Suspect hunted over Paris attacks left France last week

A woman hunted by French police as a suspect in the attacks on a satirical paper and Jewish supermarket in Paris left France several days before the killings and is believed to be in Syria, Turkish and French sources said.

After killing the gunmen behind the worst assault in France for decades, French police launched an intensive search for Hayat Boumeddiene (pic), the 26-year-old partner of one of the attackers, describing her as "armed and dangerous".

But a source familiar with the situation said that Boumeddiene left France last week and travelled to Syria via Turkey. A senior Turkish official corroborated that account, saying she passed through Istanbul on January 2.

Security forces remained on high alert before a march today which will bring together European leaders in a show of solidarity for the 17 victims killed in three days of violence that began with an attack on the Charlie Hebdo weekly on Wednesday and ended with Friday's dual sieges at a print works outside Paris and a kosher supermarket in the city.

French security forces shot dead the two brothers behind the Hebdo killings after they took refuge in the print works. They also killed an associate – Boumeddiene's partner – who planted explosives at the Paris deli in a siege that claimed the lives of four hostages.

Yesterday, police maintained a heavy presence around the French capital, with patrols at sensitive sites including media offices, and local vigils were held across France. The Interior Ministry said about 700,000 people attended including 120,000 in Toulouse, 75,000 in Nantes, and 50,000 in Marseille.

"It's no longer like before," said Maria Pinto, on a street in central Paris. "You work a whole life through and because of these madmen, you leave your house to go shopping, go to work, and you don't know if you'll come home."

The attack on Charlie Hebdo, a journal that satirised Islam as well as other religions and politicians, raised sensitive questions about freedom of speech, religion and security in a country struggling to integrate five million Muslims.

No warning

A source familiar with the situation said that Boumeddiene left France last week and travelled to Syria via Turkey.

"On January 2, a woman corresponding to her profile and presenting a piece of identity took a flight from Madrid to Istanbul," a source familiar with the situation told Reuters.

The source said she was accompanied by a man and had a return ticket for January 9, but never took the flight.

A senior Turkish security official said Paris and Ankara were now cooperating in trying to trace her, but said she arrived in Istanbul without any warning from France.

"After they informed us about her... we identified her mobile phone signal on January 8," the source said. "We think she is in Syria at the moment but we do not have any evidence about that... She is most probably not in Turkey," the source said, adding the last signal from her phone was detected on Thursday.

An official police photograph of Boumeddiene shows a young woman with long dark hair hitched back over her ears. French media, however, released photos purporting to be of a fully-veiled Boumeddiene, posing with a cross-bow, in what they said was a 2010 training session in the mountainous Cantal region.

French media described her as one of seven children whose mother died when she was young and whose delivery-man father struggled to keep working while looking after the family. As an adult, she lost her job as a cashier when she converted to Islam and started wearing the niqab.

Le Monde said Boumeddiene wed Amedy Coulibaly in a religious ceremony not recognised by French civil authorities in 2009. The two were questioned by police in 2010 and Coulibaly jailed for his involvement in a botched plot to spring from jail the author of a deadly 1995 attack on the Paris transport system.

Booby traps

Participation of European leaders including Germany's Angela Merkel, Britain's David Cameron and Italy's Matteo Renzi in a silent march through Paris with President Francois Hollande will pose further demands for security forces today.

Arab League representatives and some Muslim African leaders as well as Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu will attend.

Political and security chiefs were reviewing how two French-born brothers of Algerian extraction, Cherif and Said Kouachi, could have carried out the Charlie Hebdo attacks despite having been on surveillance and "no-fly" lists for many years.

Paris chief prosecutor Francois Molins said late Friday the three men killed on Friday in the two security operations had had a large arsenal of weapons and had set up booby traps. They had a loaded M82 rocket launcher, two Kalashnikov machine guns and two automatic pistols on them.

With one of the gunmen saying shortly before his death that he was funded by al Qaeda, Hollande warned that the danger to France – home to the European Union's biggest populations of both Muslims and Jews – was not over yet.

"These madmen, fanatics, have nothing to do with the Muslim religion," Hollande said in a televised address.

"France has not seen the end of the threats it faces," said Hollande, facing record unpopularity over his handling of the economy but whose government has received praise from at least one senior opposition leader for its handling of the crisis.

An audio recording posted on YouTube attributed to a leader of the Yemeni branch of al Qaeda (AQAP) said the attack was prompted by insults to prophets but stopped short of claiming responsibility for the assault on the offices of Charlie Hebdo.

Palestinian Islamist militant group Hamas condemned the strike as an unjustifiable terrorist attack.

Before his death at the printing works, Cherif Kouachi told a television station he had received financing from an al Qaeda preacher, Anwar al Awlaki, in Yemen.

Anwar, an influential international recruiter for al Qaeda, was killed in September 2011 in a drone strike. A senior Yemeni intelligence source told Reuters that Kouachi's brother Said had also met Anwar during a stay in Yemen in 2011.

Paris prosecutor Molins said there had been sustained contact between Boumeddiene and the wife of Cherif Kouachi, with records of no fewer than 500 phone calls between the two last year. The wife of Kouachi is being questioned by French police.

Coulibaly had also called BFM-TV, to claim allegiance to Islamic State, saying he wanted to defend Palestinians and target Jews. He said he had jointly planned the attacks with the Kouachi brothers, and police confirmed they were all members of the same Islamist cell in northern Paris. – Reuters, January 11, 2015.

- See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/world/article/suspect-hunted-over-paris-attacks-left-france-last-week#sthash.RvnFy8Hc.dpuf

Rajapakse defeated by Tamil and Muslim votes

COMMENT Mahinda Rajapakse despite his nationalist appeal lost his bid for a third-term presidency in Sri Lanka. He gained 47.58 percent of votes whereas his former colleague and recently turned opponent, Maithripala Sirisena, obtained 51.28 percent of votes. It was a surprise for Sri Lankans as well as for outsiders. Many believed that there was nothing to stop Rajapakse from going for his third term in the elections held on 8 Jan 2015.

Sirisena, who quit his post in the cabinet of Rajapakse in November last year, had been doing his homework for some time. Eventually, just before the elections, he teamed up with Ranil Wickramasinghe, the leader of the United National Party (UNP); Chandrika Kumaratunga, the former president of Sri Lanka; the former chief justice Shirani Bandaranaike; and other prominent leaders to form a loose coalition to unseat Rajapakse. Rajapakse said that Sirisena “stabbed” him from the rear!

There was a common thinking in Rajapakse’s close circles that the incumbent might not face much difficulty in the contest and given the expected solid support from the Sinhala south, the gains that might accrue from Tamil and Muslim communities to Sirisena could be easily offset.

But alas, this was not what happened. Rajapakse not only lost the support of Tamils and Muslims but also from the majority of the Sinhalese. In the north central of the country and other places of Sinhala concentrations, Sirisena obtained the support of the voters. In Tamil areas such as Vanni, Jaffna, Trincomalee, Ampara, and Batticola, voter turnout averaged 75 percent, much higher than previous elections. In the Muslim areas of Puttalam, Ampara, Colombo, and others, voters shied away from Rajapakse to vote for Sirisena.

Amongst Tamils, although there were urgings to boycott the presidential elections, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) which controls the northern province, took the stand that it would urge Tamils to vote against Rajapakse by supporting Sirisena. It is not that Tamils thought that Sirisena would be able to address their problems, they felt that by voting against the “known enemy”, they might be registering their protest vote for the knowledge of the international community.

The urging for boycott by some Tamil diaspora organisations, although well-intended, failed to appreciate the historic choice available to Tamils and how they could exercise their democratic right in a small measure to bring about long-term desired changes in the country.

Muslim dilemma in Sri Lanka

The Muslims being a smaller minority than the Tamils always faced a dilemma as how to respond to changes in the country dominated by the Buddhist majority Sinhalese. For a long time, despite the injustices meted out to them by the Sinhala racist governments, the Sri Lankan Muslim community, given the division in the leadership, invariably went along with the ruling Sinhala elite. In the course of time, they had to pay dearly for their blind loyalty.

During the Rajapakse administration, Muslim communities were especially targeted for attacks by Sinhala Buddhist extremist organisation such as Bodu Bala Sena. In a recent attack against Muslims in an outskirt of Colombo by Bodu Bala Sena, a Muslim woman deeply affected by the wanton attacks against the Muslim community said that if LTTE leader Prahbakaran was alive, the Muslims would not have to face such cruel and inhumane acts.

