Al-Qaeda's Opportunity to Hurt the US
ASIA TIMES: When Osama bin Laden declared war on the United States in al-Qaeda's name in the late summer of 1996, he outlined ambitious worldwide Islamist goals but noted that al-Qaeda could not accomplish them on its own.

He said that al-Qaeda could, at best, serve as the vanguard that would attack the United States, assist Muslim insurgencies around the world and generally try to incite Muslims to join the jihad against the United States, Israel and the police states that govern much of the Arab and Muslim world.

At the time, Bin Laden was very clear in saying that the ultimate fate of the ummah (Islamic community) was in the hands of all Muslims and not solely in al-Qaeda's. Those in the West who

have seen al-Qaeda at any stage of its existence as a hierarchical organization, bent on controlling the jihad it was trying to incite, have either not read Bin Laden's words or have sought to cram this national security threat into the kind of nation-state problem with which they are comfortable.

Good news abounds for al-Qaeda

Muslims should rejoice over the fact that they have the United States as their priority enemy, al-Qaeda strategy analyst Abu Ubayd al-Qurashi wrote in 2002: "The mujahideen enjoy an edge," he argued, "because the US leadership is facing enormous strategic, political and economic challenges in various directions, whereas the mujahideen are focusing their entire efforts on America and have nothing else to worry about."

What was true then is even truer now. By any reasonable standard of evaluation, al-Qaeda's self-appointed role as the inciter of jihad has contributed to a world that is much more afflicted with jihadism today than it was in 1996. Moreover, most locations experiencing rising jihadi activities are states that Washington views as important to US national-security interests. The current problem is so widespread - including locales where there was, at most, limited jihad-related activity in 1996 - that the failure of major US and Western leaders and media to see the reality, let alone the ardent belief of some that the threat is receding, is inexplicable. Al-Qaeda's Opportunity to Hurt the US >>> By Michael Scheuer | September 27, 2008

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Haider Is Back. Just Don't Mention the War
THE INDEPENDENT: Last time he was in power, his nation became a pariah state. These days, Jörg Haider is more likely to praise the EU than the Nazis, although he and his party still hold controversial views about immigrants. Tony Paterson meets Austria's comeback kid

Jörg Haider, the far-right politician who turned Austria into an international pariah less than a decade ago because of his sympathetic views about Nazi Germany, is aiming for a surprise comeback in elections this weekend.

When he was part of the Austrian government in 1999 the rabble-rousing populist described Nazi SS veterans as "men of honour" and praised Hitler's employment policies, triggering European Union sanctions against Austria as a result.

Mr Haider, 58, has been mostly out of national politics ever since, but in Sunday's parliamentary elections he is hoping to return with a result that will leave him holding the balance of power, and maybe even offer him the chance of becoming head of state.

In an interview at the headquarters of his Alliance for the Future of Austria party in Vienna, Mr Haider told The Independent: "I want to run for the post of Chancellor of Austria – I am convinced that I can offer an alternative to those voters who have had enough of the failures of the outgoing grand coalition government."

Austria's grand coalition, comprising the conservative People's Party and the centre-left Social Democrats, collapsed in July after months of infighting. Neither of the two parties wants to form another alliance. Opinion polls published this week suggest that each will secure only around 25 per cent of the vote. The forecasts suggest that a further 25 per cent of votes will go to Austria's populist far-right bloc comprising the Freedom Party and Mr Haider's Alliance.

Mr Haider is banking on such a constellation leaving the far-right bloc as potential kingmakers. He says he is open to the idea of forming a coalition with either of the two main parties. And as a well-known figure in Austrian politics and a seasoned governor of the state of Carinthia, he sees himself as the ideal candidate for chancellor. Haider Is Back. Just Don't Mention the War >>> Tony Paterson | September 26, 2008

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The Rise of the Right across Europe
THE INDEPENDENT: Galvanised by the issues of Third World immigration and Islam, right-wing parties are a force to be reckoned with across much of Europe today. Several of them have succeeded in rebranding themselves as traditional conservatives rather than quasi-Fascist.

