Thousands of Muslims held a rally in London on Saturday to fight extremism and promote a moderate, inclusive version of Islam.

The event in Wembley arena was led by Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, a respected Pakistan-born Islamic scholar, who gained recognition outside the Muslim world after he published a detailed fatwa — or religious ruling — against terrorism and suicide bombings last year.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says that as an engineer he's sure the twin towers were not brought down by jetliners.

Ahmadinejad, in an interview with The Associated Press, says it would have been impossible for two jetliners to bring down the towers simply by hitting them. he says some kind of planned explosion must have taken place.

"Freedom and Justice" party leader: "We must place regulations on tourists wishing to visit Egypt."

Egypt's tourism industry has suffered a severe blow since the outburst of anti-regime demonstrations in January. But that did not stop the Freedom and Justice Party, the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood, from demanding stricter regulations over what tourists can do and wear while visiting the country.

What's really going on in the Sinai since Mubarak has been deposed.

Protesters from various political groups gathered in Tahrir Square on Friday to break their Ramadan fast.

Several political groups and some Sufi orders decided to organize a Tahrir protest to emphasize their demand for a civil state after Islamists made a show of force in a 29 July protest, calling for an Islamic state.

But the run up to Friday's protest was mired in confusion as those who had organized the "For the Love of Egypt" protest disagreed on whether to hold it then or next Friday.

Suspected Muslim militants armed with rifles and riding a motorcycle shot dead three Buddhists in Thailand's deep south on Friday, police said, the latest in a rash of killings this week in the region bordering Malaysia.

Child Death Toll From Somali Famine Soars
The ongoing famine in Somalia has claimed the lives of an estimated 29,000 children under the age of 5 in the past 90 days, a U.S. aid official told lawmakers Wednesday.

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Behind the scenes the liberal parties were trying to speak to the crowd, trying to express their own demands for the future of Egypt.

In the end they gave up.

Judge describes Bilal Zaheer Ahmad as a viper in our midst before jailing him for 12 years for threats on websites

 

Tens of thousands of ultraconservative Muslims in long beards, robes and prayer caps thronged Cairo's central Tahrir Square in a massive show of force Friday, calling for the implementation of strict Islamic laws and sparring with liberal activists over their visions for a post-revolution Egypt.

The youth activists who have been at the helm of mass protests calling for faster change from the country's interim military rulers withdrew from the rally soon after Friday prayers, accusing the Islamists of violating an agreement to avoid divisive issues.

Belgium will become the second EU nation to ban the burqa and niqab after France, reported RTE, Ireland's public service broadcaster.

The Army psychiatrist charged in the deadly Fort Hood rampage will be tried in a military court and face the death penalty, the commanding general for the Texas military post announced Wednesday.

"A FURIOUS anti-Scottish backlash over the decision to free the Lockerbie bomber erupted last night as Americans threatened to cancel trips across the Atlantic and were urged to stop doing business with Scotland.
The Scottish tourism agency VisitScotland confirmed it had received e-mails from Americans saying they no longer wanted to holiday in Scotland in the aftermath of Kenny MacAskill's decision to free Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi.

"

He was billed by one of the groups bringing him to the UK as the ‘The Gandhi of Palestine’. Arab MK Haneen Zoabi, who was granted an inevitable spot in yesterday’s Guardian cast him as a leader in ‘the struggle for equality’ and ‘the democratic Palestinian struggle against racism and discrimination in Israel’ who is being forced to ‘confront Zionist racism abroad’.

Poor Raed Salah. Why would anyone find him objectionable enough to ban him from the UK? The Guardian certainly would if the views he espoused came out of the mouth of, for example, a non-Muslim with no connection to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

On homosexuality: ‘It is a crime. A great crime. Such phenomena signal the start of the collapse of every society.’

On abortion: ‘It is forbidden to have an abortion. That is like murdering a soul whose murder is forbidden by God.’

Back in 2006, the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah was riding high.

If Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad's political career came to an end today, he could still proudly claim to be Palestine's most accomplished prime minister ever.

Police said Monday that militants kidnapped a 9-year-old girl on her way to school and forced her to wear a suicide bomb vest.

