 by Kamal Hasani Within the Iranian government and its mob of followers, fractures have begun to appear. Iranian theoretical physics professor, Masud Alimuhamadi, was killed by a remote-control bomb at his house in north Tehran on January 12. Iran’s clerical dictatorship, headed by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, quickly blamed the U.S. and Israel for the terrorist crime, and described Alimuhamadi as a “martyr.”
They presented no credible evidence for their accusation, and an American official dismissed the allegation of U.S. involvement as absurd. Alimuhamadi was not involved in Iran’s nuclear industry; he did not work for the country’s Atomic Energy Organization. Two days later, on January 14, hundreds of mourners for the assassinated professor filed through Tehran. They were joined by groups who chanted slogans against America and Israel.
But members of the Iranian reformist Green Movement, who also participated in the funeral march, are not convinced: Dissidents believe the slaying was carried out by the clerical regime, probably using its most extreme supporters, to demonstrate that the rulers and their fanatical adherents have the capacity and determination to keep power. Alimuhamadi was a partisan of opposition-cleric, Mir Hossein Moussavi, in last year’s presidential election -- which the reformists allege was won by Moussavi but stolen by Khamenei and Ahmadinejad. The assassinated physicist was a public speaker, a leader in the June 15 demonstration at the Tehran University campus against fascist thugs and police, who attacked the campus dormitory and killed several students. Reform activists increasingly reject Tehran’s claims that all the country’s problems are caused from abroad as just crude efforts to silence the Green Movement, divert criticism of Iran’s economic failures, and neutralize the widening demands for real democracy and freedom of expression. Reformists suspect the killing of Alimuhamadi was a specific response -- from within the regime and its periphery of violent defenders -- to the January 11 revelation that three dissidents had been beaten to death after large protests in July, with other people subjected to inhumane treatment in the Kahrizak Prison south of Tehran . The Iranian parliament had then ordered Kahrizak Prison shut down, and blamed the deaths there on former prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi, an Ahmadinejad supporter and opponent of closing the prison. Mortazavi was discharged from his government position as an investigator of corruption and smuggling -- but opposition activists say that Khamenei and Ahmadinejad are afraid of the consequences if Mortazavi were arrested and tried for the Kahrizak Prison murders. A legal proceeding against Mortazavi might reveal even more shocking facts and lead to even more arrests. The assassination of physics professor Alimuhamadi is therefore perceived as a too-convenient distraction from the government’s crisis of credibility. The decision to close Kahrizak Prison is ascribed to Khamenei, who spoke from the religious center of Qom against “irresponsible groups interfering in the legal and judicial process.” Reformists warn that the ruling circle will pursue an “Iraq strategy,” in which violent street elements spread fear and insecurity. But the reformists also believe that the regime fears that Khamenei’s most radical allies will escape his control. The hardliners, however, wish to increase public fear by encouraging judges to answer protests with violent repression through the courts. Less than two weeks before the Alimuhamadi assassination, the opposition Green Movement was threatened with mass murder by the clerical government: Iranian attorney general Golamhossein Mohseni Ezjei declared, “We have decided to execute at least three of the people arrested in the demonstrations on the afternoon of Ashura [December 27, 2009], because we consider them ‘fighters against God’ (mohareb).” This threat obviously preceded any trial for the participants in the Ashura events. Although Ashura is always a major commemoration for Shia Muslims around the world, recalling the martyrdom for social justice of Imam Husayn, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, the recent Ashura observance had a special resonance: it came soon after the death of Grand Ayatollah Ali Hossein Montazeri, the leading Iranian opposition religious figure and a sharp critic of the regime of Khamenei and Ahmadinejad. Clerics serving the political establishment formulated the charge that protestors are “fighters against God” (mohareb), and should be sentenced to death.” The first to proclaim this was apparently Ayatollah Alam Al-Hoda, who during a pro-government march in Tehran on December 30, said “among the protestors, some are sheep and some are goats;” he then called for the execution of Green Movement leaders. Ahmad Jannati, president of the government’s Guardian Council, during a Friday sermon on January 1, repeated and emphasized that harsh punishment should be imposed on those who are “against the Islamic Revolution and against velayat-e-faqih,” or clerical governance. Interior minister Muhammad Najjar warned protestors that if new demonstrations took place, the police would deal decisively with them, and also called them mohareb, or “fighters against God.” At the same time, Ismail Ahmadi Moghaddam, the head of the national police, said there would be no tolerance toward those arrested on Ashura, especially if they had fought police. Member of Parliament Ruhollah Hosseinian, planner of and a key figure in the “Cain Murders,” when at least 28 intellectuals were assassinated under the presidency of Mohammad Khatami, Ahmadinejad’s predecessor, said a law would be introduced for “summary execution of any mohareb.” In reply, another member of parliament, Ali Motahhari, son of Murtaza Motahhari, a leading theorist of the Islamic Revolution who was assassinated in 1979 soon after the Islamic Republic was proclaimed, rejected Hosseinian’s proposal. Ali Motahhari commented that “Hosseinian loves executions too much.” Motahhari then went on Iranian television and said, “even those who do not accept the Supreme Leader or who oppose the current system should have freedom to present their viewpoint in a peaceful manner.” Mohareb, or “fighters against God,” are clearly defined in Shiism as criminal killers, bandits, or those who disturb public security and spread fear through military action. Thus, the accusation applies more to Iran’s present rulers than to the protestors. But those in power want it to be thought that anybody who rejects the government or the leadership -- and openly expresses such views -- will be sentenced to death. For this reason, the physicist Masud Alimuhamadi is logically believed to have been the victim of an extrajudicial execution. Center for Islamic Pluralism Hudson New York 
 These events have been reported to World Threats. Nov. 14 - Reports say that the Kurd political prisoner Shirkoo Moarefi was transferred to solitary confinement of the central prison of Saqez to be executed. Nov. 14 - Reports from Saqez city say that some youths of this city have gathered under the name of the “Group of Saqez Youths” have planned a demonstration for today. The demonstrators will march from Hahloo Square towards the city’s central prison. Hatred of the regime has increased in most of Kurdistan’s cities following the execution of Ehsan Fatahian. Should Shirkoo also be executed, an uprising might occur in Kurdistan. Nov. 12 - Grand Ayatollah Montazeri has declared the executioners of political prisoners criminals.