In Norway the anti-immigrant Progress Party is now the largest in the land. Like other right-wing parties in Scandinavia, it has enjoyed surging support since the Islamic cartoon affair two years ago. In Switzerland, Christoph Blocher's Swiss People's Party won the general election last year after a campaign condemned as racist by UN monitors. In Poland the League of Polish Families, a member of the coalition government until a year ago, campaigns for the elimination of Jewish influence in business and the professions. The Vlaams Belang in Belgium is strongly anti-immigrant. Even in ultra-liberal Denmark, the nationalist and anti-immigrant Danish People's Party is now the third largest party. In Italy, Silvio Berlusconi's Party of Freedom is sandwiched in the ruling coalition by the anti-immigrant Northern League and the post-Fascist National Alliance. [Source: THE INDEPENDENT] Peter Popham | September 26, 2008

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Pat Condell: The Tyranny of Scripture

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Saudi Clerics’ Outbursts Hurt Image of Islam
THE NATIONAL - RIYADH: When the head of Saudi Arabia’s Supreme Court recently declared that media officials responsible for airing immoral television programmes could be killed, his remarks provoked what has become a familiar response around the world.



Ridicule and scorn for Saudi Arabia, and more “proof” for Islamophobes of the “backwardness” of Islam. 



Sheikh Lihedan’s remarks were not the only ones in recent months to trigger a spate of global eye-rolling. 



In March, Sheikh Abdul Rahman al Barrak declared that two Saudi writers, whom he accused of expressing heretical ideas, should be put to death unless they recanted.
Another elderly sheikh, Abdullah bin Jibreen, told an interviewer on Al Majd TV, a conservative Riyadh-based religious station, that journalists “who insult scholars to shame or discredit them or undermine their authority … should be punished”. 
Sheikh Jibreen’s suggested chastisements included “imprisonment for a long time”, being “removed from the positions they hold, or … flogging”.



There were other less frightening, but sometimes silly, pronouncements that caused non-Muslims to wonder why representatives of such a profound and spiritual religious tradition as Islam concern themselves with trivialities. 



The most famous was a declaration by a member of the Saudi religious police, officially known as the Commission to Promote Virtue and Prevent Vice, that dog-walking had become an unacceptable “phenomenon” in Riyadh. He demanded enforcement of 14-year-old ban on selling cats and dogs. 



Then came a Saudi cleric bemoaning the fact that young children have become enamoured of such cartoon figures as Mickey Mouse even though Islamic law stipulates that mice should be killed.



Sheikh Mohammed al Munajid told Al Majd TV last month that sharia regards a mouse as “one of Satan’s soldiers”. Saudi Clerics’ Outbursts Hurt Image of Islam >>> By Caryle Murphy | September 25, 2008

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Russia Forces West to Go It Alone against Iran Nuclear Programme
Rice and Lavrov. Notice the body language! Photo courtesy of The Telegraph
THE TELEGRAPH: Western diplomats met in New York last night to thrash out a further set of bilateral sanctions against Iran after Russian [sic] and China launched a boycott of talks on a new UN resolution.

Russia's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov used a series of meetings with his Western counterparts, including David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, to signal that Moscow had gone cold on international efforts to reign in the nuclear ambitions of Iran and North Korea.

Mr Lavrov lashed out at America and its allies as he linked the Russian decision to steps taken to punish its invasion of Georgia by cutting Kremlin officials out of G8 talks. "You can't have it both ways, punishing Russia by canceling meetings we share and at the same time expecting Russian cooperation on issues important to you," he said. "It is not right to make important items on our agenda hostage."

