Muslim girl, 19, 'stoned to death after taking part in beauty contest'

A teenage Muslim girl was stoned to death under 'Sharia law' after taking part in a beauty contest in Ukraine.

Katya Koren, 19, was found dead in a village in the Crimea region near her home.

Friends said she liked wearing fashionable clothes and had come seventh in a beauty contest.

Murdered: Katya Koren was attacked after taking part in a beauty contest which her friends said angered hardline Muslims

Her battered body was buried in a forest and was found a week after she disappeared.

Police have opened a murder probe and are investigating claims that three Muslim youths killed her claiming her death was justified under Islam.

One of the three - named as 16-year-old Bihal Gaziev - is under arrest and told police she had 'violated the laws of Sharia'.

Gaziev said he had no regrets about her death because she had violated the laws of Islam.

French ban on full veil goes into force

The full-face veil that France is banning , triggering a call for civil disobedience.

France’s ban on full-face veils, a first in Europe, went into force today, exposing anyone who wears the Muslim niqab or burqa in public to fines of €150 (RM653).

A Muslim property dealer, who is urging women to keep wearing the veil if they want to, has urged supporters to go to Notre Dame cathedral in central Paris for a silent prayer during the day, and is also offering to help people pay the fines.

The five million Muslim minority in France is the largest in Western Europe, but fewer than 2,000 women are believed actually to wear a full-face veil.

Many Muslim leaders have said they support neither the veil nor the law banning it.




The timing is all the more sensitive after France’s ruling political party, President Nicolas Sarkozy’s UMP, called a debate on the place of Islam in France, a move that some say risked stigmatising a portion of the population.

Police received a guide last week to help implement the ban. It tells them not to remove veils by force. It also notes that the ban does not apply inside private cars but reminds policemen such cases can be dealt with under road safety rules.

Rachid Nekkaz, the man who called for the Notre Dame prayer, said in a webcast that he was putting a property worth about €2 million up for sale to help fund his campaign.

“I am calling on all free women who so wish, to wear the veil in the street and engage in civil disobedience,” he said.

French police arrested 59 people on Saturday who turned up for a banned protest over the veil ban, one of them on arrival in France from Britain, according to a police spokesman.

Pastor Terry Jones defiantly refuses to stop his campaign even if it means American soldiers will die

The controversial pastor who has sparked riots in Afghanistan which have left at least 20 dead has said he would rather die than stop preaching against Islam.

Reverend Terry Jones said his right to speak out was more important than the lives of those who had died during the unrest - or any American soldiers who might be killed in the future.

He said he would continue his campaign against Muslims even though every single one of his 30 parishioners had deserted him.

The 59-year-old did however admit that he now carries a gun everywhere he goes because he has received more than 300 death threats and has a $2.4million bounty put on his head by the Taliban.

Seven UN workers and at least 13 others in Afghanistan were killed over the weekend when an anti-Jones mob attacked their compound in Mazar-e Sharif, the largest city in the north of the country.

More than 150 others were injured in related protests that spread to the capital Kandahar over three days.

They were furious after Jones burned a copy of the Koran at his Dove Outreach Centre in Gainesville, Florida, on March 20.

Insist: Interview with Pastor Terry Jones in which he said he will not stop preaching against Islam even if it means innocent lives are at stake.Protest: A boy holds a copy of the Koran as he takes part in a rally against Terry Jones days before 20 people were killed, including seven UN workers.Reaction: Pakistani Christians burn an effigy depicting U.S. pastor Terry Jones in response to him burning the Koran outside his church in Gainesville, Florida.Defiant: Terry Jones said he is prepared to die for the cause and will not stop preaching against Islam even if it means more deaths

He had called off a previous attempt in the face of an international outcry but then staged a mock ‘trial’ of the Prophet Muhammad and burned the Islamic holy book as ‘punishment’.



Having been deserted by his parishioners he is now left with just one assistant to spread his hate-filled message.

In an interview with ABC News Jones was asked if he was willing to die for his cause.

He said: 'Yes we are, very definitely. That’s how important we feel about it.'

He said he would carry on speaking out even if it lead to the death of American soldiers.

‘Perhaps in the long run, we may save hundreds or thousands (of lives),’ he said.

He revealed he has received more than 300 death threats, some of which name the date, time and place where he will be killed - but he would carry on regardless.

Jones added that during the Koran burning on March 20 it was him who decided to put the Islamic holy book on trial.

