Egypt's Muslims stuck to their word on Thursday night. Thousands of Muslims showed up at Coptic Christmas eve services in churches throughout the country and at candlelight vigils outside them.
"We either live together, or we die together," proclaimed Mohamed El-Sawy, a Muslim arts tycoon whose cultural center distributed flyers at churches in Cairo Thursday night and who is credited with first proposing the "human shield" idea.
#3
Uh...because Islamic terrorists have been reluctant to kill fellow Muslims? I thought my point was obvious, and nothing I can do will make it clearer. It is obvious to all that Jihadis will kill anyone, and other muslims are usually the closest targets for Jihad rage.
#5
The human shield WILL work - if there are enough people in it, and they are armed, and willing and able to kill attackers.
Futile as it is, this token shield is proof that there actually ARE decent Muslims - which one would not know from general news reports.
#7
you are all right even though it is seemingly contradictory
1) the human shields are showing the ONLY antidote to Islamism: a moderate, more tolerant version of Islam. They have to enforce this on their own people and clean out the bad guys in the same way that moderate, tolerant Americans cleared out the KKK back in the day. Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are examples of what happens if the Islamic KKK get the upper hand.
2) Yes the Islamists have no hesitation in killing their fellow muslims. They killed one in the original Christmas bombings case in point. Kill them all and let Allah sort them out. The good muslim will go to paradise so no point worrying about him anyway is the rationale.
Unfortunately human shields are pacifist and carry candles instead of guns
we need the MMs (what few there are) to step up to the plate and become enforcers. with guns.
[Ennahar] At least 42 prisoners have died in the fire Saturday in a prison in Monastir, central eastern Tunisia, told AFP a doctor at the local hospital.
"Thirty-one bodies were transported to the morgue and eleven followed," said Dr. Ali Chatli, chief of forensic medicine at the hospital Fatouma Bourguiba in Monastir (160 km south of Tunis)
He said that all victims of the first group were identified and that the 11 had just arrived.
This is the deadliest incident since the beginning, a month ago, of riots that led to the escape Friday of former head of state Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/16/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Can't seem to find any more on this. What sort of prisoners - general or political (religious)? Was the fire intentional or accidental? The result of riots (implied but not stated)?
Three presidents for a single republic in 24 hours; this is the result of the chaos experienced by Tunisia since the flight of its former president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to Soddy Arabia.
Did his wife and daughter(s) join him there, or are they still being picketed in Toronto?
Ben Ali has left behind him other symbols of his regime; dinosaurs that refuse to go out and disappear, dinosaurs who want to take the torch of continuity but with different slogans.
After a month of popular discontent over the entire territory of Tunisia, Ben Ali, who took firmly in his hands the reins of the country has become a runaway looking for in place to hide.
His prime minister, Ghanouchi, appeared on television the same the evening, to tell the Tunisians, he assures the interim, at the request of Zinochet, as he claimed.
The Constitutional Council proclaims "permanent vacancy of power" and appoints the President of Parliament Fouad Mebazaa acting president, under Article 57 which provides for presidential and parliamentary elections within 60 days. The latter said after his swearing that "all Tunisians without exception and without exclusion" will be involved in the political process. He announced that Mohammed Ghannouchi is always charged with forming a new government, adding that "the supreme interests require a government of national unity."
This new turn of events, based on Article 57 of the Constitution, intervened at the request of Mohammed Ghannouchi, Prime Minister outgoing appointed on Friday interim president after the flight of Ben Ali, who will stayed only twenty- four hours for this position.
Article 57 sets out in detail the transition at the head of state. It provides for presidential and parliamentary elections within 60 days.
The appointment Friday of Ghannouchi under Article 56 left the door open for a return to power of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and was immediately challenged by lawyers and opposition party.
On the ground, Tunis discovered the extent of damage caused by a night of looting in the city and suburbs, often attributed by several witnesses to supporters of deposed president. Army helicopters flew over the capital and police cordoned off the center of the city to prevent any gatherings after looting.
In this chaos and disorder, the only winner seems to be the President Ben Ali on the run and Westerners who supported him like La Belle France.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/16/2011 00:00 ||
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"Speculation the former dictator could be headed to Canada mounted after media reports his daughter, a very pregnant Nesrine Ben Ali, was spotted arriving in the country Tuesday.
"Citizenship and Immigration Canada said they could not say whether the former Tunisian president had applied for a visa.
"Ben Ali’s daughter and son-in-law own a posh property in the upper-class neighbourhood of Westmount in Montreal."