Foreign Office officials struggled to play down the implications of Russia's fresh recalcitrance but one official said it had doomed attempts to impose new penalties on Iran, which has a clandestine nuclear programme, until the first half of 2009. "There's a recognition that the next step will be down to individual countries," said one official close to the discussions. "It will take some time, well beyond the US elections, to engage in discussions that will produce any more UN sanctions. Russia Forces West to Go It Alone against Iran Nuclear Programme >>> By Damien McElroy, Foreign Affairs Correspondent | September 25, 2008

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President of Pakistan Calls Sarah Palin 'Gorgeous'
The President of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari, thinks Sarah Palin is gorgeous. And he’s told her so! Photo courtesy of The Telegraph. Click on the photo to play music.
THE TELEGRAPH BLOGS: The President of Pakistan has become the first world leader to indicate that Sarah Palin's physical charms could have significant diplomatic potential in office.

A pool report from CNN shows that during the "grip and grin" photo op between Sarah Palin and Asif Ali Zardari at the UN, the president of Pakistan could not conceal his admiration for the Republican VP nominee. Mr Zardari, who was widowed but nine months ago, called her "gorgeous" and made it clear he was happy to carry on gripping for some time.

What could she have got away with asking for? Unfettered US military access to Waziristan? Osama bin Laden's head on a plate before election day?

Mrs Palin has been taking her gorgeousness around New York all week, meeting dignitaries including Hamid Karzai, Henry Kissinger and Mikheil Saakashvili as the McCain campaign has attempted to demonstrate she is capable of acting on the world stage. President of Pakistan Calls Sarah Palin 'Gorgeous' >>> By Alex Spillius | September 25, 2008

NDTV.COM:
Islamabad: Fatwa against Zardari for 'Flirting' with Palin: Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari seems to be heading towards fresh trouble as the prayer leader of the Lal Masjid in the heart of Islamabad has issued a fatwa against him.

Maulana Abdul Ghafar, the prayer leader, seems to be irked by Zardari's "you're gorgeous" compliment to US vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin during a meeting.

When Zardari was asked to keep shaking hands with Palin for the cameras, he said, "If he's (the aide) insisting, I might hug you."

He said the act was un-Islamic and unbecoming of a head of state of a Muslim country.

Maulana also said that Zardari shamed the entire Pakistani by publicly making indecent gestures towards Palin in Washington last Thursday. >>> NDTV Correspondent | September 29, 2008

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Sir Winston’s View of Islam

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Dhimmitude: Harvard Submits to Islam

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John Gibson: Minnesota Becomes First US Muslim State

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Bernard Lewis: Civilization Is at Stake!

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Eurabia Alert! EU Urged to Take In More Iraqi Refugees
YAHOO NEWS! (UK & IRELAND): BERLIN - Rights groups called Tuesday on the European Union to take in more refugees from Iraq, two days ahead of a meeting of EU justice and interior ministers in Brussels.

"Iraqi refugees are in urgent need of protection because in contrast to what Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki says, the security situation is alarming," Amnesty International Germany's Julia Duchrow told a news conference together with fellow rights group Pro Asyl (For Asylum).

"Periods of reflection, interruptions and playing for time with more research on the ground like the EU plans to do is irresponsible in view of the suffering of refugees," Pro Asyl's Europe representative Karl Kopp said.

Millions of Iraqis have fled their homes since the US-led invasion in 2003, with many heading to neighbouring countries such as Jordan and Syria.

Justice and interior ministers from the 27-nation EU were due to discuss on Thursday and Friday the issue at a meeting in Brussels.

In April the EU's Slovenian presidency rejected German proposals to give priority to refugees from Iraq's Christian minority, saying that asylum should be provided without consideration of religion.

After a meeting with Maliki in July German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed support for Iraqi government plans to see refugees return home rather than have some of them stay in Europe. [Source: YAHOO! NEWS (UK & IRELAND) AFP | September 23, 2008

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Eurabia

Fitzgerald: There Is No Compulsion in Religion
DHIMMI WATCH: The continued emphasis by Muslim and non-Muslim apologists for Islam on a single verse -- "There is no compulsion in religion" -- is permitted not only because their Infidel audience has no idea either about what is said relevantly elsewhere, in hundreds of places, in the Qur'an and Hadith, and not only because they are unaware of the doctrine of abrogation or "naskh," but because they are also unaware of the precise meaning that is given to that phrase "there is no compulsion in religion" by Muslim jurisconsults. If they did look into it, they would find that the "obvious" meaning of the words -- that is, the meaning that we Infidels choose to endow that phrase with -- is not what Muslim scholars mean at all. They mean that in the end one cannot force deep belief on people, though one can force them to comply outwardly, even on pain of death. And that is what Islam is in the business of doing: forcing outward compliance, on pain of punishment that may well include, has often included, death.