Given the kind of attacks against Muslims, two main organisations, the All Ceylon Muslim Congress and Sri Lankan Muslim Congress withdrew their support from Rajapakse’s coalition to support Sirisena. With the entry of these two, a stage was set for  the  mobilisation of Muslim support for  Sirisena. Muslims in Colombo, Puttalam, Ampara, and Batticola overwhelmingly supported Sirisena.

For Tamils and Muslims, Sirisena had nothing to offer in terms of getting their support. However, his campaign for democracy, ending corruption, cancelling the licences of two big casinos, and for the restoration of a two-term presidency, must have attracted Tamils and Muslims to a limited extent. Nonetheless, it should be clear to Sirisena and his new friends that without the support of the Tamils and Muslims, he would not have won the presidency, given the power of incumbency.

Rajapakse faced two surmountable problems that plagued his administrations. First was the problem of putting his family and close friends in high posts in the government. His two brothers – Basil and Gotabhaya – occupy senior posts in the government. Basil is the senior presidential advisor and Gotabhaya is the defence secretary, equivalent to the post of minister of defence. Three members of parliament from the south are his family members. It is said that his family members are in charge of five ministries that control 70 percent of the national budget.

Nepotism and cronyism notwithstanding, the second major problem of Rajapakse was the abolishment of the two-term presidency, as enshrined in the constitution. Rajapakse was two-terms in his office and decided to call for elections on Jan 8, 2015, to go for his third term. However, before this ,he used his parliamentary majority to bring about an amendment (18^th amendment) to the constitution to allow himself to go for a third term.

As a result of a ruling by the Supreme Court, the incumbent president could call elections two years ahead of schedule. This was what Rajapakse did to gain power, but was vehemently opposed by the country’s Bar Association, the former chief justice of the Supreme Court Shirani Bandaranaike, and members of the opposition. Subsequently, Rajapakse impeached the chief justice and removed her from the office. Sirisena has promised that if he becomes the president, he would rehabilitate both Sarath Fonseka, who fell out of favour with Rajapakse, and Shirani Bandaranaike.

Wise move to take on Rajapakse

Sirisena will be next president of Sri Lanka. He won the elections not because he promised the heaven, but rather circumstances were much more favourable for him to take on Rajapakse. In fact, he was probably intelligent enough to realise that Rajapakse, despite his nationalistic credentials, was becoming a liability to the Sinhala people, especially the elites.

The criticisms from international human rights organisations about the way he conducted the war, the manner in which thousands of innocent Tamils were murdered, the continuing harassment of Tamils, disappearance of innocent people, land grab in Tamil areas, the attack against minorities, and other undemocratic and oppressive acts have made Rajapakse very unpopular in the civilised world.

Moreover, Rajapakse’s close association with China and Pakistan has alienated the Indian establishment to some extent. In fact, in the last few years after the end of civil war and with little or no development to address genuine Tamil concerns in the north and east, countries like India have been thinking of pursuing the option of regime change.

Given the fact that Sri Lanka falls without the orbit of India’s geopolitical sphere of influence, Rajapakse's regime has become an embarrassment to India. Even after the defeat of the LTTE in the bloody war, Rajapakse has not shown interest in addressing long-standing Tamil concerns. On the contrary, the end of civil war has meant not the end of misery of the Tamil people but the continuation of acts of oppression. Under these circumstances, Sri Lanka has shown no interest in advancing the option of federalism as envisaged in the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord of 1887.

While there is nothing by way development for Tamils, Rajapakse has sought to check Indian influence by giving a free hand to China and Pakistan. It was China’s economic and development assistance that has resulted in the building of ports and other major projects in Sri Lanka. Furthermore, allowing access to Chinese submarines to dock in Sri Lankan seaports has not gone well with India.

India might not have directly interfered in the electoral process, but its ubiquitous intelligence agencies are active and it might not be too incorrect even to tentatively suggest that India probably extended its intelligent arm to support the loose coalition of Sirisena, Wickramesinghe, and Kumaratunga!

Sirisena is no angel

The victory of Sirisena might have brought joy and happiness to some sections of the Tamil Diaspora. Fine, getting rid of “butcher” Rajapakse was something that Tamils in the north and east, victims of the 30-year war, desired. But Tamils having fought many Sinhala regimes in the past only know too well that Sirisena is no angel. In his campaign, he promised nothing to Tamils; he merely said that if elected, he would call for a more independent investigation to address Tamil human rights grievances.

There was nothing to address the concerns of the Muslims as well. Let us not forget, Sirisena was acting defence minister for the Rajapakse government during the height of civil war and before he parted company, was the secretary of Sri Lankan Freedom Party (SLFP) and former health minister.

In other words, why he departed suddenly to challenge Rajapakse would remain a mystery for some time to come. Apparently, in one of the interviews, he said that he lost confidence with Rajapakse as far back as 2006, but why then did he remain so long as his predecessor’s close confidante? While the TNA did the right thing to ask Tamils to vote in the elections, this should not be interpreted as support for Sirisena. Rather it was a protest vote against Rajapakse.

In the Tamil circles, there is also the lingering fear that their participation in the electoral process might dilute their pursuit of a separate country of Eelam. In the last few months or so, Tamil diaspora organisations such as the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam based in United States have urged a referendum for Tamils whether they wish to opt for separate country or be part of the Sri Lankan political establishment.

Similarly, the Penang Tamil conference in November 2014, among its resolutions, called on the United Nations to conduct a referendum among Eelam Tamil regarding their political future. The history of estranged relations between Tamils and Sinhalese provided the grounds for the LTTE to take up armed struggle in 1977 for the pursuit of separate state.

Although the armed struggle has ceased, the option of separate state has gained ground, more at the political and diplomatic levels. So, if Tamil organisations called for the boycott of the recent elections, then this boycott must be understood in the larger backdrop of relationship between two principled nations, the failure of passive resistance, the move to take up arms, and finally, the urgings for international human rights investigation.

The ouster of Rajapakse was a good thing for Sri Lanka. Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India, was one of the leaders who responded early by congratulating Sirisena on his victory and extended invitation to visit India. India must be glad that a major embarrassment in the south has been removed democratically. British Prime Minister Cameron not only congratulated Sirisena, but asked him to allow for the unimpeded international investigation into human rights abuses in Sri Lanka.

It is hoped that the interest of democracy, justice and human rights, Sirisena takes up the challenges that were not addressed but swept under the carpet by Rajapakse.

---

P RAMASAMY is Perai assemblyperson and Penang deputy chief minister II.
 

'Paris shooting suspects didn't enter M'sia'

 

Inspector-general of Police Khalid Abu Bakar today denied that two suspects behind the Paris shootings had previously entered Malaysia.

"Checks by PDRM (found) Amedy Coulibaly and his wife Hayat Baumeddiene have never entered Malaysia," he said in a Twitter posting today.

According to international news reports, Amedy was shot dead by French police on Friday while holding hostages in a Jewish supermarket while Hayat is believed to have fled the scene.

Before that, Amedy is believed to have shot a police woman while Hayat acted as his getaway driver.

Khalid said this in response to local news report citing UK tabloid Daily Mail that the couple had visited Malaysia prior to the shooting.

Contacted later, Khalid also stressed that Malaysia was a popular tourist destination and people visiting the country does not indicate anything sinister.

"Malaysia is a popular tourist destination and just because someone comes here does not mean that it is for terrorist-related activities.

"They (French authorities) should also reveal which other countries he (Amedy) has visited based on his passport," he told Malaysiakini.

Amedy is reportedly close to Said Kouachi and Cherif Kouachi who on Wednesday attacked the office of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and killed 12 people.

Charlie Hebdo, or Charlie Weekly, is well known for courting controversy with satirical attacks on political and religious leaders of all faiths and has published numerous cartoons ridiculing Prophet Muhammad.

Conservative Muslims deem the depiction of the Prophet Muhammad or God to be blasphemous.

Catholic organisations have filed a dozen of lawsuits against the magazine for, among others, lampooning the Pope.

Violent reaction

Khalid used the violent reaction as an example to justify the government's about turn to retain the controversial Sedition Act.

