Toulouse Massacre: Mohammed Merah's Father Threatens to Sue French Police
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The father of Islamist gunman Mohammed Merah is suing a crack French police unit over his son's death as the family prepares for a funeral in Algeria.

The body of 23-year-old, a Frenchman of Algerian descent, was due to arrive in Algeria on Thursday, a family member told AFP.

He was shot dead by French police on March 22 after a lengthy stand-off followed by an exchange of gunfire at his Toulouse apartment.

The body "will be accompanied by the mother and a sister of the deceased," a relative said, adding the corpse would first be washed in France, according to Muslim custom, before being buried in the Medea region south of Algiers.

"I am coordinating the details of the funeral with the father, who is completely overwhelmed by the situation," the killer's uncle Djamel Aziri said.

Algerian authorities have reportedly not yet agreed to a family request that Merah be buried in the north African country.

Algerian lawyer Zahia Mokhtari told AFP Wednesday she had been hired by the dead man's father, Mohammed Benalal Merah, to press charges against French police for shooting him dead.

"Mr Merah thinks that his son was murdered. He has asked us to file a complaint against the French security services," she said. "We will begin the procedure once the burial is completed." » | Thursday, March 29, 2012

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Pope Meets Fidel Castro after Celebrating Mass in Front of Hundreds of Thousands
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Pope ended a historic visit to Cuba with a meeting with its ailing former leader Fidel Castro on Wednesday after celebrating Mass in front of hundreds of thousands of Cubans gathered in Havana's Revolution Plaza.


Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi confirmed that the pair had met, for about 30 minutes at the Papal Nuncio's residence in Havana, but he did not detail what they discussed.

The 84-year-old Pontiff used his sermon to gently prod Communist authorities to embrace change and for Cubans to search for "authentic freedom" as he ended a three day visit to the Caribbean nation.

Crowds had filled Havana's main square overnight, the sprawling plaza surrounded by ten-storey high images of revolutionary heroes Ernesto "Che" Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos where Fidel Castro used to deliver hours long speeches of fiery rhetoric.

The Pope, who began his six-day tour of Mexico and Cuba with an attack on Marxism, asserting that the "ideology as it was conceived no longer corresponds to reality", had made it a theme of his visit to urge increased cooperation between church and state.

With President Raul Castro, who took over from his older brother four years ago, seated in the front row, the pontiff urged the nation to open up to reforms and denounced "irrationality and fanaticism" that many will see as a thinly veiled attack on Cuba's leadership. » | Fiona Govan | Wednesday, March 28, 2012

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A Look Back at the Pope’s Trip to Mexico: Benedict XVI in Mexico: Welcome Ceremony

Pope Pressures for Change in Cuba at Havana Mass

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Thousands of Cubans streamed to Havana's Revolution Square on Wednesday for a mass led by Pope Benedict XVI ahead of an expected meeting with revolutionary leader Fidel Castro

"Cuba and the world need change, but this will occur only if each one is in a position to seek the truth and chooses the way of love, sowing reconciliation and fraternity," the pontiff told hundreds of thousands of worshippers and well-wishers, including President Raul Castro, seated front and centre.

"The truth is a desire of the human person, the search for which always supposes the exercise of authentic freedom," the pontiff, 84, told the vast crowd including hundreds of wildly cheering and chanting nuns, and others waving a sea of Vatican yellow and Cuban blue, white and red flags.

Hailing the Cuban government's granting of freedom of religion since 1998, Benedict also said Cubans' quests for truth generally should also respect "the inviolable dignity of the human person."

That sounded very much like an oblique reference to the situation of dissidents pressing for political opening in the Americas' only one-party Communist ruled country. Dozens were rounded up and arrested during the pope's visit, dissident sources said.

About 100 Catholic Cubans marched early on Wednesday from Havana's Catholic cathedral to the mass venue, carrying a statue of their patroness Our Lady of Charity. It was a celebration of the fact that until 14 years ago, religious processions were banned in officially atheist Cuba for decades.