‘I was the judge but I did not determine the verdict. I was just a type of referee so that people got their time to defend or condemn the Koran,’ he said.

Jones has been condemned by Barack Obama and General David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, who called his actions ‘hateful and intolerant’.

As the protests against the Koran burning entered their fourth day, the latest casualties were two foreign soldiers on a training mission who were shot dead by a ‘rogue’ Afghan border policeman in Jalalabad.

In addition, up to a thousand angry residents in the city blocked the main highway to Kabul and set alight effigies of Jones.

‘We wanted to raise awareness of this dangerous religion and dangerous element,’ Jones said.

‘I think today’s attack proves that there is a radical element of Islam.’

Among the UN workers killed were 33-year-old Swede Joakim Dunel, who specialised in human rights.

Another fatality was Lt. Col. Siri Skare, a 53-year-old female pilot from Norway and Filaret Motco, a 43-year-old Romanian who worked in the political section of the UN.

Their bodies were found spread over three different parts of their compound.

Radical Islamists aim to infiltrate Hamburg mosques

Radical Islamists from a shut down Hamburg mosque linked to the September 11 attacks on the United States are now trying to infiltrate other mosques in and around the German city, according to officials and Muslim leaders.

Small groups of radicals have turned up at several mosques trying to establish a new meeting place since the Taiba Mosque, where the 9/11 leader Mohammad Atta once prayed, was raided and closed by police in August, they told Reuters.

With radicals no longer grouped around one mosque near the city’s main train station, security services have stepped up their observation of Islamists around the city and Muslim associations are on the lookout for suspicious newcomers.

“There are small groups of three to five people from the former Taiba Mosque who have gone to other mosques,” said Ralf Kunz, internal affairs spokesman for the city government.

Individual radicals have turned up “at lots of mosques, both in Hamburg and the surrounding region,” he said. “They have not been able to assemble at any mosque.”

People walk past the entrance of the Taiba Mosque in Hamburg October 6, 2010.






Hamburg police shut down the Taiba Mosque, formerly known as the Al Quds Mosque, in August, saying it had links with armed Islamist groups in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

A so-called “Hamburg Travel Group” of 11 radicals linked to the mosque left Germany in March 2009 to fight against the US and coalition forces in Afghanistan.

Muslim organisations in the city said they had stepped up their vigilance. Schura, Hamburg’s largest Muslim group, said it had no evidence of any problem at its mosques.

But Schura head Mustafa Yoldas, referring to an ultra-conservative brand of Islam, added: “The salafis are trying to get a foothold in some other congregations. I know of two mosques where they meet and give lectures... They are and will remain a fringe group, they will never be mainstream here.”

At Ditib, a German-Turkish association linked to Ankara’s Religious Affairs Ministry, regional chairman Zekeriya Altug said his group’s structure made it harder to infiltrate.

“I know that the (Taiba Mosque) congregation has been split up and is seeking refuge elsewhere,” he said. “Our imams are university graduates who are competent to counter them.”

Radicals trying to infiltrate a congregation usually seek out small mosques with weak leadership and start meeting and preaching there, hoping to attract young Muslims.

Norbert Mueller, a German convert on Schura’s board, said weakly managed mosques did not always notice what was happening.

“These young people don’t come wearing a label saying ‘I’m from the Taiba Mosque’,” he said. “They say they want to start a youth group. But their thinking becomes obvious after a while and one realises where they come from.”

Recent reports of planned al Qaeda attacks on landmark targets in Europe have turned the spotlight back on Hamburg, a major port city where 27 per cent of the population is foreign or has an immigrant background.

One member of the “travel group” was seized by US troops in Afghanistan this summer and has revealed details of the planned attacks, intelligence sources say. That prompted the US, Britain and France to issue travel warnings in Europe.

Kunz said the “travel group” consisted of nine men and two women, who he said had little to do with the men’s radical activities. Three were now back in Hamburg under police observation, one was jailed here and one in US custody.

Some others were apparently killed in a US drone attack, but their identities have not yet been confirmed, Kunz said.

“The travel group has been broken up,” he said.

Kunz gave no details of new security measures against mosque infiltration but said: “It has created a lot more work for us.”

He said Hamburg authorities had expected Islamists to fan out to other mosques if they closed the Taiba Mosque, but shut it down anyway because it had become a magnet for radicals.

“The Taiba Mosque had a cult status,” he said. “People came from all over Germany and from abroad to pray there. We wanted to stop that.”