"A "Black Widow" suicide bomber planned a terrorist attack in central Moscow on New Year's Eve but was killed when an unexpected text message set off her bomb too early, according to Russian security sources.

'Deported from Canada to Tunisia three years ago, Muslim cleric Said Jaziri was found hiding in the trunk of a BMW near the Mexican border.

"The British peer followed advice not to touch her Iranian counterpart, Saeed Jalili, during a photocell.

But while she kept her arms firmly folded behind her back to avoid accidentally causing diplomatic offence to Muslims, she did not realise that her outfit would be thought too revealing for Iranian tastes.

"Russian president orders reform in country's security apparatus following deadly suicide attack at Moscow airport; says Israel should be taken as example. 'They have many security checkpoints, meticulous inspections that will drive you insane'

"March 14 lawmakers have called for a "day of rage" throughout Lebanon Tuesday to protest gains by the Iranian and Syrian-backed Shiite militant group Hezbollah.

In a news conference, lawmaker Moustafa Alloush called for protests to voice refusal for "Persian tutelage" over Lebanon — a reference to Hezbollah's patrons in Iran.

He said the protests should be peaceful.

"The main concerns revolve around the possibility that Egypt's share of the Nile waters would decrease, violence and chaos would push Sudanese refugees into Egypt, and the implementation of Sharia Law in North Sudan could promote terrorism and strengthen Egypt's internal Islamist movements.

"ran has banned the production of Valentine's Day gifts and any promotion of the day celebrating romantic love to combat what it sees as a spread of Western culture, Iranian media reported.

"'Freedom in the World 2011' was accompanied by a press release, overview essay and regional maps, all of which highlighted the lack of democracy and human rights in the Middle East and North Africa, currently a hot topic in the British media in light of events in Tunisia. From the press release:

'The Middle East and North Africa remained the region with the lowest level of freedom in 2010, continuing its multiyear decline from an already-low democratic baseline.'

"President Barack Obama, has today...condemned recent attacks against Christians in both Iraq and Egypt in his proclamation for Religious Freedom Day 2011 which is due to place on this Sunday, (January 16th).

"Egypt tightened security around churches on Thursday, the eve of Coptic Christmas, after a New Year's Day bombing killed up to 23 and sparked angry protests by Christians demanding more protection from Muslim militants.

""We tell the American President Barack Obama to embrace Islam before we come to his country," said Fuad Mohamed "Shongole" Qalaf.

Al-Shabab has not yet launched an attack outside Africa but Western intelligence has long been worried because the group targeted young Somali-Americans for recruitment. About 20 have traveled to Somalia for training and at least three were used as suicide bombers inside Somalia.

"A woman covered in a head-to-foot burqa carried out a suicide bombing that killed more than 40 people in Pakistan, government officials said on Sunday, adding to security challenges confronting the U.S. ally.

"Around a third of young British Muslims favour killing in the name of Islam, according to a survey revealed by the WikiLeaks' publication of U.S. diplomatic cables.

"A Turkish news agency says a court has released a man whom prosecutors accuse of plotting to murder Jewish rabbis and the Istanbul-based leader of the world's Orthodox Christians.

"Each week, Mahmoud Habbash, the Palestinian Authority's minister of religious affairs, sends an e-mail to mosques across the West Bank. It contains what amounts to a script for the Friday sermon that every imam is required to deliver.

The practice, part of a broader crackdown on Muslim preachers considered too radical, shows the extreme steps the Palestinian Authority is taking to weaken Hamas, its Islamist rival, as it seeks to cement power and meet Israel's preconditions for peace talks.

"A new wave of Iraqi Christians has fled to northern Iraq or abroad amid a campaign of violence against them ."

"Denmark's government is being called upon to employ a lethal new weapon in the fight against Islamist extremism: bare breasts.

No, I'm not making this up – and also deny outrageous suggestions that I'm looking for an excuse to tear myself away from the world-changing Wikileaks exposé. Peter Skaarup, the foreign policy spokesman of the Danish People's Party, wants footage of topless women at beaches to be included in a video shown to prospective immigrants, in order to deter religious fundamentalists.

