Saudi Court Sentences Gang Rape Victim to 200 Lashes And Custodial Sentence

By A.B. Sanderson

The victim of a violent gang rape has been sentenced by a Saudi Arabian court to 200 lashes and six months in jail for the crimes of speaking to the press and indecency.

According to Sharia Law, a Saudi Arabian woman must be accompanied by a male guardian at all times in public, something the 19 year old victim did not obey when she went to meet a friend, according to website Live Buddhism.

While in a car with a student friend, retrieving a picture, two men got into the vehicle and drove them to a secluded area. She said she was raped there by seven men, three of whom also attacked her friend.

The Shi’ite Muslim woman had initially been sentenced to 90 lashes after being convicted of violating the Kingdom’s religious diktats on segregation of the sexes, where woman are treated as second class citizens.

After the sentences were handed down following the rape in 2006, which included lenient custodial sentences for the men guilty of the violent crime, the woman’s lawyer appealed to the Saudi General Court. But instead of choosing to overturn the punishments for being the victim of a crime, the court more than doubled her sentence. At the same time, they also roughly doubled the prison sentences for the seven men convicted of raping her, according to Saudi news outlets.

Abdul Rahman al-Lahem, who defended the woman, reached out to the media after the sentences were handed down. The court has since banned him from further defending the woman, confiscating his license and summoning him to a disciplinary hearing later this month.

Saudi Arabia defended the controversial decision to punish the victim, saying that she was at fault for being out without a male friend, something which was met with international outcry.

“The Ministry of Justice welcomes constructive criticism, away from emotions,” it said in a statement.

The statement also said that the “charges were proven” against the woman for having been in a car with a strange male, and repeated criticism of her lawyer for talking “defiantly” about the judicial system, saying “it has shown ignorance.” They also added that the sentence was increased because the victim had spoken to the media. “For whoever has an objection on verdicts issued, the system allows to appeal without resorting to the media,” a statement on the official Saudi Press Agency said.

Politicians from the West reacted angrily to the news, with Jose Verger, the Canadian minister responsible for women, calling it “barbaric” and saying the country would complain to Saudi authorities.

U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said, “I think when you look at the crime and the fact that now the victim is punished, I think that causes a fair degree of surprise and astonishment. It is within the power of the Saudi government to take a look at the verdict and change it.”

UK political activist Angharad Yeo, who is half Saudi and has campaigned against violation of women’s rights at home and abroad. said it “sends a clear message that women are not valued and only seen as a possession.”

The UKIP member described the ruling as “disgusting”, adding that a woman was being punished “because men in Islam are weak and pathetic and hide behind Islam. What message does that send to young women?” she asked.

“You can’t ever protect yourself and your well being is a lottery. Should you be unfortunate enough to be assaulted, expect for it to be your own fault.”

The New York based Human Rights Watch said the verdict “not only sends victims of sexual violence the message that they should not press charges, but in effect offers protection and impunity to the perpetrators.”

Education is a Crime for Baha’is in Iran

Iran's largest religious minority group is being denied access to its own future when
the ayatollahs prevent Baha'is from going to school.

Mohabat News- - Iranian security agents raided a number of Baha'i homes last week and arrested 16 people. The arrests were coordinated between three cities—Tehran, Isfahan and Kerman. In Isfahan at least, they were synchronized to strike multiple homes at the same time. It's unclear who carried out the raids, but these attacks are usually the work of the Intelligence Ministry or the Revolutionary Guards.

The raids are the latest in a long-running and systematic campaign of violence against the Baha'is, Iran's largest minority religion. As a member of the Baha'i Faith, I find it unbelievable and grotesque that such persecution continues and that there are absolutely no signs of change. Iranian Baha'is are regularly arrested, tortured and denied most basic rights, including the right to study at university.

A number of violent attacks have recently been carried out against Baha'is—including the murder of Ataollah Rezvani and the savage knife attack on Ghodratollah Moodi, a Baha'i leader in the Iranian town of Birjand, along with his family. The authorities, as usual, failed to pursue the perpetrators.

Baha'is frequently face the hysterical charge of "spreading corruption on earth" and various crimes against national security. Shirin Ebadi, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate and human rights lawyer, has said that "religion-based discrimination is woven through many Iranian laws," and although Iran's Jewish, Christian and Sunni communities are also harassed, it's the Baha'i community that faces consistent and systematic persecution. "The Baha'is are denied all citizens' rights," she has said.

The government denies that it targets the Baha'is. But in 2013 the supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, issued a fatwa in which he branded the Baha'is "deviants" and urged Iranian Muslims to avoid all contact with them. His fatwa was one more example of a persecution that began over a century ago.

The Baha'i faith was founded by an Iranian, Baha'u'llah (whose names translates as the Glory of God), in 1863. The religion now has more than five million followers around the world—at least 300,000 in Iran.

Baha'u'llah's teachings on the equality of men and women, elimination of prejudice, non-violence, and universal education challenged the established Muslim clergy from the beginning. Tens of thousands of Baha'is were brutalized and murdered in the early years of the faith.

The last Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, later tried to modernize the country and to grant almost equal rights to all Iranians regardless of ethnicity or religion. Many Baha'is prospered during this period and contributed to Iran's progress. The famous Azadi Tower, Iran's most iconic landmark and a building seen by millions around the world during the 2009 Green Movement protests, was built by a Baha'i architect in 1971.

