Would-be bomber ditches explosives in Rishon LeZion dumpster, unclear if bomb was faulty or if he changed his mind. Bomber arrested with several other Palestinians in Bat Yam apartment
Avi Cohen
Latest Update: 02.20.07, 20:39 / Israel News
A suicide bombing in central Israel was narrowly avoided on Tuesday say security forces after the Palestinian man and his accomplices were arrested and the explosives uncovered.
Police and security forces operated extensively to thwart the attack throughout Tuesday afternoon and evening following intelligence information of a terrorist who had already infiltrated into Israel and was planning to carry out a bombing in Israel's coastal plain.
The Tel Aviv District Police declared a heightened state of alert and roadblocks were set up in and around the cities in the region. Detailed Shin-Bet intelligence information led forces to an apartment in the city of Bat Yam, located south of Tel Aviv, where the cell was hiding.
Forces raided the apartment, capturing the bomber and several accomplices. While the men were being questioned the building was evacuated and police sappers combed the apartment for explosives but none were found.
The would-be bomber told interrogators that he had arrived in Rishon LeZion in the early afternoon with the explosive device concealed in a backpack – which he says he intended to detonate inside Tel Aviv - but for reasons that still remain unclear he decided to dump the backpack into a garbage dumpster and head back to Bat Yam, where his accomplices were waiting in the apartment.
Investigators are now trying to determine whether he changed his mind about committing suicide at the last second or if the bomb was faulty.
After his arrest the terrorist was led back to Rishon LeZion, accompanied by numerous police officers and investigators. The procession went from street to street until finally the dumpster he threw the backpack into was identified.
A police sapper is currently trying to dismantle the explosive device found in Rishon LeZion, after the police robot was unable to do so.
The would-be suicide bomber is a Palestinian resident of the village of Jalbun, located northeast of Jenin in the northern West Bank. The man is a member of the Islamic Jihad and part of a cell which has carried out a string of terror attacks, acting on Syrian orders.
This morning he left from Jenin and intelligence information alerted security forces to his intentions. The bomb he intended to detonate is confirmed to have been wired with a large amount of explosives. The Shin Bet is currently questioning all those arrested in connection to the attempted attack.
At present time security forces report eight specific terror alerts, half of which originate from terror groups in the northern West Bank.
Tel Aviv District Police Chief David Zur told Ynet in the early evening: "The situation is currently under control. We've dismantled the roadblocks and we're continuing to operate in the area. We ask the public to remain alert and refrain from visiting the closed off areas but may go on with their daily routine."
Eli Senyor and Efrat Weiss contributed to this report
Source
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Female Pakistani minister shot dead for 'breaking Islamic dress code'
Devika Bhat, and Zahid Hussain in Islamabad
A Pakistani minister and woman’s activist has been shot dead by an Islamic extremist for refusing to wear the veil.
Zilla Huma Usman, the minister for social welfare in Punjab province and an ally of President Pervez Musharraf, was killed as she was about to deliver a speech to dozens of party activists, by a “fanatic”, who believed that she was dressed inappropriately and that women should not be involved in politics, officials said.
Mrs Usman, 35, was wearing the shalwar kameez worn by many professional women in Pakistan, but did not cover her head.
The attack happened in Gujranwala, 120 miles southeast of Islamabad, where the minister’s office is based. As Ms Usman, 35, stepped out of her car – where she was greeted by her co-workers throwing rose petals - the attacker pulled out a pistol and fired a single shot at close range, hitting her in the head. She was airlifted to hospital in the provincial capital Lahore, but died soon afterwards.
The gunman, Mohammad Sarwar, was overpowered by the minister’s driver and arrested by police. A stone mason in his mid 40s, he is not thought to belong to any radical group but is known for his fanaticism. He was previously held in 2002 in connection with the killing and mutilation of four prostitutes, but was never convicted due to lack of evidence.
Mr Sarwar appeared relaxed and calm when he told a television channel that he had carried out God’s order to kill women who sinned. “I have no regrets. I just obeyed Allah’s commandment,” he said, adding that Islam did not allow women to hold positions of leadership. “I will kill all those women who do not follow the right path, if I am freed again,” he said.
“He is basically a fanatic,” Raja Basharat, the Punjab Law Minister, said. “He is against the involvement of women in politics and government affairs.” A police statement added: “He considers it contrary to the teachings of Allah for a woman to become a minister or a ruler. That’s why he committed this action.”