In a new fatwa, Montazeri said that verdicts based on information or confessions obtained by torture are void and against Canon Law. He said, “those responsible for executing these orders and those who commanded getting these kinds of confessions are guilty and criminal based on law and canon law.” The video clip linked here discloses the identity of a plainclothes officer who shot people during the November fourth demonstrations. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JN2Xka8L2vg And Nov. 13 - In Sanandaj in the evening of November 12 more than 800 people and families of political prisoners gathered in Azadi Square and marched down Ferdosi Ave. They were protesting against the execution of Ehsan Fatahian and demanding the revocation of execution warrants on eleven other prisoners in Sanandaj Prison. The march was held under conditions equivalent to a curfew. Seven people were arrested when the SSF raided the crowd and they were taken to an unknown place. Eyewitness reports reported that the SSF even beat old people and women walking on the sidewalks and in the alleys. Some of the agents took photographs of people in the crowds for later identification. Nov. 13 - In Kermanshah at 2:30 PM more than 1200 residents gathered in Shahrak Karmadan Mosque to commemorate the death of Ehsan Fatahian. Those present had pictures of Ehsan and placards reading “Eshan Fatahian - fallen for freedom”. Young people had hi picture in their hands and on them was written “each of us is an Ehsan”. Nov. 14 - Reports say that some female prisoners in Evin Prison are in critical condition. Several are reported to have influenza and are in bad shape. The prison authorities have cut off all calls and visits to prevent this news from being reported. More updates at World Threats
 WASHINGTON sniper John Allen Muhammad, who killed 10 people in a 2002 shooting spree around the US capital, will be executed today after the nation's top court denied a stay of execution. Muhammad's lawyers had appealed for the US Supreme Court to delay the execution while it examines a plea on whether his sentence was constitutional. "The application for stay of execution of sentence of death presented to the chief justice and by him referred to the court is denied,'' Monday's Supreme Court ruling said. Muhammad is now due to be put to death by lethal injection at 9:00 pm Tuesday in Virginia. During the 2002 rampage that left 10 people dead and the Washington region paralyzed with fear, Muhammad, a skilled marksman, picked off victims in shopping malls, outside schools and at gas stations. With the aid of a high-power sniper rifle and scope, he unleashed a reign of terror over three weeks, killing each of his victims with a single bullet fired from a distance. But his lawyers argued Muhammad had not been properly legally represented during his trial in March 2004, when his legal team did not contest his request to defend himself even though he was clearly suffering from mental problems. The defence team had asked the Supreme Court to rule on whether the 2004 sentence was constitutional, and a hearing had been set for November 24. In a dissenting statement attached to the ruling, Justice John Stevens, backed by two other justices, said Monday: "This case once again highlights the perversity of executing inmates before their appeals process has been fully concluded. "By denying Muhammad's stay of application we have allowed Virginia to truncate our deliberative process on the matter - involving a death row inmate - that demands the most careful attention. "This result is particularly unfortunate in light of the limited time Muhammad was given to make his case to the district court.'' Muhammad's lawyers last week asked the nation's highest court to halt his execution to give the justices more time to examine an appeal against his death sentence. "Trial counsel knew that Muhammad had been diagnosed with severe mental illness, and personally observed Muhammad's struggle with severe symptoms of psychiatric disorders prior to the start of the trial,'' said one of two documents presented to the court last week. "These paranoid and delusional beliefs were clearly evident in and had devastating effect on, Muhammad's behavior in this case,'' the lawyers' petition read. Muhammad's teenaged accomplice, Lee Boyd Malvo, who was 17 at the time of the shootings, is serving a sentence of life in prison. Source: The Australian
 BEIJING — Nine men have been executed for taking part in ethnic rioting that left nearly 200 people dead in July, the first suspects put to death in the unrest, Chinese state media reported Monday. The worst ethnic unrest in decades began July 5 when minority Uighurs attacked Han, who make up China's dominant ethnicity, only to face retaliatory attacks two days later. Many Uighurs, who are a Turkic Muslim ethnic group linguistically and culturally distinct from the Han, resent Beijing's heavy-handed rule in Xinjiang, their traditional homeland. Four months later, Xinjiang remains smothered in heavy security, with Internet access cut and international direct dialing calls blocked. The official China News Service reported that the nine were executed after a final review of the verdicts by the Supreme People's Court as required by law, but gave no specific date or other details. Earlier reports had identified those condemned as eight Uighurs and one Han. The timing of the executions was not especially fast for China, which puts more people to death than any other country.
