By Martin Vennard Representatives of women from across Afghanistan have called on President Hamid Karzai not to undermine their position by talking to the Taleban. The president's brother recently sat with former Taleban leaders at a religious meal hosted by the Saudis. The meeting was regarded as a possible prelude to talks between the Afghan government and the Islamist movement. Mr Karzai told a conference of about 400 women that any talks with the Taleban would respect the constitution. Read more ...Source: BBC
Police have halted a wedding between a seven-year-old boy and a five-year-old girl in Pakistan, arresting the Muslim cleric officiating at the ceremony and the children's parents. A police raid prevented the cleric from going ahead with the ceremony in Karachi, which was attended by 100 guests, said the deputy superintendent of police, Malik Mazhar. Pakistani law forbids marriage below the age of 18, but some Muslim scholars deem it permissible if the bride and groom have reached puberty. TV footage showed both children in traditional wedding clothes in the laps of policemen after the raid. The girl, called Nisha, had tears running down her cheeks. Read more ...Source: The Guardian
 With the grooms on the left, children danced at a stadium in Gaza this month during a mass
wedding celebration for 300 couples, the 10th such event here this year organized by HamasBy Taghreed El-Khodary GAZA: The grooms were resplendent in white shirts while the brides all wore black. At a sports stadium one recent October evening, thousands of Palestinians - 300 newly married couples along with relatives and friends - gathered for a mass wedding celebration, the 10th here this year courtesy of Hamas. Hamas, the militant Islamist group that controls Gaza, has been observing a truce with Israel since June, allowing its underground fighters to resurface but leaving them without much to do. At the same time, hundreds of the group's women have been recently widowed, their husbands having been killed either in confrontations with Israel or in the fighting last year between Hamas and its secular rival, Fatah. Taking advantage of the pause in violence, the Hamas leaders have turned to matchmaking, bringing together single fighters and widows, and providing dowries and wedding parties for the many here who cannot afford such trappings of matrimony. Read more ...Source: IHT
 GUWAHATI: A little-known Islamic group claimed responsibility in a text message to a news channel Friday for serial blasts in India’s Assam that claimed 76 lives on Thursday, police said. The group, identifying itself as the ‘Islamic Security Force-Indian Mujahideen’, warned such attacks would continue in the Assam state, police said. “The Islamic Security Force-Indian Mujahedeen takes the responsibility for yesterday's blasts,” said the text message sent to the Newslive television network in Assam. "We warn all of Assam and India for situations like this in the future and we thank all our holy members and partners," added the message. A police spokesman said the group was believed to have come into existence in 2000 in western Assam, where tribal Bodo militants are campaigning against Muslim settlers from nearby Bangladesh. The group has not been active recently in Assam, where more than a dozen militant groups are campaigning for demands ranging from independence to greater autonomy. Read more ...Source: Daily TimesMuslims Against Sharia unequivocally condemn Assam bombings. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims of these atrocities. Our condolences to the friends and loved ones. May the perpetrators and their accomplices be swiftly brought to justice.