"I came to honour the Virgin of Charity as part of the celebration we are having for the pope's visit," said Ever Marin, 13, who was taking part in a procession for the first time.

About a half million Cubans, on foot as well as packed onto state buses and trucks, thronged the square where revolution icon Fidel Castro famously gave countless addresses to masses of supporters beneath the Jose Marti monument. Benedict XVI was on Wednesday set to meet Fidel Castro, 85, at some point. » | Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Doctor Claims He Was Dismissed for Emailing Prayer to Colleagues
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A Christian doctor who claims he was sacked for emailing a prayer to colleagues in a bid to raise their spirits is suing a hospital for unfair dismissal.

Dr David Drew, 64, told an employment tribunal that he was made to feel like a “religious maniac” after sending out the prayer by St Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Jesuits, to motivate his department.

He said he was subsequently disciplined and ordered to refrain from using religious references in professional communication. When he sought clarification from executives, he was told to accept the recommendation without questioning or to resign, he claimed.

The report into his behaviour even chastised him for sending a text message to a colleague, Rob Hodgkiss, reading “Have a peaceful Christmas”.

"While DD may regard such messages as benign[,] RH perceived them as aggressive and unwelcome intrusions into his private time,” it said.

Dr Drew claimed Mr Hodgkiss had simply replied, saying “likewise”. » | Victoria Ward | Wednesday, March 28, 2012

L'école juive de Toulouse de nouveau menacée ?

LE POINT: L'établissement d'Ozar Hatorah, cible de Mohamed Merah, a reçu des mails de menaces antisémites vendredi dernier. Le Point.fr a pu les consulter.

L'établissement d'Ozar Hatorah, à Toulouse, n'en a peut-être pas fini avec l'horreur. Endeuillé par l'assassinat de trois élèves et du père de deux d'entre eux, le 19 mars dernier, le collège-lycée a reçu vendredi dernier trois messages à caractère antisémite. Le Point.fr a pu consulter l'intégralité de ces messages.

Un premier mail à été posté à 11 h 23, ce 23 mars. "Aller crever bande de chien de mort", suivi d'un autre message : "À mort les chiens" (NDLR : les messages, truffés de fautes, sont publiés tels qu'ils ont été écrits). Un autre courrier électronique stipule : "Partez tous dans votre pays de merde et laisser la France en paix. Par votre faute il ya du terrorisme. Gros bisous à vos enfants mort à Toulouse ce n'ai que le début à très bientôt."

À 15 h 50, la tension est montée d'un cran au sein de la direction de l'établissement scolaire, car, à cet instant précis, un dernier message contenant des propos appelant explicitement à la haine envers les Juifs est expédié sur la boîte mail du directeur de l'école. » | Par Armel Méhani | mercredi 28 mars 2012

Le père de Mohamed Merah : "Je m'exprime comme je veux !"

LE POINT: Le père du djihadiste, qui avait provoqué l'indignation après avoir déclaré qu'il voulait porter plainte contre la France, n'entend pas se taire.

Le père du djihadiste français Mohamed Merah a dénié à tout responsable français le droit de lui "demander de se taire", dans un entretien publié mercredi, répondant au chef de la diplomatie française, Alain Juppé, qui lui avait conseillé de se "taire". "Aucun responsable français n'a le droit de me demander de me taire. Je suis un citoyen algérien libre dans mon pays, je m'exprime comme je veux, c'est mon droit de défendre mon fils et mon pays", a déclaré Mohamed Benalel Merah lors d'une rencontre mardi avec le quotidien arabophone Echorouk qui en publie le compte rendu sur deux pages.

Alain Juppé avait répondu, mardi matin, à Mohamed Benalel Merah qui avait déclaré, lundi soir, à l'AFP qu'il allait porter plainte contre la France "pour avoir tué" son fils. "Si j'étais le père d'un tel monstre, je me tairais dans la honte", avait dit le ministre, interrogé par Radio Classique. » | Le Point.fr | mercredi 28 mars 2012

We Will Insist on Applying Sharia in Egypt, Islamist MP Says

AL ARABIYA NEWS: Egypt’s Construction and Development Party (CDP) “won’t give up the application of the Sharia [Islamic law]” in Egypt, an Egyptian MP representing the party told an Egyptian daily on Monday. CDP is the political party of Egypt’s al-Jamaa al-Islamiya.