RIYADH - Saudi Arabia confirmed the former Tunisian president and his family had arrived in the kingdom early on Saturday morning to stay for an unspecified period of time. A Saudi official told Reuters Ben Ali was in the port city of Jeddah.
“The kingdom welcomed the arrival of the President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and his family,” a statement on the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said.
“The kingdom states its complete support for the Tunisian people and hopes all Tunisians stand together to overcome the difficult stage in their history,” SPA said. It said the royal court decision to welcome Ben Ali was based on appreciation of the “exceptional circumstances” Tunisia is going through.
Saudi Arabia has a history of receiving deposed rulers and out-of-favour politicians. Former Uganda dictator Idi Amin spent his final years in Jeddah.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/16/2011 00:00 ||
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Starting with the immortal words, "please don't kill me!"
Tunisia's new interim president called for the formation of a coalition government as riots and unrest continued to grip the North African country.
It was another tumultuous day in Tunisia's capital, marked by gunshots, helicopters flying overhead and a fast-paced series of political changes for this normally staid North African country.
Just hours after hardline president Zine El Abdine Ben Ali fled the country, Tunisia swore in a new, interim leader. He is Fouad Mebazza, the former head of the lower house of parliament. He has ordered the creation of a unity government that includes members of the opposition. The Tunisia Constitutional Council, which swore in Mr. Mebazza, says the new leader has 60 days to hold new presidential elections.
On the streets of the capital, Tunisians ventured out to survey the damage of widespread looting that broke out following massive demonstrations Friday calling for Ben Ali to go. Tanks dotted the streets that were littered with broken glass and burnt objects. Assailants have also torched Tunisia's main train station.
Reports of violence continue to flood in. Along with the call to prayer, sounds of gunfire rang across the capital Saturday evening. There were reports of prisoner rebellions and prison fires elsewhere in the country. The evening saw another curfew, with the streets of Tunis empty except for police and soldiers - and looters.
Fueled by the Internet and popular uprisings, the power change - dubbed the Jasmine or Facebook revolution - is being watched closely overseas. Washington, France, the Arab League and Germany have all praised the ordinary Tunisians behind it. But they are also calling for democratic elections to follow.
At the end, says Claire Spencer, a senior North African analyst at London think-tank Chatham House, Tunisians had had enough of Ben Ali's hardline regime. "When the corruption is too flagrant and the responses are too heavy handed, people say we can't tolerate this anymore. This is beyond what I and my personal dignity can stand," she said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/16/2011 00:00 ||
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Not sure if we should label this WoT-related or not. Some are calling this the 'Jasmine Revolution', and clearly Ben Ali was a thug, though not nearly as bad a thug as Qadaffy, Mubarak, and King Abdullah in Soddy-controlled Arabia. There's clear potential for Tunisia to become the next Libya (that is to say, the next Zimbabwe), but also some chance it would take a step towards having more democratic institutions.
TUNIS - Gunmen fired at random from cars in Tunis on Saturday and inmates staged a mass jailbreak while leaders tried to prevent Tunisia from descending into chaos after the president was swept from power.
It was not clear who the assailants were but a senior military source told Reuters that people affiliated to former President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali were behind the shootings.
Soldiers and tanks were stationed in the city center to restore order in the aftermath of a night of looting that broke out when Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia following a month of violent anti-government protests that claimed dozens of lives.
The ousting of Tunisia's president after widespread protests could embolden Arab opposition movements and ordinary people to challenge entrenched governments across the Middle East.
Speaker of parliament Fouad Mebazza, sworn in as interim president, asked Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi to form a coalition government and the constitutional authorities said a presidential election should be held within 60 days.
The French government called on Tunisia to hold free elections as soon as possible and said it had taken steps to block suspicious movements of Tunisian assets in France.
Dozens of inmates were killed in the mass escapes from two prisons, gangs of men fired weapons randomly from speeding cars in the capital and clouds of black smoke hung over the city from torched buildings.
As night fell, a Reuters reporter said suburban neighborhoods were being guarded from looters by impromptu militias, made up of residents armed with clubs and knives. They blocked neighborhoods and only allowed local people to pass.
That's an encouraging sign.
In a sign that Ben Ali's rule was over, workers were taking down a portrait of the former president outside the headquarters of his RCD party on Mohamed V Avenue in the center of Tunis.