“He killed her because she was not observing the Islamic code of dress. She was also campaigning for emancipation of women,” said Nazir Ahmad, a local officer.
Ms Usman, a married mother of two sons, joined the pro-Musharraf Pakistan Muslim League after being elected in 2002. A strong supporter of the President’s policy of “enlightened moderation” - designed to tackle extremism - she was appointed to her current post in December last year according to her government biography.
In April 2005, she encouraged the holding of a mini-marathon involving female competitors in Gujranwala – an event which led to riots after police intervened to stop armed Islamic activists from disrupting the race. She also ran a small fashion business from her base in the town.
Shaukat Aziz, the Prime Minister, paid tribute to the minister, describing her as a “committed and dedicated politician”. “During her short span as minister, she took several steps for the welfare of the people of Punjab,” he said. Zobaida Jalal, the federal Minister for Social Welfare, added that Ms Usman’s death was an “unbearable loss to the cause of women rights and their empowerment”.
General Musharraf, whose support for the US-led war on terror has caused consternation among Pakistan's hardline elements, has promised to address women’s rights as part of his more moderate agenda.
But analysts said that the murder of the female minister highlighted the failure of his government in curbing Islamic extremism. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan in a recent report said that violence against women had increased alarmingly, with some of the incidents incited by Mullahs opposed to women’s emancipation.
Islamists also campaigned against the Women Protection Bill which was recently passed by parliament, which seeks to provide protection to women who have suffered discrimination under Islamic Sharia laws.
Women make up just over 20 per cent of the lower house of parliament, according to the country’s main human rights group, and there are three women ministers in the cabinet of the federal government.
But widespread discrimination against females continues to be a problem in what remains a male-dominated society, particularly in the countryside, where most Pakistanis live.
Source
A Pakistani minister and woman’s activist has been shot dead by an Islamic extremist for refusing to wear the veil.
Zilla Huma Usman, the minister for social welfare in Punjab province and an ally of President Pervez Musharraf, was killed as she was about to deliver a speech to dozens of party activists, by a “fanatic”, who believed that she was dressed inappropriately and that women should not be involved in politics, officials said.
Mrs Usman, 35, was wearing the shalwar kameez worn by many professional women in Pakistan, but did not cover her head.
The attack happened in Gujranwala, 120 miles southeast of Islamabad, where the minister’s office is based. As Ms Usman, 35, stepped out of her car – where she was greeted by her co-workers throwing rose petals - the attacker pulled out a pistol and fired a single shot at close range, hitting her in the head. She was airlifted to hospital in the provincial capital Lahore, but died soon afterwards.
The gunman, Mohammad Sarwar, was overpowered by the minister’s driver and arrested by police. A stone mason in his mid 40s, he is not thought to belong to any radical group but is known for his fanaticism. He was previously held in 2002 in connection with the killing and mutilation of four prostitutes, but was never convicted due to lack of evidence.
Mr Sarwar appeared relaxed and calm when he told a television channel that he had carried out God’s order to kill women who sinned. “I have no regrets. I just obeyed Allah’s commandment,” he said, adding that Islam did not allow women to hold positions of leadership. “I will kill all those women who do not follow the right path, if I am freed again,” he said.
“He is basically a fanatic,” Raja Basharat, the Punjab Law Minister, said. “He is against the involvement of women in politics and government affairs.” A police statement added: “He considers it contrary to the teachings of Allah for a woman to become a minister or a ruler. That’s why he committed this action.”
“He killed her because she was not observing the Islamic code of dress. She was also campaigning for emancipation of women,” said Nazir Ahmad, a local officer.
Ms Usman, a married mother of two sons, joined the pro-Musharraf Pakistan Muslim League after being elected in 2002. A strong supporter of the President’s policy of “enlightened moderation” - designed to tackle extremism - she was appointed to her current post in December last year according to her government biography.
In April 2005, she encouraged the holding of a mini-marathon involving female competitors in Gujranwala – an event which led to riots after police intervened to stop armed Islamic activists from disrupting the race. She also ran a small fashion business from her base in the town.
