Islamisten: Sieben Terrorverdächtige in den USA angeklagt
WELT ONLINE: Einen Heiligen Krieg gegen Israel mit Mord, Entführung und Anschlägen hatten sich sieben Männer im US-Bundesstaat North Carolina vorgenommen. Dazu halfen sie, Geld für Terroroperationen zu sammeln und reisten sogar nach Tel Aviv. In der Nacht zum Dienstag wurden die Männer festgenommen.

Ein Bundesgericht im US-Staat North Carolina hat am Montag gegen sieben Männer Anklage wegen der Finanzierung und Beihilfe für Terroroperationen in Israel erhoben. Wie der US-Fernsehsender ABC in der Nacht zum Dienstag weiter berichtete, hatten sich die sechs US-Bürger und ein Immigrant im Alter zwischen 20 und 39 Jahren verschworen, einen gewaltsamen Heiligen Krieg mit Mord und Entführung zu führen.

Nach Angaben der Zeitung „Raleigh News & Observer“ soll die Gruppe, darunter ein Vater und seine zwei Söhne, geholfen haben, Geld zu sammeln und Trainingsmöglichkeiten für Freiwillige für Terroroperationen in Tel Aviv zur Verfügung gestellt haben.

Der Hauptverdächtige Daniel Boyd und einige seiner Komplizen sollen laut ABC im Juni 2007 nach Israel gefahren sein. Dort hätten sie vergeblich versucht, Terroraktivitäten zu unternehmen. Boyd habe im vergangenen Juli erfolgreich einen Rekruten ausgebildet und seine Reise in das Kosovo finanziert. >>> dpa/AP/ks | Dienstag, 28. Juli 2009

Video anschauen hier

NEWS & OBSERVER (RALEIGH): 7 Arrested in Terror Plot

Neighbors say the men they knew appeared friendly and unthreatening.

RALEIGH -- To those they lived among, seven men accused of an intricate terrorism plot lived simply, quietly and kindly.
To neighbors and friends, Daniel Boyd was a father who stopped his work at noon each day for prayer. Dylan Boyd, Daniel's son, was a college student at N.C. State University who until last year worked as a clinical services technician at WakeMed Raleigh Campus. Mohammad Omar Aly Hassan was a newlywed; his father owns a Raleigh car dealership.

To federal authorities, these men and four others plotted to kill themselves and others in the name of Islam. Their activities, tracked by FBI agents over three years and detailed in federal indictments released Monday, tell of an elaborate scheme hatched in a quiet Johnston County neighborhood and nondescript apartment complexes across Raleigh and Cary.

Those arrested Monday include Daniel Patrick Boyd, 39, who was considered the ringleader of the group, and who fought with Afghan Muslims against the Soviets; Hysen Sherifi, 24; Anes Subasic, 33; Zakariya Boyd, 20, and Dylan Boyd, 22; Mohammad Omar Aly Hassan, 22; and Ziyad Yaghi, a 21-year-old Cary High School graduate.

All but one of the defendants are American citizens. Sherifi, a native of Kosovo, is living in the United States legally.

All seven men are charged with conspiring to provide support to terrorists and conspiring to murder, kidnap, maim and injure people abroad. Each is expected to have a detention hearing this week. Until then, they are being held without bond. They have not been appointed lawyers. Efforts to reach their families were unsuccessful Monday night.

Federal authorities stormed the men's homes Monday and arrested them. Hours later, they stood before a federal magistrate and learned they could spend the rest of their lives in prison if found guilty of the charges against them. At nightfall, federal agents continued to search their homes, taking several vans and dozens of agents to their quiet neighborhoods. >>> Mandy Locke, Yonat Shimron and Josh Shaffer - Staff Writers | Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Smoking Ban Threatens Hookahs
Painting by Jean Léon Gerôme* (1824 – 1904), entitled 'The Teaser of the Narghile' ('The Pipelighter') c.1898. Collection Ghassan Shaker Gallery Keops, Geneve, Switzerland. Courtesy of Google Images.
THE NEWS & OBSERVER: Hookah bar owners anxious about their survival hope for an exemption such as that for cigar bars

CHAPEL HILL -- A mellow vibe permeates Hookah Bliss these days as college students and other trend-seeking young people socialize over water pipes and burning lumps of pungent, fruit-flavored tobacco in the small lounge on the town's main drag.

That could dissipate, though, when indoor smoking in restaurants and bars is snuffed out across the state at the start of the year.

Hookah bars, which surged in popularity in America's college towns and big cities when tobacco use was in general decline, find themselves battling the smoking bans that are sweeping the country.

In North Carolina, hookah bar owners are joining forces to save their businesses. In the coming weeks, they hope to persuade state lawmakers to make legislative exemptions for them similar to those granted cigar bars and country clubs that will allow smoking after the indoor ban takes effect Jan. 1.

They know of the health risks of secondhand smoke but counter that their patrons choose to come despite the hazards.

The disparity between cigar and hookah bars "just boggles the mind," said Hookah Bliss owner Adam Bliss -- yes, that's his real name.

"Look at who goes to those places -- generally older, affluent white males," he said. "Besides the fact that this law is creating an elitist association between who can smoke and who can't, they're allowing government to put me out of business, and this is supposed to be a free market economy here."

Unlike bars and restaurants, which still attract customers for drinks and food despite the disappearance of ashtrays, the hookah bars could lose the reason for their existence.

The hookah is a centuries-old device of Middle Eastern and African origin through which flavored tobacco is smoked. Tobacco infused with honey, molasses and other flavors is placed in a bowl at the top of the pipe and heated with charcoal. As smokers inhale through a long, flexible stem, the smoke is pulled through gurgling, cooling water. >>> By Anne Blythe, Staff Writer | Monday, June 01, 2009

*Jean-Léon Gerôme was the son of a goldsmith who discouraged him to join the painting studio of a Parisian artist. He worked in France for a while, selling religious cards before moving to Italy. Gerôme was given a commission by the French government in the late 1840’s to paint a mural titled Age of Augustus. In order to acquire source material for this project, he traveled across Europe and Asia Minor and then spent two years working on the detailed painting. Upon its completion, Gerôme spent several months sketching in Egypt. Later in his career, he abandoned the mythological and history paintings for which he was known and began sculpting. He was appointed professor at the École des Beaux-Arts. [Source: World Wide Art Resources]