Hani Nour Eddin said that his party “will defend the second article of the (1971) constitution,” which stipulates that the principles of Sharia are the main source of legislation in the country, Egypt’s al-Masry al-Youm quoted him as saying.

Nour Eddin said that there is no disagreement among Egyptian political powers over the second article of the constitution, adding that his party is open to suggestions that are in accordance with the principles of Sharia. » | Al Arabiya | Tuesday, March 27, 2012

USA/Islam: The Islamic Circle of North America and the Sharia Campaign
INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC NEWS AGENCY (IINA): WASHINGTON – The Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) announced a national Sharia education campaign to promote “religious freedom and combat Islamophobia.” This campaign will include an education tour to introduce Islamic faith to the American public, as well as billboards, college campus seminars, radio ads, and a national hotline to address questions about Sharia.

Sharia education and interfaith events and town hall forums are scheduled for 25 cities. According to Dr. Zahid H. Bukhari, president of the ICNA, “The First Amendment guarantees religious freedom for every citizen. Muslim Americans are asking for the same fundamental rights to observe Sharia, a component of the Islamic faith, in our personal, familial and religious affairs within the boundaries of the United States Constitution and all local, state and federal laws.”

Presumably these town hall forums are designed “to clarify misconceptions about American Muslims.” But suppose Sharia is incompatible with Constitutional guarantees? Suppose as well that Sharia, if widely instituted, would shatter provisions for free speech, individual rights and equal protection of the law?

It is certainly appropriate to educate the public about Sharia. Is it, however, appropriate to propagandize on behalf of religious attitudes that encourage hostility to women, that argue Jews are the progeny of apes and pigs and that can only accept categorical rights as opposed to individual rights? » | AH/IINA | Tuesday, March 27, 2012 (5 Jumada Al-Awwal)

Muslims Call New Religious Freedom Appointee a ‘Puppet’ for Islam Foes

THE WASHINGTON POST: WASHINGTON — One of two new members of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has Muslim civil rights groups crying foul.

Zuhdi Jasser, who lauded a controversial New York City police surveillance program that targeted Muslims and helped lead the opposition to an Islamic cultural center near Ground Zero, has been appointed to the commission, which advises the president, Congress and State Department on religious rights abuses internationally.

“It would have been better to appoint someone who has some measure of credibility with Muslim Americans,” said Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

“He has long been viewed by American Muslims and the colleagues in the civil liberties community as a mere sock puppet for Islam haters and an enabler of Islamophobia.” » | Lauren Markoe | Religion News Service | Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Syria: Bashar al-Assad Tours Homs as He Accepts UN Peace Plan

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: President Bashar al-Assad defiantly defended his record on Tuesday as he made a surprise visit to Baba Amr, the district of Homs devastated by the bloodiest government offensive of the year-long uprising against his rule.

Surrounded by a small crowd of ululating women and deferential men, some of them weeping, the Syrian leader stood amid the rubble and told residents that he had been left with no choice but to use force to end the rebels' stranglehold over the suburb.

"The state gave those who had strayed from the right path every chance to surrender their weapons, but they rejected and escalated their terrorism," he said. "So we had to act to bring back peace and security and to impose the law."

He promised that "life will return to normal in Baba Amr, better than it was before".

Raising hopes of a possible end to the violence, Mr Assad's government accepted a UN-backed initiative calling for a ceasefire, even as the United Nations released an estimate that the civilian death toll since the uprising began had climbed to more than 9,000. » | Adrian Blomfield | Middle East Correspondent | Tuesday, March 27, 2012

17 Weeks Holiday a Year for Ashton's EU Bureaucrats

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Diplomats working in Baroness Ashton's EU foreign service are entitled to 83 days or almost 17 weeks holiday a year, entitlements more than four times the holiday allowance enjoyed by most British workers.

