Nigerian 'Islamists' attack police station

 

2011-05-19 12:13

 

Kano - A gang of suspected Islamists raided a police station in north-eastern Nigeria and were locked in an hour-long gun battle with police overnight, a regional police chief said on Thursday.

"A large number of gunmen, believed to be members of Boko Haram attacked a police station in [Maidugiuri]," police commissioner for Borno state, Mohamed Jinjiri Abubakar said.

"A gun battle lasted about one hour between the gunmen and the police attached to the station," the police chief told AFP by phone from Maiduguri.

Details of casualties were not immediately available.

In a separate attack, a police officer was ambushed and killed on Wednesday while on his way home. Two civilians caught in crossfire, also died, he said.

"A policeman was shot and killed by gunmen still believed to be members of Boko Haram while riding home and two other civilians around were killed, including a woman who was frying akara [bean fritters] by the roadside," said Abubakar.

Police have blamed the Islamist sect for series of bomb attacks and also shootings especially in Borno's capital Maiduguri in recent months.

Most of the attacks have targeted military and police personnel, community and religious leaders as well as politicians.

Boko Haram, a local dialect translating to 'western education is sin', launched a short-lived uprising in parts of the north in 2OO9 in a doomed bid to establish an Islamic state.

It was crushed in a brutal military crackdown that saw hundreds of people killed - many of them sect members - and its headquarters and mosque destroyed in Maiduguri, where most of the violence has occurred.

The sect has since staged a low-level insurgency and has been blamed for raids on churches and a prison.

http://www.news24.com/Africa/News/Nigerian-Islamists-attack-police-station-20110519

David Horowitz and Noam Chomsky deserve equal coverage

Published May 18, 2011

 

BY BARBARA EFRAIM

Bruin Republicans held an event May 11 that demonstrated the tolerance and civility of the UCLA community. David Horowitz, a former radical leftist and now conservative activist, gave a speech, followed by a Q&A, titled “Intellectual Terrorism: The Left’s War on Free Speech.”

In the past, he has gotten pies thrown at him, and his speeches at universities across the nation are regularly interrupted by hecklers from various student organizations. But this time, there were no outbursts during the speech.

The civility Horowitz received is exceptional, but it does not belie the pressure Bruin Republicans and the David Horowitz Freedom Center received prior to the event. Such were the pressures that the group was advised to hire armed campus security officers to be safe. The event nearly filled Moore 100 and while I’m glad it ran smoothly, I wonder where the dissenting voices went.

It’s remarkable that conservative groups have to use enhanced security measures to ensure events are uninterrupted. On May 7, I attended Noam Chomsky’s lecture hosted by Students for Justice in Palestine in Young Hall, CS 50.

There was a long line, formed hours before the start of the event, and people were waiting to take a seat and listen to a lecture that would attack American foreign policy and compare the Israeli democracy to South African apartheid. I agree that Chomsky has the liberty to speak, just as I expect someone who shares my beliefs would have a right to make his views heard.

But as opposed to Horowitz, Chomsky did not have any security guards at his side.

The completely different environments surrounding the two speakers are reflected in the way UCLA’s media covered both events – or didn’t. While the Daily Bruin covered Chomsky’s event, Horowitz was not mentioned in the News section.

On May 9, The Bruin featured on the front page an article calling Chomsky a “star,” an “activist,” and a “soft-spoken professor delivering a frank critique of U.S. foreign policy and its support for Israel.” Had there been any more such adjectives, I would have thought the author was drooling over Chomsky.

This is the man who recently wrote that there’s no strong evidence of Osama bin Laden playing any role in 9/11, and that George W. Bush committed crimes worse than those of the recently executed terrorist.
Yet there was barely any mention of Horowitz, the conservative speaker who Bruin Republicans brought to counter the effect Chomsky would have on this campus.

Horowitz spoke about a broad range of topics: the absence of intellectual diversity on college campuses, the threat of Sharia law and the need for moderate Muslims to speak out against it, the call for the Jewish community to build up courage and stand with Israel and the African American community’s disparities and what he would do to resolve those issues.

The recent Undergraduate Students Association Council elections focused much of their time on campus climate. If there ever was civility, it was shown at the Horowitz event. It’s a shame the Daily Bruin can’t make this known to the rest of the UCLA community.
Efraim is a third-year political science student.


http://www.dailybruin.com/index.php/article/2011/05/david_horowitz_and_noam_chomsky_deserve_
equal_coverage

Court Filings Assert Iran Had Link to 9/11 Attacks

By BENJAMIN WEISER and SCOTT SHANE

Published: May 19, 2011

Two defectors from Iran’s intelligence service have testified that Iranian officials had “foreknowledge of the 9/11 attacks,” according to a court filing Thursday in a federal lawsuit in Manhattan that seeks damages for Iran’s “direct support for, and sponsorship of, the most deadly act of terrorism in American history.”

 

 

Hussein Malla/Associated Press

Imad Mugniyah, the Hezbollah leader killed in 2008, also was accused of a role in 9/11.

