While it is easy to come to the defense of a black man who happens to be a world class scholar, how many less fortunate blacks get arrested on even more flimsy grounds with no public outcry?
Posts Tagged ‘Ahmed’
Ahmed Rehab: Racism or Not, Cambridge Police Owes Professor Gates an Apology
July 22nd, 2009 |
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Delay in arrival of monsoon in Kashmir
July 21st, 2009 |
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Temperature hovering three degrees above normal has left residents and visitors high and dry in Kashmir.
The picturesque valley is hot, as delayed rainfall has led to a rise in the mercury levels.
More and more residents are taking dip in the Dal Lake besides having ice creams and drinks to beat the sweltering heat.
“The weather [...]
Somali Islamists ban UN agencies
July 21st, 2009 |
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Somali militants accused of links to al-Qaeda have banned three United Nations agencies from operating in two southern towns they control.
Members of al-Shabab also raided the offices of the UN Political Office for Somalia, the Development Programme and the Department of Safety and Security.
Al-Shabab accused the agencies of being enemies of Islam and Somali Muslims.
The UN has no permanent staff in Somalia, but runs its operations from neighbouring Kenya.
Staff unharmed
One unnamed UN staff member told Reuters news agency that armed militia had surrounded the compound in Baidoa and taken away three cars.
Another official told AFP news agency that al-Shabab members had "told staff not to worry, nobody will harm them".
AFP reported that offices in the town of Wajid had also been targeted.
Other UN offices in both towns were not affected.
A statement broadcast on local radio from al-Shabab said the three UN organisations were "working against the benefit of the Somali Muslim population and against the establishment of an Islamic state in Somalia".
Al-Shabab and its allies control much of southern Somalia and swathes of the capital Mogadishu.
They are fighting to unseat the Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, a moderate Islamist, who took office in January.</p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Sharia trial for Somalia hostages
July 18th, 2009 |
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Two French security advisers seized in Somalia will be tried under Sharia law, an official from their captors, the Islamic al-Shabab militia, says.
The unnamed spokesman said they would be tried for spying and "conspiracy against Islam".
The two, who were training government troops, were kidnapped by gunmen in a Mogadishu hotel on Tuesday and later handed over to al-Shabab insurgents.
Al-Shabab and its allies control much of southern Somalia.
The al-Shabab official said no date had been set for the trial of the two men.
Meeting al-Shabab Somali justice, Islamist-style
They were on an official mission to train the forces of the interim government, which has recently appealed for foreign help to tackle Islamist insurgents.
Moderate Islamist President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed was sworn in in January after UN-brokered peace talks.
He promised to introduce Sharia law but the hardliners accuse him of being a western stooge.
Somalia has not had a functioning national government since 1991.</p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Somalis kidnap Kenya aid workers
July 18th, 2009 |
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Three foreign aid workers have been kidnapped in Kenya and taken across the border into Somalia, officials said.
About 10 Somali gunmen crossed the border to abduct the workers from the border town of Mandera.
The nationality of the workers was not immediately known. Kidnappings are not uncommon in the region and most people are released unharmed.
Two French hostages were seized earlier this week in Mogadishu and have been handed to a Somali Islamist group.
‘Guard shot’
In the latest incident, the three aid workers were taken from their office in Mandera, in north-eastern Kenya.
Aid workers and journalists are particular targets for kidnappers and are often released after ransoms are paid.
One official told Associated Press that a security guard had been shot in the head during the abduction and was being treated in hospital for "life-threatening injuries".
The two French hostages have reportedly been handed to the al-Shabab militant group, which has carried out public executions.
A source in the Somali presidency said: "If they are in the hands of al-Shabab it is very, very serious".
The two security advisers, who were training government troops, were seized from a Mogadishu hotel on Tuesday.
Somalia has not had a functioning national government since 1991.
Moderate Islamist Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed was sworn in as president in January after UN-brokered peace talks.
He promised to introduce Sharia law but hardliners accuse him of being a Western stooge.</p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Extremists ‘have French hostages’
July 17th, 2009 |
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A second French hostage has been handed over to the hard-line Somali Islamist group, al-Shabab, government sources have told the BBC.
"If they are in the hands of al-Shabab it is very, very serious," said a source in the Somali presidency. The group carries out public executions.
The first man was reportedly given to al-Shabab on Thursday.
The two security advisers, who were training government troops, were seized from a Mogadishu hotel on Tuesday.
BBC East Africa correspondent Will Ross says that, unlike other insurgent groups in Somalia, al-Shabab is unlikely to be holding the men for ransom.
In its eyes, the pair would be enemies, he says.
"They could kill them, saying they are Christian, not Islamic and they could manipulate the situation for their own political demands, including their call for African Union troops to leave," the presidential source told the BBC.