Pressure is growing on the European Commission to overhaul Brussels staffing regulations that leave overseas EU leaving embassies and delegations empty for "many months" a year.

Generous holiday and flexitime are also topped up with two weeks off for "professional training in Brussels", meaning that overseas diplomats, representing 60 per cent of the EU's foreign service, can be out of the office for 19 weeks, nearly five working months, a year.

On top of that, additional "special leave" entitlements mean that diplomats working in 30 EU delegations in the Far-east, Asia and Africa can have their desks unfilled for between 21 to 24 weeks, up to half the working year due to time-off for officials.

This group of EU officials are also entitled to "two days travelling time and a paid business-class journey to Brussels or Phuket for the official and his/her family".

A "working document" produced by Ingeborg Graessle, a German Christian Democrat MEP, has concluded that time-off is so liberal for staff that for much of the year the European foreign service is on holiday rather than being at work in the EU's 130 delegations across the world. » | Bruno Waterfield | Brussels | Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Rowan Williams: Fixation with Gay Rights, Race and Feminism Threatens Society

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A fixation with gay rights, feminism and separate racial identities is threatening to “fragment” British society, the Archbishop of Canterbury has claimed.

Dr Rowan Williams warned that identity had become a “slippery” word and that, while much had been achieved for minority groups, it was time to focus on the common good.

He also attacked a culture of dependence on welfare handouts, which he said was harmful to society, in an address to members of the Welsh Assembly in Cardiff.

Addressing a group of teenagers during the visit, he also spoke about the possibility that Britain could break apart as Scottish and Welsh nationalism grows in importance.

Dr Williams, who is stepping down as leader of the Anglican Communion later this year, has made a series of outspoken interventions since announcing his resignation.

He signalled last week that he plans to use his final months in office to speak out forcefully on issues which on which he feels passionate. » | John Bingham | Religious Affairs Editor | Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Vom Islam zum Christentum

Michael Savage - Oliver Stone's Son Converts to Islam, Controversy Ensues - (Aired on February 14, 2012)

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Arab Spring Leads to Wave of Middle East State Executions
THE GUARDIAN: Arab uprisings lead to rise in capital punishment in Middle East but Amnesty finds some comfort in world figures – even in China

Middle Eastern countries have stepped up their use of capital punishment, executing hundreds of people as rulers across the region seek to deter the wave of uprisings sweeping the Arab countries.

Despite a significant reduction in the number of countries that used the death penalty worldwide last year, there was a sharp rise in executions in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Yemen, according to Amnesty International's annual capital punishment survey, released on Tuesday.

China remained at the top of the list of the countries with the worst record of executions last year. Authorities in China maintained their policy of refusing to release precise figures on the death penalty in the country, which they consider a state secret. » | Saeed Kamali Dehghan and Ed Pilkington in New York | Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Capital punishment in 2011 – interactive »

Santorum: No Regrets about "Taking On" Reporter

Read the article here | Lucy Madison | Monday, March 26, 2012
TELEGRAPH – BLOGS – TIM STANLEY: For his own good, Rick Santorum should be bound and gagged in public » | Tim Stanley | Tuesday, March 27, 2012

My comment:

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Rick Santorum is a kook. The USA, the world cannot afford a president like him. He'll turn the clocks back at worst, and cause a major conflagration at worst. Keep him OUT of the White House! – © Mark

This comment also appears here

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As thousands die from gunshots every year we ask why most people are still fiercely defending the gun culture in the US.

Bahrain Leans on Grand Prix Race to Restore Image
Bahrain was the first Middle Eastern country to host a Formula One race, and it came as a heavy blow to the ruling Sunni monarchy's pride when their deadly crackdown on a massive Shia-based uprising last year prompted Formula One to (reluctantly) cancel the race. This year, the goverment is bent on holding the Grand Prix and says ticket sales are racing along. But activists, who are lobbying again for the race's cancelation, say the authorities' reform efforts are empty gestures, and they have promised to disrupt the race. Al Jazeera's Mohamed Vall reports from Manama.