“Draw a lesson from the incident in Paris. This is why we need the Sedition Act, and PDRM will not let anyone who insults religion off,” he said in another Twitter posting.

The Kouachi brother later barricaded themselves in a printing factory in Paris after police launched a hunt for them.

Amedy who was holed up at the Kosher grocery store had threaten to kill hostages if police stormed the printing factory to capture the Kouachi brothers.

French police later moved in on both locations within 30 minutes of each other, killing the Kouachi brothers and Amedy.

It was found that Amedy had earlier killed four hostages.

Lawyer’s Jakim extremism tweet falls in sedition net

But Kampar MP questions why IGP used photos from cybertrooper.

FMT

KUALA LUMPUR: Civil liberties lawyer Eric Paulsen’s remark on Thursday about “extremism” by Jakim (the Islamic affairs department) appears to have got him entangled in the current sedition campaign. And so, too, an MP’s supposed remarks about “Islamic Civilisation” studies.

They appear to be under investigation because the Inspector-General of Police, Abdul Khalid Bakar, appears to have said so in his own tweet today, but it was not clear who he wanted to be investigated.

At the same time, the Kampar MP named by Khalid questioned the IGP’s action in using the photo, which he said came from a cybertrooper’s web site.

Khalid had used two photo montages to accompany his tweet, but did not state the source.

“Statement sebegini memang wajar kita siasat dibawah Akta Hasutan. @PDRMsia akan siasat di bawah Akta Hasutan” he tweeted. (Statements such as these should be investigated under the Sedition Act. PDRM will investigate.)

It was not clear whether he was calling for Paulsen and Ko to be investigated, or whether the police would investigate those who had created the photo montages.

On Thursday Paulsen had tweeted: “Jakim is promoting extremism every Friday. Govt needs to address that if serious about extremism in Msia.”

It appeared to be a tongue-in-cheek remark about Friday sermons, drafted by Jakim, and delivered in mosques across the country.

This was reproduced on a copy of his profile photo, with the word “Biadab” written on it, and used by Khalid together with another photo montage with Ko’s supposed remarks that Islamic Civilisation be abolished.

Ko said the photos had been taken from a cybertrooper’s web site.

The MP told the Star Online that it was in July 2013 when he had made a statement urging the Education Ministry to reverse a ruling for compulsory Islamic Civilisation studies in private universities and letting them decide on their courses.

The Kampar MP questioned the IGP’s action in republishing lies by a cybertrooper, of ordering an investigation based on rumours and in propagating the photo, which would create ill-will.

MP: Why no action against IS fan sites in Malay?

Police special task force asked to explain failure in monitoring terrorist activities.

FMT

KUALA LUMPUR: The lack of police action against Malay-language web sites glorifying terrorist groups such as Islamic State has come under question.

“What has the special task force called the Police Cyber Investigation Response Centre been doing all his time in monitoring cyberspace?” said PKR international bureau chief Gooi Hsiao Leung, pointing out that the Inspector-General of Police had said the centre was equipped with the latest equipment.

Gooi said in a statement that the Malay-language websites was obviously targeted at Bahasa speaking countries like Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, naming Al-Mustaqbal.net and shoutussalam.com as being among those to spread “radical and extremist propaganda”.

The sites posed a real security threat to Malaysia, he said, and their continued existence reflected a total failure in monitoring terrorist activities on the internet.

He criticised the IGP for remarks defending the Sedition Act and said the police should take their job more seriously. “We do not need the Sedition Act, we need a new IGP,” he said.

Butt out of sedition political debate, IGP told

Surendran: Khalid should not interere in the political process

FMT

KUALA LUMPUR: The Inspector-General of Police was criticised today for interfering in the political debate about the Sedition Act by posting remarks on Twitter justifying the need to retain the act.

The MP for Padang Serai, N Surendran of PKR, said Khalid’s job as IGP confined him to law enforcement and not to policy or political matters.

His remarks were “a desperate attempt to justify continued usage of the draconian and archaic” law. Khalid had said the Paris attacks killing 12 people at the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo showed the need for the Sedition Act in order to protect the country from terrorist attacks.

He said the current debate about whether to retain the act or abolish it, between Barisan Nasional and opposition politicians as well as civil society, was a political matter.

“It is even more disturbing that the IGP has chosen to interfere in the ongoing dispute,” Surendran said. “The IGP, as a top civil servant, has no business to publicly intervene in policy or political matters.”

Surendran said the Sedition Act criminalised legitimate criticism of the government and the authorities, and asked why police were investigating assembly member Haniza Talha of PKR for questioning the federal budget allocation for Permata (the movement championed by Rosmah Mansor).

Church fails to get 9-man bench to hear ‘Allah’ review

The chief justice of Malaysia has turned down a request by the Catholic Church to convene a minimum nine-man panel to deliberate its review application against the ban on the word Allah when the case comes up on January 21.

The church was instead informed that only a five-man bench would be constituted to hear the matter.

The decision by Tun Arifin Zakaria was conveyed to the Catholic Church by the special officer to the chief justice, Dr Alwi Abdul Wahab, in a letter dated December 31.

The letter which was sighted by The Malaysian Insider, said that the request for a full bench could not be entertained. There were no reasons given on why the request was dismissed.

On December 23, a lawyer for the church had sent a letter to Arifin, urging for at least nine Muslim and non-Muslim judges to hear its arguments on fundamental constitutional provisions relating to religion.

The letter, which was also sighted by The Malaysian Insider, had said the church wanted a quorum that reflected the multi-cultural and multi-religious diversity of Malaysian society, given the nature of the issues raised.

"This is because fundamental constitutional provisions relating to state religion, freedom of minority religion, freedom of expression, which have far-reaching consequences for Malaysians of all races and religions, will be raised," the letter had said.

In February last year, lawyers for the church had asked for, and given, an unprecedented seven-man bench to hear their leave application which was dismissed in June the same year.

The review application is aimed at setting aside the ruling by the apex court's seven-man bench that upheld the Home Ministry’s ban on the use of the word “Allah” in the Catholic weekly, Herald, and establish a new panel to re-hear the leave application.

Four of the Federal Court judges, who formed the majority, had refused the leave-to-appeal application while three others took the position that leave should be granted.

"It is pertinent to note that each dissenting judge had written his or her own grounds allowing the application for leave,” the letter had said.

It had added that the church, therefore, believed that it was appropriate for at least a nine-man bench to be formed to hear the review.

The letter cited a precedent in India where a 13-man Supreme Court bench sat in 1973 to deliberate on an important constitutional issue in the case of Kesavananda Barati v the Government of Kerala.

The church also drew Arifin's attention to the October 2013 Court of Appeal ruling, which continues to raise serious public concern where parties had used portions of the judgment to seize holy books of Christians even though the majority ruling in the leave application had declared that those portions were mere remarks made in passing.

A copy of the letter was sent to the Attorney-General's Chambers and Messrs Zainul Rijal Talha and Amir, the legal firm that is representing one of the respondents.

On June 23 last year, Arifin was among the majority apex court judges who dismissed the church's application for leave to appeal.

Others were Tan Sri Raus Shariff, Tan Sri Zulkefli Ahmad Makinuddin and Tan Sri Suriyadi Halim Omar.

The dissenting judges were Tan Sri Richard Malanjum, Tan Sri Jeffrey Tan Kok Wha and Datuk Zainun Ali.

All the seven judges as well as Tan Sri Apandi Ali, who was in the Court of Appeal panel that heard the church’s case, but who is now a Federal Court judge, cannot hear the review application.

A five-man bench to hear the review application could still come from the remaining six Federal Court judges but nothing in law prevents Arifin to also scout for members in the Court of Appeal.

The church is seeking to reverse the findings of the Court of Appeal decision, which had allowed the home minister's appeal to overturn the 2009 High Court's decision that the Herald could use the word “Allah”.

The High Court had declared that the decision by the minister to ban Herald from using the word “Allah” was illegal, null and void.

The church, led by the then Kuala Lumpur Archdiocese Archbishop Emeritus Tan Sri Murphy Pakiam had filed a judicial review application in 2009, naming the minister and the government as respondents.

Lawyer Benjamin Dawson, a member of the church's legal team, had said the review was based on three broad grounds.

The first was that there were certain legal issues central to the leave application but were not considered by the Federal Court, such as the scope of Articles 3 and 11 of the Federal Constitution.