India court to rule on mosque row on Thursday

An Indian court will rule on Thursday whether Hindus or Muslims own land around a demolished mosque in northern India, a judgement haunted by memories of a 1992 riot, some of the country’s worst violence since the partition.

The verdict could add to the security worries of the government, which already has its hands full dealing with the preparations for the Commonwealth Games that are bedeviled by concerns over filthy accommodation, health and security.

A trader waits for customers as he sells photos of Hindu Gods in the Indian town of Ayodhya September 22, 2010. A court will rule this Thursday whether Hindus or Muslims own land around a demolished mosque in Ayodhya, a judgement haunted by memories of a 1992 riot.




“The verdict will be announced on 30th (September) at 3.30pm,” said Subodh Sahay, registrar of the court in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.

Earlier in NEW DELHI, the Supreme Court cleared the way for the lower court to decide on the ownership of a religious site where the razing of a mosque in 1992 sparked rioting between Hindus and Muslims that killed some 2,000 people.

A verdict on its ownership was to have come on September 24 from a lower court in Uttar Pradesh state, but the top court suspended that imminent verdict last week, responding to arguments that a chance should be given to reconciliation in the 60-year-old case.

“The petition stands dismissed,” India’s Chief Justice S.H. Kapadia said, referring to the appeal to seek deferment of any verdict on the ownership issue.

Mosques to become bigger part of German life-Merkel

Chancellor Angela Merkel said Germans had for too long failed to grasp how immigration was changing their country and would have to get used to the sight of more mosques in their cities, according to a newspaper.

Germany, home to at least 4 million Muslims, has been divided in recent weeks by a debate over integration sparked by disparaging remarks about Muslim immigrants by an outspoken member of the country’s central bank.

Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel addresses a news conference




“Our country is going to carry on changing, and integration is also a task for the society taking up the immigrants,” Merkel told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung daily.

“For years we’ve been deceiving ourselves about this. Mosques, for example, are going to be a more prominent part of our cities than they were before,” she added.

The uproar sparked by the Bundesbank’s Thilo Sarrazin, who argued Turkish and Arab immigrants were failing to integrate and swamping Germany with a higher birth rate, is one of several recent prominent disputes touching on religion and integration.

Switzerland sparked international condemnation last year when it voted to impose a ban on building minarets.

Religious disputes have erupted in the United States during the past few weeks over plans to build an Islamic cultural centre close to the site of toppled World Trade Center.

Meanwhile ties between Berlin and Paris were strained this week by a terse exchange between Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy over France’s expulsion of Roma migrants.

Protester who burned pages of Koran at Ground Zero mosque site is sacked from his job

A protester who burned pages of the Koran outside the site of the planned mosque near Ground Zero has been sacked from his job as a train conductor.

Derek Fenton, 39, of Bloomingdale, New Jersey, was photographed ripping up pages from the Muslim holy book and setting them alight on September 11.

He was removed from outside Park51, the site where the controversial mosque could be built, by police but was later released without charge.

But it now appears his former employer NJ Transit has taken more drastic action after confirming he had been dismissed.

A statement from the company said: 'Mr Fenton's public actions violated New Jersey Transit's code of ethics.

Defiant: Derek Fenton was moved away by police after burning pages of the Koran near the planned mosque site in New York



'NJ Transit concluded that Mr Fenton violated his trust as a state employee and there he was dismissed.'

Mr Fenton was allegedly inspired to carry out the act by Reverend Terry Jones, the Florida clergyman who sparked international protests when he threatened to stage a Koran burning day on the ninth anniversary of the September 11 attacks.

A police source told the New York Daily News: 'He said "this is America" and he wanted to stand up for it, in a Tea Party kind of way.'

Another police source said he described himself as exercising his 'right to protest'.

Mr Fenton was an assistant train-consist coordinator - which entails ensuring there are enough train cars positioned to be put into service.

New Jersey Transit did not give specifics behind why he was dismissed.

But if he was sacked because of his actions, he could be protected by his First Amendment rights, according to the New York Civil Liberties Union.

Chris Dunn, from the union, said: 'The Supreme Court has recognised a constitutional right to burn the flag.

'As reprehensible as it may be, burning the Koran would be protected as well.'

Salman Rushdie backs Ground Zero mosque but attacks Pastor Terry Jones for threatened Koran-burning

Salman Rushdie backs Ground Zero mosque but attacks Pastor Terry Jones for threatened Koran-burning



The controversial mosque set to be build near Ground Zero has received the backing of author Sir Salman Rushdie.