He said the government was not able to negotiate directly with al-Shabab but had been talking to people claiming to be linked to the group holding the two French men.
Public killings
Al-Shabab and its ally Hizbul-Islam are fighting the UN-backed interim government and together control much of southern Somalia.
Both groups are said to have links to al-Qaeda and have been reinforced by foreign fighters.
Meeting al-Shabab Somali justice, Islamist-style
A group of gunmen dressed in military uniform seized the men on Tuesday morning and handed them over to Hizbul-Islam.
The move apparently sparked a row with al-Shabab, which now seems to have persuaded the other group to hand the two men over.
BBC Somali Service editor Yusuf Garaad Omar says al-Shabab is known for being the more radical of the two groups.
He says al-Shabab cares little for its public image and has carried out killings on camera.
Somali Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke on Thursday warned Hizbul-Islam it would "bear responsibility for any harmful action taken against the hostages".
The French advisers were helping to train the forces of the government, which has recently appealed for foreign help to tackle the Islamists.
The US last month confirmed that it has sent weapons to the government, which is also being protected by some 4,000 African Union troops in Mogadishu.
Somalia has not had a functioning national government since 1991.
Moderate Islamist Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed was sworn in as president in January after UN-brokered peace talks.
He promised to introduce Sharia law but the hardliners accuse him of being a western stooge.</p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Islamists ‘share French hostages’
July 16th, 2009 |
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Two French security advisers seized in Somalia this week have been split up and are now being held by two different hardline groups, reports say.
The pair were snatched by gunmen from a Mogadishu hotel on Tuesday and were being held by the Hizbul-Islam group.
But officials say the al-Shabab group wanted them and after a row, Hizbul-Islam handed one of the men over.
Al-Shabab has recently carried out several beheadings, amputations and stonings in areas it controls.
They are allied with Hizbul-Islam against the UN-backed interim government and together control much of southern Somalia.
Both groups are said to have links to al-Qaeda and have been reinforced by foreign fighters.
A BBC East Africa correspondent, Peter Greste, says kidnappings in Somalia are normally about the negotiation of ransom payments rather than making violent points about foreign interference.
But he says this abduction has diplomats worried because making a point about foreign support for the government might be more valuable than demanding a cash payout.
‘Good health’
A group of gunmen dressed in military uniform seized the men on Tuesday morning and handed them over to the Hizbul-Islam group.
The move apparently sparked a row with the al-Shabab militants, who managed to persuade the other group to hand over one of the hostages.
Meeting al-Shabab Somali justice – Islamist-style
An unnamed al-Shabab militant told Reuters the two men had been shared "to avoid clashes between Islamists".
Somali Social Affairs Minister Mohammed Ali Ibrahim told French media the government was trying to free the men.
"The Shabab party took one of the two hostages and the other is in the hands of the Hizbul-Islam, but we’re in negotiations with them and we’re hoping for a positive result," he said.
Mr Ibrahim said that Somalia’s prime minister had spoken to one of the hostages who was being held in Mogadishu and said they are apparently in good health.
Moderate Islamist Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed was sworn in as president in January after UN-brokered peace talks.
He promised to introduce Sharia law but the hardliners accuse him of being a western stooge.
The French advisors were reportedly helping to train the forces of government, which has recently appealed for foreign help to tackle the Islamists.
The US last month confirmed that it has sent weapons to the government, which is also being protected by some 4,000 African Union troops in Mogadishu.
Somalia has not had a functioning national government since 1991. </p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Ordinary lives
July 15th, 2009 |
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By Gabriel Gatehouse
BBC News, Baghdad
During the past six tumultuous years, Iraqis have seen their country invaded, and then nearly torn apart by sectarian and ethnic violence. But there have been significant improvements in security over recent months.
US forces have withdrawn from towns and cities in preparation for a full military departure by the end of 2011. Many Iraqis now hope they are witnessing a return to normal life. But in Iraq, "normal" is relative concept.
Watching hip-hop group Rap and Justice on stage, you might be forgiven for thinking you were in the heart of urban America, with the the baggy trousers and gold medallions.
This was, in fact, one of the first ever performances of home-grown Iraqi rap, at the National Theatre in central Baghdad. The US military may be pulling out of urban areas, but urban American culture is taking root.
"At first the audience found the music odd," said group leader Hisham, aka Royal Passion. "But then they started to like it."
The audience was a mixture: many teen-age boys with baseball caps on backwards and basketball shirts reaching down to their knees; but there were also families with small children, and more traditionally dressed women wearing headscarves.
The theatre, with its tiered, red-velvet seats, might seem an incongruous venue. But at least it’s relatively secure, not an insignificant factor in people’s choice of entertainment.
"It’s fantastic," 13-year-old Dina enthused. "The situation in Baghdad is a little bad. There are not so many concerts like this."