Article 3 states that Islam is the official religion of the federation while Article 11 touches on freedom to practise one's religion.

The church further contended that the minister's decision to prohibit the use of the word “Allah” in the Herald had also taken into account a theological consideration.

Dawson had said that the second ground was that the apex court's majority judgment decided on certain legal issues, which were neither argued nor raised by the parties before the Federal Court or the Court of Appeal, such as the constitutional validity of Section 9 of the Anti-Propagation Enactment.

The third ground is that the Herald's case is one of the most important constitutional cases to come before the apex court, especially where minority rights are concerned.

He added that there existed a public-interest factor to support the review application. – January 11, 2015.

- See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/church-fails-to-get-9-man-bench-to-hear-allah-review#sthash.zTayqc4t.dpuf

Malaysia Views Terrorism Threat Seriously - Najib

PEKAN, Jan 10 (Bernama) -- Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said Malaysia viewed the threat of terrorism that recently saw certain countries being targeted for attack, seriously.

Noting the latest incident at the office of the French satirical weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris on Wednesday, he said terrorism was no longer an issue that any one country could deal with on its own.

"It is crucial for us to strengthen cooperation with like-minded countries including sharing of intelligence.

"If we know someone to be a potential terrorist, then the enforcement agencies greatly need the information in order to take preventive measures before any incident could happen," he told a media conference here today.

He was at the flood operation centre in Baitul Rahah after visiting the IKBN Paloh Hinai flood evacuation centre and some affected villages around Pekan.

Accompanying him was wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, Pahang Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Adnan Yaakob and Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Dr Ewon Ebin.

The prime minister said other than streamlining the existing laws, a new Act to avert terrorism threats and militant activities would also be proposed in parliament in March.

He said the move was necessary to give more clout to the relevant authorities to take preventive measures on suspected individuals or groups.

Earlier, Najib, with Rosmah joined a 'gotong royong' at Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Serambi before presenting school bags and shoes to the children at the villages.

He was at SK Padang Rumbia for a similar community programme, and also surveyed the flood situation at Kampung Lamir Pekan.

-- BERNAMA

“If someone offends the prophet then there is no problem, we can kill him”

“Whoever curses a Prophet, kill him. Whoever curses my Companions, beat him.” — Muhammad
 
Muhammad asked: “Who is willing to kill Ka’b bin Al-Ashraf who has hurt Allah and His Apostle?” One of the Muslims, Muhammad bin Maslama, answered, “O Allah’s Apostle! Would you like that I kill him?” When Muhammad said that he would, Muhammad bin Maslama said, “Then allow me to say a (false) thing (i.e. to deceive Kab).” Muhammad responded: “You may say it.” Muhammad bin Maslama duly lied to Ka’b, luring him into his trap, and murdered him. (Bukhari 5.59.369)

“A Jewess used to abuse the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) and disparage him. A man strangled her till she died. The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) declared that no recompense was payable for her blood.” (Sunan Abu-Dawud 38.4349)

“Paris Killer Cherif Kouachi Gave Interview to TV Channel Before He Died,” by Emmanuelle Saliba, NBC News, January 10, 2015 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):

Holed up inside a printing factory outside Paris, Cherif Kouachi spoke by phone to a French television network during a seven-hour standoff on Friday with French security forces.

Kouachi and his brother, Said, were later killed in a raid. One hostage inside the plant was freed.
Here is a partial transcript of the interview between Kouachi and Igor Sahiri, a journalist for France’s BFMTV, as translated by NBC News:

Kouachi: We’re telling you that we are the prophet’s defenders peace and blessings be upon him, and that I, Cherif Kouachi, was sent by Yemen’s Al-Qaeda. OK?

Interviewer: OK, OK.

Kouachi: I went there and it was Anwar Al-Awlaki who financed me.

Interviewer: And how long ago was this?

Kouachi: It was before he was killed.

Interviewer: ok, so you came back to France not long ago ?

Kouachi: No, a long time ago…I know the secret service, don’t worry about it. I know very well how I was able to do things well.

Interviewer: Ok, and now there’s only you and your brother?

Kouachi: That’s not your problem.

Interviewer: But do you have people behind you, or not?

Kouachi: That’s not your problem.

Interviewer: Ok, but do you plan to kill again in the name of Allah or not?
Kouachi: Kill who?

Interviewer: I don’t know, I’m asking you the question.

Kouachi: Did we kill civilians during the two days you’ve been looking for us?

Interviewer: You killed journalists.

Kouachi: But did we kill civilians? Civilians or people during the two days that you looked for us? Or people during the two days you’ve been looking for us?

Interviewer: Wait, wait Cherif, Cherif, did you kill this morning?

Kouachi: We are not killers. We are defenders of the prophet, we don’t kill women. We kill no one. We defend the prophet. If someone offends the prophet then there is no problem, we can kill him. We don’t kill women. We are not like you. You are the ones killing women and children in Syria ,Iraq and Afghanistan. This isn’t us. We have an honor code in Islam.

Interviewer: But you just sought revenge here, you killed 12 people.

Kouachi: Yes, because we sought revenge. You just said it well. You said it yourself, we sought revenge….

Charlie Hebdo jihad mentor's wife lives on welfare in UK

Gangsta to the roots - Gangsta or civil society?

 

COMMENT The relationship between the concept of democracy and civil society is central to understanding the dynamics of the Malaysian system. The general concept of civil society goes back to antiquity as an arena between the state and the people; and took a peculiar meaning in the 1970s, an era marked by the political upheaval in Eastern Europe. Since then the concept of civil society has been prescribed as a pre-requisite for democracy and democratisation.

Civil society has become a prism through which developing countries are evaluated by international agencies: “good” or “bad” governance, or “dictatorship or democracy”. Civil society would be one of the numerous milestones to pass when achieving a complete democratisation.

The growth and vibrancy of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) as a main component of civil society, is utilised as an indicator of “progress” and the “quality of the NGOs and their network” has turned into a measure to evaluate the level of democratisation. NGOs have become a gauge of good governance - or at least improved governance.

This definition puts democracy as a system guaranteed and sustained by the existence of a civil society as the strongest and unquestionable bastion against abuse by the state apparatus.

Interestingly the nature of NGOs is rarely challenged except when carrying religious messages, and more specifically towards Islam. Great attention has been paid to Islamic NGOs whose ideological inclinations have raised doubts, even more so in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks in New York.

In Malaysia, most NGOs are understood as occupying the political space in opposition to the ruling party in general, and thus to Umno. In fact, any mention of pro-governmental NGOs remains rare in the analysis of Malaysian politics.

However, there is a division within  pro-opposition civil society organisations: between the Islamist on the one hand and the secular or non-religious organisations on the other. Thus when we look at connivance militants we are looking at a large slice of the public sphere that has been totally ignored.

The civil bluff

The independence of NGOs in the public sphere is questionable in Malaysia.

A large number of NGOs in Malaysia are in fact embodying the interest of political parties, in different aspects; such as diffusing the party’s idea, supporting the party’s idea, supporting and/or getting involved in its public actions, initiating political action such as demonstrations or violence serving the party’s interest. Lee Hock Guan (2004) reminds us that the limitations of the concept have not stopped observers, academics, and activists from using the term while being inspired from its western interpretation.

But its definition should rather go along the parameters of the local political context.

Civil society in Malaysia dates back to the pre-independence period, when nationalism and political emancipation from colonial rule and most importantly citizenship rights, were organising forces.

From the 1970s, the number of organisations, mostly crafted along ethnic lines more so than classist division due to deeply entrenched ethnic sentiments, continued to grow but “this growth did not necessarily translate into a democratisation process in all of them” since governments used and implemented a “combination of legal and coercive instruments to exert control” (Lee 2004:12).

Ramasamy (2004) explores an alternative perspective according which: (1) The state and civil society are not antagonistic, but share a relationship in the enforcement of domination; (2) Civil society is divided by pro and opponents to the state; (3) The state seeks to dominate civil society; (4) Civil society is an arena of contestation; the dominant will then own a method for manufacturing consent necessary for political domination; (5) It is an arena for competition and conflict of ideas in which the state may not dominate as non-state forces are participating.

