October 07, 2004

Muslim Cleric Issues Fatwa: Kidnapping is fine, and the occasional beheading too

Sheik Youssef al-Qaradawi, once called a moderate by MSNBC, has condemned the murder of hostages in Iraq. The catch? It's ok to take hostages, just not kill them. I think the ol' Sheik is kinda missing the whole point about hostage taking. Like when Sheriff Bart took himself hostage in Blazing Saddles, the people of Rock Ridge really had to believe that he was crazy enough to blow the hostages head off. Ok, so al-Qaradawi is a moron, I can live with that. At least he's sort of changed his position on the whole kill all the infidels question. Notice the wording of the article, though. Only governments have the authority to kill the infidels. Nice, so I guess if Allawi is replaced by al Sadr then that sort of changes everything. Seattle Post Intelligencer:

An influential Sunni Muslim cleric who once condoned attacks on U.S. civilians in Iraq has issued a religious edict saying it is permissible under Islam to kidnap in wartime - but not to kill the hostages.

Hostages should be accorded good treatment as prisoners of war and only government courts have the authority to order executions, according to the fatwa, or edict, issued by Sheik Youssef al-Qaradawi, head of the London-based International Association of Muslim Scholars.....

Those who actually take them as prisoners or keep them do not have any authority over them and cannot determine their fate," the edict said.

Although the edict cites Quranic verses and Islamic traditions that say killing captives is prohibited, it says a captive can be killed in "exceptional circumstances, by an order of the head of the Muslim state made on the basis of a court sentence."...

It urged Muslims to maintain "the upper moral ground and not lower our ethical conduct to the wanton level of the occupation forces in Iraq."

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Hostages Recite Koranic Versus to be Released

How do you say, "I'm a Muslim, I swear" in Arabic. Oh wait, that one doesn't always work--ask Frank Gardner. The Jakarta Post:

In order to prove that the two hostages were Indonesian Muslims, the kidnappers asked them to recite the Koran, and they passed this test.

The kidnappers also accused the women of being the wives of Western men. "I don't know who were the men they were referring to. Luckily, I brought a photo of my husband. I showed them his picture and they believed me," Istiqomah said.

After being convinced, the captors treated them well. Istiqomah said she and Casingkem were released after the kidnappers saw President Megawati Soekarnoputri make an appeal on Al-Jazeera.

Maybe we can get the good Pres to put in a good word for some of the other hostages on al Jazeera, too?

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Hotel Explosion in Egypt Kills Vacationing Israelis

I would note that today is the 60th anniversary of the Auschwitz uprising. Half a century after the Halocaust and Jews are still the victims of those that wish to see a final solution.

UPDATES ONGOING: 23 Dead 29 DEAD 35 Dead and rising

JPOST: Dual homicide bombing at one bombing location. Over 100 wounded. Doctors being flown in from around Israel

Ha'aretz (via Brain Shavings): 10 floors of hotel collapse, still digging people out. Pic of what the hotel looked like pre-explosion here.

Daily Telegraph, AU (via Michele Catalano): Jamaa Al-Islamiya Al-Alamiya (World Islamist Group) claims responsibility for the explosion using car bomb.

Israel Insider (via Darleen): Street celebrations in Gaza and in Cairo.

Channel News Asia: After first trying to blame the explosions on a gas leak (see below) Egypt now admits probably a bomb.

3 Explosions in different locations. Reuters:

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Explosions rocked two resort towns in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, shortly after a massive blast in the Hilton Hotel near Israel killed at least 23 people, Israeli radio stations reported.

The radio stations reported explosions in the Egyptian resorts of Nueiba and Ras al-Sultan dozens of kilometers (miles) to the southwest of Taba where the first explosion occurred. Thousands of Israelis have been vacationing in the Sinai Peninsula over the Jewish holiday of Sukkot.

Notice how this, the first Reuters report, goes out of it's way to mention that it might have been a gas leak. UPDATE: Al Jazeera repeating al Reuters party line: "Police sources said that a car bomb caused the blast, however the Egyptian television reported that a gas leak caused the explosion." Reuters:
An explosion has torn through an Egyptian hotel used by many vacationing Israelis at the Red Sea border resort of Taba and Israeli witnesses reported seeing dozens of bodies from a possible bomb attack.
more...