"We are very happy to be free after 23 years of prison," said Fahmi Bouraoui, drinking coffee in the Mozart cafe, one of a few businesses that reopened on Saturday morning.
But his optimism could be short-lived as parts of the country descended into chaos.
Tunisian analyst Taoufik Ayachi said of the drive-by shootings, about 10 km (six miles) from the city center on Saturday and in another suburb on Friday night:
"It is certain the presidential police are behind all this. They still hope to regain power.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/16/2011 00:00 ||
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[Arab News] The European Union raised pressure on Saturday on Ivory Coast leader Laurent Gbagbo to step down, freezing assets of the West African country's cocoa-exporting ports, its state oil firm and three banks.
The latest move in international efforts to persuade Gbagbo to quit after an election he is widely held to have lost, the EU sanctions list included the state refiner SIR, the rubber sector body, SOGEPE energy utility and national broadcaster RTI.
Gbagbo's camp brushed off the tighter sanctions and said he still had access to accounts at West Africa's central bank, even though regional leaders recognize his election rival Alassane Ouattara as legitimate leader of the world's top cocoa grower.
"Westerners often make this mistake. The world does not stop at Europe, it does not stop at America," Gbagbo's government front man Ahoua Don Mello said. "Africa has evolved. We can dispense with La Belle France, we can go elsewhere," he added, referring to Ivory Coast's former colonial ruler.
The United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Societyhuman rights ... which are not the same thing as individual rights, mind you... office said at least 247 people have been killed in violence in Ivory Coast since the disputed presidential election on Nov. 28, which risks sending the country back into civil war.
The EU's Official Journal said the firms and utilities are "helping to fund the illegitimate government" of Gbagbo.
The EU first imposed sanctions on Gbagbo and his backers in December after the election that world powers and African neighbors say Ouattara won. Gbagbo cites a Constitutional Council ruling that the results were rigged against him.
Broadcaster RTI was guilty of "public incitement to hatred and violence through participation in disinformation campaigns in connection with the 2010 presidential election," the EU Journal said.
"All funds and economic resources belonging to, owned, held or controlled by the natural or legal persons, entities and bodies ... shall be frozen," the journal said. The measures also ban funds being made available to listed people and bodies.
They also maintain an asset freeze and visa ban on Gbagbo and 84 of his supporters, including Gbagbo's wife, ministers, army chiefs, security staff and newspaper editors.
An EU front man said it was too early to gauge how Ivory Coast's economic activity would be affected by the sanctions.
Analysts say that the financial squeeze might be the best way to oust Gbagbo given the limited prospect of military intervention, but he could hold out for several months before he feels the pinch.
Ouattara complained on Friday that Gbagbo was still receiving substantial funds daily from the Senegal-based BCEAO regional central bank. Mello confirmed this was true and said no one could stop them.
West Africa's monetary union noted recognition of Ouattara by world leaders on Dec. 23 and said it would deal only with legitimate governments, which many took to mean it would freeze Gbagbo out of the state accounts there.
"It is Ivory Coast's wealth. No one can ban Ivory Coast from using its own resources," Mello said. "We are 40 percent of the region's economy and an even bigger share of its money supply. If they exclude us, it is the central bank that will fall."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/16/2011 00:00 ||
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This is a turn up for the books. If the Irish Central Bank is printing its own Euros can the other PIIGS be far behind? The amount they've already printed represents about 25% of Irish GDP.
EMERGENCY lending from the ECB to banks in Ireland fell in December, the first decline since January 2010, but only because the Irish Central Bank stepped up its help to banks.
The Irish Independent learnt last night that the Central Bank of Ireland is financing €51bn of an emergency loan programme by printing its own money.
ECB lending to banks in Ireland fell from €136.4bn in November to €132bn at the end of December, according to the figures released by the Irish Central Bank yesterday.
#1 that's the ticket! Print up money and loan it to yourself!
That is exactly what our federal reserve is doing with "QE2". They are printing money and buying Treasury debt in order to keep interest rates artificially low. If the fed didn't do this, interest rates would have to rise on treasury debt in order to attract buyers.
#5
I have a feeling that if Rand Paul gets his FED audit, behind closed doors, as he is likely to do, they are going to totally blow his boat out of the water by telling him the unvarnished truth.
And he is then going to vomit like a high school kid after a dozen boilermakers. He'll leave that meeting pale as a ghost and never say another damn word on the subject.
#6
I'm not an economist, but I get this gut feeling QE2 and the European bailout are combining to contribute to the spike in food costs worldwide. The recent overthrow of the Tunisian government was partly/mostly due to food costs & riots are breaking out all over.
