"...I have no magic wand to wave over you and make it all better. Life takes a bit of time and a lot of relationship..."
- The Shack
Monday, July 27, 2009
Monday, July 20, 2009
Christian converst shot in Somalia
NAIROBI, Kenya, July 20 (Compass Direct News) – Muslim extremists early this morning killed a Christian convert in Mahadday Weyne, Somalia, 100 kilometers (62 miles) north of Mogadishu. Al Shabaab Islamist militia shot Mohammed Sheikh Abdiraman to death at 7 a.m., eyewitnesses told Compass. They said the Islamic extremists appeared to have been hunting the convert from Islam, and when they found him they did not hesitate to shoot him. The sources told Compass that Abdiraman was the leader of an underground “cell group” of Christians in Somalia. Another eyewitness who requested anonymity said Abdiraman had been a Christian for 15 years. He is survived by two children, ages 15 and 10. His wife died three years ago due to illness. “We are very sad about this incident, and we also are not safe,” one eyewitness said by telephone. “Pray for us.”
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Iran: American Foreign Policy
"Washington can no longer play checkers as Tehran plays chess. Credibility matters. Adversaries test red lines wherever they are drawn. Obama should not, like his predecessors, draw his in pencil."
"...the chief problem in the Islamic Republic is that the government believes itself accountable more to God than to its constituents. While workers go without wages for months on end, the Iranian leadership invests billions in nuclear and ballistic missile programs or exporting the revolution. If the Islamic Republic had to answer to its overwhelmingly moderate citizenry, Tehran's behavior would temper considerably. Bush missed a Gdansk moment when Iranian bus drivers, under the leadership of Mansour Osanlou, formed the Islamic Republic's first independent trade union. Sugar cane workers in Khuzistan followed suit. Both forced the government to make concessions and be accountable to Iranians. The development of independent trade unions in Iran is a trend Obama should encourage."
~Quote from Michael Rubin
"...the chief problem in the Islamic Republic is that the government believes itself accountable more to God than to its constituents. While workers go without wages for months on end, the Iranian leadership invests billions in nuclear and ballistic missile programs or exporting the revolution. If the Islamic Republic had to answer to its overwhelmingly moderate citizenry, Tehran's behavior would temper considerably. Bush missed a Gdansk moment when Iranian bus drivers, under the leadership of Mansour Osanlou, formed the Islamic Republic's first independent trade union. Sugar cane workers in Khuzistan followed suit. Both forced the government to make concessions and be accountable to Iranians. The development of independent trade unions in Iran is a trend Obama should encourage."
~Quote from Michael Rubin
Monday, July 6, 2009
Violence in China - courtesy of Intercessors Network
Scores killed in China protests
Violence in China’s restive western region of Xinjiang has left at least 140 people dead and more than 800 people injured, state media say. Several hundred people have also been arrested after the violence erupted in the city of Urumqi on Sunday. Xinhua news agency said police restored order after demonstrators attacked passers-by and set fire to vehicles.
The protest was reportedly prompted by a deadly fight between Uighurs and Han Chinese in southern China last month. The BBC’s Chris Hogg in Shanghai says that if the numbers of dead are to be believed - and state media say they may rise - this looks like the bloodiest suppression of protest in China since Tiananmen Square 20 years ago.
‘Foreign plot’
Uighur exiles said police had fired indiscriminately on a peaceful protest in Urumqi.
The Xinjiang government blamed separatist Uighurs based abroad for orchestrating attacks on ethnic Han Chinese.Eyewitnesses said the violence started on Sunday with a few hundred people, and grew to more than 1,000.
Xinhua says the protesters carried knives, bricks and batons, smashed cars and stores, and fought with security forces.Wu Nong, news director for the Xinjiang government, said more than 260 vehicles were attacked and more than 200 shops and houses damaged. An overnight curfew was imposed.Uighur groups insisted a peaceful protest had become victim to state violence.
‘Dark day’
The Uighurs were reportedly angry over an ethnic clash last month in the city of Shaoguan in southern Guangdong province.A man there was said to have posted a message on a local website claiming six boys from Xinjiang had “raped two innocent girls”.
Police said the false claim sparked a vicious brawl between Han and Uighur ethnic groups at a factory. Two Uighurs were killed and 118 people were injured.
However, the Xinjiang government has blamed the latest unrest on businesswoman Rebiya Kadeer, the Uighurs’ leader who is living in exile in the United States. “An initial investigation showed the violence was masterminded by the separatist World Uighur Congress led by Rebiya Kadeer,” the government said in a statement, according to Xinhua. It said the violence had been “instigated and directed from abroad”.
The vice-president of the US-based Uighur American Association, Alim Seytoff, condemned the “heavy-handed” actions of the security forces. “We ask the international community to condemn China’s killing of innocent Uighurs. This is a very dark day in the history of the Uighur people,” he said.
The BBC’s Quentin Sommerville in China says Xinjiang, a mainly Muslim area, has been a source of tension for many years. Some of its Uighur population of about eight million, want to break away from China, and its majority Han Chinese population.
The authorities say police are securing order across the region and anyone creating a disturbance will be detained and punished.
Q&A: China and the Uighurs
The latest unrest in China’s western Xinjiang region follows a long history of discord between China’s authorities and the Uighur minority.
Who are the Uighurs?
The Uighurs are Muslims. Their language is related to Turkish and they regard themselves as culturally and ethnically close to other Central Asian nations.
