tagged w/ Islamists
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The New York Times...
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Mass March by Cairo Women in Protest Over Abuse by Soldiers
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December 20, 2011
Mass March by Cairo Women in Protest Over Abuse by Soldiers
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
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PART ONE...
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CAIRO — Several thousand women demanding the end of military rule marched through downtown Cairo on Tuesday evening in an extraordinary expression of anger over images of soldiers beating, stripping and kicking female demonstrators in Tahrir Square.
“Drag me, strip me, my brothers’ blood will cover me!” they chanted. “Where is the field marshal?” they demanded of the top military officer, Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi. “The girls of Egypt are here.”
Historians called the event the biggest women’s demonstration in modern Egyptian history, the most significant since a 1919 march against British colonialism inaugurated women’s activism here, and a rarity in the Arab world. It also added a new and unexpected wave of protesters opposing the ruling military council’s efforts to retain power and its tactics for suppressing public discontent.
The protest’s scale stunned even feminists here. In Egypt’s stiffly patriarchal culture, previous attempts to organize women’s events in Tahrir Square during this year’s protests almost always fizzled or, in one case in March, ended in the physical harassment of a small group of women by a larger crowd of men.
“It was amazing the number of women that came out from all over the place,” said Zeinab Abul-Magd, a historian who has studied women’s activism here. “I expected fewer than 300.”
The march abruptly pushed women to the center of Egyptian political life after they had been left out almost completely. Although women stood at the forefront of the initial revolt that ousted President Hosni Mubarak 10 months ago, few had prominent roles in the various revolutionary coalitions formed in the uprising’s aftermath. Almost no women have won seats in the early rounds of parliamentary elections. And the continuing demonstrations against military rule have often degenerated into battles in which young men and the security police hurl rocks at each other.
On the fifth day of clashes that have killed at least 14 people, many women in the march said they hoped their demonstration would undercut the military council’s efforts to portray demonstrators as little more than hooligans, vandals and arsonists. “This will show those who stay home that we are not thugs,” said Fadwa Khaled, 25, a computer engineer.
The women’s demand for a voice in political life appeared to run counter to the recent election victories of conservative Islamists. But the march was hardly dominated by secular liberals. It contained a broad spectrum of Egyptian women, including homemakers demonstrating for the first time and young mothers carrying babies, with a majority in traditional Muslim head scarves and a few in face-covering veils. And their chants mixed calls for women’s empowerment with others demanding more “gallantry” from Egyptian men.
Egypt’s military rulers came under fire from international human rights groups soon after they took power in February for performing invasive, pseudo-medical “virginity tests” on several women detained after a protest in March. But in Egypt’s conservative culture, few of the women subjected to that humiliation have come forward to criticize the generals publicly.
The spark for the march on Tuesday came over the weekend, when hundreds of military police officers in riot gear repeatedly stormed Tahrir Square, indiscriminately beating anyone they could catch. Videos showed more than one instance in which officers grabbed and stripped female demonstrators, tearing off their Muslim head scarves. And in the most infamous case caught on video, a half-dozen soldiers beat a supine woman with batons and ripped off her abaya to reveal a blue bra. Then one of them kicked her in the chest.
Recalling that event at a news conference Tuesday, the woman’s friend Hassan Shahin said he had told the soldiers: “I’m a journalist, and this is a girl. Wait, I’ll take her away from here.” But, he said, “nobody listened, and one of them jumped on me, and they started beating me with batons.”
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CONTINUED...
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PHOTO: A poster showing a woman attacked by officers was carried by one of several thousand marchers Tuesday in downtown Cairo.
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http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2011/12/21/world/EGYPT/EGYPT-articleLarge.jpgThe New York Times...
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Mass March by Cairo Women in Protest Over Abuse by... more
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Tahrir Square Riot is it the start of a Massive War between Islamists and Muslim Secularists?Tahrir Square Riot is it the start of a Massive War between Islamists and Muslim... more
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Weapons that were used:
GM-94 - pump-action handheld grenade launcher
PKM-Pecheng - general purpose machine gun
RPD Shmel - thermobalic/flame rocket launcher
AK-74M - assault rifleWeapons that were used:
GM-94 - pump-action handheld grenade launcher
PKM-Pecheng... more
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Bombers Kill at Least 50 (Including Foreigners) in Attacks in Uganda Capital
By JOSH KRON
Published: July 11, 2010
KAMPALA, Uganda — At least three bombs exploded Sunday in a synchronized attack on large gatherings of World Cup soccer fans watching the televised final on outdoor screens in this normally peaceful capital, turning a boisterous night of cheering into scenes of death and panic. The police and witnesses said more than 50 people were killed including some foreigners, among them at least one American.