However in Malaysia, the perception of civil society as being in opposition to the state, and the assumption that there exists a deep political divide between the two is still common. This view does not pay much attention to groups, or organisation, in association to the state or to political parties, more specifically to the ruling party. The way the NGO scene has been portrayed in the literature raises a few problems despite the warning by Lee (2004) and Ramasamy (2004).

The concepts of NGO and civil society, as understood in western literature, is inadequate for the Malaysian context for two main reasons: (1) NGO are by definition non-governmental and that implies independence vis-à-vis the state and the government, and (2) the idea that civil society is often described as being an opposition force to governmental or state power.

This simply means that the existence of NGOs that is pro-governmental or in close relationship to political parties, and even sometimes shadow surrogates of the state authority, has been completely ignored.

Protean disguise

Since the creation of the Federation of Malaysia in its contemporary geographical boundaries, the expressions of Malay nationalism were mainly to be found in the discourse and actions of the ruling party (Umno) and its Youth Wing (Pemuda Umno). While the Islamist party PAS was (and remains) the traditional ambassador of a more religiously conservative part of the Malay community.

The emergence of new ethno-nationalist groups endorsed by the party’s old guard can be interpreted as a sub-contraction of Umno’s pro-Malay discourse. The rising of these new groups pushing the ketuanan Melayu (Malay supremacy) rhetoric should be seen as the preliminary emergence of a new fringe of civil society.

These new entities were acting as pressure groups on the government by creating a non-party (and non-state) right wing - but until 2008 were not yet seen as constitutive of a coherent movement.

The realities of the political system are a summation of practices, mostly beyond the state’s legal frame, used to perpetuate power. The reality this research exposes is the creation of umbrella entities that were created to institutionalise and thus legalise the relationship between gangs and the ruling party.

The liberalisation of the public sphere and the creation of new spaces of expression such as “civil society;” creates a façade of free expression and development of “independent” bodies outside of the realm of the state - the non-governmental organisations - have set the ground for such institutionalisation.

The very existence, and need, for civil society has indeed favoured the development of this relationship while allowing the political involvement of gangs to be legalised through the creation of umbrella NGOs. This relationship - key to our study - has not been explored fully and the existence of pro-governmental NGO created to support the ruling party has been mostly ignored.

In Malaysia “civil society” is in fact an aggregate of non-governmental organisations whose official purpose is to represent the people’s interests, framed by political and legal fetters that limit their actions. This virtual space should be seen as a civil extension of the political spheres where political parties’ surrogates and/or connivance militants, debate, demonstrate, and fight, arbitrated by the state rules.

In that sense, civil society is a tool to create an official and legal umbrella for gangs and thus institutionalise their relationship with the ruling party.

The institutionalisation of gangs to NGOs has been initiated by the opportunities that arise in the post-Mahathir Mohamad era. These opportunities emerged from exogenous and endogenous factors. First, following the resignation of Mahathir, there emerged a new space for NGOs created by the liberalisation of civil society.

Secondly, in this context of relative liberalisation, the ruling party has had to face growing discontent relayed primarily through the alternative media and a stronger opposition. Some ruling party leaders have had the need for connivance militants. Thirdly, the leadership crisis that occurred at the death of PLB in 2006 precipitates the split of Pekida into several new branches each of which created its own NGO chapters to access the market of political militancy.

Informed observers have not noticed the presence of gangs in the political landscape mostly because these gangs are disguising (travestying) themselves. This potential to adapt to survive in any context has led these entities to adopt a timely form to publicise part of their activity (political militancy) while protecting others (illegal business). The political activities of connivance militants oscillate between the legal and illegal, licit and illicit.

Gangs have travestied into NGOs; traversing the frontier from the underground world to the light of the public sphere in order to offer support to political parties. In a different political, sociological, historical and geographical context, the ideological umbrella could have been leftist, anarchist, or feminist, etc; and the main patron of these movements could have been any other political party in need for support - whether a ruling party or an opposition party.

It is clear that the development of connivance militancy is favoured by a state’s opaqueness; nevertheless connivance militants groups may exist in every context. Their nature and action shaped according to the geographical, political, social and historical singularities.

Gangs are not just used as entrepreneurs of violence, but are part of the process of legitimising authoritarian power, a complex system not limited to Malaysia alone. With the new political challenges facing the ruling party vis-à-vis the rise of the opposition, a need for reinforcing the system emerged. This need explains the reason why the political role of gangs has grown since 2008.

Nevertheless, the empowerment of gangs and the newly gained confidence of their leaders have fostered new ambitions. Some gang leaders, fearing a change of government and in the interest of preserving their access to resources, have turned to the opposition. This change in allegiance shows, as well, that the state system of legitimation has reached its limits, challenged by growing citizen awareness and increased access to alternative political discourse.

Gangs are part of the political system and should not be seen as an ephemeral phenomenon but rather structural entities with relative influence on the political scene, and able to adapt to contextual changes.

Part I: Gangsta to the roots - a Gangsta's paradise

Part II: Gangsta to the roots - Gangsta through the years

Part III: Gangsta beyond stereotypes

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SOPHIE LEMIÈRE is the Jean Monnet Post-doctoral Fellow at the European University Institute, Florence, Italy. She holds a PhD and a Masters in Comparative Politics from Sciences-Po (France). She is the author of Misplaced Democracy: Malaysian Politics and People. The above first appeared in New Mandala.

Zahid is hoist by his own petard

 

COMMENT Home Minister Zahid Hamidi - sometime enforcer of the ‘Shoot first, ask questions later’ policy towards criminal suspects - has got his knickers caught in a wringer.

He may well discover that no species of machismo and the popularity it draws is as fleeting as that bestowed by the Umno elector.

Fifteen months ago, Zahid solidified his position as Umno’s top vice-president with a stance towards criminal suspects that bristled with machismo.

Umno’s electors duly endorsed the hard line stance of its top lawman by re-endorsing him as the No 3 in the party’s hierarchy.

At that time a rash of gangland slayings and the perception it spawned of a spiralling crime rate caused widespread public unease.

Home Minister Zahid, with eye on the approaching party polls, decided to play to the ‘Hit ‘em hard’ gallery by delivering one of the more astonishing speeches on law and order to issue from the mouth of someone in a key position in our criminal justice system.

“I think the best way is that we no longer compromise with them [criminal suspects],” remarked Zahid (left in photo) at a security briefing to scores of community leaders in Malacca in early October last year.

Aware of mounting public concern over the spate of executions in what looked like gang drug wars and criminal suspects shootouts with police, Zahid decided to assume the mantle of ‘Dirty Harry’, actor Clint Eastwood’s enactment of the cop with little patience for such niceties as the rights of suspects.

Zahid went on to enunciate the policy of ‘Shoot first, ask questions later’.   

He told his audience in Malacca, apropos of the rising crime rate: “There is no need to give them [criminal suspects] any more warning. If [we] get the evidence, [we] shoot first.”

The speech drew plaudits from his audience and erstwhile supporters of the school of thought that when the crime rate goes up, it must be because of permissiveness towards criminals.

Of course, this policy of ‘Shoot first, ask questions later’ sent shivers down the spine of human rights watchers and rule of law advocates.

This school warned that the spiral in the number of custodial deaths and incidents of criminal suspects shot to death in encounters with cops were indicative that mafia-like codes were at work and would only engender disrespect for the law and violence.

Scruples more hindrance than help

The home minister decided that such scruples were more hindrance than help; ‘Shoot first, ask questions later’ was going to be the morality of the day.

Also, Zahid’s briefing in Malacca was freighted with racist undertones.

In seeking to justify his stance on grounds of concern for the plight of crime’s victims, the minister argued, “What is the situation of robber victims, murder victims during shootings? Most of them are our Malays. Most of them are our race.”

But as exponents of the school of watchful restraint know, an enforcer’s unseemly haste nourishes the seeds of his own destruction.

Now it seems that Zahid has gone out on a limb and done precisely that: he wrote a letter to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, vouching for the bona fides of a criminal suspect, a Malaysian under indictment in the United States for running a gambling racket during soccer’s World Cup in June.

Zahid sent the letter on his own volition, without consulting Malaysian police nor his ministerial cohort.

By itself the letter was an extraordinary act of vouchsafing for a criminal suspect alleged to have been involved in a transnational triad activities; it was bizarre when it went on to assert that the same person Zahid vouched for has helped the Malaysian state on ‘national security’ issues.