Shaukat Aziz, the Prime Minister, paid tribute to the minister, describing her as a “committed and dedicated politician”. “During her short span as minister, she took several steps for the welfare of the people of Punjab,” he said. Zobaida Jalal, the federal Minister for Social Welfare, added that Ms Usman’s death was an “unbearable loss to the cause of women rights and their empowerment”.
General Musharraf, whose support for the US-led war on terror has caused consternation among Pakistan's hardline elements, has promised to address women’s rights as part of his more moderate agenda.
But analysts said that the murder of the female minister highlighted the failure of his government in curbing Islamic extremism. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan in a recent report said that violence against women had increased alarmingly, with some of the incidents incited by Mullahs opposed to women’s emancipation.
Islamists also campaigned against the Women Protection Bill which was recently passed by parliament, which seeks to provide protection to women who have suffered discrimination under Islamic Sharia laws.
Women make up just over 20 per cent of the lower house of parliament, according to the country’s main human rights group, and there are three women ministers in the cabinet of the federal government.
But widespread discrimination against females continues to be a problem in what remains a male-dominated society, particularly in the countryside, where most Pakistanis live.
Source
Discovery of secret kabbalistic pharisaic antichrist protocols
By Jeremy Redmon | Thursday, February 15, 2007, 01:37 PM
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Anti-Defamation League is calling on state Rep. Ben Bridges to apologize for a memo distributed under his name that says the teaching of evolution should be banned in public schools because it is a religious deception stemming from an ancient Jewish sect.
Bridges (R-Cleveland) denies having anything to do with the memo. But one of his constituents said he wrote the memo with Bridges’ approval before it was recently distributed to lawmakers in several states, including Texas, California, New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Ohio.
“Indisputable evidence — long hidden but now available to everyone — demonstrates conclusively that so-called ‘secular evolution science’ is the Big-Bang 15-billion-year alternate ‘creation scenario’ of the Pharisee Religion,” the memo says. “This scenario is derived concept-for-concept from Rabbinic writings in the mystic ‘holy book’ Kabbala dating back at least two millennia.”
The memo calls on lawmakers to introduce legislation that would end the teaching of evolution in public schools because it is “a deception that is causing incalculable harm to every student and every truth-loving citizen.”
It also directs readers to a Web site www.fixedearth.com, which includes model legislation that calls the Kabbala “a mystic, anti-Christ ‘holy book’ of the Pharisee Sect of Judaism.” The Web site also declares “the earth is not rotating … nor is it going around the sun.”
The Anti-Defamation League says the assertions in the memo border on anti-Semitism.
“Your memo conjures up repugnant images of Judaism used for thousands of years to smear the Jewish people as cult-like and manipulative,” Bill Nigut, the ADL’s Southeast regional director, wrote in an e-mail to Bridges Thursday. “I am shocked and appalled that you would send this anti-Semitic material to colleagues and friends, and call upon you to repudiate and apologize for distributing this highly offensive memo.”
Bridges denied writing or authorizing the memo.
“I did not put it out nor did I know it was going out,” Bridges said. “I’m not defending it or taking up for it.”
The memo directs supporters to call Marshall Hall, president of the Fair Education Foundation Inc., a Cornelia, Ga.-based organization that seeks to show evolution is a myth. Hall said he showed Bridges the text of the memo and got his permission to distribute it.
“I gave him a copy of it months ago,” said Hall, a retired high school teacher. “I had already written this up as an idea to present to him so he could see what it was and what we were thinking.”
Hall said his wife Bonnie has served as Bridges’ campaign manager since 1996.
Bridges acknowledged that he talked to Hall about filing legislation this year that would end the teaching of evolution in Georgia’s public schools. Bridges said the views in the memo belong to Hall, though Bridges said he doesn’t necessarily disagree with them.
“I agree with it more than I would the Big Bang Theory or the Darwin Theory,” Bridges said. “I am convinced that rather than risk teaching a lie why teach anything?”
Bridges sponsored unsuccessful legislation in 2005 that would have required Georgia’s teachers to introduce scientific evidence challenging evolution.
Asked about the ADL’s call for an apology, Bridges said: “I regret that these people have been offended, but I didn’t offend them because I didn’t put the memo out.”
A Texas lawmaker says he is now “willing to apologize” for giving fellow legislators the memo Tuesday, The Dallas Morning News reported today.