But there is one more thing that should surely be offered as an objection when some fool comes along and utters credulously this "there is no compulsion in religion" and expects us to believe the Western understanding of it. That is the observable behavior of Muslims over 1350 years. What have Muslims done, when they have conquered, by force or otherwise, non-Muslim lands and peoples? They offer three possibilities: death, conversion, and, at least to those who can be classified as ahl al-kitab or "people of the book," permanent status as dhimmis, with a host of political, economic, and social disabilities which together added up to lives of humiliation, degradation, and physical insecurity, at times relieved -- but only at times -- by the occasional mollitude of a particular Muslim ruler. A slim reed on which to base one's happiness. And so, over time, many non-Muslims, in order to avoid this condition of degradation, humiliation, and physical insecurity, converted to Islam. Fitzgerald: There Is No Compulsion in Religion >>> By Hugh Fitzgerald | September 24, 2008

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Wie Ahmadinedschad US-Bürgern die Welt erklärt
WELT ONLINE: In New York hat der iranische Präsident Ahmadinedschad diese Woche eine seiner berüchtigten Hass-Reden gehalten. Nebenbei erklärte er in einer Talkshow den US-Bürgern, wie die Welt funktioniert. Demnach ist der Iran ein friedliches Land, seine Hetze gegen Juden ein Akt des Widerstands. Zu Homosexuellen hat er auch eine Idee. Ahmadinedschad im Interview mit Larry King >>> 25. September 2008

Welt TV Video anschauen: Blistering Words from Iran's President: The Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad apparently is refusing to take sides in the race to replace President Bush. Hours before his his appearance at the U-N, he spoke with C-N-N's Larry King about the U-S presidential race. >>> | September 24, 2008

Welt TV Video anschauen: Die unglaubliche Wutrede von Irans Präsident: Der iranische Präsident Mahmud Ahmadinedschad hat sich in seiner Rede vor der UN-Vollversammlung einmal mehr aggressiver Rhetorik bedient: Diesmal beschimpfte er die Israelis als "zionistische Mörder" und attackierte das "amerikanische Imperium". >>> | September 24, 2008

DIE PRESSE:
Ahmadinejad trifft anti-zionistische Juden: Unterstützung von überraschender Seite bekommt der iranische Staatschef Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Eine Gruppe streng-orthodoxer Juden, die ebenfalls gegen den israelischen Staat kämpft, traf ihn in New York.

Einen Tag nach der umstritten Anti-Juden-Rede traf Irans Staatschef Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Vertreter der jüdisch ultra-orthodoxen Splittergruppe „Neturei Karta", die den israelischen Staat demontieren wollen. Amadinejad sagte, dass der „Zionismus sehr geschwächt" sei und, „wenn es Gott so will, bald zerstört sein wird. Dann werden alle Juden, Muslime und Christen friedlich nebeneinander leben". >>> (Ag./Red.) | 25, September 2008

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Marriott Attackers Fidayeen-e-Islam Threaten to Attack All US Facilitators in Pak
THAINDIAN NEWS: Lahore (ANI): The Fidayeen-e-Islam (FI), a terrorist outfit which claimed responsibility for the Marriott Hotel suicide blast in Islamabad last Saturday killing 60 people, has reportedly threatened to target every person facilitating the US Army in Pakistan.

In a message received by an Arab TV office in Islamabad , the FI rejected the Pentagons claim that only two US marines had been killed in the Marriott blast, reported the Daily Times.