But the Shah faced enormous pressure from Iran's clergy. The clerics rejected much of the Shah's modernization program, blaming in part the Baha'is, and they forced the Shah to eventually turn on the Baha'is to appease their demands. Baha'i schools were closed, meetings were disrupted, and marriages were dissolved.

The Shah fell in 1979 when Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini led the Islamic Revolution and took power in Iran. More than 200 Baha'is were executed in the early 1980s. Hundreds were tortured. The Baha'is were branded as spies for the "Zionists," the Americans, and the British, and clerics encouraged violence against them. Propaganda against them began appearing the media—and continues to this day. For years the Baha'is have been called "enemies of God."

"The Iranian government says that education is a crime for Baha'is. But I want to tell you that we can change that."

Khomeini's revolution also marked the start of expelling and barring the Baha'is from Iranian universities. The futures of thousands of young Baha'is were threatened as part of a policy to gradually strangle the Baha'i community to death.

In response, the Baha'is set up the Baha'i Institute for Higher Education (BIHE) in 1987. The BIHE began offering secret classes in peoples' homes and by correspondence—it was the only way young Baha'is could study. But in 1998, and again in 2011, the authorities raided hundreds of homes that served as BIHE classrooms and confiscated books and computers used for teaching. Thirteen Baha'is are currently in jail for teaching and learning subjects as taboo as algebra, psychology and poetry.

This Friday, February 27, Andy Grammer, Justin Baldoni, and many other talented artists will join me at Education Is Not A Crime Live 2015 in Los Angeles. The event will be the highlight of a campaign started by the Iranian-Canadian journalist and filmmaker, Maziar Bahari, himself formerly imprisoned in Iran, to raise awareness about the persecution of the Baha'is and their exclusion from higher education. Maziar's latest documentary To Light a Candle, which tells the story of Iran's Baha'is, is being screened at hundreds of locations around the world as part of this campaign.

I am thrilled to help expose the injustice taking place every day in Iran because I get to work with brave men and women working inside the country for the same cause. A young citizen journalist in the country, a Baha'i, recently interviewed three Iranian MPs on why the Baha'is are barred from university. "You Baha'is are hostile to Islam and we cannot allow the enemies of Islam into Islamic universities," one said. "You get into universities and start to try to convert others."

Iran is violating the most basic human rights of its Baha'i citizens; and, when young Baha'is aren't allowed to study or enroll in school, it's a crime.

But don't take it from me. The leading light of Education Is Not A Crime, anti-apartheid hero Archbishop Desmond Tutu, said it best when he endorsed the campaign. "The Iranian government says that education is a crime for Baha'is," he said. "But I want to tell you that we can change that—we can tell the government of Iran that banning the Baha'is or any other group from higher education is hurting Iran and the Iranian people. Our bitter experience of apartheid demonstrates that discrimination of all types hurts us all. Iran's government is denying its own people the services of thousands of Baha'i engineers, doctors and artists who could help Iran, Iranians and the world." /Dailybeast

Saudi blogger Raif Badawi could be facing the death penalty

Saudi blogger Raif Badawi, sentenced to 1,000 lashes over accusations he insulted Islam, could now be facing the death penalty, Channel 4 News learns.

Raif Badawi, 31, was expected to serve a 10-year jail sentence, and a fine of £175,000 for offences related to his setting up of an online forum for public debate, as well as accusations he insulted Islam.

On 9 January, the Saudi writer was lashed 50 times as the first part of his sentence to be flogged 1,000 lashes over a course of 20 weeks. However, subsequent floggings were postponed due to injuries that he sustained.

Mr Badawi's wife, Ensaf Haider, has told Channel 4 News that judges in Saudi Arabia's criminal courts are wanting him to undergo a re-trial for apostasy. If found guilty, he would face the death penalty.
'Apostasy'

In a statement on Facebook, the family said that they had received information that the case would be referred to the same judge who sentenced Mr Badawi with flogging and 10 years imprisonment. The said: "[The judge's] has twice requested that Raif be charged with 'apostasy'. His request was declined at the time on the ground that the criminal court has no jurisdiction on cases that lead to death penalty.

Read more: http://www.channel4.com/news/raif-badawi-blogger-flogging-saudi-arabia-death-penalty

WATCH: TV host facepalms after Saudi historian says rape is ‘not a big deal’ for women drivers

David Edwards - Raw story

A Saudi historian recently defended his country’s prohibition against female drivers by saying that women who drove “don’t care if they are raped on the roadside.”

During an interview on the Saudi news show Rotana Khalijiyya in January, historian Saleh Al-Saadoon explained that there was a difference between riding camels and driving cars.

“Women used to ride camels, so one might ask what prevents them from driving cars,” Al-Saadoon told the host, according to a translation provided by The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).

Al-Saadoon said that there was a “special circumstance” in Saudi Arabia that put women at risk while driving between cities that were far apart.

“If a woman drives from one city to another and her car breaks down, what will become of her?” he asked.

“Well, women drive in America, in Europe, and in the Arab world,” the host noted.