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Homeland Security After Beslan: Keep an Eye on Schools

AP via Robert Spencer:

The Education Department has advised school leaders nationwide to watch for people spying on their buildings or buses to help detect any possibility of terrorism like the deadly school siege in Russia.

The warning follows an analysis by the FBI (news - web sites) and the Homeland Security Department of the siege that killed nearly 340 people, many of them students, in the city of Beslan last month.

more...

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BIG MISTAKE: Sadr Aide Freed

Sadr aide freed as Iraq seeks pre-election calm. Remember the whole 'fool me once' thing? Now, change that to 'fool me umpteen times'. I swear, if we 'loose the peace' or whatever in Iraq it will be because of bunch of tools in the State Department believed the piles of crap their IR Profs doled out on a daily basis. If this was the decision of a military leader then God help us.

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October 06, 2004

The Case for Nuking Mecca

In this post I make the case that nuking Mecca would be a rational deterrent to radical Islamists bent on using WMD against American civilians. However, even if there is no deterrent effect, attacking Mecca and wiping out the central locus of Islamic ritual worship may be in the long-term interests of the US and Occidental world.

Ace: What would we do if we get nuked? Continue to "hunt down the terrorists" who nuked us? At what point does the desire to survive outweigh the desire to be merciful and sparing in the use of force?

Bill Whittle: If a suitcase nuke detonates in Times Square, or Long Beach harbor, or outside the Capitol building, what do we do? Nuke Mecca? Incinerate Damascus? Because – so help me God, I tremble to say it – that is exactly the response our enemies would hope for. They care not a whit about their own people because they have no allegiance to anyone but themselves and their vision of a vengeful and bloodthirsty Allah.

In response to Bill Whittle's and Ace's considerable thought on how you deter terrorists, I thought I'd add a couple of thoughts that have been ruminating between my ears for awhile now.

Let me make a couple of points first. One: I do not advocate using nuclear weapons. Two: I do not advocate killing Muslims or any other follower of any religion. Three: I do not imagine in any way possible the US government actually doing this--or even thinking it. Four: These are rudimentary thoughts. This post is used as a sounding board only. Much of what I say may be wrong and all is subject to revision. The purpose of this post is to start a conversation.

First point: Bill's major argument about deterring terrorists is well taken and mostly on the money. I think he's right, for the most part: you cannot deter these guys, only defeat them. And if incinerating Damascus were the only threat we could use to deter terrorists then certainly a MAD scheme would not work in this new Cold War we find ourselves in.

However, Mecca is not Damascus. It plays a central role in Muslim worship. Five times a day Muslims pray toward it. All Muslims who have the means are expected to make the Hajj--a pilgrimage to Mecca which revolves around the Kaaba stone. The Kaaba stone is really the reason Mecca is considered holy. Muslims believe the site was used for worship as far back as Adam and that the shrine around the stone was first placed there by Abraham (Ibrahim). There is a 12 mile zone around the stone that infidels are restricted from entering. It's that holy. No non-Muslims near it. In fact, without Mecca and the Kaaba stone, Islam would be very different.

Mecca, then, is quite unlike any other place in the world for Muslims. It is an entire city dedicated to Muslim worship. A place set apart. A holy place. It is an entire city that is thought to be the Temple of God.

Islamist terrorists also consider Mecca the holiest place in the world. It is central to their mode of worship. They face it when they pray. They too believe they must make the hajj. If we take them at their word, then the reason they commit terrorist acts is because they take their religious convictions so seriously. When they kill us, it is because they believe that this is what their God wants them to do.

So, ask yourself the question again: Can terrorists be deterred from using WMD against American targets?

Maybe they can. If Islamic extremists really love their religious institutions in the way that they claim they do, then pointing an ICBM at Mecca may not be the most irrational thing to do. They may not care if the rest of the world goes up in a nuclear mushroom cloud, as Bill points out, but Mecca is not the rest of the world. Would they really risk blowing up New York City if they believed the consequences of such an action would be a 30 kiloton nuclear explosion over the Kaaba stone? After all, the nuclear destruction of Mecca would end Islamic forms of worship as they presently exist.

If I might misquote Sting for a moment, "Is it such a crazy thing to do, if the Terrorists love their Mecca too?"

Second point: Why would destroying Mecca have potentially beneficial long-term affects to US and Occidental interests?