 By Robert Spencer My eighth book, Stealth Jihad: How Radical Islam is Subverting America without Guns or Bombs, will be published November 18 by Regnery Publishing. How do you like the cover? Did you know that Jihad Watch had a Recommended Books page? Until this morning I hadn't updated it since about 1492, for which I apologize, but I have just added Stealth Jihad along with many new, newish, and previously overlooked books by my colleague Raymond Ibrahim, Andy McCarthy, Mark Steyn, Brigitte Gabriel, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Andy Bostom, and Nonie Darwish. Please take a look, and drop me a note if you have a worthy book you'd like to recommend. I hope to update this page henceforth more frequently than once a millennium. Meanwhile, over the next week I will be publishing the endorsements people such as James Woolsey, John Bolton, Geert Wilders and others have given to Stealth Jihad, along with more information about the book, on the main page, but you can read the endorsements on the Recommended Books page now. And finally, your comments are welcome and, indeed, invited, but please don't ask me to change the title or cover -- it is too late for that, as the books have already been printed. Source: Jihad WatchRobert Spencer
Latest recipient of The MASH Award
 By Marcel Berlins Bridget Prentice, the justice minister, did her best to try to allay fears that sharia law on family disputes was worming itself into English law, or was being given the status of an acceptable parallel system of law. In a written parliamentary answer last week, she stressed that "sharia law has no jurisdiction in England and Wales and there is no intention to change this position. Similarly, we do not accommodate any other religious legal system in this country's laws." This was a wholly correct statement but it did not satisfy her critics. The issue was whether or not a family dispute settled under sharia law - for instance about children - could be recognised under English law. To which Prentice's answer was: Yes, provided it was formally approved by a family judge applying English family law. "If parties to a judgment in a sharia council wish to have this recognised by English authorities, they are at liberty to draft a consent order embodying the terms of the agreement and submit it to an English court." Read more ...Source: Guardian
 By Danny Brierley
AN internet recruitment drive by extremist preachers aimed at young Muslims in London is set to undermine the Government's aim to make it harder for radicals to enter the country.
The Home Office wants to introduce rules making it easier to bar preachers of hate from Britain.
But a Standard investigation has uncovered dozens of YouTube videos filmed by a radical Islamic sect and its exiled leader Omar Bakri Mohammed as part of its latest recruitment drive.
The clips by Islam for the UK include messages and interviews with Lebanon-based Omar Bakri, the former head of disbanded group al-Muhajiroun.
"This is the same network that was banned under anti-terrorism legislation in 2006 [al-Muhajiroun] in all but name," said Neil Doyle, a researcher who has tracked the internet activities of radicals on the internet for 15 years.
"The signs are that it has embarked on a major recruitment drive. Omar Bakri is reaching a wider audience on the internet than he would do if he was in the UK."
Some of the films were recorded at a youth conference in Walthamstow last month.
The Home Office said: "We cannot stop radical preachers reaching Britain through the internet." YouTube said it was investigating the videos. Source: The Evening StandardOmar Bakri Muhammed
Latest recipient of the Distinguished Islamofascist Award
By Arifa Akbar A gallery showing inflammatory images of veiled Muslims, including a bare-breasted woman partially clad in a burqa, is under police surveillance after being attacked earlier this week. Windows and doors at the SaLon Gallery in west London were smashed after a series of abusive, anonymous phone calls and angry protests about the images from Muslims. The gallery has complained to police. The solo exhibition of paintings by Sarah Maple includes a veiled woman holding a pig, which is interpreted as a flagrant disregard of the Islamic ban on eating pork. The show – entitled "This Artist Blows" – also includes two self-portraits: one of Maple wearing a headscarf has an image of Kate Moss's naked breast attached to it; another shows Maple in a T-shirt bearing the slogan "I love jihad". In another, a veiled Muslim woman wears a badge that says "I love orgasms". Read more ...Source: The Independent
 Cairo - Egypt imprisoned and said it would deport a German family that tore up its German identification papers upon arrival, fearing the documents would connect them to an "infidel state."Egypt accused the family of Islamic extremism and imprisoned the family, which consisted of a man, his wife, his two sisters and his mother. They were being prepared for deportation, Egyptian Independent al-Badeel newspaper reported. According to media reports, the family does not want to return to Germany. The German embassy in Cairo is cooperating with Egyptian officials to deport the family, the paper said. However, it has declined to give them new identification documents for fear they would also be destroyed. It must also be determined which country will pay for the flight. Eyewitnesses said the female members of the family wore garb that only allowed their eyes to be seen. None of the family is fluent in Arabic, which made communication with police authorities difficult. After their arrest, they debated whether a true Muslim would allow himself to be photographed for a passport. Read more ...Source: The Earth Times
 Worship is not allowed in St Paul’s Church, TarsusBy Christopher Landau The Turkish government says it is "out of the question" for it to hand over a revered medieval church where Catholics want to hold Christian services. The church, currently run as a museum, stands in the south-eastern town of Tarsus, where St Paul was born. The Turkish constitution guarantees freedom of religion, but Christian groups in the country believe that in practice they face discrimination. Next week the Vatican will hold a Catholic-Muslim forum to improve ties. It was the Cardinal Archbishop of Cologne in Germany who first challenged the Turkish government to hand over the church in Tarsus. Read more ...Source: BBC
From correspondents in Jakarta | November 01, 2008
THE three Islamic militants convicted over the Bali nightclub bombings have been notified of their imminent execution, a prison source said today.