Marc Hofer/Associated Press
Photo: A man attended to an injured woman after a bomb went off in a restaurant in Kampala’s Kabalagala district on Sunday.
People carried an injured man at the Mulago Hospital in Kampala on Sunday.
The bombs struck at 10:30 p.m. local time in the middle of the match between Spain and the Netherlands under way in South Africa, hitting a popular Ethiopian garden restaurant and a large rugby field in a different Kampala neighborhood where hundreds of people had massed to watch the game.
Ugandan police officials said they suspected that the Shabab, a militant Islamic group in nearby Somalia, might have been behind the bombings. If so, it would be that group’s first attack outside Somalia. But the police said it was premature to draw conclusions.
“We can’t rule anything out,” said Kale Kayihura, Uganda’s police inspector general, at the scene of one of the attacks. “This was obviously terrorism, from the way it was targeted at World Cup watchers in public places.”
Joan Lockard, a spokeswoman at the American Embassy in Kampala, confirmed that at least one American was killed. She did not identify the victim.
Local journalists at a major hospital said an unidentified number of American citizens were among the wounded.
The Shabab group, one of the more fearsome militias vying for power in Somalia, bans music, dancing and sports, has links to Al Qaeda and has repeatedly threatened targets in Uganda as well as in Burundi because both countries contribute to the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia, a lawless nation in the Horn of Africa.
The police said other suspects were former rebels in the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo with connections to Uganda.
The Ugandan capital is relatively safe and relaxed compared with other big cities in Africa, and such bombings are extremely rare. But the city turned tense and fearful early on Monday, as military vehicles and ambulances screeched through the streets and Kampala’s bars and discos emptied.
At the Ethiopian restaurant that was attacked, an outdoor cafe with lawn tables known as the Ethiopian Village, soldiers and onlookers watched side by side as rescue crews extracted the dead and the wounded from the wreckage. The police said the bomb appeared to have been placed under a dining table where a group of foreigners, including some Americans, had been sitting.
At least 15 people were killed in that blast, police officials witnesses said.
“It was so loud,” said a woman named Mami, one of the owners of the restaurant, which had become popular with soccer fans because it showed the games on an outdoor screen. “I am so confused. My God. My God. My God.”
At the rugby field where fans had gone to watch the final game on a large screen, police and witnesses said they counted at least 44 bodies. Lines of chairs had been blown apart. One middle-aged woman sat dead, her head hung back, blood dripping.
“We were just watching football when the two bombs went off,” said Brian Bomakech, a Ugandan fan at the field. “So many people were hurt, so many people have died.”
In Mogadishu, the Somalian capital, Sheik Yusuf Sheik Issa, a Shabab commander, was quoted by The Associated Press early Monday as saying he was happy with the attacks in Uganda. The sheik refused to confirm or deny any responsibility by the Shabab.
“Uganda is one of our enemies,” The A.P. quoted him as saying. “Whatever makes them cry, makes us happy. May Allah’s anger be upon those who are against us.”
The bombings came two days after another Shabab commander, Sheik Muktar Robow, called during Friday Prayer in Somalia for militants to attack sites in Uganda and Burundi.
In Washington, a White House spokesman, Tommy Vietor, said late Sunday that the United States was prepared to provide assistance to Uganda.
“The president is deeply saddened by the loss of life resulting from these deplorable and cowardly attacks, and sends his condolences to the people of Uganda and the loved ones of those who have been killed or injured,” he said.