“The stuff that causes conflicts between religious beliefs, you know, I’d never be a party to that,” Texas House Appropriations Chairman Warren Chisum told the Morning News Wednesday. “I’m willing to apologize if I’ve offended anyone.”
The newspaper reported Chisum made his comments after he learned the Anti-Defamation League was demanding an apology in a letter to his office.
The National Center for Science Education, an Oakland, Calif.-based organization that defends the teaching of evolution in public schools, said the assertion that evolution is linked to an ancient Jewish sect is “bizarre.”
“Evolution is recognized as a central unifying principle of the biological sciences by the scientific community and the education community,” said Glenn Branch, the center’s deputy director.
Source
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Anti-Defamation League is calling on state Rep. Ben Bridges to apologize for a memo distributed under his name that says the teaching of evolution should be banned in public schools because it is a religious deception stemming from an ancient Jewish sect.
Bridges (R-Cleveland) denies having anything to do with the memo. But one of his constituents said he wrote the memo with Bridges’ approval before it was recently distributed to lawmakers in several states, including Texas, California, New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Ohio.
“Indisputable evidence — long hidden but now available to everyone — demonstrates conclusively that so-called ‘secular evolution science’ is the Big-Bang 15-billion-year alternate ‘creation scenario’ of the Pharisee Religion,” the memo says. “This scenario is derived concept-for-concept from Rabbinic writings in the mystic ‘holy book’ Kabbala dating back at least two millennia.”
The memo calls on lawmakers to introduce legislation that would end the teaching of evolution in public schools because it is “a deception that is causing incalculable harm to every student and every truth-loving citizen.”
It also directs readers to a Web site www.fixedearth.com, which includes model legislation that calls the Kabbala “a mystic, anti-Christ ‘holy book’ of the Pharisee Sect of Judaism.” The Web site also declares “the earth is not rotating … nor is it going around the sun.”
The Anti-Defamation League says the assertions in the memo border on anti-Semitism.
“Your memo conjures up repugnant images of Judaism used for thousands of years to smear the Jewish people as cult-like and manipulative,” Bill Nigut, the ADL’s Southeast regional director, wrote in an e-mail to Bridges Thursday. “I am shocked and appalled that you would send this anti-Semitic material to colleagues and friends, and call upon you to repudiate and apologize for distributing this highly offensive memo.”
Bridges denied writing or authorizing the memo.
“I did not put it out nor did I know it was going out,” Bridges said. “I’m not defending it or taking up for it.”
The memo directs supporters to call Marshall Hall, president of the Fair Education Foundation Inc., a Cornelia, Ga.-based organization that seeks to show evolution is a myth. Hall said he showed Bridges the text of the memo and got his permission to distribute it.
“I gave him a copy of it months ago,” said Hall, a retired high school teacher. “I had already written this up as an idea to present to him so he could see what it was and what we were thinking.”
Hall said his wife Bonnie has served as Bridges’ campaign manager since 1996.
Bridges acknowledged that he talked to Hall about filing legislation this year that would end the teaching of evolution in Georgia’s public schools. Bridges said the views in the memo belong to Hall, though Bridges said he doesn’t necessarily disagree with them.
“I agree with it more than I would the Big Bang Theory or the Darwin Theory,” Bridges said. “I am convinced that rather than risk teaching a lie why teach anything?”
Bridges sponsored unsuccessful legislation in 2005 that would have required Georgia’s teachers to introduce scientific evidence challenging evolution.
Asked about the ADL’s call for an apology, Bridges said: “I regret that these people have been offended, but I didn’t offend them because I didn’t put the memo out.”
A Texas lawmaker says he is now “willing to apologize” for giving fellow legislators the memo Tuesday, The Dallas Morning News reported today.
“The stuff that causes conflicts between religious beliefs, you know, I’d never be a party to that,” Texas House Appropriations Chairman Warren Chisum told the Morning News Wednesday. “I’m willing to apologize if I’ve offended anyone.”
The newspaper reported Chisum made his comments after he learned the Anti-Defamation League was demanding an apology in a letter to his office.
The National Center for Science Education, an Oakland, Calif.-based organization that defends the teaching of evolution in public schools, said the assertion that evolution is linked to an ancient Jewish sect is “bizarre.”
“Evolution is recognized as a central unifying principle of the biological sciences by the scientific community and the education community,” said Glenn Branch, the center’s deputy director.