The source at the Nusakambangan island prison off southern Java also said the bombers had been placed in isolation away from other prisoners in preparation for their date with the firing squad.
"The letter ordering the execution was submitted last night at 9pm (0100 AEDT) Friday," the source said.
He did not say whether the letter gave a precise time for the executions.
Officials have not confirmed the letter and neither the families nor the lawyers for the bombers have received the usual three-day notice of execution.
The government has said only that Amrozi, 47, his brother Mukhlas, 48, and ringleader Imam Samudra, 38, will be executed by firing squad in early November over the 2002 attacks on the resort island of Bali.
Source:The Australian
 From correspondents in Jakarta | November 01, 2008
INDONESIA has stepped up security around foreign embassies amid fears of attacks as it prepares to execute the three Islamists convicted over the Bali nightclub bombings which killed 202 people.
Police have revealed they had found and defused two bombs in a Balinese Hindu migrant area on Sulawesi island on Wednesday and Thursday as tensions mount ahead of the imminent executions.
"I think there is a connection between this and the execution of Amrozi and others," local police chief Suparni Parto said, referring to bombers Amrozi, Mukhlas and Imam Samudra, who could be executed as early as today.
National police spokesman Abubakar Nataprawira said extra police had been stationed around embassies in Jakarta, especially the US and Australian missions, as well as sensitive locations across the main island of Java.
"We are increasing security at embassies and public places such as malls," he said.
Bus terminals, railway stations and houses of worship were also possible targets, he said.
"The exact date (for the execution) is the Attorney-General's Office's decision but the police are ready for the execution to be carried out any time."
Officials have said Imam Samudra, 38, Amrozi, 47, and Mukhlas, 48, will be executed by firing squad any time from midnight last night until mid-November.
They were sentenced six years ago for the 2002 bombings on the resort island of Bali which killed more than 160 foreigners including 88 Australians.
The attack, launched in retaliation for the US invasion of Afghanistan, remains one of the bloodiest terror bombings carried out in the name of Islam since the September 11 attacks on the United States.
The executions have been repeatedly delayed by a series of failed appeals and most recently by the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in September.
Attorney-General's Office spokesman Jasam Pandjaitan told the Antara state news agency the executions would be carried out "soon."
The Balinese prosecutor in charge of the executions reportedly arrived early yesterday at the prison island of Nusakambangan off southern Java where the bombers are being held, along with police responsible for firing squads.
The younger brother of Amrozi and Mukhlas said the family had not been informed of the executions, as they should be three days in advance.
Beaming broadly like his older brother Amrozi, who is known as the "smiling assassin," Ali Fauzi said the family had nothing to be ashamed about.
"Do we feel embarrassed or ashamed of what they have done? No, we feel proud because in this world full of lies and accusations there are still people who are ready to fight against that," he said in Tenggulun village , East Java.
Fears of a violent backlash from Islamist radicals in the world's most populous Muslim country have risen amid reports that hundreds of extremists are planning to protest near the prison.
The vast majority of Indonesian Muslims are moderate but a small fanatical fringe have waged jihad, or holy war, for many years in a bid to bring about an Islamic caliphate across South-East Asia.
The country has been hit by a string of attacks since 2000, including a suicide bombing in Bali which killed 20 people in 2005, a car bombing at the Australian embassy which killed 10 people in 2004 and another car bombing at the American-owned JW Marriott hotel which killed 12 people in 2003.
Most of the attacks including the 2002 blasts have been attributed to the Jemaah Islamiah regional terror network. Source: The Australian
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