Monday, September 13, 2010

Pour Fidel Castro, Sarkozy devient «fou»

TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: FRANCE | L'ancien président cubain affirme que les expulsions de Roms de France montrent que le président français est en train de devenir "fou", et s'inquiète de sa puissance nucléaire.

L'ancien président cubain Fidel Castro affirme dans un article publié lundi que les expulsions de Roms de France montrent que le président français Nicolas Sarkozy est en train de devenir "fou", et s'inquiète de sa puissance nucléaire.

Fidel Castro rappelle "que la France est la troisième puissance nucléaire de la planète" et affirme que "Sarkozy a aussi une mallette avec les codes pour lancer une des plus de 300 bombes qu'il possède".

"Supposons que Sarkozy devienne soudain fou, comme il semble que cela est en train de se passer. Que ferait dans ce cas le Conseil de sécurité des Nations unies, avec Sarkozy et sa mallette?", se demande le leader de la révolution cubaine dans l'île communiste. >>> AFP | Lundi 13 Septembre 2010
Sarah Palin's Iowa Trip Points to 2012 Presidential Run

THE GUARDIAN: Attendance at Republican dinner in key state is seen as biggest sign yet that Sarah Palin aims to take on Obama in 2012

Photobucket
Sarah Palin addresses a 9/11 event in Anchorage, Alaska, that was also attended by Glenn Beck. Photograph: The Guardian

There are boxes that US presidential hopefuls have to tick early. They have to start building a campaign team, albeit discreetly. They have to set up a fundraising machine. And they have to visit Iowa, the small but politically crucial state that traditionally kicks off a White House run.

Sarah Palin has ticked the first two and on Friday will tick the third when she is the main speaker at a $100-a-seat Republican dinner in Des Moines, Iowa. The party's sole superstar has not yet said whether she will seek the nomination to take on Barack Obama in 2012. But all the indications point to a run, and Friday's visit is the biggest sign yet.

Democrats may detest her, and so does the Republican establishment, for her perceived lack of sophistication and polarising effect on the electorate. But neither will make the choice in the Iowa caucus. The party activists will, and they are shifting behind her. Long before the contest has formally begun, Palin is fast on the way to becoming unstoppable. >>> Ewen MacAskill in Des Moines, Iowa | Sunday, September 12, 2010
Russian Official Sacked for Making Boys Kiss His Feet

THE GUARDIAN: Difkat Khantimerov claims he was merely repeating a lesson he had learned in the Red army



A regional Russian official sacked for forcing a group of teenagers to kiss his feet has defended his actions, claiming he was merely repeating a lesson he had learned in the Red army.

The official, Difkat Khantimerov, was fired over the weekend after a video posted on YouTube exposed the bizarre incident. The official took charge of a PE lesson and ordered a basketball squad to perform a series of arduous press-ups. He then stuck out his right shoe and ordered the boys to kiss it.

With the teenagers struggling to carry out his request, Khantimerov barked out a series of military-style commands, including "Harder!" "One, two!" and "Kiss!". The clip shows him withdrawing his foot. He then crouches down, and lays his hand flat on the gym floor to be kissed instead.

The extraordinary episode took place in Bashkortostan, a largely Muslim region of southern Russia in the Urals. On Saturday the republic's president, Rustem Khamitov, said he was "relieving the official of his duties" after watching the video on the internet.

"This looks like an outrage, an insult against schoolchildren," the president said, according to Russian news agencies. The president was "indignant to the bottom of his soul," his press secretary, Airat Murzagaleev, said today. >>> Luke Harding in Moscow | Monday, September 13, 2010
English Defence League Members Attend New York Mosque Protest

THE GUARDIAN: At least seven EDL supporters take part in demonstration after far-right group's leader is reportedly turned away at airport

Photobucket
EDL members at Ground Zero in New York. Photograph: The Guardian

Members of the far-right English Defence League protested in New York this weekend against plans for an Islamic cultural centre and mosque near Ground Zero.

The group's leader, who goes by the pseudonym Tommy Robinson, and at least seven other EDL supporters flew to the US to oppose the plans on the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

Robinson was refused entry at JFK airport, taken into custody and flown straight back to the UK, according to a report published on the anti-Islam Gates of Vienna website sourced to EDL activists travelling with him.

The rest of the delegation joined far-right leaders including Geert Wilders, the Dutch leader of the Freedom party, at the demonstration in lower Manhattan.

The contingent was pictured holding banners incorporating St George's cross, Israel's flag and the US stars and stripes, as well as the slogans "No Mosque at Ground Zero", "The more Islam, the less freedom", "No Sharia", and "No Surrender". They wore EDL T-shirts sporting the group's crusader shield logo. >>> Robert Booth | Sunday, September 12, 2010
Filip Dewinter Holds Illegal Demo Brussels 911



HT: Gates of Vienna >>>
Wilders On Trial the Entire Month of October

GATES OF VIENNA: The PVV leader Geert Wilders was formally notified on Thursday that the criminal case against him will continue next month. The Amsterdam court continues the process starting on October 4. The verdict is due on November 2.

Wilders must be in court on October 4, 6, 8, 12, 15 and 19. Two weeks later the verdict is planned.

“It’s terrible that I have be in court trial the entire month of October,” Wilders said Thursday after he had received the summoning. “I will stand trial one whole month for freedom of speech.”

Three session days and the day of the verdict are on a day when Parliament assembles. Continue reading and comment >>> Robin van der Kloor, Translation from Elsevier | Sunday, September 12, 2010
Israel Refuses to Meet European Ministers for Settlement Talks

THE INDEPENDENT: Jerusalem says EU demand for discussions on eve of Yom Kippur is highly insensitive

Israel has said it will not meet a delegation of European foreign ministers, including William Hague, this week as diplomatic pressure mounts on its government to extend a 10-month settlement freeze that ends next week.

The Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, yesterday told Tony Blair, the Middle East envoy, that current restrictions on building West Bank Jewish settlements will not remain, but there would be some limits on construction. "We will not freeze the lives of the residents," he said.

Israel has bridled at what it calls an "insensitive" European demand to hold meetings on the eve of Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. The ministers from Britain, France, Italy, Spain and Germany had apparently proposed to hold meetings on Friday morning, hours before the start of the Yom Kippur fast.