One of the defectors also claimed that Iran was involved in planning the attacks, the filing said. The defectors’ identities and testimony were not revealed in the filing but were being submitted to a judge under seal, said lawyers who brought the original suit against Iran on behalf of families of dozens of 9/11 victims.
The suit’s allegation that Iran had foreknowledge of the attacks is hard to assess fully, given that the defectors’ testimony is being filed under seal.

The suit contends that Iran and Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant organization with close ties to Tehran, helped Al Qaeda in planning the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, and in facilitating the hijackers’ training and travel. After the attacks, the suit contends, Iran and Hezbollah helped Qaeda operatives escape, providing some with a safe haven in Iran.

The question of an Iranian connection to 9/11 was raised by the national 9/11 commission and has long been debated. Al Qaeda, which adheres to a radical Sunni theology, routinely denounces the Shiite sect that holds power in Iran, and the terrorist network’s branch in Iraq has often made Shiites targets of bombings. But intelligence officials have long believed there has been limited, wary cooperation between Al Qaeda and Iran against the United States as a common enemy.

The lawsuit also names as defendants Iranian officials and ministries, Hezbollah and Al Qaeda, among others. The families’ lawyers have asked for a default judgment against the defendants, which have not mounted a defense. Even if there were such a judgment, legal experts say it would not be easy to collect monetary damages.

In their court papers, the lawyers assert that Imad Mugniyah, as the military chief of Hezbollah, was a terrorist agent for Iran, and that he traveled to Saudi Arabia in 2000 to help with preparations for the 9/11 attacks.

Mr. Mugniyah, who was killed in 2008, had been accused by American officials of planning a series of major terrorist attacks and kidnappings, including the 1983 bombings of the United States Embassy and Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon.

The 9/11 commission report said there was “strong evidence that Iran facilitated the transit of Al Qaeda members into and out of Afghanistan before 9/11, and that some of these were future 9/11 hijackers.” The report also said there was circumstantial evidence that senior Hezbollah operatives were closely tracking the travel of some of the hijackers into Iran in November 2000.

But the commission said that it had “found no evidence that Iran or Hezbollah was aware of the planning for what later became the 9/11 attack,” and that the “topic requires further investigation by the U.S. government.”

Thomas E. Mellon Jr., a lawyer for the families, said the suit, first brought in Washington in 2002 and later moved to Manhattan, sought to do that investigation.

Ellen Saracini, whose husband, the United Airlines pilot Victor J. Saracini, was killed when his plane was hijacked and flown into the World Trade Center, said she became involved with the suit because she wanted answers. “We now know,” she said, “who assisted Al Qaeda — Iran did — and we want our American justice system to find Iran accountable.”

The lawyers’ filing included reports of 10 specialists on Iran and terrorism, including former 9/11 commission staff members and ex-C.I.A. officers. “These experts make it clear that 9/11 depended upon Iranian assistance to Al Qaeda in acquiring clean passports and visas to enter the United States,” Mr. Mellon said.
But the expert reports do not in most cases seem to go as far as the defectors in contending Iran had foreknowledge of the attacks.

The filing says the defectors worked in Iran’s Ministry of Information and Security “in positions that gave them access to sensitive information regarding Iran’s state sponsorship of terrorism.” It says they have reason to fear for the safety of themselves and their families “should their identities and the content of their testimony be revealed publicly.”

Benjamin Weiser reported from New York, and Scott Shane from Washington.


http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/20/world/middleeast/20terror.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss

Guyana 'arrests Farrakhan aide' in drugs, terrorism probe

ocal media identified the man as Akbar Muhammad, who is a longtime top aide to Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan (AFP/File, Nicholas Kamm)

 

(AFP) – 6 hours ago

GEORGETOWN, Guyana — A Muslim cleric was arrested Thursday on suspicion of drug trafficking and terrorism in Guyana, authorities in the South American country said.

Local media identified the man as Akbar Muhammad, who is a longtime top aide to Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.

Muhammad is the Nation of Islam's international representative with offices in Ghana and the United States, according to a Nation of Islam website.

Muhammad was arrested at the Princess Hotel and Casino, assistant police commissioner Seelall Persaud told AFP.

Persaud would not comment on whether US authorities were involved in the investigation.

The Nation of Islam, founded in Detroit, Michigan, in the 1930s, is comprised of African-Americans. It gained prominence under the leadership of Malcolm X in the 1960s. It is now based in Chicago.

Muhammad has been "a top aide to Minister Louis Farrakhan from 1965 to present," according to his biography posted on the website of the Truth Establishment Institute, operated by the Nation of Islam.
The Nation of Islam and the Truth Establishment Institute did not immediately return calls for comment to AFP.