“They don’t care if they are raped on the roadside, but we do,” Al-Saadoon insisted.

“Hold on,” the host interrupted. “Who told you they don’t care about getting raped on the roadside?”

“It’s not a big deal for them beyond the damage to their morale,” Al-Saadoon opined. “In our case, however, the problem is of a social and religious nature.”

“What is rape if not a blow to the morale of a woman?” the host pressed. “That goes deeper than the social damage.”

“But in our case it affects the family,” Al-Saadoon said.

However, the Rotana Khalijiyya host refused to accept that answer.

“What, society and the family are more important that the woman’s morale?” she shot back.

Al-Saadoon argued that morale was only “part of the problem.”

“Saudi women are driven around by their husbands, sons and brothers,” he said. “Everybody is at their service. They are like queens. A queen without a chauffeur has the honor of being driven around by her husband, brother, son and nephews. They are at the ready when she gestures with her hands.”

“You are afraid that a woman might be raped by the roadside by soldiers, but you are not afraid that she might be raped by her chauffeur?” the host pointed out.

“Of course, I am,” the historian remarked. “There is a solution but the government officials and clerics refuse to hear of it. The solution is to bring female foreign chauffeurs to drive our wives.”

At this point, the host was forced to place her hand over her mouth to contain her laughter.

“Why not?” Al-Saadoon wondered. “Are you with me on this? There might be some considerable opposition to this, but…”

“Female foreign chauffeurs? Seriously?” the host said, finally losing her composure.

Watch the video below, originally broadcast on Jan. 11, 2015. It was uploaded to YouTube by MEMRI on Jan. 31, 2015.

Ban on adopting Syrian, Iraqi orphans in Saudi Arabia

By Dammam | Saudi Gazette

The Ministry of Social Affairs has prohibited Saudi families from adopting children of foreign or Arab nationalities and said the ministry is only concerned with taking care of Saudi orphans.

According to Al-Hayat newspaper on Thursday, the ministry said the children who lose their parents in areas of conflicts such as Iraq and Syria are the concern of the international humanitarian organizations.

Latifa Al-Tamimi, director of the women social supervision office in the Eastern Province, said the ministry is also looking after children of Saudi fathers with foreign wives abandoned abroad.

This article was first published in the Saudi Gazette on Jan 23, 2014.

Cops hack 9,000 porno Twitter accounts in Saudi

Arrested many owners

By 24/7

Saudi Arabia’s feared religious police smashed nearly 9,000 Twitter porno accounts and arrested many of their owners within a crackdown against vice in the conservative Gulf kingdom, newspapers reported on Tuesday.

The Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice said it joined hands with some “ethical hackers” to locate those accounts and identify their owners.

“The Commission members have succeeded in hacking Twitter porno accounts, shutting them and arresting some of their owners over the past period,” a Commission spokesman said without specify that period.

He said raids by Commission members also resulted in the arrest of many Saudis and expatriates involved in booze parties, vice and gambling.

Egyptian honour killing: Brother cuts pregnant sister's throat

By Emirates 24/7


Sister was not married

Honour crimes are reportedly on the rise in Egypt. However, a report in the ‘Al Youm Al Sabea’a’ newspaper, details a ghastly honour killing involving a 32-year-old Egyptian identified as Sa’ad M and his younger sister.

Arrested for the murder of his sister, the young man is reported as telling the police that honour is very important for families and there is no tolerance for actions which spoil reputations of families.

The report states that he accompanied his sister, identified as Hana’a, to the wedding of a cousin.

“While she was dancing with the ladies around the bride she fell on the floor,” he is quoted as saying.

Women at the wedding checked her and found that she is pregnant.

“My sister is not married. I was angry and asked for a doctor. The doctor came and confirmed that she is three months pregnant,” he said.

“I couldn’t bear the shock. I took a knife and cut her throat.”

The police arrested him and have referred the case to the public prosecution.

Ayatollah Alavi-Gorgani: “Forbidden music leads to destruction of society”

ABNA

Grand Ayatollah Sayyed Mohammad-Ali Alavi-Gorgani has met with a group of members of the organizers of a conference on the knowledge of danger of music to culture. This movement says that in order to reform society, it is necessary that society knows the dangers of music.

The prophets and imams sent by God worked to persuade society to obey God and tried to invite society to Islam because this work has much value for society.

The revered professor in the Islamic Seminary of Qom stressed that people have both individual and social responsibilities. He said that Islam specifies certain social responsibilities upon the Muslims. These responsibilities propel society towards reform. “Individuals must never look after their own needs alone and say that they have no responsibilities to help others. Everyone has responsibilities in relation to others,” Ayatollah Alavi-Gorgani.

Ayatollah Alavi-Gorgani stated that one way to reform society, especially the youth, is to prevent them from getting caught in the dangerous trap of musical instruments and Islamically unacceptable music. “[Forbidden] music leads to destruction of society,” he stated.

“We have the responsibility to explain the correct path on the subject of music. If people choose the wrong path, we have no responsibility upon them. Our responsibility is just to show society the correct path,” His Eminence added.

Ayatollah Alavi-Gorgani warned individuals and the media against the broadcasting and playing of unacceptable music, saying that it harms the dignity of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Iranian nation. “Music is often broadcasted during ceremonies. This music is not befitting to the dignity of our nation and people,” he said.