#1
Fair warning, again. Both the UK and US medical systems operate under the "push" inventory method, so they have almost no reserves of anything, and actively try to eliminate reserves when they occur.
They make up for any small shortages by having a loan repurchase agreement with other regional hospitals, so if say one hospital comes up short, because they need a dozen more of a particular piece of equipment, then they get spares from neighboring hospitals with some idle units.
But the system collapses when there is a big demand in an entire region.
About the only organizations that keep reserves are the military and the Red Cross, so the assumption is that they "will come to the rescue" is the medical system is overwhelmed in the US. But the Brits do not have this luxury.
#5
A few days ago I read that the population of wild Pigs was exploding in Britian, Looks like nature's checks and balances in operation.
Pigs, having NO hospitals will die back.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
01/16/2011 14:58 Comments ||
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RJ: According to the Deutscher Jagdschutz Verband (German Hunting Association), 477,494 wild boars were shot during the 2007 and 2008 season, 36 percent above the average of the previous 19 seasons.
Their numbers are growing by leaps and bounds in France and Poland as well.
#8
I think SteveS is going for the Daily Double :-)
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/16/2011 17:49 Comments ||
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#9
Anonymoose is correct. Inventories are no longer maintained or at very low levels. Next day delivery is the rule and terms are pay as soon as possible.
Same thing is happening in many other industries. Car parts- same thing next day. Even for shops that do repair work. Prescriptions same thing. Very little shelf stock. They don't want to tie up their money. Grocery stores are going in this direction also.
#10
If SteveS is allowed to continue posting I suggest you take out liability insurance. I almost had a heart attack laughing so loud (and long) at that last one. 8^) to the 100th power.
Posted by: Alan Cramer ||
01/16/2011 20:13 Comments ||
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#11
he's good, never underestimate the AOS's
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/16/2011 20:36 Comments ||
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A woman who lied about being gang raped in Somalia to claim more than £250,000 in benefits had moved to Britain after boasting it was the 'land of easy money'.
Ayan Abdulle was jailed this week after investigators discovered that the story she used to win asylum -- and later UK citizenship -- was a pack of lies.
Now the Daily Mail can reveal the full scale of her fraud and how easily she was able to milk the benefits system for years.
Abdulle, who also used the fake name Amina Muse and is from Somalia, was living in Gothenburg when the authorities insisted immigrants learn Swedish if they wanted to continue to claim handouts. She told a friend she couldn't be bothered and moved to England where she knew it would be far easier to collect benefits.
So, are the authorities going to deport her back to Somalia? Because if they don't they're simply admitting that she's right...
WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration Friday said it will allow for more U.S. travel to Cuba, making it easier for schools, churches and cultural groups to visit the island.
A senior Obama official told The Miami Herald the much-expected move to expand cultural, religious and educational travel to Cuba is part of the administration's continuing ``effort to support the Cuban people's desire to freely determine their own future.
President Barack Obama is also restoring the amount of money ($2,000) that can be sent to nonfamily members to the level they were at during part of the Clinton and Bush administrations. There will be a quarterly limit on the amount that any American can send: $500 per quarter to ``support private economic activity.''
The administration also will restore the broader ``people-to-people'' category of travel, which allows ``purposeful'' visits to increase contacts between U.S. and Cuban citizens.
The usual R's and D's have the usual positions.
I'm of two minds on this. American tourists and dollars are corrosive to thugocracies. Putting money, even a little, into the hands of common people emboldens them. They work and scrimp just to survive in a cesspit of a country, and all of a sudden there's some real money around to go after. Even a little starts to improve the local standards of living.
That improvement in turn leads to political revolution, as people finally get the courage (as we just saw in Tunisia, only a semi-cesspit of a country) to look their leaders in the eye and ask the magic question -- "say, you guys are kinda stupid. Who put you in charge?"
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/16/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
while I find this decision classicly liberal and foolish, my greater interest is in who comes back. The Cuban Intelligence Services are first rate, and opening the door to them seems very dangerous, but then, we have done such a good job securing the land borders.....
#2
Look for spammers out of Cuba to eclipse the Nigerians.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
01/16/2011 14:54 Comments ||
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#3
So for $500 a quarter, in support of 'local economic activity', I can buy up those 1950's cars and flip them on ebay? (shipping and handling not included)
I was in a particular country where I had to be very clever about how I tipped or else the bossman and/or mafia would get it, something to keep in mind.