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2010/07/12/world/12uganda1/12uganda1-hpMedium.jpgBombers Kill at Least 50 (Including Foreigners) in Attacks in Uganda Capital
By JOSH... more
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South Park creators will “probably wind up like Theo Van Gogh”
HotAir.com
April 20, 2010
by Ed Morrissey
THREATS!!! South Park Creators Parker & Stone Will “Probably Wind Up DEAD Like Theo Van Gogh”…watch the Muhammed VIDEO...http://ctpatriot1970.wordpress.com/2010/04/21/south-park/
Hmmm … do you think that threats leveled against the creators of South Park for last week’s episode came from Tea Partiers? Buddhists enraged over the depiction of Buddha snorting cocaine? Redheads incensed over their depiction as terrorists? Comedy Central execs embarrassed over the slam they received for their pusillanimity in handling a previous episode dealing with censorship? Barbara Streisand? Not exactly. In fact, threats against Trey Parker and Matt Stone came from one group that they specifically didn’t mention in “200″:South Park creators will “probably wind up like Theo Van Gogh”... more
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Ethiopian troops are pouring into neighboring Somalia to fight radical Islamists who have taken over much of the country, raising fears of more violence in a country fighting a deadly insurgency and piracy, witnesses and the Somali government said Tuesday.
The Ethiopians' advance comes just weeks before they are scheduled to withdraw after an unpopular, two-year presence here. The Ethiopians are integral to protecting the Western-backed government, and their planned withdrawal at the end of the month will likely herald the administration's collapse.
Dahir Dhere, a Somali military spokesman, said the Ethiopians are 'helping the Somali people and they will get rid of al-Shabab,' referring to the extremist Islamic group that is advancing steadily toward the capital, Mogadishu.
The phone of Ethiopian foreign ministry spokesman Wahde Belay rang unanswered.
Somalia has been in chaos for nearly two decades, and the country's Western-backed transitional government has failed to assert any real control since it was formed in 2004. Ethiopia _ the region's military powerhouse _ sent thousands of troops here in late 2006 to help oust the Islamic extremists, who soon launched an Iraq-style insurgency.Ethiopian troops are pouring into neighboring Somalia to fight radical Islamists who... more
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It was one of the notorious Somali pirates' first defeats - and now the Indian Navy has released spectacular evidence of their sinking of a hostile ship.
The vessel, reportedly a pirate 'mother ship', exploded after an exchange with the Indian frigate INS Tabar in the Gulf of Aden near Somalia a week ago.
When the pirates opened fire, the captain of the Indian vessel retaliated, hit the ship straight on, and it burst into flames and sank.
The situation in the waters off the Somalian coast seems to be coming to a head. Pirates recently hijacked the Saudi Arabian-owned supertanker 'Sirius Star', and it was anchored near the African country.
But after threats from Islamists to ambush the ship, the pirates navigated it back out into the open sea. They are demanding a €12 million ransom for its safe return, according to Arab media.
The German Navy has also been helping in the fight against the pirates. On Sunday, the frigate ‘Mecklenburg-Vorpommern’ sent its onboard helicopter to help two cargo vessels. The freighters had been attacked by pirates in speedboats.
See the first pics at www.bild.comIt was one of the notorious Somali pirates' first defeats - and now the Indian... more
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regisb
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added this
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3 years ago
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A radical Islamic group in Somalia said Friday it will fight the pirates holding a Saudi supertanker loaded with $100 million worth of crude oil...A radical Islamic group in Somalia said Friday it will fight the pirates holding a... more
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Well this could get interesting!!
A radical Islamic group in Somalia said Friday it will fight the pirates holding a Saudi supertanker loaded with $100 million worth of crude oil.
Abdelghafar Musa, a fighter with al-Shabab who claims to speak on behalf of all Islamic fighters in the Horn of Africa nation, said ships belonging to Muslim countries should not be seized.
In the past two weeks Somalia's increasingly brazen pirates have seized eight vessels including the huge Saudi supertanker. Several hundred crew are now in the hands of Somali pirates.
The Somali pirates have the support of their communities and rogue members of the government. Often dressed in military fatigues, pirates travel in open skiffs with outboard engines, working with larger ships that tow them far out to sea. They use satellite navigational and communications equipment and an intimate knowledge of local waters, clambering aboard commercial vessels with ladders and grappling hooks.
They are typically armed with automatic weapons, anti-tank rocket launchers and grenades _ weaponry that is readily available throughout Somalia.Well this could get interesting!!
A radical Islamic group in Somalia said Friday it... more
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