The revered source of emulation stated that according to verses of the Holy Quran and narrations from the Prophet Muhammad and the Ahlul-Bayt, specific types of music are impermissible. Since the time of the Prophet until now, people have been trying to make forbidden music, singing and dancing permissible and lawful, but Islam clearly states that music is forbidden.

One of the many narrations we have states: “In a house where music is played, God does not bestow his grace on the inhabitants of that house.”

Ayatollah Alavi-Gorgani stated that some think that the reason that music is only forbidden in Islam due to its pleasing melody or only due to its lyrical content, but it is due to both of these things, as well as music’s negative effects on the emotional, psychological and physical states of both individuals and society.

It should be noted that in Islamic law, specific types of music are forbidden. Forbidden music is that which has a great influence on one’s heart and mind, both due to its pleasing melody or captivating and illicit lyrics. Music is like an intoxicant as it makes one forget their surroundings and one does not know what is happening to him or her.

Saudi Arabia's Religious Police Outlaw 'Tempting Eyes'

By Cole Porter

It's a safe bet that Sheikh Motlab al Nabet, spokesman of Saudi Arabia's religious police, isn't a fan of Cole Porter. "The lure of you" is precisely why Nabet announced yesterday that the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice will cover any women's eyes that are deemed "tempting." "The men of the committee will interfere to force women to cover their eyes, especially the tempting ones" he said. "[We] have the right to do so."

What are "tempting" eyes? One Saudi journalist mused on condition of anonymity that they are "uncovered eyes with a nice shape and makeup. Or even without makeup, if they are beautiful, the woman will be in trouble." The Orwellian-named committee did not provide a definition of tempting, but if they happen to rely on Merriam-Webster, then it means "having an appeal." What is an appeal? According to the dictionary, it is "arousing a sympathetic response." And what is sympathetic? "Showing empathy," according to Merriam-Webster.

So there you have it. To allow a women's eyes to capture the unfettered glory of the world, one must empathize with her very existence. But the religious police--massively funded by King Abdullah--cannot do this. "It's so stupid," the Saudi journalist tells me. "I don't know what to say. They have to stop this. Many people will oppose this in the country. They won't be silent."

Perhaps they won't be, but the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice has some of the most powerful backers in the country. Prince Naif, recently appointed heir to the throne, has said: "The committee is supported by all sides ... It should be supported because it is a pillar from Islam. If you are a Muslim, you should support the committee." No surprise, then, that King Abdullah awarded this draconian body an additional 200 million riyals (about $53 million) in March.

How should America respond to this latest affront to Saudi women? Perhaps it can sponsor a contest of the most tempting eyes in Saudi Arabia. Women will send in pictures of their most tempting look and the winner will get to accompany President Obama during his next meeting with the Saudi dictator.

If Congress reconsidered the recent $60 billion U.S.-Saudi arms deal, the religious police might quickly find it "tempting" to stop treating women as property.

'Heroic' mission rescues desperate Yazidis from ISIS

(CNN) -- The Iraqi air force and fighters with the Kurdish peshmerga carried out a dramatic rescue mission Monday at Mount Sinjar, taking supplies to desperate Yazidis and bringing some on board the helicopter to make it safely out.

A CNN crew was on the flight that took diapers, milk, water and food to the site where thousands of people have been driven by ISIS, which calls itself the Islamic State.

CNN's Ivan Watson, who was on the chopper, described the mission as "heroic."

Teams hurled out bags and boxes of food from as high as 50 feet before approaching the ground.

"We landed on several short occasions, and that's where -- amid this explosion of dust and chaos -- these desperate civilians came racing towards the helicopter, throwing their children on board the aircraft. The crew was just trying to pull up as many people as possible," Watson said.

Soon, some of the trapped families -- including babies and the elderly -- were packed into the flight.

"It was chaotic. It was crazy, but we were able to then lift off with about 20 civilians," Watson said.

Yazidis, among Iraq's smallest minorities, are of Kurdish descent, and their religion is considered a pre-Islamic sect that draws from Christianity, Judaism and Zoroastrianism.

One of the oldest religious communities in the world, they have long suffered persecution, with many Muslims referring to them as devil worshippers.

More than a week ago, they fled into the surrounding mountains when ISIS fighters stormed the town of Sinjar.

It's already too late to save dozens of children who've died of thirst. But for the 20 or so people rescued Monday, the relief was palpable.

The crowd on board the helicopter burst into tears as it took off. Gunners had to open fire at the ground in order to make it away from ISIS.

"They flew in shooting; they flew out shooting," Watson reported.

"There was not a dry eye on the aircraft."

Man who killed maids beheaded in Saudi Arabia

Riyadh, Aug 8 (IANS) A man in Saudi Arabia has been beheaded on the court's orders for sexually assaulting and murdering two Asian housemaids in a sea port, a media report said here Friday.

Awdah Salem, a Yemen national, was also found guilty of pouring acid onto the body of one of the victims and hiding the remains of both women at different locations. He was beheaded Thursday, Arab News reported.

He confessed to having persuaded one of the two maids to run away with him during Ramadan after which he killed her and threw the body into an abandoned well in Yanbu sea port in 2007.