Politically sensitive cases are often decided in weeks, especially when they involve major unrest. The nine had been convicted of murder and other crimes committed during the riots in Urumqi, Xinjiang's capital. China blames the rioting on overseas-based groups agitating for broader rights for Uighurs in Xinjiang. The news service said another 20 people were indicted on Monday on charges related to the deaths of 18 people and other crimes committed during the riots. All but two of the prisoners listed in the report had Uighur sounding names, with the others appearing to be Han. Overseas Uighur activist Dilxat Raxit condemned the executions as motivated by politics and the need to appease Urumqi's angry Han residents, who marched in the thousands through the city in September to demand trials of those responsible for the July violence and the perpetrators of a bizarre series of hypodermic needle attacks. "We don't think they got a fair trial, and we believe this was a political verdict," said Raxit, who serves as spokesman for the Germany-based World Uyghur Congress. "The United States and the European Union did not put any pressure on China or seek to intervene and for that we are extremely disappointed," he said. Source: FoxNews
 Movies and television? No way. Executions? Bring the whole family -- or else! "Somalis 'made to view executions'," by Mary Harper for BBC News, October 25: Hundreds of people in Somalia have been forced to watch Islamist militants executing two people accused of spying. People in Merca said al-Shabaab militia patrolled the town with loudspeakers, demanding they attend the executions. The militants also ordered schools to close for the day as they were keen for children to watch the two men being shot dead by a firing squad. Most of those at the execution, on a patch of open ground, are reported to have been women and children. It is becoming something of a pattern for al-Shabaab to encourage young people to engage in violence. It recently organised a quiz for young men in the southern town of Kismayo. The prizes included AK-47 assault rifles, hand grenades and anti-tank mines. The aim, said al-Shabaab, was to stop young men from wasting time, and to focus on important things like defending their territory and their religion. Priorities: As the Ayatollah Khomeini said, "There is no fun in Islam." At the prize-giving ceremony, which was attended by hundreds of people, the militants urged parents to teach their children to handle weapons at an early age. Somali children's rights groups say al-Shabaab is intent on brainwashing the young to believe in violent Islamism. In this way, it can ensure it has a steady supply of recruits, ready to fight for its aim of establishing extreme Islamist rule, not only in Somalia but far beyond its borders.
 September 02, At least American media owners have nothing more to worry about than the governmental concept of a "Fairness Doctrine" being imposed that could censor their content, subject them to high taxes and limit their actions. A professor of Islamic law in Saudi Arabia says owners of television stations there should be tried under Islamic law and then executed for spreading "poison" in society. The comments were documented by the Middle East Media Research Institute, which has posted an online video of the interview. (It requires registration to view) The report said the condemnation comes from Saudi University Professor Yousuf Al-Ahmad. He was interviewed on Daleel TV on Aug. 8. The interviewer raised the issue of a previous Islamic fatwa against owners of several Arab television stations over their programming decisions. "I believe that one of our problems is that we continue to bury our heads in the sand, and talk about 'Lebanese' TV channels, as if we are being honest. Take LBC, for example. We all know who owns it. We should say to [the owner] Al-Walid bin Talal: Beware. The same is true of MBC TV, Al-Arabiya TV, the ART and Rotana channels - all these [Saudi] channels serve to destroy Islam and the Muslims," the transcript reported al-Ahmad stated. "Regarding these base channels that I have mentioned, and others like them – I have no doubt whatsoever that their danger to the Islamic nation is no less than that of the Zionist Jews, or of the Crusader Americans in Iraq and elsewhere," he continued. "In my view, the deadly poison that they are spreading has reached the bone marrow," he continued. "The people who spread corruption in the land – whether highway robbers, drug dealers, or the owners of these TV channels, who are even more dangerous... These channels broadcast corruption and nudity. They are all people who spread corruption in the land, and they should be tried in an Islamic court of law and sentenced to death. This [fatwa] is clearly in accordance with Islamic law. There's no doubt about it." The professor said it's only right that people should be afraid of Islam. "Islam is lenient, but the infidel West trembles in fear of it. Allah has ordered us to prepare: 'Prepare for them what force and steeds of war you can, to cast fear in the hearts of Allah's enemies and of your own.' Our human nature may tell us that stoning is unacceptable, but this is a punishment decreed by Allah. If Allah decrees death – this is how it should be. If the Islamic scholars ruled that the punishment for drug dealers is death, this is how it should be. "I believe that [the TV channel owners] are more dangerous than all of these. Forget about whether or not they should be killed – we demand that they face trial in an Islamic court of law," he said. In the United States, there have been several moves toward re-imposing a "Fairness Doctrine" plan on media and the Internet. That was a requirement until the 1980s that broadcasters carry both "sides" of various political arguments. It was dropped under President Reagan and since then the size and impact of talk radio has exploded. Now administration officials have talked about new regulations that would force broadcasters to submit to various "diversity" requirements, such as minority representation or minority ownership, huge tax burdens and other regulations. Source: WND
 By Deborah Weiss Despite the fact that Iran’s penal code prohibits the execution of virgins, Iran executes more juveniles than any other country in the world. The executions are conducted through hangings, stonings, and other barbaric measures consistent with Sharia law. Since the age of personal responsibility in Iran is 13 for boys and 9 for girls, surely many of those sentenced to death are virgins. How does the government get around this? On the condition of anonymity, a Basiji guard recently spoke out to explain how Iran executes virgins. The Basiji is a volunteer paramilitary force founded by the Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979. Known as the people’s militia, it is subordinate to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and remains very loyal to Khomeini’s successor, the Supreme Leader Khamenei. Explaining how he became a member of the Basiji, the guard stated that his father was a martyr in the Iran-Iraq war. At age 16, his mother took him to the Basijis and pleaded with them to accept him so he’d have a better life. They agreed. Read more ...Source: FPM
By Sabina Amidi In a shocking and unprecedented interview, directly exposing the inhumanity of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's religious regime in Iran, a serving member of the paramilitary Basiji militia has told this reporter of his role in suppressing opposition street protests in recent weeks. He has also detailed aspects of his earlier service in the force, including his enforced participation in the rape of young Iranian girls prior to their execution. The interview took place by telephone, and on condition of anonymity. It was arranged by a reliable source whose identity can also not be revealed. Founded by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1979 as a "people's militia," the volunteer Basiji force is subordinate to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and intensely loyal to Khomeini's successor, Khamenei. Read more ...Source: Jerusalem PostH/T: Weasel ZippersIranian Regime
Latest recipients of The Face of Evil Award
According to news received by the International Committee against Executions, 29 people are to be executed tomorrow, Saturday, in Ghezal Hesar prison in Karaj. It has been reported that the 29 have been separated from other prisoners. There is no information on their charges.