If a Malaysian suspected to have run a billion dollar World Cup gambling racket in the United States during football's quadrennial summit last June has helped the Malaysian government on ‘national security’ issues, can we infer that a long-held suspicion of the nexus between business and politics in the country has arrived at highly toxic levels?

Would the government of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak react the way the Congress Party government in India did in 2005 when its external affairs minister was found by a UN probe in its Iraqi Oil-for-Food (OFF) programme to have been received illicit payments from the scam?

Natwar Singh was forced to resign by the ruling Congress Party when he was named, together with several ministers in other governments involved in the programme, by the UN probe as a beneficiary of the scandal.

His resignation was coerced to prevent the proliferating tentacles of the scandal from besmirching the incumbent government of India.

“India’s foreign minister cannot be an agent of any other government,” said his successor, Manmohan Singh, in justification of the boot for Natwar.

Would Zahid’s boss, Prime Minister Najib, be able to say the same about Zahid and act accordingly in respect of his home minister’s faux pas?

Just as ‘Shoot first, ask questions later’ was never sound policy, so ‘Vouch first, think later’ is an untenable - worse yet - impugnable stance. 

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TERENCE NETTO has been a journalist for more than four decades. A sobering discovery has been that those who protest the loudest tend to replicate the faults they revile in others.

'This is what happens when you insult the Prophet'

According to Perkasa president Ibrahim Ali, the Charlie Hebdo attack in France was the result when people insult Prophet Muhammad, and thus hurt the feelings of Muslims.

"When the French government did not do anything (on the publication of caricatures against the Prophet), those insulted took the law into their own hands.

"Although we condemn the attack, this is what happens when you insult or get involved in others' religious affairs," he said in a press conference in Kuala Lumpur today.

France was on high alert this week after 12 people were killed at the Paris offices of satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, a weekly known for lampooning religion and politics.

Two brothers wanted for the bloody attack were killed yesterday when anti-terrorist police stormed their hideout.

Meanwhile, echoing Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar on the need for the Sedition Act, Ibrahim said the attack had proven the relevance of the Internal Security Act (ISA) and the Sedition Act in Malaysia.

"If there is no Sedition Act then such things will happen in Malaysia. The police need an effective instrument to handle security issues," he said.

'Not targeted because of fake names'

Ibrahim said there were many insults made against Prophet Muhammad on social media and because such people use fake names online, they have not been targeted.

"Imagine if we know who is behind those accounts. And without the Sedition Act, it would not be impossible for such attacks to happen.

"That's why I agree with (Defence Minister) Hishammuddin Hussein," he said.

Hishammuddin yesterday had said that the attack could also happen in the country.

Ibrahim himself came under investigation for sedition when he allegedly called for the burning of Malay bibles, but attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail did not charge him of the crime because the remark "does not fall within the definition of seditious tendency".

According to the attorney-general, Ibrahim had no intention to create religious disharmony and was "defending the sanctity of Islam" when he called for the burning of the bibles.

Meanwhile, on a separate matter, commenting on French researcher Sophie Lemiere who had said that Ibrahim was a "communication genius", the former politician said it was proof that he is "important".

"I'm a nobody. I'm not a minister, not an MP, but I became the focus because I'm the punching bag.

"Even when Gerakan or MCA loses in elections, people say it's Perkasa's fault," said Ibrahim, adding that he is simply misunderstood and a victim of media spin.

Anonymous declares war over Charlie Hebdo attack

Dramatic video shows raid in hostage situation (kosher grocery store in paris)

From bikini babe to burka-clad jihadi fighter with a crossbow: 'Wife' of Kosher supermarket killer becomes France's most wanted woman after going on the run

• Hayat Boumeddiene, 26, is the 'wife' of Amedy Coulibaly, who killed a policewoman and four hostages in a kosher bakery
• Coulibaly was then killed as commandos stormed building
• But accomplice Boumeddiene is on the loose and police warn she is dangerous
• Brothers Said and Cherif Kouachi also killed as they tried to fight their way out of a print works 25 miles from Paris

Hayat Boumeddiene (left)

By Fidelma Cook and Peter Allen In France and Jenny Stanton For Mailonline

Wearing a skimpy bikini with her arms wrapped around her lover's waist, this is Hayat Boumeddiene before she turned into a jihadi killer's accomplice and became France's most wanted woman.

Photographs of the 'wife' of the Kosher supermarket hostage killer reveal how she was radicalised by the man she would go on to marry.

Her husband Amedy Coulibaly is dead, one of the three terrorists who brought France to a halt in 48 hours of bloodshed.

Now, 26-year-old Boumeddiene is on the run and is believed to be 'armed and dangerous'.

Coulibaly died in a hail of bullets along with four hostages in the storming of the Jewish supermarket.

But Boumeddiene may have eluded capture during the confusion as the hostages were running away, police said.

The couple 'married' in a religious ceremony after Boumedienne, who was never seen without her veil, waited four years for him to come out of jail following his conviction for armed robbery.

The couple were never married in a civil ceremony – the only marriage legally accepted in France.

While Coulibaly had a well documented track record, Boumeddiene tonight remains a shadowy figure.

But it’s becoming clear that the one-time cashier was radicalised after meeting the man she would marry.

She is from an Algerian background and altered her surname to ‘make it sound more French', according to an investigating source.

She told police who interviewed her as part of their inquiries into Coulibaly’s murky dealings with Islamic extremists that she had walked away from a low-paid job as a cashier in the Juvisy suburb of Paris in 2009 and taken the veil. She ‘devoted herself’ to Coulibay.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2903601/Wife-Kosher-supermarket-killer-armed-dangerous-run-police-warn.html

Inside the kosher store siege: First chilling image shows murdered hostage after dramatic standoff ends with deaths of terrorist and 'at least four' captives

• The hostage taker was Amedy Coulibaly, 32, who was responsible for shooting dead a policewoman yesterday
• In the hours after the raid, police stand guard at the store where bodies of the victims are seen lying on the floor
• An Israeli government official said 15 hostages were rescued while French president confirmed four people killed
• Series of explosions rocked the building as armed police launched their raid in the suburb Port de Vincennes
• It comes two days after Cherif and Said Kouachi massacred 12 people at the satirical magazine offices in Paris

By Gemma Mullin and Corey Charlton and Peter Allen and Tom Wyke and Jay Akbar and Fidelma Cook For Mailonline

This first chilling image shows one of the hostages caught up in the siege at the Paris kosher store lying dead after a standoff between police and the gunman ends in the deaths of four captives.

Amedy Coulibaly, who was killed in the raid, had taken several people hostage - including women and children - and was threatening to kill them if police attempted to storm the Charlie Hebdo terrorists who, at the time, were engaged in a similar standoff with police.

In the hours after the dramatic raid on the store, an Israeli government official said 15 hostages were rescued while French president Francois Hollande confirmed that four people were killed. Meanwhile police stand guard at the store, where bodies still lie on the floor.

The four captives that died were killed when the assailant entered the store and not when police tried to rescue them, according to a Paris prosecutor.

Coulibaly was also responsible for the fatal shooting of a policewoman yesterday. It has now been suggested this attack may have been an aborted attempt to attack a Jewish school.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2903950/First-chilling-image-shows-murdered-hostage-dramatic-standoff-ends-deaths-terororist-four-captives.html

Killers came out guns blazing: Hero hiding in cardboard box guided police by texts as they moved in to take out jihadi brothers

• Lilian Lepere, 27, hid in a box during siege with Charlie Hebdo gunmen
• He was initially trapped inside with father Pascal Lepère who then escaped
• Graphic designer sent desperate text calling for police to take action
• His intelligence input gave police a critical edge in timing the assault
• Al Qaeda brothers Said and Cherif Kouachi were both shot dead by police
• Hostage, Michel Catalano, is believed to have been rescued alive

By Tom Kelly and Jenny Awford and Claire Duffin and Hannah Roberts for the Daily Mail

Holed up in a printworks and surrounded by police, killers Said and Cherif Kouachi were unaware that commandos were being tipped off about their every move.

For, hidden in a cardboard box just yards away was 27-year-old Lilian Lepere.

And he was able to alert police about the location of the gunmen and the layout of the building.

For more than six hours the graphic designer passed on crucial information until the siege ended in a bloody shootout as the terrorist brothers, who had vowed to die as martyrs, burst out from their lair all guns blazing and were mown down in a hail of bullets.