A large number of US marines, FBI officials and European diplomats was staying at the upper three storeys of the hotel, the paper quoted the FI message as saying.

However, the message did not mention the number of US officials the militant organisation believed died in the bombing, added the report.

Immediately after the hotel attack, it was believed that the militants had targeted the Americans living in the hotel. But, later a US embassy statement declined the reports and said that there was no evidence to corroborate that the actual intention behind hitting the hotel to kill Americans alone. [Source: THAINDIAN NEWS] ANI | September 25, 2008

THE AUSTRALIAN:
Terror Group Fidayeen-al-Islam Vows More Pakistan Hits: A FULL-SCALE emergency was sounded at Islamabad's international airport last night as the al-Qa'ida-linked organisation responsible for bombing Pakistan's Marriott hotel vowed to launch even bigger attacks.

In a mobile phone message in English sent to reporters, theal-Qa'ida-linked Fidayeen-al-Islam - "Islamic commandos" - warned that "all those who facilitate Americans and NATO crusaders like (Marriott hotel owner) Sadruddin Hashwani, they will keep on receiving blows."

The group claimed it attacked the Marriott because 250 US marines and NATO troops were staying there - something denied by the US embassy.

Fifty-three people were killed in the attack, the worst terrorist strike in Pakistan. >>> Bruce Loudon, Islamabad | September 26, 2008

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Tariq Ramadan on the Defensive
GATESOFVIENNA: Tariq Ramadan has been featured frequently in this space. He is one of the most dangerous Muslims in the West, because he is so suave and sophisticated and reasonable and “moderate”. So civilized, so calm, such a breath of fresh air compared to the frothing-at-the-mouth “kill the infidel apes and pigs” imams featured on the YouTube videos and in Fitna!

Yet, despite his reasonable manner, he is an agent of the Great Jihad and one of the more skilled practitioners of taqiyya in the West. Tariq Ramadan on the Defensive >>> By Baron Bodissey | September 24, 2008

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Catalonians Get Taken In by the ‘Religion of Peace’ in Big Numbers
Photo courtesy of IslamOnline
ISLAMONLINE.NET: MADRID — Thousands of Spaniards, especially intellectuals, academics and anti-globalization activists, are finding comfort and solace in Islam.

"Embracing Islam is on the rise despite ferocious Western media campaigns," Abdul-Nour Brado, the head of the Islamic Society of Catalonia, told IslamOnline.net.

Estimates suggest that between 3,000 to 4,000 Catalonians accepted Islam recently.

"The numbers could be much higher than that," Barado believes.

Local media reports have noted that intellectuals, academics and anti-globalization activists make up the bulk of the new Muslim reverts in Spain.

Catalonians first embraced Islam in the 1960s and their numbers were quite few.

Now thousands of Catalonians are believed to have joined the fold of Islam.

The Spanish autonomous province of Catalonia covers an area of 31,950 km² with an official population of 6.3 million, and its capital is Barcelona.

It is home to around 100,000 Moroccan immigrants, which is attributed to the geographical proximity with Morocco.

The southern European country has an estimated Muslim minority of about at 1.5 million out of a total population of 40 million.

Islam is the second religion after Christianity and has been recognized through the law of religious freedom, issued in July 1967. Islam Comforts Spanish Intellectuals >>> By Al-Amin Andalusi, IOL Correspondent | September 25, 2008

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Sexual Cleansing in Iraq
Some of the links in this article will take you to sites containing images of violence which you may find disturbing

THE GUARDIAN: Islamist deaths squads are hunting down gay Iraqis and summarily executing them

The "improved" security situation in Iraq is not benefiting all Iraqis, especially not those who are gay. Islamist death squads are engaged in a homophobic killing spree with the active encouragement of leading Muslim clerics, such as Moqtada al-Sadr, as Newsweek recently revealed.

One of these clerics, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, issued a fatwa urging the killing of lesbians and gays in the "most severe way possible".