A year later Salem lured another maid to elope with him to a deserted place. After having sex with her, he hit her on the head with a rock and buried the body on a beach in the Yanbu in 2008.

Police managed to track down the killer following months of investigation.

A statement issued by the Saudi interior ministry confirmed Thursday that the general court issued the verdict based on the extensive charges, described as "evil, gruesome, and inhumane".

"The court sentenced him to death as a deterrent for others and higher authorities have endorsed execution of the sentence, while the appeal court and the supreme court had earlier endorsed the punishment."

Christians flee Mosul after ISIS ultimatum to convert or leave

Al Arabiya News

Worshippers attend mass on Christmas Eve at a Christian church in Mosul, 

about 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, December 24, 2009. (Reuters) 

 

Christians have fled Iraq’s northern city of Mosul en masse before a Saturday deadline issued by the al-Qaeda-inspired Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) for them to either convert to Islam, pay tax, leave or be killed.

Al Arabiya correspondent in Iraq Majid Hamid said the deadline set by the jihadist group was 12 p.m. Iraqi time (10 a.m. GMT). Hamid reported that many Christians fled the city on Friday. It is not clear if any remained after the deadline.

Patriarch Louis Sako told AFP on Friday: “Christian families are on their way to Dohuk and Arbil,” in the neighboring autonomous region of Kurdistan. “For the first time in the history of Iraq, Mosul is now empty of Christians,” he said.

Witnesses said messages telling Christians to leave the city by Saturday were blared through loudspeakers from the city’s mosques Friday.

A statement dated from last week and purportedly issued by ISIS that took over the city and large swathes of Iraq during a sweeping offensive last month warned Mosul’s Christians they should convert, pay a special tax, leave or face death.

“We were shocked by the distribution of a statement by the Islamic State calling on Christians to convert to Islam, or to pay unspecified tribute, or to leave their city and their homes taking only their clothes and no luggage, and that their homes would then belong to the Islamic State,” Sako said.

The patriarch, who is one of the most senior Christian clerics in Iraq, and residents contacted by AFP said Islamic State militants had in recent days been tagging Christian houses with the letter N for “Nassarah”, the term by which the Koran refers to Christians.

The statement, which was seen by AFP, said “there will be nothing for them but the sword” if Christians reject those conditions.

[With AFP]

In Worst Attack In Years, 89 Afghans Killed By Suicide Bomber

At least 89 people were killed Tuesday by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan. It was the deadliest attack on civilians in that country for several years.

The attack occurred near a busy market and mosque in Urgun, a town in the eastern province of Paktika. In addition to the dead, 42 people were injured, according to the Defense Ministry.

"A man in a Toyota SUV was identified by police as a potential attacker, but when they ordered him to stop for checks, he set off the bomb," Nasar Ahmad, the deputy provincial police chief, the Guardian, a British newspaper.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. The Taliban sent a statement to media denying involvement, saying they "strongly condemn attacks on local people."

The bombing comes at an for Afghanistan. Last weekend, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry helped broker a deal between the two Afghan presidential contenders, who have been arguing over the results of last month's runoff election. But there are that the deal may yet come unraveled.

Last week, the United Nations issued a saying the number of civilian casualties in the country had increased by 24 percent during the first half of the year, reaching levels not seen since 2009.

There are now near-daily attacks in the country. In two incidents Tuesday that were separate from the Paktika blast, a roadside bomb in eastern Kabul killed two passengers in a minivan carrying employees of the media office of the presidential palace, while seven police officers and six border guards were killed by Taliban insurgents at the Pakistani border in Khost province, The Associated Press .

The Paktika blast was the deadliest suicide bombing in the country at least since a at an outdoor dog fighting competition.

"There was blood everywhere, and we could see hundreds of people shouting and crying, including women and children," an eyewitness The New York Times. "The entire area seems like a graveyard with fresh blood on it."

 http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/07/15/331691048/in-worst-attack-in-years-89-afghans-killed-by-suicide-bomber

Iraq gunmen target prostitutes in shocking slaughter of 33 people including 29 women

A police officer described ­gruesome scenes in Zayouna, eastern Baghdad after a raid by men wearing plain clothes and camouflage

 

Gunmen appeared to be ­targeting prostitutes in Iraq last night after 33 people, 29 of them women, were slaughtered in two apartment buildings.

A police officer described ­gruesome scenes in Zayouna, eastern Baghdad after a raid by men wearing plain clothes and camouflage.

He said: “We saw women’s bodies and blood streaming down the stairs.

“We entered a flat and found bodies everywhere, some lying on the sofa, some on the ground.

“One woman who had tried to hide in a cupboard in the kitchen was shot to death there.”

An ­inscription left on the door of one of the attacked buildings in a housing complex read: “This is the fate of any prostitution.”

At least 18 people were ­wounded during the massacre.

Shia militias have been accused by locals of carrying out killings of women branded as prostitutes in that district of the capital.

Last night it was not possible to ­confirm who was responsible for the latest in a series of ­atrocities committed by rival Sunni and Shia fighters in Iraq.