From inside his claustrophobic hideout, Mr Lepere had first sent a text message to his father when the Kouachis took over the print works at Dammartin-en-Goele, a small town just north of Paris.

He wrote: ‘I am hidden on the first floor. I think they have killed everyone. Tell the police to intervene.’

It is understood he was in a locked room. He continued to provide vital information to police and special forces via his phone as snipers took up position on surrounding rooftops and helicopters buzzed overhead.

Mr Lepere emerged unscathed from the shootout and was taken to a psychological assessment unit where it is understood he was to be reunited with his family last night.

A hostage held at gunpoint by the terrorists was also freed. The Kouachi brothers had been on the run since killing 12 journalists and police officers in a terror raid on the offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris on Wednesday.

As the huge manhunt for them continued, they dumped their stolen getaway car and fled on foot into a forest 50 miles north of the capital.

This morning they managed to evade the huge police dragnet and just after 8am hijacked a grey Peugeot 206 being driven by a woman teacher near Montagny-Sainte-Felicite, 30 miles north-east of Paris. Jean Paul Douet, the mayor of the village, said a colleague saw the men force the woman into the back seat.

‘She saw their weapons, and in particular their rocket-propelled grenade launcher,’ he said.

The teacher was freed unhurt soon afterwards, then dozens of police cars began chasing the fugitives along the N2 highway towards Paris. During the chase, shots were exchanged.

The brothers dumped their car and fled on foot to a family-run printing company on an industrial estate in Dammartin-en-Goele.

They burst into the business – posing as armed police – and took the company’s boss hostage.

Armed police surrounded the building and sealed off the town of 8,000 people.

All businesses closed, nearly 1,000 children were evacuated from schools and the streets were left deserted except for lines of police vehicles and units of heavily armed officers clad in combat gear. Masked and helmeted troopers with automatic weapons were seen peering out of a blue helicopters buzzing overhead.

Michel Carn, a resident, said: ‘The whole zone is surrounded. We are confined to our homes.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2903870/The-hostage-terrorists-didn-t-know-Print-worker-hid-box-texted-police-Charlie-Hebdo-gunmen-held-boss-captive-final-showdown.html

Ex-Muslim Girlfriend of Murdered Hebdo Cartoonist, “No Moderate Islam”

By Frontpagemag

Jeannette Bougrab was the girlfriend of Charlie Hebdo’s editor-in-chief Stéphane “Charb” Charbonnier and she spoke out about the murders.

In emotional interviews, 41-year-old Jeannette Bougrab said: ‘I always knew he was going to die like Theo Van Gogh (the Dutch cartoonist murdered in 2004).’

‘I begged him to leave France but he wouldn’t. My companion is dead because he drew in a newspaper.’

Miss Bougrab, who had lived with Charb and her adopted daughter May for three years, added sadly: ‘He never had children because he knew he was going to die. He lived without fear, but he knew he would die.’

Proudly, Bougrab added: ‘He died standing.

‘He defended secularism. He defended the spirit of Voltaire. He, in fact, was really the fruit of this ideal of the Republic that we’ve almost forgotten.

‘He died, executed with his comrades, as he would say.’

Bougrab, a member of the French National Council of State who served under Nicolas Sarkozy’s administration has been described as a ‘hard secularist’.

The daughter of Algerian immigrants she is known as a fierce critic of religion, particularly of Islam.

In interviews, she said that…

‘I am here, not as a former government minister, but as a woman who has lost her man, who has been murdered by barbarians.

‘I admired him before I fell in love with him and I loved him because of the way he was, because he was brave. He thought that life was a small thing when he was defending his ideals.’

‘Then I would like that today that it was explained to me what’s happening in France. And I think some will not pursue the adventure of Charlie [Hebdo] because they are terrified, because they are scared for their lives, because it’s now known that today in France you pick up a pencil and that may kill you. That’s it, that’s France today. I don’t know… We must stop being langue de boi [literally, wooden languange, it refers to speaking in a politically correct and vague way], we must stop and say, today there are policemen, innocents in the streets who died, and people who drew who have been killed in France.’

In the past, Bougrab, a member of the center-right UMP party, had spoken out strongly against Islam.

A French minister said there was no such thing as moderate Islam, calling recent election successes by Islamic parties in Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia “worrying” in an interview published Saturday.

Jeannette Bougrab, a junior minister with responsibility for youth, told Le Parisien newspaper that legislation based on Islamic sharia law “inevitably” imposed restrictions on rights and freedoms.

Bougrab is of Algerian origin, whose father fought on the French colonial side during Algeria’s war of independence, and said she was speaking as “a French woman of Arab origin.”

“It’s very worrying,” she was quoted as saying. “I don’t know of any moderate Islam.”

France: 82% of people feel Muslims are showing no condemnation of terrorism in France

‘Stop asking me to apologise’ for jihadists, say French Muslims

by Tony TODD France24, 

As Muslims demonstrated against the “barbarism” of the Islamic State (IS) group outside the main mosque in Paris on Friday, pressure on the Muslim community to denounce Islamist militancy has been described as Islamophobic “madness”.

Friday afternoon’s demonstration follows this week’s murder of French hiker Hervé Gourdel, kidnapped in Algeria by the militant group calling themselves Jund al-Khalifa, which claims links to the IS group.

Many Muslims in France reacted spontaneously to express their disgust at the brutal killing. Online, the Twitter hashtag #NotInMyName – started by British Muslims to denounce the actions of the IS group – was taken up in France (#PasEnMonNom).

But despite the widespread anguish in France’s large Muslim community – the country’s Muslim population is estimated at upwards of five million, many of them of Algerian descent – expectations in some quarters that they should collectively criticise the extremists have caused a backlash.

‘Ineptitude’

On Thursday the conservative daily Le Figaro ran an editorial calling on Muslims to “take to the streets to denounce these barbarians”.

The same newspaper was blasted for “ineptitude” by its own journalists when it published an online poll asking readers if there had been “sufficient condemnation by French Muslims of the assassination of Hervé Gourdel”. Some 82 percent of respondents said there hadn’t been enough of an outcry. The poll was taken down just hours later.

“This question effectively insinuates that the entire Muslim community is somehow complicit or even complacent when it comes to terrorism,” Le Figaro’s editorial oversight committee (Société des Journalistes, SDJ) said in a statement.

‘Stop asking me to apologise’

Nourredine, a Parisian Muslim of North African descent, told FRANCE 24 on Thursday that he was horrified by Gourdel’s killing – but refused to accept any link between the murder and his religious faith.

“I will not be going to the Paris Mosque (where Friday’s demonstration is due to take place),” he said. “If I had to go, it would be as a Frenchman, horrified at the beheading of one of my compatriots, but not as a Muslim. Are Christians expected to demonstrate against the excesses of the Klu Klux Klan?”

Writing in the Nouvel Observateur weekly news magazine, researcher Moussa Bourekba begged his “colleagues, neighbours and friends to stop asking me to apologise in the name of my religion”.

“These [Islamist] men and women do not worship the God that I worship and I doubt they know him at all,” he wrote. “If the murder [of Gourdel] horrifies and upsets me, it is as a human being.”

“I don’t go around asking Catholics to apologise in the name of all Christians every time there is a paedophilia scandal,” he added. “And I would never ask Protestants to publicly condemn [Norwegian mass murderer] Anders Breivik. Just like these people, the madmen who killed Hervé Gourdel are not of my community.”

‘We are all filthy French’

Earlier this week the IS group urged its militants to “kill a disbelieving American or European – especially the spiteful and filthy French”.

On Friday a group of prominent French Muslims used Le Figaro’s website – which had called on them to “take to the streets” the day before – to respond to the militants’ call to violence in language that explicitly separated their Islamic faith from the murderous language of the IS group.

“No one can assume the right to speak in our name,” they wrote. “And to show our solidarity [with France] in the present dramatic circumstances, it is an honour for us to declare that we, too, are ‘filthy French’.”

They added that the image of French Muslims needed to change.

“Instead of being seen as jihadists or fundamentalists, we need to be viewed as ordinary citizens who want to live in our faith and within the laws of the French Republic.”

Bukit Aman sees red over Bangi shop selling militant merchandise

Federal police are expected to come down hard on their counterparts in Selangor following reports today of a shop in Bandar Baru Bangi selling Islamic State (IS) merchandise.

