Basque Terrorists ETA Call 'Permanent Ceasefire'
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Basque terrorist group ETA have announced a "permanent ceasefire" renouncing violence after more than 40 years of bloodshed.

Video grab of three members of ETA declaring a permanent ceasefire. Video grab: The Daily Telegraph
The declaration was made in a video featuring three militants, their faces hidden by white hoods beneath black berets.

"This is ETA's firm commitment towards a process to achieve a lasting resolution and towards an end to the armed confrontation," a male voice said.

The statement makes permanent a truce called in September but made no mention of handing over weapons, a move considered key to the socialist government before they will consider entering into dialogue.

ETA has broken ceasefires several times in the past, most recently in 2006 when a truce was ended by a deadly bomb attack at Madrid's airport.

But the ceasefire was quickly rejected by Spain's socialist government who said it did not go far enough. >>> Fiona Govan, Madrid | Monday, January 10, 2011

Three Afghans Held over US 'Plot'
BBC: Three men have been arrested in connection with an alleged plot to launch an attack in the United States, the US Justice Department says.

Two Afghan-born men, a father and son, were arrested in Denver, Colorado.

A third man, also from Afghanistan, was later detained in New York, the department said.

The men are accused of making false statements related to "a matter involving international and domestic terrorism", the statement said.

The FBI was investigating several people "in the United States, Pakistan and elsewhere, relating to a plot to detonate improvised explosive devices in the United States", the Justice Department said in court documents related to the arrests.

US media have reported that the investigation was focusing on a possible plan to attack a public area in New York.

David Kris, assistant attorney general for national security, said the arrests were part of "an ongoing and fast-paced investigation".

"It is important to note that we have no specific information regarding the timing, location or target of any planned attack," AFP news agency quoted him as saying. >>> | Sunday, September 20, 2009

Watch BBC video: Father and son are detained in Denver, Colorado >>>

Report Identifies UK Terrorist Enclaves
THE TELEGRAPH: Secret enclaves of al-Qaeda extremists based in London, Birmingham and Luton are planning mass-casualty attacks in Britain, according to a leaked Government intelligence report.

The document, which was drawn up by the intelligence branch of the Ministry of Defence, MI5 and Special Branch, states that "some thousands" of extremists are active in the UK. They are predominantly UK-born and aged between 18 and 30, and many are believed to have been trained in overseas terrorist camps.

Under the heading "International Terrorism", the report, which is marked "restricted" states: "For the foreseeable future the UK will continue to be a high-priority target for international terrorists aligned with al-Qaeda.

It will face a threat from British nationals, including Muslim converts, and UK-based foreign terrorists, as well as terrorists planning attacks from abroad."

The report states that the threat from the Islamist extremist community in the UK is "diverse and widely distributed" but adds that the numbers of terrorist in Britain is "difficult to judge".

The document does state, however, that the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre, which is based in MI5's headquarters at Thames House in London, estimates that there are "some thousands of extremists in the UK committed to supporting Jihadi activities, either in the UK or abroad". >>> By Sean Rayment, Security Correspondent | November 8, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback & Hardback) – Free delivery >>>

The Rev Dr Peter Mullen*: Beware the Dark Side of the New Moral Consensus
TIMESONLINE: Far worse than the threat from international terrorism is the aggressive process of secularisation that has gripped our country, and most of Europe, and which is becoming ever more frenzied. For example, I guess not many people are aware that it is against the law for state schools to teach the Christian faith as true. Teachers are allowed only to teach about religions. This is atheism by decree, for the only perspective from which one can teach about all religions is the secular perspective. So our children are not brought to a sense of holiness and awe, but are merely taught the meanings of religious terms as sociological descriptions. This deprivation of the spiritual is a form of child abuse.

And then there are the Sexual Orientation Regulations which make it illegal to discriminate on moral grounds between forms of sexual coupling. One might put this epigrammatically: what was once a mortal sin is now only a lifestyle choice. I supported the Homosexual Reform Act back in the 1960s on the grounds that it is not right to criminalise people on the grounds of their sexual orientation.

But the many people who believed that homosexuality should be decriminalised never intended that this should create the proselytising Gay Liberation Movement. The Act decreed that homosexual acts should be “between consenting adults in private” Between means involving two; adult meant 21; and private means behind locked doors. But now the love which once dare not speak its name, shrieks at us in high camp from decorated floats along the high street.

Similarly with abortion law reform, the public was told by its supporters that legalised abortion would abolish the damage to women's health at the hands of the back street abortions. No one at the time thought that a humane Act designed to remove an identifiable evil would lead to abortion on demand, abortion in fact as merely another form of contraception. So now 200,000 embryos every year are ripped, untimely, from the womb just because people fear that a child would interfere with their lifestyle. Beware the Dark Side of the New Moral Consensus >>> Peter Mullen* | January 18, 2008

*The Rev Dr Peter Mullen is the chaplain to the Stock Exchange and rector of St Michael’s, Cornhill. He is the man who has got himself into hot water over these comments

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