Muhammad was in Guyana to conduct lectures, appear on television and hold public meetings with the Muslim and African Guyanese communities. He has previously visited Guyana in the 1970s and 1980s.



http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gY5RVlC9yZpaTfddAxfAjSeafdvg?docId=CNG.6e88a159378f5fffe0c0bff0b06d8430.8e1

ADL Commends Arrests of Florida Residents for Providing Support to Pakistani Terrorist Organization

Date: May 17, 2011

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) commends Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, John V. Gillies, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, and the members of the South Florida Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) for their investigation leading to the arrest of two South Florida imams for allegedly providing support to the Pakistani Taliban.
Hafiz Khan, the imam at the Flagler Mosque in Miami, and his son Izhar Khan, imam at the Jamaat Al-Mu'mineen Mosque in Margate, are accused of providing material support to a terrorist group responsible for numerous deadly attacks against American interests in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Andrew Rosenkranz, ADL Florida Regional Director, issued the following statement:

“ADL commends the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, the FBI Miami Field Office and the South Florida JTTF for their investigation leading to the arrest of Hafiz and Izhar Khan, and four others. While there have been several other cases of material support for terrorism that have emerged in Florida before, it is particularly disturbing to learn of the alleged involvement of local religious leaders in this case. We very much hope these arrests will serve as a meaningful deterrent for others who might attempt to aid other terrorist organizations.”

For information about terror fundraising and support in Florida, please see ADL’s online backgrounder: South Florida Imams Arrested for Supporting Pakistani Taliban.

Obama's Failed Middle East Speech

by Daniel Pipes
May 19, 2011

http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/2011/05/obama-failed-middle-east-speech

In a much-touted speech today bearing the modest title of "Remarks by the President on the Middle East and North Africa," Barack Obama responded to the Arab revolt of the past five months with elements of common sense and even eloquence ("through the moral force of nonviolence, the people of the region have achieved more change in six months than terrorists have accomplished in decades"). He also defined a U.S. policy in support of reform and against violence I find worthy of discussion and debate.


But the president, ever in thrall to the illusion of "linkage," stepped on his lines by devoting the final fifth of his speech to the Arab-Israeli conflict and articulating principles which, in the words of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy's Robert Satloff, "constitute a major departure from long-standing U.S. policy."

That departure is not for the better; one line sums up Obama's mistake, where he declares that "The status quo is unsustainable, and Israel … must act boldly to advance a lasting peace." Note how he demands that Israel alone "must act boldly," code words for making concessions to enemies sworn to eliminate the Jewish state.

This is not policy; this is folly. (May 19, 2011)

Allen West: Obama's Recognition of Pre-1967 Borders 'Beginning of the End' for Jewish State

 

Thursday, 19 May 2011 03:19 PM

By Newsmax Wires

 

 

 

Conservatives led by Florida Republican Allen West Thursday were quick to blast President Barack Obama's game-changing recognition of a Palestinian state existing along Israel's pre-1967 borders — a decision that many described as an existential threat for the Jewish state.

"Today’s endorsement by President Barack Obama of the creation of a Hamas-led Palestinian state based on the pre-1967 borders, signals the most egregious foreign policy decision his administration has made to date, and could be the beginning of the end as we know it for the Jewish state," said West, R-Fla., one of the leading Tea Party thinkers in the House Republican freshman class," West said in a prepared statement.

"From the moment the modern day state of Israel declared statehood in 1948, to the end of the 1967 Six Day War, Jews were forbidden access to their holiest site, the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City, controlled by Jordan’s Arab army.

"The pre-1967 borders endorsed by President Obama would deny millions of the world’s Jews access to their holiest site and force Israel to return the strategically important Golan Heights to Syria, a known state-sponsor of terrorism," said West, a career military veteran of the war in Iraq.

"Resorting to the pre-1967 borders would mean a full withdrawal by the Israelis from the West Bank and the Jewish neighborhoods of East Jerusalem. Make no mistake, there has always been a Nation of Israel and Jerusalem has been and must always be recognized as its rightful capital.

"In short, the Hamas-run Palestinian state envisioned by President Obama would be devastating to Israel and the world’s 13.3 million Jews. It would be a Pavlovian style reward to a declared Islamic terrorist organization, and an unacceptable policy initiative.

"America should never negotiate with the Palestinian Authority- which has aligned itself with Hamas. Palestine is a region, not a people or a modern state. Based upon Roman Emperor Hadrian's declaration in 73 AD, the original Palestinian people are the Jewish people.

"It's time for the American people to stand by our strongest ally, the Jewish State of Israel, and reject this foreign policy blunder of epic proportions.

"While the winds of democracy may blow strong in the Middle East, history has demonstrated that gaps in leadership can lead to despotic regimes. I have questions for President Obama: 'Who will now lead in Egypt?' and 'Why should American taxpayers provide foreign aid to a nation where the next chapter in their history may be the emergence of another radical Islamic state?'

"President Obama has not stood for Israel or the Jewish people and has made it clear where the United States will stand when Palestine attempts to gain recognition of statehood by the United Nations. The President should focus on the real obstacle to security- the Palestinian leadership and its ultimate goal to eliminate Israel and the Jewish people.”

Read more on Newsmax.com: Allen West: Obama's Middle East Policy 'Beginning of the End' for Israel
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