I have already made the case that Mecca is central to Islamic forms of worship. Mecca, I have argued, is a Temple City. Although many Muslim theologians will deny that any place is holy in Islam, there is at least a de facto holiness ascribed to the area surrounding the Kaaba stone. In many ways the city of Mecca is central to Islam in just the same way that the Temple of Solomon was central to ancient Judaism. It is this similarity which is so striking, and why the destruction of Mecca might do to Islam what the final destruction of Herod's Temple in Jerusalem did to Judaism. While the bloody events surrounding Rome's sacking of Jerusalem are indeed disgusting and tragic, that event forced Jews to rethink their relationship with God. More importantly, that event forced Jews to rethink their relationship with their fellowman.

Without wishing to reduce all of Jewish history or life to one paragraph, and thus leaving out the many facets of ancient Hebrew worship, let me go ahead an do that anyway (with many apologies up front--and welcoming any corrections or differing opinions). Ancient Judaism had a legal structure which was similar to Islamic sharia in that they both unify the religious codes thought to be handed down by God with secular authority. In fact, the Old Testament laws seem just as draconian as any I would find in sharia. There is just something about stoning adulteresses that I kind find of harsh, that's all. I know such applications of Mosaic law were probably rare, but Muslims would argue the same thing about the strict application of sharia law in the ideal Islamic state.

Ancient Judaism also had another commonality with Islam: worship was centered on a holy place of ritualistic practice. After the destruction of the Temple, though, Jews had to ask new questions about the meaning of being holy. Stateless, they found that strict religious codes of conduct could not be enforced in the same way as before. While the Jewish Diaspora had already begun the process of transforming Judaism, the final destruction of Temple centered worship forced this transformation on a broader scale.

Jews found that God no longer had a place to reside in. Jews found that they could no longer perform the rituals required by God to be purified. Jews found that they could no longer enforce God's law. Jews found that their specialness was different than they had previously supposed. Worship changed. Everything changed.

What I propose is simply this. Would destroying Mecca begin a similar process for Muslims? Perhaps only the threat of destroying Mecca would be enough.

Radical Muslims believe they are in a race to bring about the world wide Caliphate. They believe that Muslims are destined to rule the world. What I propose is simple: show them that they cannot rule the world. Show them that Allah is not on their side--at least, not in the way that they believe.

Osama bin Laden once famously said that people will choose the strong horse over the weak horse. What if Islam is shown to be the weak horse? What if one of the central tenants of Muslim worship, the hajj, was gone? Would this not force some serious rethinking in the Islamic world?

Today we are told by Muslims that the true meaning of jihad is internal struggle. Unfortunately, the actions of too many Muslims shows that they believe jihad means armed struggle against the infidels. Destroying Mecca may have the long-term affect of convincing radical Muslims that Allah really doesn't want sharia law around the world. That all that stuff about killing the infidels in the Quran--that's all metaphor.

After all, if Muslims can be convinced that the whole hajj thing is just metaphor, then what else might they consider as metaphorical? Perhaps jihad. Perhaps sharia. Perhaps the global Caliphate.

These are just some thoughts. No one should take them too seriously.

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French Hostages now in Syria?

WashTimes:

The French Democratic Union Party said Wednesday the French government fears two French nationals kidnapped in Iraq may have been taken to Syria.

Update: Leopold Stotch reminds me that hostages aren't the only things terrozombies are good at moving from Iraq to Syria.

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Zarqawi in the News

Leaders of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's terrorist organization bombed during meeting (via Matt Cardens). Let's just hope Zarqawi didn't draw the short straw and was out getting the pizza.

Zarqawi's Tawid and Jihad group targetting Jewish sites and discos in Germany. That whole appeasement strategy is really working out for Germany I'd say.

Sympathy for al-Zarqawi grows among Iraqis amid US airstrikes. This after a report yesterday that Zarqawi was becoming more unpopular.

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Muslim Colonial Imperialism

What is that tired Santayana line about repeating history and such? Richard C. Csaplar in CBN News:

Imperialistic

The Muslim wars of imperialist conquest have been launched for almost 1,500 years against hundreds of nations, over millions of square miles (significantly larger than the British Empire at its peak). The lust for Muslim imperialist conquest stretched from southern France to the Philippines, from Austria to Nigeria, and from central Asia to New Guinea. This is the classic definition of imperialism -- "the policy and practice of seeking to dominate the economic and political affairs of weaker countries."