"They showed very high insensitivity to this special date. It's just not done," said Yigal Palmor, a foreign ministry spokesman. "Everyone is away, no meetings are planned, all agendas are empty. We suggested alternative dates, which were refused." >>> Catrina Stewart in Jerusalem | Monday, September 13, 2010

THE TELEGRAPH: Israeli settlers threaten to bring down Benjamin Netanyahu's government: Israeli settlers have pledged to bring down the government of Benjamin Netanyahu if the prime minister backtracked on a firm commitment to allow West Bank construction to resume. >>> Adrian Blomfield in Jerusalem | Monday, September 13, 2010
Photograph: Yahoo! News

Teen Banned From US For Barracking Obama

YAHOO! NEWS: A British teenager has been banned from America for life for sending Barack Obama an abusive email.

Luke Angel was reprimanded by police on both sides of the Atlantic after firing off a drunken message to the White House calling the president a "p****".

The FBI intercepted the message and contacted police in the UK who went to see the 17-year-old at his home in Silsoe, Bedfordshire.

Luke, a college student, is now on a list of people who are banned from visiting the States.

The teenager told the Bedfordshire On Sunday newspaper that he had sent the email after watching a TV programme about September 11.

When asked about the ban, Luke said: "I don't really care. My parents aren't very happy about it.

"The police who came round took my picture and told me I was banned from America forever." >>> Sky News | Monday, September 13, 2010
Phil Woolas 'Tried to Foment Racial Divisions in Election Campaign'

THE TELEGRAPH: Phil Woolas, the former immigration minister, tried to foment racial and religious divisions as part of a desperate attempt to change an election result, a court has heard.

Photobucket
Phil Woolas MP after retaining Oldham East and Saddleworth after 3 re-counts. Photo: The Telegraph

A specially convened election court was told that Labour MP Phil Woolas and his campaign team set out to ''galvanise the white Sun vote'' against Liberal Democrat candidate Elwyn Watkins.

They decided to set out to ''make the white folk angry'' by depicting an alleged campaign by Muslims to ''take Phil out'' in a high-risk strategy described in their own words as ''s--- or bust'', it was alleged. >>> | Monday, September 13, 2010

THE TELEGRAPH: Phil Woolas faces ejection as an MP >>> Benedict Brogan | Monday, September 13, 2010
Konvertierung zum Islam

Das Video hier abspielen.
Australian lawyer Alex Stewart. Photograph: Mail Online

Australian Lawyer Fans the Flames by 'Smoking' the Koran and the Bible on YouTube

MAIL ONLINE: An Australian lawyer has inflamed the row over a U.S. pastor's plan to burn the Koran by allegedly smoking holy books and posting the videos on YouTube.

Brisbane-based lawyer Alex Stewart, a self-professed atheist, is seen smoking what appear to be marijuana joints made up of pages from the Koran and the Bible.

A US pastor's plan to burn the Koran caused outrage among Muslims around the world and led to deadly riots in Afghanistan before he backed down.

But the controversy has flared up again with Stewart, who works for the Queensland University of Technology, lighting up his religious 'joints' under the YouTube title: Bible or Koran - Which Burns Best?

He gave the Bible a seven out of 10 for its burning qualities, and said it was better than the Koran which left him feeling sick.

Stewart says burning religious books is no big deal and that people need to 'get over it'.

But since his video attracted approbation from around the world, Stewart - who appeared in the video wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the words 'I'm an atheist, Thank God' - has gone into hiding.

The president of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, Ikebal Patel, said: 'I think it's highly offensive that he has done this to two of the holiest books in the world. Read on and comment >>> Richard Shears | Monday, September 13, 2010

Bible or Koran - Which Burns Best? Alex Stewart Smokes Pages from the Koran and Bible!

Revenge Fears for British Troops Serving in Afghanistan after Anti-Muslim Protester Burns Koran on 9/11 Anniversary

MAIL ONLINE: Protesters ignore international pleas and stage Koran burnings / Tensions mount in Afghanistan where two demonstrators are shot dead

Fears were growing last night that British troops could suffer revenge attacks after U.S. protesters burned the Koran.

On a third day of riots in Afghanistan, Muslims said they would attack 'foreign bases' in their thousands in response to the desecration of their holy book.

Despite Florida preacher Terry Jones' U-turn over burning the Koran, hopes of calm were shattered on the ninth anniversary of the September 11 attacks on New York when others elsewhere in the U.S. adopted his plan to burn Islam's holy book.

A lone protester at the Ground Zero site set several pages on fire, while in Springfield, Tennessee, two religious leaders held a private Koran-burning ceremony.

The unnamed male protester at Ground Zero said: 'If they can burn American flags, I can burn the Koran. Americans should never be afraid to give their opinion.' Read on and comment >>> Daniel Bates | Monday, September 13, 2010

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Ground Zero Mosque Imam Blames Sarah Palin for 'Growing Islamophobia'

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: The Muslim cleric behind plans to build a mosque close to the Ground Zero site has blamed politicians such as Sarah Palin for fuelling a "growing Islamophobia" that led to the burning of Korans on the ninth anniversary of the September 11 attacks.

The Reverend Terry Jones abandoned his "international burn a Koran day" in Gainesville, Florida on Saturday but there were isolated instances in Tennessee and New York of the Muslim holy book being set alight.

"What has happened is that [..] certain politicians decided that this project would be very useful for their political ambitions," Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf said, adding that this had prompted a "growing Islamophobia" in the US.

Imam Rauf's proposal for an Islamic Centre, containing a mosque, two blocks from the site of the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Centre, has become embroiled in controversy.

Mrs Palin was the first major national figure to get involved in what had been a localised dispute when she sent a Twitter message in July stating: "Peace-seeking Muslims, pls understand, Ground Zero mosque is UNNECESSARY provocation; it stabs hearts. Pls reject it in interest of healing."

Imam Rauf said Mrs Palin's intervention had been "disingenuous" and played a part of the issue being "hijacked by the radicals" over the summer.

In Springfield, Tennessee, the Reverend Bob Old and the Reverent Danny Allen, both evangelical pastors, burned Koran to coincide with the anniversary of the September 11th atrocities.