The executions are being carried out in order to intimidate people and is directed at the protesting people of Iran.
We are calling for people in Iran and everywhere to condemn the executions and exert pressure to stop them.
Please send your Protest letters to:
President Islamic Republic of Iran
His Excellency Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Palestine Avenue, Azerbaijan Intersection
Tehran 13168-43311
Islamic Republic of Iran
E-mail: dr-ahmadinejad@president.ir
Chief of State
His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed Ali Khamenei,
The Office of the Supreme Leader
Islamic Republic Street - Shahid Keshvar Doust Street,
Tehran
Islamic Republic of Iran
E-Mail: info@leader.ir / Fax: +98-21 649 5880 (unreliable)
Minister of Justice
Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi
Office of the Head of Justice
Pasteur St., Vali Asr Ave., South of Serah-e Jomhouri
Tehran 13168-14737
Islamic Republic of Iran
E-Mail: info@dadgostary-tehran.ir / Fax: +98-21 879 6671/640 4018 or 4019 (unreliable)
Thank you for your solidarity and ongoing support for our Iranian colleagues.
Yours faithfully,
Saeed Valadbaygi
Source: Revolutionary Road
H/T: Atlas
 Jason Koutsoukis, Gaza | March 14
DALAL al-Shoubaki remembers the day Hamas sent its dreaded Internal Security Service to arrest her husband Hamza.
"It was July 25 last year. They came early in the day to our home and they took Hamza away without saying why," Mrs Shoubaki told The Age this week.
Three weeks ago, the tortured body of the father of 13 was found dumped at Gaza's Shifa Hospital, with two gunshot wounds to the head.
From the types of twigs and leaves found on his clothes, Mr Shoubaki's family believe he was executed in a citrus grove on the outskirts of Gaza City.
Mr Shoubaki had been accused of collaborating with the Government of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, whose Fatah faction holds power in the West Bank. Mr Shoubaki was a vocal supporter of Fatah, and was in almost daily phone contact with his brother, a senior officer in the Government.
His fate is a chilling example of the terror inflicted on dissenters who have lived under the Hamas regime in Gaza since June 2007.
"In 2007, the death toll of Palestinians killed by Fatah or Hamas exceeded for the first time the number of Palestinians killed in clashes with the Israeli occupation forces," said Hamdi Shaqqura from the Gaza-based Palestinian Centre for Human Rights.
According to figures cited by Mr Shaqqura, 394 Palestinians were killed in clashes with the Israeli military and security forces in 2007, but at least 500 were killed by forces aligned with either Fatah or Hamas.
Mr Shaqqura said Mr Shoubaki's execution was just one of many that followed a similar pattern. "We are talking mostly about barbaric acts of revenge and retaliation. Human rights abuses are witnessed every day here. People have no freedom of association or right to assembly, no freedom of speech, or access to an independent justice system."
At the time of his arrest, Mr Shoubaki, 40, a plumber by training, was working as a fruit and vegetable seller to support his family.
Mrs Shoubaki said that for four months after he was taken away, she could get no explanation of why he had been detained or where he was being held. Then, in early December, he called, saying he was being held in an Internal Security Service compound at al-Saraya, near Gaza City.
Mrs Shoubaki describes her shock when she visited him. "At first I nearly didn't recognise him. There were many signs of torture. He was pale and bruised and he had trouble walking."
He had been regularly punched and kicked, intermittently deprived of food and sleep, hung from the ceiling for hours on end — by his feet and his arms, and on one case from the ceiling for several hours by one arm. Mrs Shoubaki said her husband had also been electrocuted and repeatedly had a gun held to his head to try to force a confession.
"He said he had also been brought before the military court on a several occasions, but they were never able to prove anything about Hamza."
Several days after Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert launched Operation Cast Lead on December 27, the jail where Mr Shoubaki was being held was hit by Israeli fire, giving inmates a chance to escape. He fled, but was picked up the same day by Hamas militants.
They shot him through the back of both legs below the knee, then pushed him out of a car in the Sheikh Ejlin neighbourhood, south-west of Gaza City.
"When he came to us, he was barely alive," Mrs Shoubaki said. "But after one month of medical treatment at home, and support from our families, he regained some of his health and was able to stand up and walk again."
In early February, intent on tracking down anyone they believed had collaborated with either Israel or the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah, the Internal Security Service launched a search for him.