Sunni group Isis is fighting to control land in Iraq and Syria

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/iraq-gunmen-target-prostitutes-shocking-3849421#ixzz37ORIphXh
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Arab Spring, Jihad Summer

By Pepe Escobar

Welcome to IS. No typo; the final goal may be (indiscriminate) regime change, but for the moment name change will do. With PR flair, at the start of Ramadan, the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS, or ISIL - the Islamic State of the Levant - to some) solemnly declared, from now on, it will be known as Islamic State (IS).

"To be or not to be" is so … metaphysically outdated. IS is - and here it is - in full audio glory. And we're talking about the full package - Caliph included: "the slave of Allah, Ibrahim Ibn 'Awwad Ibn Ibrahim Ibn 'Ali Ibn Muhammad al-Badrial-Hashimi al-Husayni al-Qurashi by lineage, as-Samurra'i by birth and upbringing, al-Baghdadi by residence and scholarship". Or, to put it more simply, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

IS has virtually ordered "historic" al-Qaeda - yes, that 9/11-related (or not) plaything of one Osama bin Laden - as well as every other

jihadi outfit on the planet, to pledge allegiance to the new imam, in theological theory the new lord over every Muslim. There's no evidence Osama's former sidekick, Ayman "the doctor" al-Zawahiri will obey, not to mention 1.5 billion Muslims across the world. Most probably al-Qaeda will say "we are the real deal" and a major theological catfight will be on.

After all, in Syria, ISIL as well as Jabhat al-Nusra were initially fighting under the banner of al-Qaeda, until the brand - in spectacular fashion - decided to dump al-Baghdadi. He and ISIL went too far - with all those videos of decapitations and crucifixions and serial profanation of Shi'ite, Sufi and Christian sanctuaries.

Al-Baghdadi, born Ibrahim al-Badri in Samarra, is an average Sunni Iraqi cleric with a degree in pedagogy from the University of Baghdad. His alter ago was born after Shock and Awe in 2003, and soon metamorphosed into a de facto serial killer - blowing up Shi'ite kids at ice-cream shops or scores of women at Shi'ite weddings.

ISIL's track record in Syria includes banning every flag apart from its own; the destruction of any "polytheist" temple or sanctuary (except if it is Sunni); and strict imposition of Islamically correct women wear. Most of all, it is a track record of terror. This is not an army, rather a well-trained militia of professional mujahid, European passport holders included, with battlefield experience in Iraq, Afghanistan and, to a lesser degree, Chechnya. Heavy weaponizing is petrodollar-financed - the usual, wealthy "Gulf donors", which does not exclude official connections.

Sources of income diversified mightily when ISIL captured the oilfields surrounding Deir Ezzor in Syria; and after the recent offensive across Niniveh province in Iraq, they were able to lay their hands on vast arsenals of heavy artillery, lots of cash and gold bullion and, why not, US Humvees left behind. Their trademark, of course, are those columns of brand new white Toyota Land cruisers - free off road advertising Toyota HQ in Japan may not find particularly welcome.

Loaded with oil and profiting from tax revenue, IS is now firmly on its way to provide (minimal) services and support a (mighty) Jihadi Army - much like the Taliban from 1996 to 2001. One may be sure IS will continue its massive "social engagement" strategy; talk about a chatty Caliphate which loves YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. No wonder they are a hit among Google generation recruits - as well as becoming fund-raising aces via gruesome videos. In thesis, indoctrination progresses hand in hand with "charity work"; residents of Aleppo, for instance, can dwell on how ISIL (gruesomely) looks and feels on the ground.

Mission forever unaccomplished
It's unclear how the new IS reality will play on the ground. The new Caliph has in fact declared a jihad on all that basket of corrupt and/or incompetent Middle East "leaders" - so some fierce "battle for survival" reaction from the Houses of Saud and Thani, for instance, is expected. It's not far-fetched to picture al-Baghdadi dreaming of lording over Saudi oilfields - after decapitating all Shi'ite workers, of course.

And that's just a start; in one of their Tweeter accounts IS has published a map of all the domains they intend to conquer within the span of five years; Spain, Northern Africa, the Balkans, the whole Middle East and large swathes of Asia. Well, they are certainly more ambitious than NATO.

Being such a courageous bunch, the House of Saud is now tempted to accept that imposing regime change on Nouri al-Maliki in Iraq is a bad idea. That puts them in direct conflict with the Obama administration, whose plan A, B and C is regime change.

Turkey - the former seat of the Caliphate, by the way - remains mute. No wonder; Ankara - crucially - is the top logistical base of IS. Caliph Erdogan's got to be musing about his own future, now that he's facing competition. In theory, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Jordan are all saying they're ready to fight what would be a "larger-scale war" than that gift that keeps on giving, the original, Cheney junta-coined GWOT (global war on terror).

And then there's the future of the new $500 million Obama fund to "appropriately vetted" rebels in Syria, which in fact means the expansion of covert CIA "training facilities" in Jordan and Turkey heavily infiltrated/profited from by IS. Think of hordes of new IS recruits posing as "moderate rebels" getting ready for a piece of the action.

It's easier for Brazil to win the World Cup with a team of crybabies with no tactical nous than having US Secretary of State John Kerry and his State Department ciphers understand that the Syrian "opposition" is controlled by jihadis. But then again, they do know - and that perfectly fits into the Empire of Chaos's not so hidden Global War on Terror (GWOT) agenda of an ever-expanding proxy war in both Syria and Iraq fueled by terror financing.