"It's about faith, it's about love, but you have to have the right book behind you. This is a book of hate, not a book of love," said the Rev Old as he held up a Koran. >>> | Sunday, September 12, 2010
Schweiz: Muslim-Prozess*

SCHWEIZER FERNSEHEN: Ein 34-jähriger Moslem ist in Basel vom Strafgericht freigesprochen worden. Er hatte in einer DOK-Sendung des Schweizer Fernsehens öffentlich zu Gewalt und Verbrechen aufgerufen.

Schweiz aktuell vom 10.09.2010

*Das Video wurde in Schwyzertüütsch gemacht.
L'autodafé du Coran «aurait causé un désastre dans le monde musulman»

«Cela aurait renforcé les extrémistes», a dit l'imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, l'imam à l'origine du projet de «la mosquée de Ground Zero» dans un entretien à la chaîne de télévision américaine ABC. Photo : Cyberpresse.ca

CYBERPRESSE: L'autodafé du Coran, un temps planifié par un pasteur intégriste, américain aurait constitué un mauvais message et causé un désastre dans le monde musulman, a estimé dimanche l'imam à l'origine du projet controversé de mosquée près du site des attentats du 11-Septembre à New York.

«Cela aurait renforcé les extrémistes», a dit l'imam Feisal Abdul Rauf dans un entretien à la chaîne de télévision américaine ABC. «Cela aurait augmenté les possibilités d'attaques terroristes contre les États-Unis et les intérêts américains. Cela aurait provoqué un désastre dans le monde musulman», a-t-il ajouté.

Le chef d'un groupuscule d'extrémistes chrétiens de la Floride avait prévu de brûler samedi, jour anniversaire des attentats du 11 septembre 2001, 200 exemplaires du Coran pour protester notamment contre la construction d'un centre culturel islamique, comportant une mosquée près de Ground Zero.

«Ma plus grande inquiétude (à propos d'un déplacement du projet de mosquée à New York) serait que les grands titres, dans le monde musulman, serait que l'islam est attaqué aux États-Unis», a-t-il par ailleurs expliqué. >>> Agence France-Presse | Dimanche 12 Septembre 2010

BS from The Observer >>>
Constitution turque : "oui" à la révision

LE FIGARO: Près de 60% des électeurs turcs ont dit "oui" aujourd'hui à une révision de la Constitution qui donnera davantage de pouvoir au régime islamo-conservateur face à l'opposition laïque et à l'armée, selon les estimations publiées par les chaînes de télévision. Les estimations de la chaîne d'information en continu NTV portent sur environ 75% des bulletins dépouillés et donne un large avantage au "oui" avec 58% des suffrages, contre 42% pour le "non". La chaîne CNN-Türk donne une projection qui accorde 57% au "oui". >>> Avec Reuters | Dimanche 12 Septembre 2010

THE GLOBE AND MAIL: Turkey votes 'yes' to amending military-era constitution: reports – Street clashes mar voting at polling stations in areas with large Kurdish populations, as Kurdish party urges boycott >>> Christopher Torchia, Istanbul, The Associated Press | Sunday, September 12, 2010

THE GLOBE AND MAIL: Turks fear reform plan threatens secularism: Referendum on 26-point proposition promoted as stepping stone to EU membership >>> Patrick Martin | Friday, September 10, 2010

THE TELEGRAPH: Turkey backs constitutional reform: Turkish voters gave overwhelming backing to a package of constitutional changes that bolster the country's claims on EU membership, but heighten fears that its Islamist prime minister is accumulating unbalanced powers. >>> Justin Vela in Istanbul and Richard Spencer | Sunday, September 12, 2010
Iranian Diplomat 'Defects’ in Protest at Regime

THE TELEGRAPH: An Iranian diplomat in Finland claims he has defected after quitting his job in protest at the Islamic Republic’s treatment of its citizens.

Hossein Alizadeh said he had held the No. 2 post at the embassy in the Finnish capital Helsinki as deputy head of mission. He said he informed the embassy four days ago of his decision to quit after staying off the job for nearly a month.

“I don’t consider myself anymore a diplomat standing beside a brutal Iranian regime,” Mr Alizadeh said, declaring himself a “political dissident”. >>> | Saturday, September 11, 2010
Sarrazin’s Truths: Political Correctness Is Silencing an Important Debate

Photobucket
Thilo Sarrazin. Foto: Spiegel Online International

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: German central banker Thilo Sarrazin is being pilloried over his polemic chastising of Muslims, but there are a few things his critics clearly fail to understand. You can't cast away what the man embodies: The anger of a German people who are tired of being cursed at when they offer to help foreigners to integrate.

Nothing is as it used to be. In this season of public outrage, the case of Thilo Sarrazin has grown far bigger than Sarrazin. It's much bigger than the man or the Islam-critical book he wrote.

The Sarrazin case is also a Merkel case, a case for his party, the center-left Social Democrats, and for the German political and media establishment. Sarrazin has become code for the outrage over how the politically correct branch of Germany's consensus-based society have dispatched their stewards to escort this unsettling heckler to the door. On their way, they seem to be trying to teach him a lesson, as well: "We will beat tolerance into you."

Sarrazin isn't telegenic and he often gets tangled up in statistics. When it comes to styling, he's at a loss -- he is unkempt when he appears on the myriad talkshows that keep our entertainment society going. He slips on one banana peel of political correctness after another, opening himself to attack with his statements about genetics. But his findings on the failed integration of Turkish and Arab immigrants are beyond any doubt.

Sarrazin has been forced out of the Bundesbank. The SPD wants to kick him out of the party, too. Invitations previously extended to Sarrazin are being withdrawn. The culture page editors at the German weekly Die Zeit are crying foul and the editors at the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung are damning Sarrazin for passages he didn't even write.

Technicians of Exclusion

But what all these technicians of exclusion fail to see is that you cannot cast away the very thing that Sarrazin embodies: the anger of people who are sick and tired -- after putting a long and arduous process of Enlightenment behind them -- of being confronted with pre-Enlightenment elements that are returning to the center of our society. They are sick of being cursed or laughed at when they offer assistance with integration. And they are tired about reading about Islamist associations that have one degree of separation from terrorism, of honor killings, of death threats against cartoonists and filmmakers. They are horrified that "you Christian" has now become an insult on some school playgrounds. And they are angry that Western leaders are now being forced to fight for a woman in an Islamic country because she has been accused of adultery and is being threatened with stoning.