"A US drone attack in Pakistan in October is thought to have killed a German citizen. The government of Chancellor Angela Merkel would prefer the case to simply go away, but one parliamentarian is refusing to let it be forgotten.

"Bünyamin E. is believed to be one of three suspected Islamists from Germany who were killed in a US drone attack in the town of Mir Ali in Pakistan's North Waziristan region on Oct. 4.

"• Embassy cables show Arab allies want strike against Tehran
• Israel prepared to attack alone to avoid its own 9/11
• Iranian bomb risks 'Middle East proliferation, war or both'"

"BAGHDAD — Gunmen shot and killed two Christian brothers Monday in a northern Iraqi city in the latest in a spate of attacks targeting the religious minority, Iraqi police said.

Christians have been fleeing Iraq amid a series of attacks against them by militants who have vowed a campaign of violence against the country's Christian minority.

"The Nov. 3 assassination of Mohammad Namnam looked pretty much exactly like the fiery deaths of a lot of other Islamic militants in the Gaza Strip over the years.

"The most striking element of the operation was the source of the tip: Egyptian intelligence gleaned news of the plot from Army of Islam operatives captured earlier in the Sinai. Egyptian security forces work to interdict arms and explosives on smuggling routes that run across the vast expanse from Sudan to Gaza. But sharing the intelligence on Namnam with their Israeli counterparts marked a level of Egyptian cooperation not seen by the Jewish state in years. "Egypt is helping much more," a security source in the region tells TIME.

"The EU has called on Turkey to open up trade with Cyprus, to better promote gender equality and human rights, and to toe the line on foreign policy issues in a lukewarm appraisal of Ankara's path towards EU membership.

"Baghdad's Christians came under attack again Wednesday when a coordinated series of roadside bombs blew up in predominantly Christian neighborhoods, killing five people. The blasts came less than two weeks after insurgents besieged a church and killed 56 Christians in an assault that drew international condemnation.

"The number of people killed in a suicide bomb attack on a mosque in north-west Pakistan has risen to 72, local officials say.

"Al-Qaida's front group in Iraq has threatened more attacks on Christians after a siege on a Baghdad church that left 58 people dead".

"A suicide bomber targeted Turkish police in the heart of Istanbul on Sunday, killing himself, injuring 32, and prompting police gunfire.

"Turkey is also home to an array of small non-Kurdish militant groups, from those on the far left, to right-wing nationalists, to Islamists.

"Iranian authorities have amputated the hand of a convicted thief in front of other prisoners, state radio reported Sunday, in a possible step toward restoring the punishment to common use and carrying it out in public.

"A US soldier who captured a deadly 2009 rampage at Fort Hood with his cell phone camera testified Friday that he was ordered to erase the video by his commanders.

The video could have provided key evidence at the trial of Major Nidal Hasan, a US Army psychiatrist who faces 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted murder.

It wasn't immediately clear if military authorities had investigated the video deletion incident, or if they would. In US civilian courts, destruction of evidence can be a crime.

"Russia turned on Iran, accusing it of "fruitless and irresponsible rhetoric" and adding its voice to a diplomatic assault Monday which included unilateral sanctions from both the EU and Canada, as well as warnings from Iran's opposition party that Ahmadinejad's regime could suffer the same fate as the deposed Shah.

"India has accused Pakistan's powerful spy agency of planning and executing the 2008 Mumbai attacks, in the strongest and most specific allegation of Islamabad's involvement in the assault from a top official.

"The remark comes a day before the foreign ministers of the rival nations are set to meet in Islamabad to attempt to rebuild a fragile peace dialogue that was shattered by the attacks, which killed 166 people. It appeared to be an attempt to ratchet up the pressure on Pakistan to prosecute people whom India says were deeply involved in the assault.

(Opinion):

"I haven't returned to Peshawar since 2000, but it's a good guess that the same conversations are to be had, though undoubtedly in greater variation, since jihadist violence has now savaged Pakistan. It's an odd situation: Throughout the greater Middle East, frank discussions about Islam are easier to have than they are in Washington, D.C.—especially among government officials. Ask someone in the Obama administration about jihad and, unless the official knows the conversation is off the record—and sometimes even if it is off the record—that official likely will become a bit panicked, nonplussed, and try to change the subject.