"On February 4 and February 18, a number of gunmen came to our house asking about my husband, but we had moved him and he was not at home."
On February 26, almost seven months to the day since his first arrest, Mr Shoubaki decided to move again to what he thought he would be a safer location, but at 10pm that day, masked gunmen stormed his new hide-out.
"Around 8am the next day, a relative of Hamza's received a phone call from the Shifa Hospital to come and identify a man who was now in the morgue. It was Hamza. He had been shot twice in the head," Mrs Shoubaki said.
Surrounded by her children, Mrs Shoubaki betrays no sign of fear. "I am not afraid. I want justice. I want what happened to my husband to happen to the people who killed him."
The Hamas Government's official spokesman, Taher al-Nunu, declined to comment. "I have no knowledge at all of this case," he said.
Mr Shaqqura at the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights believes there is little chance that Mr Shoubaki's killers will ever be known.
"Hamas own the justice system here in Gaza," he said. "Why would they ever prosecute themselves?"
WRONG ARM OF THE LAW
• JAMIL SHAQQURA
• NIHAD SAADI AL-DABBAKAOn February 6, masked gunmen claiming to be police officers arrested Mr Dabbaka, 47, at his home in the Maghazi refugee camp. Three days later he showed up dead in hospital. His body also bore clear signs of torture on the feet, back, hands, ears and the front of his torso.
•YOUSEF AL-BURIOn January 8, midway through the Israeli offensive, masked Hamas security agents showed up at the home of Mr Buri, 39, at the Shati refugee camp.
Claiming to be police officers, they dragged him to a jeep. About half an hour later he was dumped near his home, having been severely beaten. He died of his injuries on February 7.
On Friday, January 30, Mr Shaqqura, 51, a resident of the Khan Younis refugee camp, was summoned to a local sports club where he was told he had to testify in a case he said he knew nothing about. At 6.30am the next day, his brother received a call from Nasser hospital saying Mr Shaqqura had been admitted unconscious. He was pronounced dead on February 6 from what doctors described as a "brain clot caused by torture and severe beating to his head". Source: The Age
If you chose "No," please consider providing your solution to Gaza crisis in the comments.
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A human rights organization says it's not enough for Americans to adopt "resolutions" opposing violence when Islamic girls are stoned for being victims of gang-rapes and warns that such violence already has moved into the United States, with beatings and murders – including a recent beheading – documented. The result is a plan for a public rally on March 8, International Women's Day, at the Capitol Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C., according to the organization Responsible for Equality and Liberty. Read more ...Source: WNDH/T: Jeffrey Imm
 By Khaled Abu Toameh
The Hamas government has placed dozens of Fatah members under house arrest out of fear that they might exploit the current IDF operation to regain control of the Gaza Strip.
The move came amid reports that the Fatah leadership in the West Bank has instructed its followers to be ready to assume power over the Gaza Strip when and if Israel's military operation results in the removal of Hamas rule.
Fatah officials in Ramallah told The Jerusalem Post that Hamas militiamen had been assaulting many Fatah activists since the beginning of the operation last Saturday. They said at least 75 activists were shot in the legs while others had their hands broken.
Wisam Abu Jalhoum, a Fatah activist from the Jabalya refugee camp, was shot in the legs by Hamas militiamen for allegedly expressing joy over the IDF air strikes on Hamas targets.
"Hamas is very nervous, because they feel that their end is nearing," a senior Fatah official said. "They have been waging a brutal campaign against Fatah members in the Gaza Strip."
Meanwhile, sources close to Hamas revealed over the weekend that the movement had "executed" more than 35 Palestinians who were suspected of collaborating with Israel and were being held in various Hamas security installations.
The sources quoted Hamas officials as saying that the decision to kill the suspected collaborators was taken out of fear that Israel might try to rescue them during a ground offensive. The officials claimed that at least half of the victims were killed by relatives of Palestinian militiamen who were killed as a result of information passed on to Israel by the "collaborators."
Justifying the latest crackdown on Fatah, a Hamas official in Gaza City said that his government had received information according to which Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas had instructed his loyalists in the Strip to start moving toward undermining Hamas.
"We will kill them all if they try to help Israel bring down our government," the official said. "We will hang Mahmoud Abbas and [former Fatah security chief] Muhammad Dahlan in the public square if they try to enter the Gaza Strip aboard Israeli tanks."
The Hamas official said that his security forces had launched a massive "preemptive" campaign aimed at thwarting Fatah's attempts to "spread anarchy and chaos." He confirmed that many Fatah operatives had been shot in the legs over the past few days by Hamas "to make sure that they don't help Israel."
Fahmi Za'arir, a Fatah spokesman in the West Bank, accused Hamas of "executing" a number of Fatah detainees. He said the Fatah leadership knew of at least two Fatah men who were shot dead by Hamas after being released from prison. He named them as Nasser Muhana and Saher al-Silawi.
Za'arir said that several Fatah members who attended funerals of victims of the IAF strikes were severely beaten by Hamas militiamen who accused them of collaboration with Israel.
It was "shameful" that Hamas was directing its weapons and energies against its own people instead of fighting against Israel, the spokesman said.
The decision to place Fatah operatives under house arrest was issued by the much-feared "Internal Security Apparatus," which reports to the Hamas-controlled Interior Ministry in Gaza.