[AFP] - China is in discussions with North Korea about stationing its troops in the isolated state for the first time since 1994, according to a South Korean newspaper.
The Chosun Ilbo newspaper quoted an anonymous official at the presidential Blue House as saying that Beijing and Pyongyang recently discussed details of stationing Chinese soldiers in the North's northeastern city of Rason.
The official said the soldiers would protect Chinese port facilities, but the location also gives access to the Sea of Japan (East Sea), while a senior security official was quoted as saying it would allow China to intervene in case of North Korean instability.
I guess they can't complain too loud about American troops in the south. Then again, they're communists so they're allowed.
A spokeswoman for the Blue House said she had no information.
"North Korea and China have discussed the issue of stationing a small number of Chinese troops to protect China-invested port facilities" in the Rason special economic zone, the unnamed official was quoted as saying.
"The presence of Chinese troops is apparently to guard facilities and protect Chinese nationals."
China reportedly gained rights in 2008 to use a pier at Rason, securing access to the Sea of Japan, as North Korea's dependence on Beijing continues to grow amid a nuclear stand-off with the United States and its allies.
The last Chinese troops left the North in 1994, when China withdrew from the Military Armistice Commission that supervises the truce that ended the 1950-53 Korean war.
Seoul's International Security Ambassador Nam Joo-Hong told the Chosun Ilbo that China could now send a large number of troops into the North in case of instability in the impoverished communist state.
"The worst scenario China wants to avoid is a possibly chaotic situation in its northeastern provinces which might be created by massive inflows of North Korean refugees," Nam was quoted as saying.
"Its troops stationed in Rason would facilitate China's intervention in case of contingencies in the North," he said.
#1
Put some along the DMZ, around the concentration camps, and along the Nork/Chinese border. And a few in each community. That ought to quiet things down. I understand the Chinese don't like what's going on in North Korea, either.
#7
"The presence of Chinese troops is apparently to guard facilities and protect Chinese nationals."
Wonder where else in the world the New Middle Kingdom foreign policy will dictate troops to protect investments? Panama? South America?
Europe?
China has worldwide ambitions now, and demands for oil and markets. They have tasted the firstworld status and benefits and see themselves at the top of the food chain. Note their DEMAND for all the trappings when Wu visits Obumble, which was promptly met.
#1
The US has long hence reached the point of diminishing returns with air quality.
In the 1960s, our air was terrible. The combination of using better quality crude oil, with much less sulfur; unleaded gasoline, because of better engines; and catalytic converters radically improved air quality.
This continued in the 1970s, with industries being forced to scrub their waste smoke, and the 1980s being forced to reduce toxic waste gases, mostly nitrous oxides that created the infamous "acid rain."
And that was 80-90% of the problem. But making our air cleaner than that, suddenly the cost and difficulty goes through the roof. The reason is that much of the remaining "pollutants", like 'particulates', are natural.
This didn't stop the EPA, a decade ago, from at least considering that Phoenix should reduce its dust particulates by "watering down the desert". While ludicrous, it points out where we are now in terms of diminishing returns.
The left, however, has concluded that the only way things can be improved further, is to stop all energy production in the United States.
#2
The left, however, has concluded that the only way things can be improved further, is to stop all energy production in the United States.
and with CO2 declared a pollutant, quit exhaling
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/16/2011 8:58 Comments ||
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Even in the 60's our air was not 'terrible,' thought it HAS improved a lot, and I appreciate that. There were pockets of terrible air, especially during weather inversions, and to a lesser degree there still are. But for the most part we have exported our air pollution to China.
#8
The purpose of a regulatory agency is to REGULATE. If people do not follow the regulations, they will be fined and/or jailed until they and everyone else obeys. If everyone follows the regulations, the only thing the regulatory agency can do is to come up with more regulations. And the great circle of life continues.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
01/16/2011 15:57 Comments ||
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Germany detected a sharp rise in cyberattacks in 2010, many originating in China, and plans to set up a special centre next year to deal with the danger, the government said on Monday.
"There has been a sharp rise in so-called electronic attacks on the networks of German government and local authorities," interior ministry spokesman Stefan Paris told a regular government briefing.
"Germany is a very high-tech country with considerable experience and know-how, so of course others will naturally try to get hold of this knowledge ... China is playing a large role in this."
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
01/16/2011 13:31 ||
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Is China the new USSR in a new cold war?