"In a rare divergence from administration policy, President Obama used the term "radical Islam" to describe the African-based terror group that took credit Monday for killing 74 people in Uganda "

"When Israel intercepted the Turkish flotilla two months ago, it took five or six news cycles before the media's beatific unarmed activists were proven to be lunatic death-worshiping jihadists. By then the anti-Israel narrative had already hardened though Reuters kept trying to hide the evidence and the New York Times continued hyperventilating about how "angry Israeli commandos" turned a "ship of protesters into a bloodbath" - just in case.Now there's this Libyan Amalthea, which may or may not end up reaching Israel. If it does, and if there's a confrontation, the media coverage will be exactly the same. Except in this case, there's already tape on the whole lunatic death-worshiping jihadists thing, courtesy of an Al Jazeera interview with one of the passangers. Here then, is the evidence that the media will be ignoring tomorrow, today.

"According to HRANA, Elnaz Babazadeh, a 26 year old woman was raped and murdered by Basij forces in the city of Tabriz (northwestern Iran) last week. According to the reports, Basij forces stopped Babazadeh in her car for not following the Iranian regime's dress code. Elnaz resisted and ignored orders given by the Basij forces.

"He said the attack signified "increasing desperation" on the part of the Taliban, whose "space is being restricted by security forces".

"Witnesses said the dead and injured included women and children.

"A Moroccan man who refused to shake hands with a French female official and whose wife wears the full Islamic veil has been denied French citizenship, the immigration ministry said Friday.

"A veteran Iranian human rights activist has warned that Sakineh Mohammadie Ashtiani, a mother of two, could be stoned to death at any moment under the terms of a death sentence handed down by Iranian authorities.

"Hamas's security forces in the Gaza Strip detained over the weekend dozens of Fatah activists in one of the largest crackdowns in recent months, Fatah officials said.The latest clampdown on Fatah comes after fresh mediation efforts to solve the crisis with Hamas failed.

"It also coincides with the third anniversary of Hamas's violent takeover of the Gaza Strip.

"Al-Shabab, the Somalia Al-Qaeda affiliated militant group, says it is close to the presidential palace in capital Mogadishu which will allow it to control the southern part of the country.

In a 10-minute video obtained exclusively by Adnkronos International labelled "The African Crusaders" (www.adnkronos.com/AKI/Italiano/hp.), Al-Shabab refers to troops from the African Union, primarily in Mogadishu to defend the airport, as "crusaders."

"Unknown gunmen attacked and vandalized a UN summer camp on the beach of central Gaza Strip at dawn Monday, a source from the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) said. The incident is the second in a month in which unknown assailants burn UNRWA camps that compete with Hamas to attract Gaza children in the summer.

"Islamic group bombs police station in Bosnia

A police officer was killed and another seriously injured on Sunday when a bomb exploded behind the police station in the central Bosnian town of Bugojno, reported Radio Sarajevo.

"Despite an apparently sophisticated attack on their online presence, the Afghan Taliban continue to operate a site here:
(Information about the website "Voice of Jihad" - "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan")

"Popular social networking site Facebook's founder Mark Zuckerberg is in trouble now as he is facing serious charges in Pakistan. That means, the 26 year old CEO of Facebook will have to avoid any journey to Pakistan to avoid death penalty.

"Human Rights Watch charged Friday that Hamas militants are violating the rules of war by prohibiting a captive Israeli soldier from having contact with his family and the Red Cross.

The treatment of the 23-year-old soldier, captured exactly four years ago by Hamas, is "cruel and inhuman" and matches a U.N. definition of torture because he is denied any outside contact, the U.S.-based rights group said in a statement.

"Al-Qaida's U.S.-born spokesman warned President Barack Obama Sunday that the militant group may launch new attacks that would kill more Americans than previous ones.

"A heated rally outside London's Downing Street sparked counter-demonstrations and chaos. Muslim protestors had gathered - calling for aspects of Sharia Law to be introduced into Britain.

"Calling himself a Muslim soldier, a defiant Pakistan-born U.S. citizen pleaded guilty Monday to carrying out the failed Times Square car bombing and left a sinister warning that unless the U.S. leaves Muslim lands alone, "we will be attacking U.S."