A source told The Malaysian Insider that all district and state police contingents had been briefed last year on detecting and reporting militant activities.

"Although this is just a shop which sells T-shirts, flags and caps, but these items are militant-themed and bear the symbols of such group.

"It is tantamount to promoting terrorism and the police in the area should have taken action or alerted Bukit Aman (Federal police)," the source said.

The Malaysian Insider was made aware of efforts by Bukit Aman last year to educate state and district police on being alert about militant activities.

"A hotline was set up for state and district police to alert Bukit Aman should they have any information about such activities, including promoting militancy."

The source said it was disappointing to read about the existence of the shop.

The Star today reported that it was doing brisk business.

“I am doing this for Allah and if I am doing it for Him, I should not be afraid,” the shopkeeper, who declined to be named, told the daily.

From the outside, the shop appears nondescript, belying the controversial items sold within.

Filled with militant-themed flags, T-shirts and caps, the shop sells items bearing the symbols of militant groups, especially the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (Isis) and Taliban.

The shopkeeper said he has been operating for three months, with the items made and imported from Indonesia.

The Star reported that the shop seemed to be a hub for militants and their supporters who go there to equip themselves with the latest Isis paraphernalia.

Isis T-shirts are retailing at RM59, while stickers with Isis and Taliban logos are going for RM5 to RM10 each.

Some of the T-shirts were emblazoned with phrases like “Mujahideen cyberspace” and “We declare war against the Zionists”.

“There is a high demand for the merchandise and business is picking up since the store opened three months ago," the shopkeeper was quoted as saying.

He said the shop was a family business. – January 9, 2014.

- See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/bukit-aman-sees-red-over-bangi-shop-selling-militant-merchandise#sthash.LoU4wtyq.dpuf

Gopal: We mutually agreed to part company

Former Federal Court judge and senior lawyer Gopal Sri Ram said he mutually agreed to leave the law firm of Soo Thien Ming & Nashrah as a consultant.

Denying that he was pressured to bow out from the firm following his decision to represent Anwar Ibrahim in the Sodomy II case before the Federal Court, Sri Ram said he was still good friends with the firm.

"Please do not create stories that will affect our friendship," he told Malaysiakini.

Sri Ram said this when asked about a report by The Malaysian Insider that he was pressured to leave the firm for representing Anwar, a move that has surprised many.

He said he has formed his own firm following their mutual agreement for him to leave as a consultant with Soo Thien Ming & Nashrah.

"I just wanted to do cases I liked, so that there is no conflict," Sri Ram said, without elaborating further.

Before entering the judiciary from private practice, he founded the legal firm Sri Ram & Co, whose name remained till today.

Sri Ram was the first to be appointed from private practice straight to the Court of Appeal, in 1994.

Known for delivering judgments immediately after hearing submissions from lawyers, he was not promoted for many years remained an appelate judge.

He was finally appointed to the apex court by former chief justice Zaki Azmi in 2009.

Sri Ram, who is 70, retired as Federal Court judge in 2010 at the age of 66, the mandatory retirement age for judges.

Returning lawyer, critical cases

As a returning lawyer, he appeared mostly at the Court of Appeal and Federal Court, on several cases, albeit some controversial ones, in which he was scheduled to represent Pakatan Rakyat on several election petition cases.

He also appeared for Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor (Syabas) in its suit against the Selangor government.

However, the biggest surprise was when he appeared as the leading counsel for Anwar's defence team, taking over from the late Bukit Gelugor MP and DAP stalwart Karpal Singh, and senior lawyer and former Bar Council chairperson Sulaiman Abdullah, who had not fully recovered from a surgery.

His move to represent Anwar was heavily criticised.

Responding to the rap, Sri Ram said a lawyer is "like a cab driver, where if someone stops him, he takes them in".

Sri Ram appeared in Anwar's appeal hearing at the Federal Court, where submissions were heard for eight days and for which judgment is still pending.

Chief Justice Arifin Zakaria has hinted that Anwar's verdict could be delivered after six months, citing that judges at the upper courts are given leeway in terms of time to deliver the judgments if the case is complex.

 

Pressure mounts on Penang to implement FOI

 

Pressure is mounting from several sectors for the Penang government to get the much-touted Freedom of Information (FOI) Act enforced, and to clear all doubts about its commitment to transparency.

Gerakan national legal and human rights bureau chief Baljit Singh criticised the state administration for “freezing” information instead of freeing it.

He jested, in words laced with sarcasm, “They have frozen the information, there are more ice particles on Penang’s FOI than the Disney movie Frozen.”

“So like the theme song in Frozen, the state government must let it go, set the information free.”

Baljit said BN and other stakeholders have given their recommendations on the FOI and it should be enforced by now.

“There was a lot of publicity done on the matter before the 13th general election but that, too, has come and gone. They have won but where are their promises?

“Pakatan Rakyat often criticised BN for promises unfulfilled, but what about this?” he queried.

Baljit (left) noted that the enactment has already been enforced in Selangor although there was less “noise” there about it.

He concurs that the officials in Komtar, where the state administration offices are housed, are in “total darkness” regarding the issue until today.

“I want to get details on the third link or the undersea bed tunnel that links the island to Butterworth - what is the status now? Is it going on as announced or not?

“I am also dying to know the tendering process, details of project, reports from the Department of Environment and contracts signed between the parties involved in constructing the third link.

“We will be very grateful to the state government if they can release this information to us in the spirit of the FOI.

“The people want to know as the state administration has proclaimed it’s administration is run based on CAT (competency, accountability and transparency principles.”

‘NGOs are in the dark’

Aliran’s Anil Netto also claims that the NGOs are in the dark over the implementation of the FOI.

“Was it just a gimmick or would be it be implemented to benefit the people?” Netto asked.

Aliran is part of the 14-member Penang Forum who sat in meetings with the state government on the issue and provided recommendations to fine tune the Act.

“What is holding them back? I, too, am in the dark about it. If NGOs are in the dark, what about the public?” Netto asked.

“This is the time to fully enforce the enactment, the state has promised transparency, this is one way to show it,” he added.

Netto said the least the state government can do is update the website as it does not need much resources to implement the law.

He said Penang has many development projects which are very controversial and people want to know the background to these projects.

“What are the status of these projects, the parties involved and how they were approved and who will be affected by these controversial projects,” he said.

“For example, there are claims that the density has increased in Batu Ferringhi. We would like to know how that came about, if it were true,” he added.

A check by Malaysiakini on Jan 5 revealed that the offices of the Penang administration is in the dark over Act which was supposed to be implemented in the state on Jan 2 (Jan 1 is a public holiday).

The law, passed in the Penang legislative assembly in November 2011 and gazetted in February 2012, was touted as one of the positive developments in the state, following a similar enactment in Selangor.

When contacted, Deputy Chief Minister II P Ramasamy said, “Please give us some time” as details about the matter will be provided soon.

Perkasa man: Umno Youth leader punched me

 

Perak Perkasa Youth leader Saad Abdul Rahman received three stitches after being allegedly punched in the face by an Umno Youth leader.

Saad claimed that Lenggong Umno Youth chief Mohamad Iruan Zulkefli had suddenly grabbed his throat and punched him.

Iruan had earlier told him not to interfere in Umno Youth matters.

Saad (right) said the incident occurred at the Dewan Kampung Kelantan in Lenggong yesterday.

In his police report, he said a group of 10 men led by Iruan confronted him.

“In an angry tone Iruan told me to ‘butt out’ of Umno Youth affairs.

“I denied this (claim) but he suddenly grabbed my throat and punched my face.

“His friends then shoved me against the wall,” read the report sighted by Malaysiakini.

Confirming the incident, Perkasa Youth chief Irwan Fahmi Ideris expressed regret that the brawl could happen purportedly over flood aid distribution.

“We are still investigating the cause for this but we deeply regret that such things could happen.

“This is the type of leaders in Umno Youth today, who have no manners or brains,” he said.

He said Malaysia has laws and disputes should not be solved with violence.

Meanwhile, Iruan told Malaysiakini that Saad was pretending and “acting” as if he was badly hurt.

He also dismissed that the Perkasa man sustained “serious injuries”.

“Don’t be an actor. Don’t take advantage and don’t slander,” he said.