So 13 years ago Washington crushed both al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan. Then the Taliban were reborn. Then came Shock and Awe. Then came "Mission Accomplished". Then al-Qaeda was introduced in Iraq. Then al-Qaeda was dead because Osama bin Laden was dead. Then came ISIL. And now there's IS. And we start all over again, not in the Hindu Kush, but in the Levant. With a new Osama.

What's not to like? If anyone thinks this whole racket is part of a new live Monty Python sketch ahead of their reunion gig this month in London, that's because it is.

Pepe Escobar is the author of Globalistan: How the Globalized World is Dissolving into Liquid War (Nimble Books, 2007), Red Zone Blues: a snapshot of Baghdad during the surge (Nimble Books, 2007), and Obama does Globalistan (Nimble Books, 2009).

He may be reached at pepeasia@yahoo.com.

(Copyright 2014 Asia Times Online (Holdings) Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact us about sales, syndication and republishing.)

Saudi Arabia orders 1,000 lashes and ten-year sentence for editor of website that discussed religion

(The Independent) – A Saudi Arabian court has sentenced the editor of a website that discussed religion in the ultra-conservative Islamic kingdom to 10 years in jail and 1,000 lashes.

Raif Badawi, who started the “Free Saudi Liberals” website, was arrested in June 2012 and charged with cyber-crime and disobeying his father – a crime in the Arab state, local media has reported.

His website included articles that were critical of senior religious figures such as Saudi Arabia’s Grand Mufti and allegedly insulted Islam and religious authorities, according to Human Rights Watch.

Prosecutors had demanded Badawi be tried for apostasy, a charge which carries the death penalty, but this was dismissed by the judge.

Badawi was originally sentenced to seven years in prison and 600 lashes in July last year, but an appeals court overturned the sentence and ordered a retrial – which then earned him a more severe sentence.

His punishment comes shortly after Saudi Arabia criticised Norway’s human rights record and accused it of not doing enough to counter criticism of the prophet Mohammed.

The gulf state also demanded all criticism of religion and of the Prophet Mohammed be made illegal in Norway.

Badawi’s lawyer, human rights activist Waleed Abu al-Khair, will not be able to represent him in an appeal because he has also been jailed and is currently awaiting trial on criminal charges that include “breaking allegiance with the king,” and “making international organisations hostile to the kingdom”.

His retrial led the judge to impose a harsher punishment and fine him one million riyals (£157,000).

In April, the Kingdom introduced a series of new laws which define atheists as terrorists, according to HRW.

In a string of royal decrees and an overarching new piece of legislation to deal with terrorism generally, the Saudi King Abdullah has clamped down on all forms of political dissent and protests that could “harm public order”.

Saudi Arabia also announced in March it intended to close the local office of the Qatari-owned al Jazeera satellite television over Qatar’s backing for the Muslim Brotherhood, local media said.

Afghan security guard shoots dead 3 American doctors at hospital

The U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan confirmed Thursday that three American doctors -- including a father and son -- were killed by an Afghan security guard who opened fire at a Kabul hospital.

"With great sadness we confirm that three Americans were killed in the attack at CURE Hospital," said a statement posted on the Embassy's Twitter page. "No other information will be released at this time."

The shooting was the latest in a string of deadly attacks on foreign civilians in the Afghan capital this year.

Two of the dead Americans were a father and son, Minister of Health Soraya Dalil said, adding that the third American was a Cure International doctor who had worked for seven years in Kabul.

One of the doctors has been identified as Dr. Jerry Umanos, who practiced pediatric medicine at Lawndale Christian Health Center in Chicago, officials from the center said.

Dalil said an American nurse also was wounded in the attack.

"A child specialist doctor who was working in this hospital for the last seven years for the people of Afghanistan was killed, and also two others who were here to meet him, and they were also American nationals, were killed," Dalil said. "The two visitors were father and son, and a woman who was also in the visiting group was wounded."

The alleged attacker was a member of the Afghan Public Protection Force assigned to guard the hospital, according to District Police Chief Hafiz Khan. He said the man's motive was not yet clear.

"The shooter, who was not an employee of CURE, has been identified as a member of the security detail assigned to the hospital, shot himself after the attack," CURE Hospital said in a statement. "He was initially treated at the CURE Hospital and has now been transferred out of our facility into the custody of the government of Afghanistan."

"Five doctors had entered the compound of the hospital and were walking toward the building when the guard opened fire on them," Torkystani said. "Three foreign doctors were killed."

According to its website, the Cure International Hospital was founded in 2005 by invitation of the Afghan Ministry of Health. It sees 37,000 patients a year, specializing in child and maternity health as well as general surgery. It is affiliated with the Christian charity Cure International, which operates in 29 countries with the motto "curing the sick and proclaiming the kingdom of God."

The attacker had emerged from surgery in the afternoon and was in recovery at Cure International before being questioned, Dalil added.

The Afghan capital has seen a spate of attacks on foreign civilians in 2014, a worrying new trend as the U.S.-led military coalition prepares to withdraw most troops by the end of the year.