Colonialist

The Muslim goal was to have a central government, first at Damascus, and then at Baghdad -- later at Cairo, Istanbul, or other imperial centers. The local governors, judges, and other rulers were appointed by the central imperial authorities for far off colonies. Islamic law was introduced as the senior law, whether or not wanted by the local people. Arabic was introduced as the rulers' language, and the local language frequently disappeared. Two classes of residents were established. The native residents paid a tax that their colonialist rulers did not have to pay.

Although the law differed in different places, the following are examples of colonialist laws to which colonized Christians and Jews were made subject to over the years:


Christians and Jews could not bear arms -- Muslims could;
Christians and Jews could not ride horses -- Muslims could;
Christians and Jews had to get permission to build -- Muslims did not;
Christians and Jews had to pay certain taxes which Muslims did not;
Christians could not proselytize -- Muslims could;
Christians and Jews had to bow to their Muslim masters when they paid their taxes; and
Christians and Jews had to live under the law set forth in the Koran, not under either their own religious or secular law.

In each case, these laws allowed the local conquered people less freedom than was allowed the conquering colonialist rulers. Even non-Arab Muslim inhabitants of the conquered lands became second class citizens behind the ruling Arabs. This is the classic definition of colonialist -- "a group of people who settle in a distant territory from the state having jurisdiction or control over it and who remain under the political jurisdiction of their native land."

There is more. Read it. Hat tip: Robert Spencer

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Former hostage sues al-Jazeera

The former hostage claims that it was an al Jazeera cameraman who actually shot video of him while in captivity. News24:

A Saudi truck driver who was kidnapped and released by a militant Iraqi group in June has sued al-Jazeera television for "moral" damages and is demanding compensation, a lawyer said on Tuesday.

Saydan Saadun Saydan charged before Kuwait's lower court that a cameraman from the television station shot a video of him while reading a statement during captivity, al-Jazeera's lawyer in Kuwait, Ali al-Nimesh, said.

"As the kidnappers asked me to read a statement, I saw a photographer and a reporter from al-Jazeera entering the place. They started shooting the video," Saydan said in his complaint.

But Nimesh said Saydan had not told the court how he recognised that the team belonged to al-Jazeera.

On June 5, al-Jazeera aired a video showing Saydan reading a statement warning lorry drivers not to work for the US-led occupation forces.

Need we any more pretense to bomb al Jazeera?

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October 05, 2004

Religion of Beheadings: 5 More Iraqis Murdered

Via the Command Post this news:

Police have found five decapitated bodies of Iraqis in northern Iraqi cities, police and hospital officials said.
They said two decapitated bodies were found dumped separately in central Mosul on Tuesday, two days after another was discovered near a bus station.

Two had been identified and the third was also believed to be an Iraqi.

There was no immediate word on who had beheaded the three men or on the motives for the killings.

In Kirkuk, Lieutenant Colonel Awaad Jibouri said the corpse and head of a former Iraqi army officer, identified as Ali Hussein, was found in a town south-west of the city.

Mr Hussein had worked at a United States military base in Kirkuk.

A second Iraqi, identified as Taha Abdullah, who worked at a US barracks near Baiji, was also beheaded and his body was found on Monday night, Lieutenant Colonel Jibouri said.

Also blogging: Chad Evans at In the Bullpen and Alan at the Command Post

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Iraqi-Italian and Turk Murdered on Video

Video of the grisly murder of Iraqi born Italian immigrant Iyad Anwar Wali and an Turkish hostage Yalmaz Dabja was released today by Iraqi terrorists. I now have a copy of the video and images from it are posted below. The video can be downloaded here. Information on their murders was first reported yesterday. Reuters:

The video, dated October 2, shows one of the militants reading a statement accusing the men of spying. The men are then shown blindfolded and kneeling in front of a ditch before being shot.

"This is the punishment for the enemies of God and his prophet and God is greatest," said the militant before the men were killed.

turkshead.jpg turkshead2.jpg

Also blogging: Chad Evans (crossposted at J-Dogs)

WARNING: Graphic images below.
more...

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Bigley gets Irish Passport

Reuters:

Ireland has granted British hostage Ken Bigley a passport following calls from his family who hope that stressing his Irish connections will persuade his kidnappers in Iraq to release him.
"Mr. Kenneth Bigley's family has asked for an Irish passport to be issued in order to help convince his kidnappers of his Irish citizenship," Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern said in a statement.
Apparently the only Jew the terrorists like is Mel Brooks. Terrorists to World:"We'll kill the Sand Ni**ers and the Ch*nks, but we don't want the Irish!"