Posted by: Paul D ||
01/16/2011 15:04 Comments ||
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Yes - But with much more rope to sell to them
Posted by: European Conservative ||
01/16/2011 15:37 Comments ||
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Ever since Matthews caught malaria from that bug in the Nigerian airport he has been a total loon.
Posted by: Water Modem ||
01/16/2011 16:21 Comments ||
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#2
I can see it now. Willis goes on the show and reads his litany to chis sitting down like the fellow in the wheel chair. Somehow crackers is directed towards chis as he fails to grasp the moment;
#1
I'm working this weekend, so I didn't get a chance to write up what I was going to... but...
This would have been exhibit fourteen, in how the left has raised the next generation of einsatzgruppen, one accusation of genocide, and one showing of Loose Change at a time.
Doctors have removed Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords from a respirator, a week after she was shot in the head while speaking to constituents in Arizona.
In a statement Saturday, hospital officials said doctors performed surgery Saturday to replace the breathing tube threaded down her throat with one inserted in her windpipe.
So she has a tracheostomy. That's typical for someone in critical care for major brain injury. That will be removed once she really turns the corner.
Giffords was already breathing on her own, but the respirator and breathing tube helped protect against fluid gathering in her lungs. Doctors said removing the respirator would give them a chance to assess Gifford's ability to speak after the brain injury.
The hospital statement said doctors had also given Giffords a feeding tube. It said both procedures are common for patients with brain injuries.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/16/2011 00:00 ||
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[Pak Daily Times] Former federal minister Haji Hanif Tayyab said on Saturday that a 10-member committee would be formed to look into the cases pertaining to the misuse of blasphemy law.
Talking to news hounds, he said the committee members would consist of two religious scholars from five major schools of thought in the city. He said the decision to form a committee was taken during a meeting with Interior Minister Rehman Malik and Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad Khan at the National Crisis Management Cell. He said the committee would consult with all religious leaders on the law to remove misconceptions in this regard. Tayyab dispelled the impression that the committee had been formed to amend the blasphemy laws. "The rumours that the committee has been formed to amend the blasphemy law are baseless," he said, adding that the committee is being constituted to determine whether the accused had insulted Islam or not. "No innocent person will be punished," he added.
All the rumours regarding the amendment in the blasphemy law are false and incorrect, he asserted.
Commenting on tabling of an amendment bill in the National Assembly, he said former minister Sherry Rehman's bill regarding the amendment in the blasphemy law was not tabled. He said there would be no chairman of the committee.
Shah Turabul Haq, Asad Thanvi, Qari Usman, Shahid Ghauri, Tariq Mehboob, Yousuf Salfi, Mufti Naeem, Abbas Kumaili, Maulana Yaqoob Atari and Faheem Babar Atari attended the meeting.
Civil society activists say the blasphemy laws are often used to settle rivalries or persecute religious minorities. Earlier this month, a bodyguard killed Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer because he opposed the laws.
The formation of committee was a sign that the government wanted to soften international criticism of the laws.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/16/2011 00:00 ||
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Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf will no longer be the chief religious figure in the Ground Zero mosque project -- though he will still play a lesser, behind-the-scenes, role in support of the planned building, organizers of the controversial project said.
Rauf's replacement, Imam Abdallah Adhami will now handle religious programming for the project, known as Park51.
Park51 organizers played down Rauf's reduced role, focusing on the imam's nationwide tour on interfaith relations. He speaks to the Islamic Society in North America's diversity conference today in Detroit. He remains on Park51's board of directors.
There have been rumors that relations between Rauf and Sharif El-Gamal, the president and chief developer of Park51, had worsened.
"It is an honor for me, personally, to welcome Imam Adhami to our team. I look forward to his leadership and assistance in the development of Park51," said El-Gamal.
Project critics pointed to Adhami's links to Imam Siraj Wahhaj whom prosecutors called an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 WTC bombing. Wahhaj was a character witness in the trial of Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman.
Tim Brown, a retired fireman who responded to 9/11 and has sued to block the mosque, said it seemed like Park51 and Rauf had "got a divorce."
"Imam Rauf can't raise money needed for the project. He's toxic. He's only hurt the 9/11 survivors, not built bridges," said Brown.
Brown was troubled by Adhami's link to Wahhaj.
"Siraj Wahhaj is as radical as you can get," he said.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Egypt's Muslims stuck to their word on Thursday night. Thousands of Muslims showed up at Coptic Christmas eve services in churches throughout the country and at candlelight vigils outside them.