The acclaimed author who was made the subject of fatwa after publishing the book The Satanic Verses said the row was pointless - because the Twin Towers contained a mosque.

He told the New York Post: 'It's just a stupid argument. Of course they should be able to build a mosque there.'

Praising the U.S. First Amendment rights which guarantee freedom of religious belief, he also criticised Pastor Terry Jones for threatening to burn the Koran.

Support: Sir Salman Rushdie has come out in favour of the mosque but criticised Pastor Terry Jones for threatening to burn the Koran

Strong opposition: Americans travelled from across the country to participate at a rally against the mosque on the ninth anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attack on New York

He said: 'I'm not in favour of burning books.'

Sir Salman became a global hate figure for Muslims after writing The Satanic Verses, deemed to be insulting to the Islamic Faith.

Copies of the book were burned by protesters and the issuing of a fatwa meant he faced assassination by extremists.

His words came as it was revealed that a close associate of Rauf has claimed the 9/11 terrorist attacks were an 'inside job'.

Faiz Khan is a founder member of an organisation run by imam Feisal Abdul Rauf promoting a better understanding of Islam.

However, he courted controversy by leaving internet postings on a 9/11 'truth' website which perpetuates conspiracy theories about the devastating attacks.

On the website of the Muslim-Jewish-Christian Alliance for 9/11 Truth, Khan wrote that 'the inescapable fact (is) that 9/11 was an inside job,' according to the New York Post.
He added: 'The prime factor for the success of the criminal mission known as 9/11 did not come from the quarter known as "militant Islam," although the phenomenon known as "militant Islamic networks" may have played a partial role, or even a less than partial role - perhaps the role of patsy and scapegoat.'
The comments were discovered by the Investigative Project on Terrorism and director Ray locker said: 'For someone who claims he wants the mosque project near Ground Zero to help build bridges and heal the wounds from 9/11, it's odd that one of Feisal Rauf's fellow bridge builders is someone who thinks the attacks that killed more than 3,000 people were an 'inside job' by the U.S. government.'

The suggestion that the U.S. state was involved in the country's deadliest terrorist atrocity will cause further difficulties for imam Rauf who was for a number of years a fellow member of the American Society for the Advancement of Muslims.

The imam has come under immense pressure to shift the site of the Islamic centre away from the proposed site just two blocks from where the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre stood.

This weekend on the 9th anniversary of the attacks, a protest was held outside the Burlington Coat Factory building which would be knocked down and replaced with a 13-storey building.

Khan also sent an email to the New York Post on the matter, saying: 'I am certain of a few things . . . The towers and WTC 7 could not have collapsed without controlled demolition place from the "inside". '

Rauf declined to comment on the row but was forced to deny he had acted threateningly when he suggested the mosque's refusal would prompt further extremist attacks.

He said on ABC's This Week yesterday: 'I've never made a threat, never expressed a threat, never. I would never threaten violence ever, because I am a man of peace, dedicated to peace.'

Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani also spoke about the Rauf on NBC's Meet the Press programme and said there were 'two imams' in the public eye.

He said: 'The good imam is about reconciliation. He's about being open and transparent about what he's doing and how he's doing it," said Giuliani, who opposes building the mosque near Ground Zero.
'Then there's the bad imam who said America is an accessory to September 11. America has more Muslim blood on its hands than vice versa.'

Time for reflection: A boy kneels in silence at the edge of a reflecting pool filled with flowers during a memorial service at Ground Zero

Remembering the fallen: President Barack Obama pauses during a ceremony at the Pentagon

Making feelings plain: Alyson Low, of Fayetteville, Arkansas, shrugs off the controversy over the planned mosque

 

Sharing pain: Vice President Joe Biden comforts a woman grieving over a loved one lost in the 9/11 attacks

Commemoration: A ceremony marking the anniversary began with a procession of flags that topped the World Trade Centre

Anger: Muslims outside the British Embassy in Manila, Philippines demonstrate in 1988 against The Satanic Verses

Clash: Supporters and opponents of the mosque held simultaneous marches in downtown Manhattan. Predictably, tempers flared when the groups met and police were forced to break up many arguments

Associate: Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, who is heading the planned 'Ground Zero' mosque, is facing claims a man he is close to believes 9/11 was an 'inside job'