The order, which was delivered to the Fatah activists on Thursday, reads: "You are forbidden from leaving your home for 48 hours unless you want to attend Friday prayers. Anyone who violates the order will be punished." Source: Jerusalem Post H/T: Gateway Pundit
November 25, 2008
TEHRAN: Iran's Revolutionary Guards have claimed to have arrested the members of a spy network linked to Israeli intelligence who tried to gather information on Iranian nuclear and military programs.
Revolutionary Guards chief Mohammad Ali Jafari said on state radio last night that its intelligence bureau had recently discovered the spy network, linked with Israel's Mossad.
"This network sought to gather important information from the Guards' military section, the country's nuclear centres and some security officials," Mr Jafari said.
"Very good information as well as equipment that this network were supplied with have been discovered and people will be informed of the evidence in the near future."
Mr Jafari did not specify how many people were detained or where and when the group was arrested.
He said the detainees had confessed to being trained in bombing and assassination in Israel and had bought vehicles and lots of equipment with Mossad support, the state broadcaster's website reported.
Iran said on Saturday it had hanged an Iranian telecommunications salesman convicted of spying for Israel. It warned that a "more serious intelligence war" had begun with the Jewish state.
Judicial spokesman Ali Reza Jamshidi said Ali Ashtari was hanged on November 17 after being sentenced to death on June30 by a revolutionary court in Tehran.
Ashtari, who was in his mid-40s, was a tradesman in electronic merchandise who supplied military, security and defence centres across the country with electronic devices.
Iranian authorities also recently arrested Hossein Derakhshan, a blogger who visited Israel last year, on his arrival in Tehran from Canada. Mr Derakhshan, who also holds Canadian citizenship, had admitted to being involved in espionage for Israel, the Iranian news website Jahan News reported.
It said Mr Derakhshan had admitted spying for Israel during initial questioning.
If convicted, he could face the death penalty.
Tehran does not recognise Israel and tensions have flared since the 2005 election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has repeatedly said the Jewish state is doomed to vanish and has branded the Holocaust amyth.
Israel, which along with the US accuses the Islamic republic of seeking atomic weapons, has never ruled out a military action to halt Tehran's nuclear drive.
Tehran, which insists its nuclear program is aimed only at producing electricity, angrily points to Israel's widely believed status as the sole, if undeclared, nuclear weapons power in the Middle East.
Iran has always warned of a dire response in the event that it comes under attack by the US or Israel.
The Revolutionary Guards, Iran's powerful ideological army, control the country's sensitive missile program, including the long-range Shahab-3 missile, which Tehran says can reach Israel and US bases in the Gulf. Source: The Australian
 Sanna Trad | November 10, 2008
THE majority of Muslim leaders across Australia have supported the executions of the Bali bombers over the weekend.
Influential Sydney imam Abdul Salam Mohammed Zoud said his only criticism of the executions was they did not happen sooner. "They did the crime and they had to be punished.
"They killed 200 innocent people over nothing - executing them was the right thing to do," he said.
"If you don't agree with a government's policy or people's ideology you talk to them about it - you do not kill innocent people. This should have been done as soon as they were found guilty. They should not have been given time to lodge appeals; their crime was just against humanity." Sheik Zoud said the death penalty was the only adequate punishment for the bombers under Islamic law.
"It doesn't matter what religion they claimed to follow; as a Muslim and as an Australian I support this punishment," he said.
Sydney's Indonesian Community Council head Amin Hady said many in the community were relieved the bombers had finally been executed.
"Most of the community have been waiting for this to happen for a long time and are very relieved that it's finally over," Imam Hady said. "In Islamic teaching ... they say if you kill one innocent person it is as if you have killed all of humanity ... this was the only punishment that could be handed out." However, not all Muslim community leaders agreed with the executions. The former chairman of John Howard's Muslim community reference group, Ameer Ali, said members of the Australian Government were hypocrites for not protesting against the execution.
"What have we achieved by executing these people?" Dr Ali said.
"We have just made it easierfor them to execute the Bali Nine. Australia should have taken the opportunity to try to put an end to this barbaric penalty known as capital punishment." Source: The Australian
 November 09, 2008
THREE Bali bombers have been executed on an Indonesian island for their lead roles in the 2002 nightclub bombings that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians.
The family of Mukhlas and his younger brother Amrozi said the bombers had been executed along with Imam Samudra just after midnight local time (4am AEDT) on Nusakambangan Island, in Central Java, where they had been jailed.
“Our family has received news of the execution ... May our brothers, God willing, be invited by green birds to heaven now,” Mohammad Chozin, a brother of Mukhlas and Amrozi, said in their home village of Tenggulun.
“We're now handling the preparations to bring the bodies back, which may take two hours,” he said outside an Islamic boarding school in the east Java village, as supporters shouted “Allahu Akbar” (God is greater).
Indonesia's Attorney General's Office later confirmed the executions had taken place.
“At 12.15am, the convicts ... were executed by shooting and followed up with an autopsy,” spokesman Jasman Pandjaitan said.
“They have been stated as dead. At this moment the bodies are being washed by the family.”
Attorney General Hendarman Supanji will hold a press conference in Jakarta at 11am local time (3pm AEDT).
The bombers were simultaneously shot through the heart by crack Indonesian troops assembled to carry out the task.
They were executed in an orchard some 6km from their prison on Nusakambangan Island, Indonesia's TV One reported.
A source at the prison said they shouted “Allahu Akbar” as they were escorted out of their isolation cells by paramilitary police shortly before their executions.
Australians expressed relief that the men were finally dead, six years after they brought carnage to Bali by sending suicide bombers to attack the Sari Club and nearby Paddy's Bar on October 12, 2002.