"Surprising results? Strong anti-Iran sentiments expressed by residents in Arab countries, survey says; poll respondents in vast majority of states object to nuclear Iran; only Turks reject attack on Tehran

"Britain has banned a radical Indian preacher, who claimed that "every Muslim should be a terrorist," from entering the country, a paper reported Friday, citing the interior minister.

Zakir Naik, a 44-year-old television preacher, had been due to give a series of lectures in London and northern England but new Home Secretary Theresa May decided to bar him, said the Daily Telegraph.

"I have excluded Dr Naik from the UK," said May, cited by the paper. "Numerous comments made by Dr Naik are evidence to me of his unacceptable behaviour.

"As President Barack Obama attempts to redefine the US relationship with the Muslim world, he has made a point of throwing out old, Bush-era rhetoric. This has proved especially true in the volatile arena of counterterrorism.

In fact, those pesky terms like "Islamist," "jihadist" and even "terrorism" don't seem to fit in his vision of a US security strategy at all, a point that was made clear late last month with the release of Obama's new National Security Strategy (NSS) document.

"Somali Islamist militants killed two people and arrested dozens of others for breaking a ban on watching the World Cup on television, residents said.

"Iranian intelligence has been linked to the sectarian violence that has resulted in the deaths of 18 people in the Pakistani city of Karachi in the past two weeks.

"The number of women being recruited to Al-Qaeda is growing exponentially and European and American converts to Islam are swelling their ranks. These so-called "mothers of terror" are taking up the armed struggle to prove their devotion to their new-found faith, according to a report due to be presented in Rome on Monday to Italy's interior minister, Roberto Maroni.

"Young British Muslims are being groomed by al-Qaeda for a Mumbai-style attack on targets in Britain, the country's spy agency has warned.

Britain's internal intelligence agency MI5 has warned that a new generation of British extremists is being radicalised by Middle East-based Anwar al-Awlaki, who recruited the Detroit plane bomber.

"Turkish journalist Adem Ozkose was aboard the Mavi Marmara when it was boarded by the IDF, and he is the person credited with the photos that were misleadingly cropped by someone unknown.

"As we pointed out yesterday, Ozkose is anything but a neutral observer; he's closely connected to the Turkish Islamist group that organized the flotilla, IHH.

But Adem Ozkose's connections to Islamists go quite a bit deeper than this.

"Iranian authorities have begun police patrols in the capital to arrest women wearing clothes deemed improper. The campaign against loose-fitting veils and other signs of modernism

"Hard-liners say that improper veiling is a "security issue" and that "loose morality" threatens the core of the Islamic republic.

"But Medina, whose real name is Andrea Fuentealba Valbak, didn't get to sing more than a few notes before a hail of eggs began to rain down upon the stage.
The perpetrators were a gang of between 10 and 20 youngsters between the ages of 14 and 17 all 'with an immigrant background'.

Their reason for attacking the songstress? Apart from taking exception to Medina's hot pants and sexually suggestive song lyrics, it appears that the gang were provoked by the singer's stage name which is also coincidentally the name of the second holiest city in Islam and the burial place of the Prophet Mohammed.

"Most people in the UK associate Islam with extremism and the repression of women, a survey has suggested.

"A former member of the Dutch parliament and longtime human rights advocate, Ayaan Hirsi Ali has lived in constant threat for her outspoken beliefs and collaboration with controversial director Theo van Gogh (who was murdered by a radical Islamist).

The Turkish Islamic charity behind a flotilla of aid ships that was raided by Israeli forces on its way to Gaza had ties to terrorism networks, including a 1999 al-Qaida plot to bomb Los Angeles International Airport, France's former top anti-terrorism judge said Wednesday.

Satire from The Onion.

He makes their objectives pretty clear: "Not a single house will remain on the face of the earth unpenetrated by Islam"

"Militants staged coordinated attacks in this eastern city Friday on two mosques of a minority Muslim sect, taking hostages and killing at least 80 people.

"The attacks, which began minutes apart, targeted places of worship belonging to the Ahmadi sect, each of which was packed with at least 1,500 people, according to Ahmadi representatives in the United States. At least seven men armed with grenades, high-powered rifles and suicide vests stormed the mosques as Friday prayers ended.

"Filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy takes on a terrifying question: How does the Taliban convince children to become suicide bombers? Propaganda footage from a training camp is intercut with interviews of young camp graduates. A shocking vision.

"Saudi law forbids women to socialize with unrelated men or walk in public without a male guardian, other than her husband, father or brother. Members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, known as the religious police, are tasked with segregating the sexes.

"Men on motorcycles splattered 15 students, teachers with acid in Kandahar. The men squirted the acid from water bottles onto three groups of students and teachers walking to school Wednesday, principal Mehmood Qaderi said. Some of the girls have burns only on their school uniforms but others will have scars on their faces.One teenager still cannot open her eyes after being hit in the face with acid.

A wall-- plus, of course, checkpoints:

"A series of recent suicide bombings has driven the governor of the Iraqi capital to propose the concrete barrier, which will be 15ft (4.5m) high and 70 miles (112km) long.

"Every man, beast and vehicle entering will be searched at one of only eight gates along the main highways.

"Morocco's main Islamist opposition party has called for gay singer Elton John to be banned from performing at a festival in Rabat later this month, a party leader said Friday.

"Citing new evidence, senior White House officials said Sunday that the Pakistani Taliban was behind the failed Times Square car bombing. The attempt marks the first time the group has been able to launch an attack on U.S. soil."

Excellent Resource. Lots of information about how many, many warning signs about the dangers of terrorism by Islamic extremists were ignored before the 911 attack. And, in light of the continuing efforts by Islamic extremists to commit acts of terrorism-- just as relevant today.

(In light of Comedy Central's selective censorship of the image of Mohammed while allowing those of other religions, this interview with Trey Parker and Matt Stone "on liberals, conservatives, censorship, and religion" is still relevant today, and provides more background into these issues):

IN LATE AUGUST Reason hosted a three-day conference in Amsterdam dedicated to exploring the future of free expression and free markets in Europe. The opening evening featured a conversation with Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the co-creators of the highly controversial and massively successful TV show South Park, now in its 10th season on Comedy Central. What follows is an edited transcript of the discussion with Parker and Stone, who were interviewed by Editor-in-Chief Nick Gillespie and Managing Editor Jesse Walker.

"Jon hesitates to repeat a phrase he's used before, but he has something to say to anyone threatening death in the name of religion or politics.

"After Comedy Central cut a portion of a South Park episode following a death threat from a radical Muslim group, Seattle cartoonist Molly Norris wanted to counter the fear. She has declared May 20th "Everybody Draw Mohammed Day."

"Norris told KIRO Radio's Dave Ross that cartoonists are meant to challenge the lines of political correctness. "That's a cartoonist's job, to be non-PC."

"Producers of South Park said Thursday that Comedy Central removed a speech about intimidation and fear from their show after a radical Muslim group warned that they could be killed for insulting the Prophet Muhammad.

(April 12, 2010) "South Park co-creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker speak with Boing Boing's Xeni Jardin about the 200th episode of the hit Comedy Central series, and plans to revisit battles over the boundaries of what can and cannot be done on television -- including how many celebrities they can piss off in a single episode, and whether Comedy Central will stop them from showing the image and voice of a cartoon version of the Muslim prophet Mohammed.

"The "South Park" creators, Matt Stone and Trey Parker, have issued a statement in response to Comedy Central's decision to alter an episode after a Muslim group's warning

"Al-Qaida can be expected to attempt an attack on the United States in the next three to six months, senior U.S. intelligence officials told Congress Tuesday.

The terrorist organization is deploying operatives to the United States to carry out new attacks from inside the country, including "clean" recruits with a negligible trail of terrorist contacts, CIA Director Leon Panetta said. The chilling warning comes as Christmas Day airline attack suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutullab is cooperating with federal investigators, a federal law enforcement official said Tuesday.

"He said no when fighters from Somalia's notorious al Shabab militia came to recruit him. A month later, he was tied down in a stadium while his hand and foot were hacked off. The Star 's Michelle Shephard talks to the victims and butchers in the world's most failed state