The short film, Queer Fear – Gay Life, Gay Death in Iraq, produced by David Grey for Village Film, documents the tragic fates of a several individual gay Iraqis. You can view it here. Watch and weep. It is a truly poignant and moving documentary about the terrorisation and murder of Iraqi lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

Since this film was made, the killings have continued and, many say, got worse. For gay Iraqis there is little evidence of the transition to democracy. They don't experience any newfound respect for human rights. Life for them is even worse than under the tyrant Saddam Hussein.

It is a death sentence in today's "liberated" Iraq to love a person of the same sex, or for a woman to have sex outside of marriage, or for a Muslim to give up his or her faith or embrace another religion.

The reality on the ground is that theocracy is taking hold of the country, including in Basra, which was abandoned by the British military. In place of foreign occupation, the city's inhabitants now endure the terror of fundamentalist militias and death squads.
Those who are deemed insufficiently devout and pure are liable to be assassinated.

The death squads of the Badr organisation and the Mahdi army are targeting gays and lesbians, according to UN reports, in a systematic campaign of sexual cleansing. They proudly boast of their success, claiming that they have already exterminated all "perverts and sodomites" in many of the major cities.

You can view photos of a few of the LGBT victims of these summary executions 
here and here. Sexual Cleansing in Iraq >>> By Peter Tatchell | September 25, 2008

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Cinnamon Stillwell: Sharia Law: Coming to a Western Nation Near You?
FRONTPAGEMAG.COM: Georgetown University’s Prince Alwaleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding (ACMSU) will be hosting a conference on October 23 that asks the loaded question: “Is There a Role for Shari'ah in Modern States?”

The Saudi-funded ACMSU and its founding director, John Esposito, one of the foremost apologists for radical Islam in the academic field of Middle East studies, have certainly been doing their bit to make the idea more palatable.

The Saudi prince for whom ACMSU was named has been pumping millions of dollars into Middle East studies at Georgetown, Harvard, UC Berkeley, and beyond, and as the case of Esposito demonstrates, it magnifies the voices of scholars with a decidedly uncritical bent. As a result, ACMSU analysis regarding Sharia (or Islamic) law tends to focus not on its injustices (amputation, stoning, hanging, honor killing, punishment for blasphemy, execution of apostates, persecution of non-Muslims, sanctioned wife-beating, female genital mutilation, and so on), but rather on repackaging it in ways that will appeal to Western sensibilities. The concept of a more “moderate” version of Sharia law that is compatible with democracy is at the forefront of this effort.

While it’s difficult to predict exactly what will take place at the upcoming ACMSU conference, the fact that Esposito will present the opening remarks provides considerable insight into the politics of the event.

Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think, a book co-authored by Esposito and executive director of the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies Dalia Mogahed, has been widely criticized for its blatant inaccuracies and attempts to whitewash anti-Western and extremist sentiment in the Muslim world. Accordingly, Sharia law is framed in a non-threatening fashion. As Robert Satloff put it in the Weekly Standard:

…Amazing as it sounds, according to Esposito and Mogahed, the proper term for a Muslim who hates America, wants to impose Sharia law, supports suicide bombing, and opposes equal rights for women but does not “completely” justify 9/11 is . . . “moderate.”

Sharia Law: Coming to a Western Nation Near You? >>> By Cinnamon Stillwell | September 25, 2008

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Turkish Singer Defiant in Court
BBC: A popular Turkish singer has defended public statements that Turkey's long conflict with Kurdish rebels needs a solution - not more deaths.

Bulent Ersoy made her comments at a court hearing in Istanbul, after being charged with attempting to turn the public against military service.

The transsexual singer also suggested that if she had a son she would not send him to fight.

If found guilty, she faces up to four-and-a-half years in prison.
Ms Ersoy made her comments about Turkey's powerful military on television last February.

The Turkish army was conducting a major operation against the rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in northern Iraq at the time.

Some 40,000 people have died since the conflict with the PKK began in 1984. Turkish Singer Defiant in Court >>> | September 24, 2008

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