Hat tip: Derek

Also blogging: Jeff Quinton

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Believing Truth Makes One "Anti-Muslim"

Thanks to McQ at QandO for bringing this to my attention. AP:

About one in four Americans holds anti-Muslim views, such as a belief that the religion teaches violence and hatred, according to a survey an Islamic advocacy group released Monday....
I wonder if the German Bund ever ran telephone surveys of Americans in the 1930s asking if people erroneously thought Nazis taught violence and hatred?
The telephone survey of a random sample of 1,000 American adults found that just over one in four people somewhat or strongly agreed with a series of anti-Muslim sentiments including: the Muslim religion teaches violence and hatred (26 percent agreed);
"Then, when the sacred months have passed, slay the idolaters wherever ye find them, and take them (captive), and besiege them, and prepare for them each ambush. But if they repent and establish [monotheistic] worship and pay the poor-due, then leave their way free. Lo! Allah is forgiving, merciful" (Koran Sura 9:5)
Muslims value life less than other people (27 percent agreed);
"Our suicide operations are a message...that our people love death. Our goal is to die for the sake of God, and if we live we want to humiliate Jews and trample on their necks." ---Jamal Abdel Hamid Yussif.
and Muslims want to change the American way of life (29 percent agreed).
"Working for Islam means to reform oneself so that oneÂ’s life teaches others true belief and Islamic behavior. Working for Islam equally means to form a society that is committed to the Islamic way of thinking and Islamic way of life, which means to form a government that implements principles of justice embodied in the shariah [Islamic law] to guard the rights of every person and community, and establish truth and justice, and at the same time call others toward Islam - truth, peace, and justice.

These three responsibilities are obligatory not merely for the entire Muslim community but for every individual Muslim until we have established a system of governance adequate to the task. Until the nations of the world have functionally Islamic governments, every individual who is careless or lazy in working for Islam is sinful. These sins of omission will not be forgiven until they take a quick action to carry out all their responsibilities and Islamic duties.

These responsibilities to change both oneself and the world are binding in principle, in law, in self-defense, in community and as a sacred obligation of jihad, as explained in this chapter."--Muslim American Society.

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October 04, 2004

Kerry's Plan for Iraq: Tooth Ferry Diplomacy

John Kerry is dangerous. I'm not joking. John Kerry's official "Plan" to "Win the Peace in Iraq"

-Persuade NATO to make the security of Iraq one of its global missions and to deploy a portion of the force needed to secure and win the peace in Iraq.

-Convene a summit of the world's major powers as well as states in the region....

-Give other countries a stake in Iraq's future by encouraging them to help develop Iraq's oil resources.....

It goes on and on like this. He either tells us he will do the same thing Bush is doing, only somehow France will give a rat's ass because it's John Kerry doing the talking, or he tells us that he will do the same thing Bush is doing, only somehow the fit won't hit the shan because it's John Kerry doing it. I have criticised Bush for his venture away from realpolitik toward something that increasingly looks like utopianism. But Bush's fantasy about a democratic Muslim state aint got nothing on John Kerry's megalomania. His view of international relations would make my college freshman blush.

To recap Kerry's plan: a) call meetings b) do same thing as Bush only better cause I'm not Bush

Tooth Ferry Diplomacy indeed.

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Journalist Beheaded in Bangledesh

To all my readers who keep saying that all religion is basically the same thing, I would just note that Dipankar Chakrabarty wasn't murdered because of his controversial stance on giving the Eucharist to divorcees. The story is here with more here (via Jane).

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Italian/Turkish Hostage Executed on Video; Indonesian Hostages Released

The original post about Ajad Anwar Wali is below the update section:

UPDATE 10/08: Kenneth Bigley executed in Iraq by Zarqawi terrorist organization. The story is developing, but sources in Fallujah claim Bigley beheaded. For the latest information, links to video, and images on the Kenneth Bigley murder please go to the MAIN PAGE or by CLICKING HERE for the 10/08 report.

For the latest information, links to video, and images on hostages in Iraq please check the main page by CLICKING HERE.

Here is a list of all the victims of Islamic Beheadings since late July this year.