Strangely enough, a good number of our fellow Turkish citizens are more outraged by Sarrazin's book than they are about those things. >>> A Commentary by Matthias Matussek | Friday, September 10, 2010

Ich habe den folgenden Kommentar letzte Woche geschrieben über den Fall Sarrazins in der Neuen Zürcher Zeitung:
Sarrazin hat einen hohen Preis bezahlt für seine Ehrlichkeit!

In Thilo Sarrazin hat Deutschland einen mutigen Mann. Er ist bereit zu sagen und schreiben, was gesagt und geschrieben sein sollte. Leider muß er für seine Ehrlichkeit einen sehr hohen Preis bezahlen. Angela Merkel, als Aufgewachsene in der ehemaligen DDR, hätte schon besser wissen sollen, wie wichtig die Redefreiheit ist. Diese Geschichte ist nicht gut für ihr Image, auch nicht für das Bild von Christian Wulff. Beide sehen schwach aus.

Als Engländer, verstehe ich schon, daß die Deutschen in Fragen der Rasse sensibel sind. In Betracht der Geschicht, müssen sie auch so sein. Aber aufgepaßt! Die Wahrheit sollte nicht unter den Teppich gekehrt werden. Fakt ist: Durch ihre Religion, dürfen Muslime nicht integrieren. Prophet Muhammad sagte das laut und klar. Ein echter Muslim sollte sich nicht kleiden wie ein Ungläubiger, er sollte nicht mit den Ungläubigen kehren, und zudem sollte er nicht einen Freund machen aus einem Ungläubigen.

Ist das nicht was Thilo Sarrazin geschrieben hat? – © Mark
Den Kommentar können Sie hier finden.

Quote Gallery: Thilo Sarrazin's Urge to Provoke >>>
Three Things You Probably Didn't Know About Islam

Geert Wilders - Full 911 Speech at the Ground Zero Mosque Site



“Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves.” – Abraham Lincoln
The New York Times Laments "A Sadly Wary Misunderstanding of Muslim-Americans." But Really Is It "Sadly Wary" Or A "Misunderstanding" At All?

THE NEW REPUBLIC – EXTRACT: ... But, frankly, Muslim life is cheap, most notably to Muslims. And among those Muslims led by the Imam Rauf there is hardly one who has raised a fuss about the routine and random bloodshed that defines their brotherhood. So, yes, I wonder whether I need honor these people and pretend that they are worthy of the privileges of the First Amendment which I have in my gut the sense that they will abuse. Read the rest here, and comment >>> Martin Peretz | Saturday, September 04, 2010
Saudi Diplomat Seeking Asylum: 'My Life Is in Danger'

MSNBC: Envoy says he fears persecution if he leaves the U.S. and returns home

A ranking Saudi diplomat told NBC News that he has asked for political asylum in the United States, saying he fears for his life if he is forced to return to his native country.

The diplomat, Ali Ahmad Asseri, the first secretary of the Saudi consulate in Los Angeles, has informed U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials that Saudi officials have refused to renew his diplomatic passport and effectively terminated his job after discovering he was gay and was close friends with a Jewish woman.

In a recent letter that he posted on a Saudi website, Asseri angrily criticized his country’s “backwardness” as well as the role of “militant imams” in Saudi society who have “defaced the tolerance of Islam.” Perhaps most provocatively of all, he has threatened to expose what he describes as politically embarrassing information about members of the Saudi royal family living in luxury in the U.S.

If he is forced to go back to Saudi Arabia — as Saudi officials are demanding — Asseri says he could face political persecution and even death. >>> Michael Isikoff, National investigative correspondent, NBC News | Saturday, September 11, 2010

HT: Marisol of Jihad Watch >>>

Comment here

Quote: “C'mon, homosexuality is as common as sand in the Islamic world!” – Kepha [Source: Jihad Watch]

Friday, September 10, 2010

Islam: The West’s Headache

Isn’t it true to say that Islam is the cause of most of our problems today? Isn’t it true to say that Islam is the cause of our headache? Isn’t it true to say that Islam is not compatible with democracy and freedom? And isn't it true to say that if things go on as they are, we’ll end up with neither democracy nor freedom?

Islam is in the West not to integrate and accept our way of life; rather, it is here to supplant our way of life with theirs. That means to say, replace the rule of law with the rule of Allah: Shariah law.

Our politicians refuse to face reality; they refuse to stand up for Judeo-Christian, or humanitarian values, they refuse to stand up for our way of life, for our liberty which has been hard won.

We are in danger of allowing Islam to take us back to a New Dark Age, and all because our so-called leaders lack the will, determination, and courage to turn back the forces of darkness.

This movement to turn the clock back in the West, nay in the world, is gaining momentum, and something will have to be done about it. We cannot go on ignoring the problems caused by Islam for much longer. Already our freedoms are being eroded; and they will continue to be eroded if we don’t bite the bullet.

These are troubling times indeed. The growth of Islam in the West must be halted. Ask yourselves one simple question: Can we really afford to have all these Muslims here in the West? The cost of security alone is mind-boggling. And our security bills are soaring for one simple reason: Muslims cannot be trusted to behave responsibly.

Western leaders have been shamefully craven: they have not stood up for our own superior way of life; rather, they have preferred to turn a blind eye and allow the primitive forces of darkness to grow and grow here in the free world, and thereby alow our liberty to be eroded in the short-term and altogether threatened in the long-term.

Without wanting to sound alarmist, it really is five to midnight. Drastic action needs to be taken if the West is to be saved. If we wish to bequeath our free way of life to future generations, then Islam must be stopped in its tracks – whatever the price. We cannot appease our way out of this predicament. We have two choices: Either we fight for what we believe in, and take all necessary action, however unsavoury, or else we have to resign ourselves to living in submission to Allah, and accept Muhammad as his final messenger. There is no third way.

© Mark Alexander

All Rights Reserved


Please note that this post is open for your comments.
West Needs New Missile Shield Against Iranian Nuclear Threat, Nato Chief Says

THE TELEGRAPH: Nato's Secretary-General has urged the construction of a new missile defence system to protect Europe from the threat of Iranian nuclear attack.

Anders Fogh Rasmussen told The Sunday Telegraph he has full American backing for a proposed €200 million (£165 million) defensive "shield", which he hopes will be agreed in November at a summit of members in Lisbon.