It was unclear whether the Taliban were behind Thursday's shooting, though the insurgents have claimed several major attacks that killed foreign civilians this year, an escalation after years of mostly targeting foreign military personnel and Afghan security forces.

In January, a Taliban attack on a popular Kabul restaurant with suicide bombers and gunmen killed more than a dozen people, while in March gunmen slipped past security at an upscale hotel in the Afghan capital and killed several diners in its restaurant. Two foreign journalists were killed and another wounded in two separate attacks.

The hospital shooting is also the second "insider attack" by a member of Afghan security forces targeting foreign civilians this month.

On April 4, an Afghan police officer shot two Associated Press staff working in the eastern province of Khost, killing photographer Anja Niedringhaus and wounding veteran correspondent Kathy Gannon.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Taliban leaders who had threatened to cut voters fingers killed in Kunduz

At least six Taliban militants including their commanders were killed during clashes with the Afghan police forces in northern Kunduz province.

Local officials in Kunduz said the Taliban commanders who were killed during clashes, had earlier threatened Kunduz residents to cut their fingers if they participated in the elections.

Provincial police chief, Gen. Ghulam Mustafa Mohsini said the two Taliban commanders – Mullah Islamuddin and Mullah Khedir were killed along with their fighters after they attacked a police check post on Monday morning.

Gen. Mohsini further added that four militants were also killed and two others were injured during the clashes which lasted almost three hours.

He said the weapons and ammunition of the militants were also confiscated by police forces.

According to Gen. Mohsini, the two Taliban leaders had earlier warned Kunduz residents not to participate in elections and threatened to cut their fingers if they did so.

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New case of sexual harassment in Egypt sparks outrage

CAIRO: A case of sexual harassment in one of Egypt's largest universities has sparked outrage after the dean said the women's outfit triggered the incident.

In a video that has gone viral on social networks and has been covered by local media, Cairo University security guards escort a student wearing tight black pants and a long sleeved pink top after she hid in a toilet from dozens of male students who were sexually harassing her.

More than 99 percent of women in Egypt have been subjected to a form of harassment, according to a study carried out in 2013 by UN Women.

Women report that they are harassed regardless of whether they are dressed in conservative Islamic veils or Western-style clothing.

University dean Gaber Nassar said the student's outfit, which he described as "a bit unconventional," led to the harassment, quickly adding that he was not justifying the incident.

"This girl entered the university wearing an abaya (loose cloak) and then took it off in the faculty, and appeared with those clothes, that caused, in reality -- but this doesn't justify at all" the incident, Nassar said on private Egyptian channel ONTV.

He said university guards turn away students who show up at campus dressed inappropriately.

"The student's mistake does not justify what the (other) students did," he added.

Most of Cairo University's female students wear jeans and tops and avoid revealing clothes, and many wear the traditional Islamic headscarves, as do the majority of Egypt's women.

Nassar later wrote on Twitter that he was misunderstood and that he was not blaming the student for the incident.

"I assure that this is not true and I apologise for the misunderstanding and I repeat that those who (harassed the girl) will be severely punished," he wrote.

Fathi Farid, with an anti-sexual harassment group, said male students had verbally attacked the woman and attempted to undress her.

"The worst is that people always find justification for the harassment and blame it on the victim," said Farid, a founding member of the "I saw harassment" campaign that documents sexual harassment against women.

The incident sparked outrage on social networks and in the media.

Nassar "should be interrogated and expelled, investigations into the incident should start immediately", women's rights activist Mariam Kirollos wrote on her Twitter account.

Several popular talk-shows covered the incident.

"A girl is naked, does it mean someone should jump on her?" television host Amr Adib asked in disbelief, during his show on the privately-owned Orbit channel.

Saudi women demand end of male control - Al Jazeera

Activists say the laws restricting women in the kingdom are not based in religious teachings.

Saudi Arabia is also the only country in the world that bans women from driving [Reuters]

 

Saudi women activists have petitioned the country's consultative council to back a demand to curb the "absolute authority" of male guardians over women in the kingdom, a signatory has said.

Activist Aziza Yousef told AFP news agency on Sunday that "rights activists have petitioned the Shura (consultative) Council on the occasion of the International Women's Day [on March 8] demanding an end to the absolute authority of men over women".

They demanded "measures to protect [women's] rights," in their petition to the Shura Council, she said.

Saudi Arabia imposes a strict interpretation of Islamic law, forbidding women to work or travel without the authorisation of their male guardians.

It is also the only country in the world that bans women from driving, and a woman cannot obtain an identification card without the consent of her guardian.

Laws in the kingdom enforcing such restrictions on women "are not based on religious" teachings, said Yousef.

The petition, signed by 10 female activists, also calls for allowing women to drive.

Three female members of the Shura Council presented a recommendation that women be given the right to drive in October, but the male-dominated 150-member assembly blocked the proposal.

Women in Saudi must obtain permission from a male guardian to perform "certain surgeries" and to "leave the university campus during study hours," she added.

She cited a recent case in which a pregnant student had to give birth on campus after a women-only university in Riyadh denied access to paramedics.

And a university student died in February after paramedics were prevented from entering her campus because they were not accompanied by a male guardian, a must according to the strict segregation rules in the Muslim kingdom.

The Shura Council is appointed by the king and advises the monarch on policy, but cannot legislate.