10/08 Kenneth Bigley Executed in Iraq Images and Video Here.
10/02 Iraqi Victim Barie Nafie Dawoud Ibrahim Beheading Video and Images Here
9/22 American Hostage Jack Hensley Beheading Video and Images Here
9/20 American Hostage Eugene Armstrong Beheaded on Video Here
9/13 Turkish Hostage Beheaded on Video Here
9/08 Three Muslim 'Informants' Beheaded by the Religion of Irony
8/31 12 Nepalese Hostages Killed, 1 Beheaded Here
8/26 Italian Hostage Enzo Baldoni Murdered Here
8/25 Alleged CIA Agent Beheaded in Video Here
8/13 Another Alleged CIA Agent Beheaded on Video Here
8/11 CIA Agent Executed: Another Beheading Video
8/09 Another Bulgarian Beheading Video
8/02 Turkish Hostage Murdered
7/28 Bulgarian Beheading Video
7/27 Kashmir Rebels Bomb Hospital, Behead Three
7/27 Paul Johnson Beheading Video and Images Here
-----------------
Begin original post:


AP reports a positive ID on one of the victims. His name is Ajad Anwar Wali. He was an Iraqi expat who had lived in Italy for the last 20 years. His wife is an Italian citizen. Wali had applied for Italian citizenship and was kidnapped from his office in Baghdad last month. Yahoo News:

Islamic militants distributed a video to an international news agency showing the killings of two men who identified themselves as an Italian of Iraqi origin and a Turk. A militant who appeared in the video accused the two of spying.

They were shown blindfolded and kneeling in front of a ditch before being shot, a scene likely to raise fresh concern over the fate of foreign hostages in Iraq (news - web sites). They include British engineer Ken Bigley and two French journalists.

There was some positive news on the hostage front. An Iraqi militant group has released two Indonesian women hostages who were handed over on Monday to the United Arab Emirates embassy in Baghdad, Abu Dhabi Television reported.

More. Reuters:
Islamic militants on Monday distributed a video in Iraq showing the killings of two men who identified themselves as an Italian of Iraqi origin and a Turk.
The video, dated October 2, shows one of the militants reading a statement accusing the men of spying. The men are then shown blindfolded and kneeling in front of a ditch before being shot.

"This is the punishment for the enemies of God and his prophet and God is greatest," said the militant before the men were killed.

The Italian-Iraqi, who identified himself as Iyad Anwar Wali, said he met a man in Baghdad who introduced him to Iranian spies and then later met Turkish, American and Israeli agents.

Hat tip: Cindy

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Reformers on Trial in Saudi Arabia

In a MPJ exclusive, Dr. Rusty Shackleford discusses the trial of three Saudi dissidents arrested for calling for more openness in the Kingdom. Yesterday, a Saudi court ordered further proceedings against the activists closed to the public [story here]. Dr. Shackleford's reaction:

"I am shocked that the Saudi court would close further proceedings to the public. Saudi Arabia has a long-standing tradition of fair, free, and open trials. The Kingdom has long been known for it's progressive stance on a variety of issues. This move is a step back for the Saudi government. It's almost like they want to return to some Midievel society or something."

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Decapitated Body Found in Iraq, Possible Westerner

Fox News is reporting that two bodies, one a man and one a woman, were found 12 miles south of Baghdad today. The man a beheading victim, and his head was tied to his body. Police report that the two appeared to be Westerners. No identification of the corpses yet.

Hat Tip: Jeff Quinton and reader Cindy

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French Hostages Would be Free, if it weren't for those meddlesome GIs

Why are the French hostages, journalists Georges Malbrunot and Christian Chesnot, still being held by France's greatest ally--the terrorists? It's all America's fault, of course! Several reports emerged Friday from French Member of Parliament Didier Julia, and his envoy Philip Brett, that a deal had been reached to release the two French hostages. Saturday, when the hostages failed to be appear, Julia tried to blame the hostages' continuing ordeal on American troops. Arabic News:

the two French journalists held in Iraq were released but their procession was exposed to an American bombardment while they were on their way to Damascus and as a result of that six persons of the guarding team escorting them were killed.

In a press conference in Damascus, Julia explained that the two hostages George Malberno and Christian Shino are safe and it was not possible to transport them to Syria because of the intensive American bombardment and the security barriers on the road. Julia is making a private initiative to liberate the two hostages.

The only good news here is that the Chirac government is skeptical of Julia's reports and today blasted him for his private negotiations with the terrorists. You see, in France negotiating with terrorists best monopolized by the government.

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