He was speaking after weapons inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) warned last week that Iran had passed a crucial nuclear threshold which took it nearer to being able to arm ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads.

"Based on their public statements we know that Iran already has missiles with a range sufficient to hit targets in Europe, and they don't hide the fact that they want to further develop their capability," Mr Rasmussen said.

"If Iran eventually acquires a nuclear capability that will be very dangerous, and a direct threat to the allies. That is the reason why I am now proposing a new and effective Nato missile defence system."

He claimed that the new system could be set up in cooperation with Russia, which has angrily opposed previous American attempts to set up missile shields in Europe.

Iran's longest-range ballistic missiles, such as the Shahab-3 and the Qiam-1, have ranges of around 2,500 miles and could hit targets in Turkey and Greece. >>> Nick Meo in Brussels | Saturday, September 11, 2010

It is laudable that Anders Fogh Rasmussen is recommending that Europe protect itself from the Mullahs of Iran by way of a protective shield. But it should be remembered that defence, whilst important and necessary, is less effective than offence, which is clearly needed in the case of Iran and its quest for the nuclear bomb. Iran’s attempts to acquire such a bomb must be thwarted at each and every stage. Iran’s aspirations must be ended as soon as possible, whatever it takes. Such an unstable régime must never be allowed to become a nuclear power. – © Mark
Muslimischer Islamkritiker

SCHWEIZER FERNSEHEN: «Kulturplatz»-Talk mit Politologe Hamed Abdel-Samad

kulturplatz vom 08.09.2010
Pastor's Call an Act of Terrorism: Makkah Imam

Photobucket
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah arrives in Jeddah on Friday after spending the last 10 days of Ramadan in the vicinity of the Grand Mosque in Makkah. Photograph: Arab News

ARAB NEWS: MAKKAH – The imam of the Grand Mosque in Makkah on Friday said that a US pastor’s threat to burn copies of the Holy Qur’an was an act of terrorism and an incitement to terrorism.

Delivering his Eid sermon to the nearly 2.5 million faithful who thronged the mosque, Sheikh Saleh Bin-Humaid also called the move an act of aggression against Islam, its followers and its sanctity.

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, senior princes and Cabinet members attended the congregation.

Bin-Humaid, who is chairman of the Supreme Judiciary Council, urged Muslims to establish better relations with other communities and cultures.

“We call for more solid relations, greater understanding, mutual respect and cooperation between peoples,” the imam said, stressing the importance of interfaith dialogue.

“It’s from this holy city, the capital of Islam and Muslims, the interfaith dialogue conference set off in order to build bridges of dialogue and understanding and peaceful coexistence and reject all forms of terrorism and fanaticism,” Bin-Humaid said.

The imam described Islam as a religion of truth, moderation and tolerance. >>> Badea Abu Al-Naja, Arab News | Saturday, September 11, 2010
Jahrestag der 9/11-Katastrophe

SCHWEIZER FERNSEHEN: Neun Jahre sind seit den Terroranschlägen vom 11. September 2001 vergangen, bei denen über 3‘000 Menschen ums Leben kamen. In New York wurden wie die Jahre zuvor die Namen der Opfer verlesen.

Tagesschau vom 11.09.2010

YNET NEWS: Israeli mourners reject ground zero mosque: Family of woman killed in the 9/11 attacks says plan for Muslim center 'like bringing pig into holy place' >>> Schmulik Hadad | Saturday, September 11, 2010
Barack Obama Seeks Peace with Islam on Anniversary of 9/11 Terror Attacks

THE TELEGRAPH: Barack Obama marked the ninth anniversary of the September 11th attacks by declaring that America will "never" be at war with Islam in a speech aimed at reducing tensions sparked by a pastor's plan to burn copies of the Koran.



The US president said at a memorial service at the Pentagon, where 184 people were killed: "As Americans, we will not and never will be at war with Islam. It was not a religion that attacked us that September day. It was Al-Qaeda, a sorry band of men which perverts religion."

The Reverend Terry Jones, who single-handedly created an international crisis with his planned "International Burn a Koran day", finally confirmed he had pulled back from the brink after flying to New York from his home in Florida.

Having initially only postponed the event in protest at plans for an Islamic Centre and mosque close to Ground Zero, the Rev Jones said he had now cancelled it altogether.

The pastor, who has a congregation of just 50, told NBC's Today show: "We feel that God is telling us to stop." Pressed on whether his church would ever burn the Islamic holy book, he said: "Not today, not ever. We're not going to go back and do it. It is totally cancelled." Read on and comment >>> Robert Mendick | Saturday, September 11, 2010
Zuhdi Jasser: Oslo Freedom Forum 2010



American Islamic Forum for Democracy >>>
Muslims in America Increasingly Alienated as Hatred Grows in Bible Belt

THE GUARDIAN: On the anniversary of 9/11, Chris McGreal reports from the Tennessee town where Muslims have lived in harmony with Christians for decades – but where they now feel under threat

Photobucket
An opponent of the proposed Muslim centre and mosque near the former World Trade Centre in New York. Photograph: The Guardian

Safaa Fathy was as surprised to discover that she is at the heart of a plot against America as she was to hear that her small Tennessee town is a focus of hate in the Muslim world.

The diminutive fifty-something physiotherapist, who has lived in Murfreesboro for most of her adult life, happens to be on the board of her town's Islamic centre. Now she finds herself accused of being a front for Islamic Jihad, of planning to impose sharia law on her neighbours, and of threatening the very existence of Christianity in Tennessee.

"There is something around the whole United States, something is different. I was here since 1982. I have three kids here and I never had any trouble. My kids, they go to the girl scouts, they play basketball, they did all the normal activities. It just started this year. It's strange, because after 9/11 there was no problem," said Fathy, who was born in Egypt. "In the past in America other people were the target. We are the target now. We have trouble in California, we have trouble in New York, we have trouble in Florida. It's a shame because Murfreesboro is a very nice town to live in."

As the US prepares to mark the ninth anniversary of the al-Qaida assault on New York and the Pentagon, the country's Muslims say they are enduring a wave of hostility and suspicion from some of their fellow Americans that they rarely encountered in the years immediately following the 9/11 attacks.