“... we've waited a very long time for this and this is our justice,” Sydney woman Maria Kotronakis, who lost two sisters and two cousins, told CNN, struggling at times to speak.
“Finally the moment has come ... we are over the moon.”
Survivor Peter Hughes, of Perth, who suffered horrific burns in the bombings, said the three militants had paid the highest price for mass murder, but their executions did not bring him any joy.
“These guys went to set about mass murder and paid the highest penalty,” he told CNN.
“It doesn't feel good but they did do the crime and they've paid for it.”
The bombers' bodies will soon be flown by helicopter to their home villages for burial within 24 hours, in accordance with Muslim custom.
In Tenggulun, sobbing mourners are converging on the home of Amrozi and Mukhlas' mother.
Hardline cleric Abu Bakar Bashir – the co-founder of Jemaah Islamiah, the group blamed for the Bali bombings – praised the bombers as “holy warriors” during a visit to the village on Saturday.
Security forces are on high alert across the mainly Muslim country, after the bombers urged supporters to carry out revenge attacks if their executions went ahead.
Australian authorities have advised Australians to reconsider the need to travel to Indonesia.
The 2002 Bali attacks were the bloodiest in a sustained period of al-Qaeda-inspired jihadist violence in the world's most populous Muslim country. Source: The Australian
By Marion Carroll in Denpasar | November 08, 2008
THE younger brother of Bali bombers Amrozi and Mukhlas has been ordered to wait in a room at Nusakambangan prison to receive his dead brothers bodies within hours, online news site detik.com has reported.
Ali Fauzi has been denied a final visit with the Islamic militants ahead of their executions at the prison island off Central Java, lawyer Mahendradatta said.
A lawyer for the bombers, Achmad Michdan, told media today it was a "possibility" his clients would be executed Saturday night or early Sunday morning.
Prosecutors said they may make an announcement about the executions later Saturday night, but did not elaborate.
With the executions of Amrozi, Mukhlas and Imam Samudra imminent, authorities ordered Fauzi to wait in a room at their island prison to receive their bodies and make sure they were being handled in accordance with Islamic sharia law, Mahendradatta said.
"He (Fauzi) was told to wait in a room to see the bodies, to make sure the process complies with Islamic sharia law," Mahendradatta was quoted as saying by detik.com.
"Why is the family only allowed to see the dead bodies? Once again, they are not to see them in living condition. So it is not a family meeting as meant within the law."
Mahendradatta speculated that Fauzi was denied permission to see his brothers alive because of fears he may find that they had been mistreated.
"(Possibly) because they are worried there is something Amrozi and his friends may say that will cause their operation (executions) to be aborted. For instance if Amrozi is tortured or executed beforehand," he said.
Amid fears that the trio's supporters would seek to avenge their executions, police were reportedly worried that the bombers would order Fauzi to launch an attack if they allowed a final visit.
"Who can guarantee if he (Amrozi) won't give a message to the family to fight, we are afraid there will be mass radicalisation," a police source told local newspaper Radar Banyumas.
Protests by Islamic militants against the executions have been slowly building as the execution process has dragged on.
The Australian government today warned of reprisal attacks, with Foreign Minister Stephen Smith saying the government was receiving new "credible evidence" of the threat of terrorist attacks.
Among the warnings he singled out in a travel advisory were that "the executions could prompt a strong reaction from their supporters such as demonstrations, acts of violence and reprisal attacks".
Tourists should be especially careful around beaches, bars, malls and other venues associated with tourists, the advice says.
However, Mr Smith said the travel advice to Indonesia had not changed from the second highest level of "reconsider your need to travel".
Some 1500 anti-riot police have been deployed to Amrozi and Mukhlas' home town of Lamongan, East Java, in anticipation of possible unrest following the executions, detik.com reported. Source: The Australian
Tom Allard in Tenggulun, East Java
November 8, 2008
FAMILY and supporters are planning an elaborate "celebration" for Amrozi and Mukhlas after their deaths, including the slaughter of a goat for a feast and a procession of their bodies through their home village of Tenggulun.
A prosecutor yesterday arrived in the small village to convey the last wishes of the Bali bombers to their families and to say their executions were imminent.
The brothers Amrozi and Mukhlas and their co-conspirator, Imam Samudra, are to be executed for their role in murdering 202 people, including 88 Australians, in Bali in 2002.
It was their wish that their bodies be wrapped in the traditional Muslim cloth and buried in Tenggulun next to their father, Nurhasyim, said their older brother, Chozin, after meeting the prosecutor, Irnensif.
More details of the funeral arrangements were revealed by another brother, Ali Fauzi, and Said Sungkar, who is on a committee overseeing the funeral.
Sungkar, the younger brother of Abdullah Sungkar, who co-founded the terrorist group Jemaah Islamiah, said the funeral was an occasion "to celebrate the victory of Islam", and 500 of his supporters would act as an honour guard for the bodies.
"I'm positive about the execution of Amrozi and friends because they have done jihad in God's way," Sungkar said. "The TNI [Indonesian military] should have learnt from them how to make bombs."
Ali Fauzi said that his older brothers wanted their bodies to be taken first to their family home before being moved to the nearby mosque. After that, they will be carried several hundred metres to an Islamic school, for further prayers. They will then be taken to one of two village graveyards to be buried next to their father.
Family members, including the wives of the bombers, have gathered in the village. Both Amrozi and Mukhlas have two wives.
