Vimont of France. Read more here,,,, Source: LA Times H/T JihadWatch
Inter Milan football coach Jose Mourinho has been criticized by an Italian Muslim leader for suggesting religious fasting marred a player's performance.Intermidfielder Sulley Muntari was substituted in the first half of his team's 1-1 Serie A draw with Bari on Sunday. Former Chelsea boss Mourinho said the Ghanaian was possibly lacking energy because of the fast he is observing for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Millions around the world are abstaining from eating or drinking in daylight hours during the ninth month in the Islamic calendar. "I think Mourinho could talk a little less," Mohamed Nour Dachan, president of the Union of the Islamic community and organizations in Italy, told Sky television. "A practicing (Muslim) player is not weakened because we know from the Institute of Sports Medicine that mental and psychological stability can give a sportsman an extra edge on the field. Read more ... Source: Sky NewsH/T: Fox News
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan At least 21 people were killed and 27 wounded in a suicide bombing Thursday in Pakistan, near its border with Afghanistan, officials told CNN. The victims were security personnel gathering for a meal to end the daily fast during the Muslim month of Ramadan, a local official told CNN. The official declined to be named. The suicide bomber entered the barracks of a para-military force in the town of Torkham, in the Khyber agency, or district, and blew himself up, the official said. Survivors of the attack said the bomber was a young man between 15 and 20 years old who was bringing water to the security personnel, according to Nasir Khan, a local official. He placed jugs of water on the ground and then detonated explosives strapped to his body, Khan said. A NATO oil tank truck delivering supplies to NATO troops in Afghanistan was blown up a day earlier on the same road in Torkham where Thursday's attack took place. Source: CNN
 By Christina BellantoniContinuing his administration's outreach efforts to the Islamic world, President Obama has recorded a video greeting to Muslims as they begin their annual holy season of Ramadan. The president used a few Arabic words and described in the video the origin of the holiday and its importance, noting it is a time of festivity but also of devotion and reflection. The holiday is marked with a month of fasting from dawn to sunset, when Muslims break their fast with a prayer. "These rituals remind us of the principles we hold in common and of Islam's role in advancing justice, progress, tolerance and the dignity of all human beings," said Mr. Obama in the video. Earlier this year Mr. Obama offered a similar message of friendship in a Web video to mark Nowruz, the Iranian new year. That video kicked off a full effort to engage with Muslims, with Mr. Obama delivering major speeches in Ankara and Cairo seeking a new way forward. Mr. Obama addressed the "new beginning" he has proposed in his Ramadan message, saying it must be "borne out in a sustained effort to listen to each other, to learn from each other, to respect one another, and to seek common ground." Mr. Obama said the United States has heard from Muslims around the globe in response to his speeches and the outreach done on social networking Web sites, adding that the nation is going after "concrete actions that will make a difference over time." He said America wants to partner with the Islamic world for expanding educational exchange programs and on science and technology collaboration, adding that the U.S. is working closely to prepare for the global pandemic of the H1N1 virus. Read more here ... Source: Washington Times
 AMSTERDAM, 23/09/08 - At least two Amsterdam secondary schools with a Christian basis are to close during the Sugar Feast to accede to their Muslim pupils. Various other schools are also doing so, Reformatorisch Dagblad newspaper reported yesterday.
The Calvijn met Junior College in Amsterdam and the Huygens College, also in the capital, are both closing for the Sugar Feast. The Islamic festival marks the end of the Ramadan month of fasting and falls on or around 1 October this year.
The Calvijn met Junior College is closing for two days, and the Huygens College for one. Both are VMBO schools - the lowest level of secondary education - and although they are Christian, their pupils are virtually all immigrants.
The Party for Freedom (PVV) wants clarification from Education Minister Ronald Plasterk in the Lower House today. "This really cannot be allowed," in the view of PVV MP Martin Bosma. "The Netherlands is no Muslim country and will never become one either. We must never give in to the pressure of this ideology, which wants to take over the Netherlands bit by bit."
According to a spokesman for the Amarantis Education Group, under which both schools fall, the free day does not clash with its Christian principles. Various other schools throughout the Netherlands also ensure that their pupils are free on Sugar Feast day, according to Reformatorisch Dagblad. Source: NIS
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