The increasingly bitter dispute over plans to build an Islamic centre and mosque two blocks from Ground Zero in New York is part of it, fuelling a debate about whether Muslims in the US put their faith before their country. Opponents of the mosque plan to mark the anniversary with a rally in New York today led by a leading anti-Islamic activist, Pamela Geller, who has the support of prominent Republican politicians given to increasingly strident anti-Muslim rhetoric. Among those expected to speak is Geert Wilders, the virulently anti-Islamic Dutch political leader. >>> Chris McGreal | Friday, September 10, 2010
Austrian Woman Charged for Criticizing the Koran



CBN NEWS: Austrian Woman Charged for Criticizing the Koran: VIENNA, Austria -- Burning Korans and criticizing religions may generate anger in America, but it's still freedom of speech guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution. >>> Erick Stakelbeck, CBN News Terrorism Analyst | Thursday, September 09, 2010
EU macht der Türkei ein neues Angebot: Aussenminister streben «strategischen Dialog» an

NZZ ONLINE: Vor ein paar Jahren war die Türkei noch weit weg. Inzwischen spielt das Land zwischen Europa und Asien aber auf der internationalen Bühne eine wichtige Rolle. Zwar kommen die Beitrittsverhandlungen nur mühsam voran, doch die EU macht den Türken ein neues Angebot.

Die Europäische Union will stärker und enger als je zuvor mit der Türkei zusammenarbeiten. Die Aussenminister der 27 EU-Staaten boten Ankara am Samstag in Brüssel einen «strategischen Dialog» vor allem zu den Krisenthemen Nahost, Iran, Westbalkan und Afghanistan an.

Interesse Europas

«Die Türkei erwartet völlig zu Recht, dass man sie auch respektvoll behandelt, dass man sich an das hält, was man mit ihr vereinbart hat», sagte der deutsche Aussenminister Guido Westerwelle. Er verwies auf ein grosses Interesse Europas daran, «dass die Blickrichtung der Türkei der Westen ist und bleibt und es keine Umorientierung gibt». Lesen Sie weiter und schreiben Sie einen Kommentar >>> sda/dpa | Samstag, 11. September 2010
Turkey's Islamic Ambitions Grip Austria



CBN NEWS: Turkey's Islamic Ambitions Grip Austria: VIENNA, Austria -- Turkey is today considered a rising power in the Middle East and Europe.

But just a few centuries ago, the Turks ruled large chunks of both regions under the banner of the Ottoman Empire. Turkish-led forces drove deep into Europe, even reaching the gates of Vienna twice before being defeated.

Now they're back.
>>>
Erick Stakelbeck, CBN News Terrorism Analyst | Monday, June 28, 2010
British, American Islamists Use Koran Burning to Promote Sharia Law, War Against The “Crusaders”…

WEASEL ZIPPERS: Via the NYC-based Islamist website, RevolutionMuslim (home of Joooey Cohen) who are co-organizers of “Burn The American Flag Day”…

In response to pastor Terry Jones’s threat to burn the Quran on Saturday 11th of September 2010, Muslims around the world will be burning the greatest symbol of disbelief today the American flag.

9/11 has come to symbolise the struggle between truth and falsehood, the Shari’ah and man-made law and submission to God and liberal democracy. This war is manifested on all levels, militarily, ideologically, socially and even economically.

On the anniversary of 9/11, we recall the crusader animosity towards Islam and Muslims epitomised by the burning of the Quran, which is intended to attack Islam and humiliate Muslims. We call upon Muslims around the world to rise up and defend Islam, the Muslims and the Quran. Let us call for the Shari’ah to be implemented wherever we are and the regimes such as those in the Muslim countries which never rise a finger to defend the Muslims to be removed. Let this anniversary be a wake-up call for all Muslims that there are two camps in the world today. The greatest symbol of the camp of truth is the Quran and the greatest symbol of the camp of falsehood is the American flag. Indeed one of the many names of the Quran is Al Furqan(the distinguisher).

It is the wish of the Americans and their allies to extinguish the light of Allah but Allah has promised victory to the Muslims and Islam will dominate.” [Source: Weasel Zippers] Posted by ZIP | Friday, September 10, 2010



HT: Weasel Zippers >>>
Das Establishment erklärt Sarrazin zum Extremisten

WELT ONLINE: Der Fall Sarrazin zeigt, wie die politische Korrektheit hierzulande zum Populismus verkommen ist. Der Bundesbanker ist eher Opfer als Täter.

Photobucket
Die Karriere von Thilo Sarrazin bei der Bundesbank ist vorbei: Ende Sepember gibt er seinen Vorstandsposten auf. Foto: Welt Online

Thilo Sarrazin ist ein Opfer seiner selbst und eines diskursiven Klimas, das zur liberalen Grundverfasstheit des Landes nicht recht passt. Seine Entscheidung, bei der Bundesbank hinzuwerfen, ist ein letzter Dienst des preußischen Beamten an jenem Staat, dem er als traditionalistischer Sozialdemokrat unverhohlen huldigt. Er verdient dafür breiten Respekt. Es schwingt wohl auch das Einsehen mit, dass er sich mit der ein oder anderen These vergaloppiert hat und nun die Konsequenzen dafür zu tragen hat. Weiter lesen und einen Kommentar schreiben >>> Von Ulf Poschardt | Freitag, 10. September 2010

Sarrazin tritt zurück

SCHWEIZER FERNSEHEN: Der umstrittene Autor und Banker Thilo Sarrazin reichte heute seinen Rücktritt beim Deutschen Bundespräsidenten Christian Wulff ein. Aufgrund seiner Äusserungen über Juden und Muslime war Sarrazin stark unter Druck geraten.

10vor10 vom 09.09.2010
Obama: 'We Are Not at War Against Islam'

FOX NEWS: President defends right to build mosque



B. Hussein Obama, America’s first Muslim president, talks nonsense! – Mark
US Ban on Gays in Military Ruled Unconstitutional by Judge

THE TELEGRAPH: A judge in California has struck down the US military's ban on homosexuals openly serving in the military, saying the policy is unconstitutional and violates the right to freedom of speech.

Judge Virginia Phillips said evidence presented by the Log Cabin Republicans, a gay conservative group, clearly showed the policy discriminates against homosexuals by forcing them to conceal their sexual orientation.

She said the act prevented gay servicemen and women in the military from talking about their relationships while allowing heterosexual troops to do the same.