Ali Fauzi said the wives asked Irnensif to allow them to see their husbands before they die and the prosecutor agreed to pass on the request and try to facilitate a visit. Source: Sydney Morning Herald
From correspondents in Tenggulun, Indonesia | November 07, 2008
THE families of the three Bali bombers on death row have been told to "get ready" for the executions.
Prosecutors and police visited the family of brothers Amrozi, 47, and Mukhlas, 48, in the east Java village of Tenggulun and warned them to prepare for bad news.
"We were just here to tell the family to get ready for when the executions take place," chief district prosecutor Irnensis said after speaking to the family for about 30 minutes.
He made no further comment and did not specify when the three bombers - Amrozi, Mukhlas and Imam Samudra, 38 - would be executed by firing squad.
Indonesian officials have said only that the executions will take place in "early November".
The bombers were sentenced in 2003 for the attack which killed 202 people, including 88 Australians. Source: The Australian
From correspondents in Cilacap, Indonesia | November 07, 2008
THREE condemned Bali bombers could be allowed out of their isolation cells for Friday prayers today after yet another opportunity for their executions passed.
A security build-up on the bombers' prison island in Central Java, and the rallying of supporters in the men's home towns and in Jakarta, had fuelled speculation that the men might have been executed overnight.
And yesterday the Detikcom news website said the bombers would be shot at 3am local time today (7am AEDT), but the hour passed without word from authorities.
The bombers have traditionally been allowed out of their cells for Friday prayers and may be afforded that opportunity again today.
It has been reported that Mukhlas, his younger brother Amrozi, and Imam Samudra have undergone final health checks in preparation for their executions.
And yesterday, all workers not directly employed at the bombers' prison on Nusakambangan Island were ordered to leave.
About 100 chanting militants descended on the offices of the national human rights body as the bombers' lawyers met officials inside to demand access for the families. The radicals condemned the executions and praised the bombers as "holy warriors". They carried banners pledging to follow the bombers' path of jihad or "holy war" and warning that "hell" awaits the executioners.
A total of 202 people, including 88 Australians, died in the bombings Mukhlas, Amrozi and Samudra helped carry out.
The Indonesian government has said only that the bombers will be put to death by firing squad in "early November". Terrorism experts have warned that the delay risks undermining the Indonesian government's credibility in the fight against terrorism.
"This slow execution is a sign the government is not being strict in combating terrorism and law enforcement in Indonesia," former Indonesian National Human Rights commissioner Sholahuddin Wahid said.
"If this execution is postponed again, the government's credibility will decrease."
Terrorism expert Rohan Gunaratna, of Singapore's International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research, agreed.
"The government should be strong (and) carry out the executions. Not to do so would be a huge mistake ... it would be a big victory for the terrorists."
As time drags on, the security situation appears to be worsening.
In the past few days, there have been death threats against President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as well as bomb threats against the Australian and US embassies in Jakarta.
The delay has also allowed dozens of religious extremists to gather in Tenggulun, the east Java village that was home to Amrozi and Mukhlas.
The bombers' supporters relished in the media attention yesterday, repeating their jihadist message to journalists. Around 20 radicals from a group headed by radical preacher Abu Bakar Bashir, who is linked to the Jemaah Islamiah group blamed for the Bali attacks, angrily denounced the executions and exhorted Muslims to "martyrdom".
Despite the lengthy preparations, the families have not received permission to pay a final visit to the bombers.
Rights body chairman Ifdhal Kasim said the prisoners had a right to meet their families before they faced the firing squad.
"A prisoner awaiting execution must be given a chance to meet their families," he said after meeting the defence lawyers, promising to take up the matter with prosecutors.
The bombers have said they want to die to become "martyrs" for their dream of creating an Islamic utopia across Southeast Asia. Source:The Australian
November 06, 2008
JAKARTA: Islamic extremists have rallied in the Indonesian capital against the imminent execution of three Bali bombers, as defence lawyers demanded the families be allowed a final visit.
Chanting “Allahu Akbar” (God is greater), about 100 militants descended on the offices of the national human rights body as the bombers' lawyers met officials inside to demand access for the families.
The radicals condemned the executions, believed to be hours or days away, and praised bombers Amrozi, 47, his brother Mukhlas, 48, and Imam Samudra, 38, as “holy warriors”.
They carried banners pledging to follow the bombers' path of jihad or “holy war” and warning that “hell” awaited the executioners.
As heavy rain hit the prison island of Nusakambangan, Central Java, overnight, Indonesian media reported that the trio will be executed imminently near a disused prison at Nirbaya hill.
Rubber and coconut farmers who usually frequent the site have been told to stay away.
Television station TV One showed footage of three wooden posts erected at the jungle site, to which the three men will be secured and simultaneously shot by separate firing squads.
Defence lawyer Mahendradatta urged the human rights body, Komnas Ham, to back the families' demand for visiting rights.
Komnas Ham chairman Ifdhal Kasim said the prisoners had a right to meet their families before they faced the firing squad.
Meanwhile the families wrote to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono pleading for a delay in the executions, defence lawyer Fahmi Bachmid said.
He said however that the letter was not a request for clemency. The bombers have said they want to die to become “martyrs” for their dream of creating an Islamic utopia across Southeast Asia.
The bombings on the resort island of Bali in 2002 killed 202 people, including 88 Australians.
The government has said the condemned men will be executed by firing squad in “early November” after they exhausted the appeals process.
Source: The Australian
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Copyright Muslims Against Sharia 2008. All rights reserved.
E-mail: info AT ReformIslam.org
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by Kamal Hasani
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