For security reasons, Rap and Justice were performing in the middle of the day, when there is less chance of attack. But, according to some concert-goers, the recent drop in violence has had a direct and positive impact on social life.
"Before it was really, really dangerous," one young man said. "But now I go to parties, and we have fun with our guys, we rap and all that stuff. It’s cool."
Lucky escape
Across town, Abu Noor has a bakery. From early morning, he and his staff are busy feeding small diamond-shaped loaves at high speed into their wood fired oven.
Equally fast, ready baked loves come shooting out, and into a tub at the end of a counter.
Customers stop on their way to work, to pick up a bag of bread and have a chat.
This is normal life. But, just the other day, Abu Noor discovered an improvised explosive device (IED) in a bag outside his shop.
"The bag was only a few meters away," he said. "If it had gone off, people in the bakery, in the restaurant next door, would have been hurt."
Was he shocked to find a bomb on his doorstep He wasn’t. Iraqis have learned to expect the threat of random violence. But Abu Noor was emphatic: this was not normal life.
"Normal life is when I can walk around without any problems," he said.
Busy streets
But on the streets of Baghdad, it’s obvious life is returning to normal. In the evenings, shops and stalls do brisk trade, selling everything from clothes to electronics, from fruit juices to tea.
Tea shops are one of the surest barometers of people’s sense of security. Six months ago, they would be empty by early evening.
Today the pavements are full of men, sitting around talking, drinking hot sweat tea and smoking water pipes.
"Before it was dangerous," Muhannad said, offering me a chair. "There were suicide bombs, car bombs. Now there is a big difference."
Muhannad is an engineer who works in the heavily fortified International Zone (formerly known as the Green Zone). He started coming back to his favourite cafe at the beginning of 2009. Now he pops in every evening after work.
"Thank God it was just a normal day. If it had been a Thursday or Friday, the place would have been packed."
Ahmed, owner of bombed pool hall
But he does not go out unprepared, always carrying pistol in his waistband. He pulled it out to show the Arabic inscription on the barrel: "A gift from the Prime Minister of Iraq".
I suggested the gun wouldn’t be much use against a car bomb. Muhannad laughed. "Yes, I cannot protect myself from that."
A few hours after our conversation, just around the corner from the same cafe, a double bombing at a billiard hall killed one man and wounded a number of others.
Inside, the ceiling was torn to shreds, pieces hanging from the metal girders. Pool tables were littered with dust and splinters; the floor was covered in rubble and ball-bearings, the contents of one of the home-made bombs.
"Thank God it was just a normal day," said Ahmed, the proprietor. "If it had been a Thursday or Friday, the place would have been packed."
The pool hall clientele were just ordinary people, passing an evening in the same way people do in towns and cities across the world.
In Iraq, a story like this struggles to make it into the news bulletins. But that does not mean Iraqis have accepted daily violence as a permanent feature of normal life.</p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Ahmed Rehab: The Islam-Basher and the Librarian Kerkuffle
July 14th, 2009 |
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A controversy erupted last week in Chicago after it was publicly revealed that a noted anti-Islam blogger had been invited to an American Library Association panel.
France condemns Sudan floggings
July 14th, 2009 |
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France has condemned the flogging of several women in Sudan, who were being punished for wearing trousers.
The foreign ministry called on Khartoum to abandon the prosecution of several others charged with the same offence.
The women were arrested in a Khartoum restaurant and accused of wearing clothes that threatened the values and virtue of Sudanese society.
One of the women facing charges is a well-known local journalist who has invited reporters to attend her trial.
Lubna Ahmed al-Hussein said several of the women who she was arrested with had pleaded guilty to the charge and been flogged immediately.
The French foreign ministry said in a statement it "strongly condemned" the punishment.
"France, which is fighting for the abolition of cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment or treatment and is combating violence against women, demands that the Sudanese authorities break off its prosecution of these people," the statement said.
Khartoum, unlike South Sudan, is governed by Sharia law.
Several of those punished were from the mainly Christian and animist south, Ms Hussein said.
Non-Muslims are not supposed to be subject to Islamic law, even in Khartoum and other parts of the mainly Muslim north.</p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Sudan women ‘lashed for trousers’
July 13th, 2009 |
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A group of Sudanese women has been flogged as a punishment for dressing "indecently", according to a local journalist who was arrested with them.
Lubna Ahmed al-Hussein, who says she is facing 40 lashes, said she and 12 other women wearing trousers were arrested in a restaurant in the capital, Khartoum.
She said several of the women had pleaded guilty to the charges they faced and were lashed immediately.
Khartoum, unlike South Sudan, is governed by Sharia law.
Several of those punished were from the mainly Christian and animist south, Ms Hussein said.