"The Don't Ask Don't Tell Act, on its face, violates the constitutional rights" of homosexual troops, she wrote. >>> | Friday, September 10, 2010
USA Once Again Under Threat From the Muslim World

Year of the Obama Referendum?

FOX NEWS: Election disaster for Democrats?

Koran Burning Protests Claim First Victim in Afghanistan

THE TELEGRAPH: A man was shot dead by German troops when Afghan protesters demonstrating against plans by an American pastor to burn copies of the Koran attacked a Nato base in the north of Afghanistan.

Photobucket
Dove World Outreach Center Pastor Terry Jones (R) speaks at a press conference with Imam Muhammad Musri. Photo: The Telegraph

A crowd, estimated at 10,000 by officials in the Badakhshan province, poured into the streets of Faizabad on Friday morning after special Eid prayers to mark the end of Muslim Ramadan.

The protests quickly turned violent and a man was shot when German troops inside the Nato base opened fire after they were attacked by a mob of stone throwing demonstrators.

"They numbered in their thousands, it is a big crowd," said Sayed Hassan Jafary, a police chief in Faizabad.

"People almost from all city mosques gathered."

Mr Jafary said that the crowd chanted "death to America" and threw rocks at the German-run military base in the city.

The protesters demanded the Afghan authorities give them an American flag "so they can burn it and end the demonstrations". "But we don't have an American flag," said Mr Jafary.

A spokesman for the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force in Kabul said that officials were investigating the shooting in Faizabad, the capital of the Badakhshan province.

Hamid Karzai, the Afghan President, had earlier added his voice to those of other leaders from other Islamic countries who have said that the Koran burning would be an attack on all Muslims.

"The Koran is in the hearts and minds of all Muslims. The affront against the holy book is a humiliation to the people. We are hopeful that he gives up this affront and should not even think about it."

Brigadier General Hans-Werner Fritz, the commander of German troops in Afghanistan, had warned on Thursday that the book burning "would provide a trigger for violence towards all ISAF troops, including the Germans in northern Afghanistan."

Robert Gates, the US Defence Secretary, phoned Terry Jones, the Florida pastor on Thursday night and asked him to reconsider his plans to burn Korans on Saturday, the ninth anniversary of the September 11th attacks, because it would have endanger the lives of American and Nato troops.

But the evangelist has refused to cancel the book burning unless plans to build a mosque near the site of the New York World Trade Centre that was destroyed in the September 11 terror attacks nine years ago are cancelled. >>> | Friday, September 10, 2010

THE TELEGRAPH: 9/11 Koran burning: Pastor Terry Jones gives imam two-hour deadline: Terry Jones, a Florida pastor who has caused global outrage over a threat to burn the Koran, has given a New York imam a two-hour deadline to agree to hold talks on moving a planned mosque close to ground zero. >>> | Friday, September 10, 2010
Ground Zero Mosque Investor Declines Trump's Buyout Offer

FOX NEWS: NEW YORK -- Donald Trump's offer to buy an investor's stake where a mosque is planned near ground zero is falling flat.

Wolodymyr Starosolsky is a lawyer for the investor in the real estate partnership that controls the site. He says Trump's offer is "just a cheap attempt to get publicity and get in the limelight."

In a letter released Thursday by Trump's publicist, the real estate investor told Hisham Elzanaty that he would buy his stake in the lower Manhattan building for 25 percent more than whatever he paid.

"I am making this offer as a resident of New York and citizen of the United States, not because I think the location is a spectacular one (because it is not), but because it will end a very serious, inflammatory, and highly divisive situation that is destined, in my opinion, to only get worse," the letter said.

Trump also attached a condition to his offer: He said that as part of the deal, the backers of the mosque project would need to promise that any new mosque they constructed would be at least five blocks farther away from the World Trade Center site. >>> Associated Press | Thursday, September 09, 2010
US Public TV Hijacked by Foreign Propagandists

AUSTRALIAN CONSERVATIVE: WASHINGTON – Imagine the shock that some viewers must have felt when they first clicked on their public TV station’s new digital sub-channels expecting to see more shows like Big Bird or Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood, only to find programming more attuned to the views of Osama bin Laden and Vladimir Putin.

About 30 non-commercial TV stations around the U.S. are airing “MHz Network Worldview,” which includes programs from Al Jazeera English, the Kremlin’s “Russia Today” and other foreign state-controlled instruments of propaganda. MHz Worldview is also available in the Washington, D.C. area.

MHz Networks’ slogan is “Many voices. One world.” A non-profit entity, it is designed for “globally-minded people.”

One of the controversial programs broadcast on MHz1 WNVC-DT every Sunday is titled, “Living Islam in America,” described as “a thirty minute discussion-magazine formatted television series with a primary goal of educating the general population about the faith & culture of Islam and the burgeoning Muslim communities throughout America.”

The host, Johari Abdul Malik, is described by his supporters as an advocate of non-violence. However, the Investigative Project on Terrorism says that he supports radical and political Islamic causes. It reports, “At a 2001 conference hosted by the Islamic Association of Palestine, a now defunct propaganda branch of the Specially Designated Terrorist organization Hamas, he called for attacks against Israeli infrastructure to show Muslim displeasure with Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.”

Abdul-Malik said, “I am gonna teach you now. You can blow up bridges, but you cannot kill people who are innocent on their way to work. You can blow up power supplies… the water supply, you can do all forms of sabotage and let the world know that we are doing it like this because they have a respect for the lives of innocent people.”

Abdul-Malik has also been quoted as saying, “before Allah closes our eyes for the last time you will see Islam move from being the second largest religion in America—that’s where we are now—to being the first religion in America.” Continue reading and comment >>> Jerry Kenney | Thursday, September 02, 2010
Censoring Questions About Obama’s Religion

AUSTRALIAN CONSERVATIVE: WASHINGTON – In a major liberal initiative to curtail discussion of President Obama’s religious identity, over 70 Christian leaders and denominational heads have signed a letter saying that questions about the religious philosophy of the President of the United States should be ignored and suppressed by the major media.

The letter demands that the media “offer no further support or airtime to those who misrepresent and call into question the President’s Christian faith.”

The apparent initiator of the letter is Obama associate Jim Wallis of the Sojourners group, a group funded by atheist George Soros.

The Eleison Group, which represents the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and Wallis’s Sojourners group, arranged the release of the letter and has handled publicity for it. The Eleison Group’s purpose is to mobilise “more traditional progressive ‘base’ faith voters who are often overlooked in Democratic and progressive outreach.”