Source
Report: Malaysian state to send spies to hotels, parks to catch 'immoral couples'
2007/2/20
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP)
Religious police in a Malaysian state plan to deploy spies working as waiters or janitors in hotels to stop activities the authorities consider immoral, including sex between unmarried people, a news report said Tuesday.
The spies, known in the Malay language as "mat skoding," would tip off the Islamic police department about alleged immoral activities in the northeastern state of Terengganu, The Star newspaper reported.
Terengganu and neighboring Kelantan are two of Malaysia's most conservative states.
"Some of these spies could be waitresses or even janitors at hotels acting as ... undercover agents for our religious department," Rosol Wahid, the chairman of a state Islamic welfare committee, was quoted as saying.
Rosol said the spies would largely look for unmarried couples committing "khalwat," or "close proximity," a crime under Islamic law in Malaysia akin to adultery. It applies to unchaperoned meetings between men and women.
Those found guilty of khalwat can be jailed for up to two months under Islamic laws, which do not apply to non-Muslims.
The spies would be given rewards for each tip they provide, Rosol told The Star. Rosol could not be immediately reached because of a public holiday.
Rosol said the spies were needed because "accurate details are required for the enforcement officers to act, otherwise they would be pouncing on married couples," The Star reported.
He said the spies would keep watch in parks and secluded areas to nab dating couples intending to engage in sex.
The Terengganu state official's comments do not necessarily reflect common sentiment in Malaysia, a predominantly Muslim nation of 26 million people.
Earlier this month, the top Islamic leader of another state, Perlis, urged Islamic authorities to stop rewarding public tip-offs on Muslim couples who behave immorally, saying it was against Islamic teachings because it encouraged invasion of privacy.
Still, khalwat convictions are common in the country. In one of the most famous cases, a 21-year-old Malaysian Muslim woman was fined 1,200 ringgit (US$333; �278) last year after she was caught by the moral police in an Argentine soccer player's bedroom.
In October, Islamic officials stormed the home of a retired American couple living on a Malaysian island resort on suspicion of khalwat. The incident embarrassed Malaysia, which is seeking to woo tourists and persuade expatriates to set up second homes in the country.
It is not clear why the couple, who are not Muslims, were targeted.
Source
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP)
Religious police in a Malaysian state plan to deploy spies working as waiters or janitors in hotels to stop activities the authorities consider immoral, including sex between unmarried people, a news report said Tuesday.
The spies, known in the Malay language as "mat skoding," would tip off the Islamic police department about alleged immoral activities in the northeastern state of Terengganu, The Star newspaper reported.
Terengganu and neighboring Kelantan are two of Malaysia's most conservative states.
"Some of these spies could be waitresses or even janitors at hotels acting as ... undercover agents for our religious department," Rosol Wahid, the chairman of a state Islamic welfare committee, was quoted as saying.
Rosol said the spies would largely look for unmarried couples committing "khalwat," or "close proximity," a crime under Islamic law in Malaysia akin to adultery. It applies to unchaperoned meetings between men and women.
Those found guilty of khalwat can be jailed for up to two months under Islamic laws, which do not apply to non-Muslims.
The spies would be given rewards for each tip they provide, Rosol told The Star. Rosol could not be immediately reached because of a public holiday.
Rosol said the spies were needed because "accurate details are required for the enforcement officers to act, otherwise they would be pouncing on married couples," The Star reported.
He said the spies would keep watch in parks and secluded areas to nab dating couples intending to engage in sex.
The Terengganu state official's comments do not necessarily reflect common sentiment in Malaysia, a predominantly Muslim nation of 26 million people.
Earlier this month, the top Islamic leader of another state, Perlis, urged Islamic authorities to stop rewarding public tip-offs on Muslim couples who behave immorally, saying it was against Islamic teachings because it encouraged invasion of privacy.
Still, khalwat convictions are common in the country. In one of the most famous cases, a 21-year-old Malaysian Muslim woman was fined 1,200 ringgit (US$333; �278) last year after she was caught by the moral police in an Argentine soccer player's bedroom.
In October, Islamic officials stormed the home of a retired American couple living on a Malaysian island resort on suspicion of khalwat. The incident embarrassed Malaysia, which is seeking to woo tourists and persuade expatriates to set up second homes in the country.
It is not clear why the couple, who are not Muslims, were targeted.
Source
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