Non-Muslims are not supposed to be subject to Islamic law, even in Khartoum and other parts of the mainly Muslim north.
Ms Hussein said some women pleaded guilty to "get it over with" but others chose to speak to their lawyers and are awaiting their fates.
Ms Hussein is a well-known reporter who writes a weekly column in Sudanese papers called Men Talk.
Human rights groups have called for her release and described her trial as a charade.
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This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Libya’s struggles
July 9th, 2009 |
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Travelling to the Libyan town of Sirte to report on the African Union summit, Christian Fraser considers whether Libya is ready for an era of mass tourism.
It is midnight at Tripoli airport, across the road from the arrivals hall. Beyond high mesh fences and the white glare of towering floodlights, a Chinese workforce is labouring through the night on a new terminal.
The air is hot and heavy. The face of Muammar Gaddafi stares out from a nearby billboard, as if micromanaging his country’s construction boom.
En route to the African Union summit, I had just emerged from the old arrivals hall – dour, disorganised and full of government spooks. I was delayed for an inordinate amount of time while they checked, then rechecked, that rarest of Libyan commodities, a journalist’s visa.
The two faces of Libya, a perfect illustration of where the country has come from, and where it is going.
Once the international pariah, now a state in full-speed transition.
Embracing capitalism
In the past year, Muammar Gaddafi has travelled the world signing profitable oil and gas deals that will help transform Tripoli into the new Mediterranean destination – or so they hope – for an influx of adventurous tourists.
There is still some way to go, but the beachfront is awash with five-star developments the government is building with its millions of petrodollars. No more sanctions, no more socialism.
"Twenty-five thousand new flats," beamed Ahmed, my government minder, as we sped into town past another busy building site – $200,000 (£125,000) each," he marvelled.
I could tell he was an enthusiastic proponent of the new Libyan capitalism. And a loyal subject – a Gaddafi key-ring was hanging from his trouser pocket.
Tourist restrictions
There is much to see and enjoy in Libya.
Spectacular Greek and Roman remains, the open-air galleries of prehistoric rock art and glorious largely uninhabited sandy beaches.
Plus, of course, that frisson that is always associated with visiting a country previously off-limit to Westerners.
And therein lies the rub. As much as Libya may like the idea of tourists, and the hard currency they bring, it has yet to embrace the reality.
Tourists must still travel in organised groups with a government-approved guide.
There is no opportunity to wander unfettered around the well-preserved Roman city of Leptis Magna or the magnificent theatre at Sabratha.
Accommodation shortage
Pity the poor tourist who runs into the Libyan control freakery I experienced last week on the way to this African Union summit.
It was held in Sirte, an undistinguished coastal town just along the way from Tripoli.
The flight to Sirte is a short one. A journey across a long stretch of barren coastline.
Beneath us those remote beaches from which hundreds of illegal African migrants escape to Europe every year. These are the people currently flooding into Tripoli.
I could see why stopping their advance proves such an enormous challenge. Aside from sporadic roadblocks, there is very little between the vast expanse of Sahara and the shoreline from where they set sail in their makeshift rafts and boats.
The building frenzy of Tripoli is yet to reach the distant outpost of Sirte.
"Mr Gaddafi cruised around his manor in one of those ostentatiously large buses favoured by touring rock stars"
Tourists might find a hotel room, but such was the shortage of accommodation during the summit, that journalists and dignitaries would be sleeping on a clapped-out, Panamanian-registered, car ferry brought in specially for the event.
No five-star facilities, these.
We paid top dollar for a cabin cloaked in the faintest whiff of diesel. Mine was already occupied by a cockroach and each day he raced me for the shower attached to the sink.
When Mr Gaddafi travels abroad he takes a Bedouin tent with him. I should have followed suit.
Closely watched
So why would you drag hundreds of summit delegates, 12 African leaders, diplomats, politicians and journalists to a one-horse town in the middle of nowhere
Simple really. It is the ancestral home of Libya’s egocentric leader, who for 39 years has fostered this one-man personality cult.
Throughout the week, he cruised around his manor in one of those ostentatiously large buses favoured by touring rock stars.
For his opening speech, he wore the golden robes of a king. One invited dignitary was so overcome in his presence, she fell to her knees at his feet.
Not satisfied with this all-encompassing power in Libya, the Colonel is even pushing a bold ambition for a unified continent, a United States of Africa modelled on the European Union.
EU ideals Tell that not just to the journalists, but also the VIPs at this summit who were herded from one location to another, closely observed at all times – and whose contact with the outside world was sorely limited by the electronic equipment used by state security, whenever the Colonel was in town.
Is Mr Gaddafi and his "new Libya" really prepared for all that comes with mass tourism The evidence of this African Union summit suggests not yet.
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This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.