The president of the Eleison Group, Burns Strider, has served as an adviser to Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and regional Communications Director for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Pelosi, a liberal Catholic, invoked St. Joseph, revered for being the foster father of Jesus and the husband of the Virgin Mary, in the successful push for passage of Obama’s socialised medicine plan.

The “airtime” alluded to in the letter has mostly been devoted to the controversy over opinion polls finding that significant numbers of people are confused about Obama’s religious identity and that some believe he is a Muslim.

The questions that have been offered by Accuracy in Media concern Obama’s claims about being baptised in the Christian faith. AIM believes that politicians should be held accountable for the claims they make about themselves, even on personal matters of religious faith.

Obama’s aides have claimed the President is a committed and practicing Christian and that he was baptised in Jeremiah Wright’s Trinity United Church of Christ. But he has gone to church only a few times since he became President.

“We understand that these are contentious times,” say the Christian leaders, “but the personal faith of our leaders should not be up for public debate.”

However, the First Amendment expressly permits not only freedom of religion but freedom of the press.

The Christian leaders say, “We believe that questioning, and especially misrepresenting, the faith of a confessing believer goes too far.” They do not identify who has misrepresented Obama’s faith.

But other releases from the Eleison Group attack Fox News, talk radio, and “right-wing misinformation” about Obama’s religious affiliation and views. Continue reading and comment >>> Cliff Kincaid, Editor of AIM Report | Sunday, August 29, 2010
9/11 Retrospective – Islam: “Religion of Peace” or Ideology of Terror?

Photobucket
Photograaph: Australian Conservative

AUSTRALIAN CONSERVATIVE: Being the anniversary of the 9/11 Islamic terrorist attacks, and especially in the light of the somewhat provocative comments today in the US by Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf on CNN that moving the “Ground Zero Mosque” could incite violence against the US and the West throughout the Islamic World (“Imam: Moving Mosque Could Ignite Violence”), it may be timely to reflect on what are the key aspects of Islam that make it an ideological tool for terrorist groups.

From the perspective of one who has been involved in one form or another in counterterrorism for some time, I’d suggest that these key aspects can be summarised as being the following:
• It is in reality more akin to an ideology than a religion – indeed, it could be accurately described as a political ideology masquerading as a religion;

• From a religious perspective it has not yet undergone an equivalent of the Reformation which took place in the context of the modernisation of Christianity;

• This interplay of religion and ideology within Islam provide an ideal basis from which terrorist groups can drive their political agendas.
In this context, it is important to recognise that in the West we have a cultural worldview that treats religion and politics as separate, whereas in Islam they are not, and are in fact inextricably intertwined as one and the same: Continue reading and comment >>> Steve Barber | Friday, September 10, 2010
'Islamization' of Paris a Warning to the West



CBN: PARIS - Friday in Paris. A hidden camera shows streets blocked by huge crowds of Muslim worshippers and enforced by a private security force.

This is all illegal in France: the public worship, the blocked streets, and the private security. But the police have been ordered not to intervene.

It shows that even though some in the French government want to get tough with Muslims and ban the burqa, other parts of the French government continue to give Islam a privileged status.

An ordinary French citizen who has been watching the Islamization of Paris decided that the world needed to see what was happening to his city. He used a hidden camera to start posting videos on YouTube. His life has been threatened and so he uses the alias of "Maxime Lepante."

Lepante's View

His camera shows that Muslims "are blocking the streets with barriers. They are praying on the ground. And the inhabitants of this district cannot leave their homes, nor go into their homes during those prayers."

"The Muslims taking over those streets do not have any authorization. They do not go to the police headquarters, so it's completely illegal," he says.

The Muslims in the street have been granted unofficial rights that no Christian group is likely to get under France's Laicite', or secularism law.

"It says people have the right to share any belief they want, any religion," Lepante explained. "But they have to practice at home or in the mosque, synagogues, churches and so on."

Some say Muslims must pray in the street because they need a larger mosque. But Lepante has observed cars coming from other parts of Paris, and he believes it is a weekly display of growing Muslim power.

"They are coming there to show that they can take over some French streets to show that they can conquer a part of the French territory," he said. France's Islamic Future? >>> Dale Hurd | Sunday, September 05, 2010
My Generation Has Wrecked the Country, Claims Nick Clegg

MAIL ONLINE: Nick Clegg has issued an extraordinary denunciation of the last two generations, accusing them of wrecking Britain by embracing a culture of 'instant gratification'.

The Deputy Prime Minister said his parents' generation and his own had 'run up debts, despoiled the planet and allowed our institutions to wither'.

Mr Clegg said that in all walks of life - including the political, commercial and personal - people had become focused only on the short-term.

Companies concerned themselves with chasing immediate profits, politicians were obsessed with the next day's headlines, while individuals 'eat doughnuts and decide not to go for a run', the 43-year-old said.

Families were 'splurging today' rather than saving responsibly for their retirement, while many employees were 'sucked into overwork' instead of taking time to be with their children.

'I think it was a Hollywood actress who said that nowadays, even instant gratification isn't quick enough for some people,' he added. Read on and comment >>> James Chapman | Friday, September 10, 2010
9/11 Koran Burning 'Suspended But Not Cancelled' After Pastor Backtracks from Deal

THE TELEGRAPH: A US pastor has said he may press ahead with plans to burns copies of the Koran on September 11 – just hours after announcing that the stunt had been cancelled.



Pastor Terry Jones, from the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida, last night said that he had abandoned the event after receiving assurance that the planned Islamic centre and mosque near Ground Zero, the site of the attacks, in New York, would be relocated.

His announcement followed worldwide condemnation and warnings of a deadly Islamic backlash.

But Mr Jones later indicated that the burning may go ahead as planned, after the Muslim group behind the New York mosque said they had not agreed to any deal.

The pastor said: "Given what we are now hearing, we are forced to rethink our decision. So as of right now, we are not cancelling the event, but we are suspending it."

Mr Jones claimed he was "lied to" * after Imam Muhammad Musri, the president of the Islamic Society of Central Florida, and the leader of the New York mosque said that no agreement had been struck. >>> Alex Spillius in Washington and Toby Harnden in Gainesville | Friday, September 10, 2010

* Should we be surprised?