The region’s economy has for centuries revolved around agriculture and trade, with towns such as Kashgar thriving as hubs along the Silk Road. In the early part of the 20th Century, the Uighurs briefly declared independence. The region was brought under the complete control of communist China in 1949. Officially, Xinjiang is now described by China as an autonomous region, like Tibet to its south.
What are China’s concerns about the Uighurs?
Beijing says Uighur militants have been waging a violent campaign for an independent state by plotting bombings, sabotage and civic unrest. Since the 9/11 attacks in the US, China has increasingly portrayed its Uighur separatists as auxiliaries of al-Qaeda.
It has accused them of receiving training and indoctrination from Islamist militants in neighbouring Afghanistan. However, little public evidence has been produced in support of these claims.
More than 20 Uighurs were captured by the US military after its invasion of Afghanistan. Though imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay for six years, they were not charged with any offence. Albania accepted five in 2006, four were allowed to resettle in Bermuda in June, 2009, while the Pacific island nation of Palau has agreed to take the others.
What complaints have been made against the Chinese in Xinjiang?
Activists say the Uighurs’ religious, commercial and cultural activities have been gradually curtailed by the Chinese state. China is accused of intensifying its crackdown on the Uighurs after street protests in the 1990s - and again, in the run-up to the Beijing Olympics.
Over the past decade, many prominent Uighurs have been imprisoned or have sought asylum abroad after being accused of terrorism. China is said to have exaggerated the threat from Uighur separatists in order to justify repression in the region.
Beijing has also been accused of seeking to dilute Uighur influence by arranging the mass immigration of Han Chinese, the country’s majority ethnic group, to Xinjiang.
Han Chinese currently account for roughly 40% of Xinjiang’s population.
What is the current situation in Xinjiang?
Over the last decade, major development projects have brought prosperity to Xinjiang’s big cities. The activities of local and foreign journalists in the region are closely monitored by the Chinese state and there are few independent sources of news from the region.
China has been keen to highlight improvements made to the region’s economy while Uighurs interviewed by the press have avoided criticising Beijing. However, occasional attacks on Chinese targets suggest Uighur separatism remains a potent - and potentially violent - force.
A protest in July in Urumqi, the region’s capital, turned violent, with about 140 people killed and hundreds injured. Authorities blamed Xinjiang separatists based outside China for the unrest; while Uighur exiles said police had fired indiscriminately on a peaceful protest calling for an investigation into the deaths of two Uighurs in clashes with Han Chinese at a factory in southern China.
Violence in China’s restive western region of Xinjiang has left at least 140 people dead and more than 800 people injured, state media say. Several hundred people have also been arrested after the violence erupted in the city of Urumqi on Sunday. Xinhua news agency said police restored order after demonstrators attacked passers-by and set fire to vehicles.
The protest was reportedly prompted by a deadly fight between Uighurs and Han Chinese in southern China last month. The BBC’s Chris Hogg in Shanghai says that if the numbers of dead are to be believed - and state media say they may rise - this looks like the bloodiest suppression of protest in China since Tiananmen Square 20 years ago.
‘Foreign plot’
Uighur exiles said police had fired indiscriminately on a peaceful protest in Urumqi.
The Xinjiang government blamed separatist Uighurs based abroad for orchestrating attacks on ethnic Han Chinese.Eyewitnesses said the violence started on Sunday with a few hundred people, and grew to more than 1,000.
Xinhua says the protesters carried knives, bricks and batons, smashed cars and stores, and fought with security forces.Wu Nong, news director for the Xinjiang government, said more than 260 vehicles were attacked and more than 200 shops and houses damaged. An overnight curfew was imposed.Uighur groups insisted a peaceful protest had become victim to state violence.
‘Dark day’
The Uighurs were reportedly angry over an ethnic clash last month in the city of Shaoguan in southern Guangdong province.A man there was said to have posted a message on a local website claiming six boys from Xinjiang had “raped two innocent girls”.
Police said the false claim sparked a vicious brawl between Han and Uighur ethnic groups at a factory. Two Uighurs were killed and 118 people were injured.
However, the Xinjiang government has blamed the latest unrest on businesswoman Rebiya Kadeer, the Uighurs’ leader who is living in exile in the United States. “An initial investigation showed the violence was masterminded by the separatist World Uighur Congress led by Rebiya Kadeer,” the government said in a statement, according to Xinhua. It said the violence had been “instigated and directed from abroad”.
The vice-president of the US-based Uighur American Association, Alim Seytoff, condemned the “heavy-handed” actions of the security forces. “We ask the international community to condemn China’s killing of innocent Uighurs. This is a very dark day in the history of the Uighur people,” he said.
The BBC’s Quentin Sommerville in China says Xinjiang, a mainly Muslim area, has been a source of tension for many years. Some of its Uighur population of about eight million, want to break away from China, and its majority Han Chinese population.
The authorities say police are securing order across the region and anyone creating a disturbance will be detained and punished.
Q&A: China and the Uighurs
The latest unrest in China’s western Xinjiang region follows a long history of discord between China’s authorities and the Uighur minority.
Who are the Uighurs?
The Uighurs are Muslims. Their language is related to Turkish and they regard themselves as culturally and ethnically close to other Central Asian nations.
The region’s economy has for centuries revolved around agriculture and trade, with towns such as Kashgar thriving as hubs along the Silk Road. In the early part of the 20th Century, the Uighurs briefly declared independence. The region was brought under the complete control of communist China in 1949. Officially, Xinjiang is now described by China as an autonomous region, like Tibet to its south.
What are China’s concerns about the Uighurs?
Beijing says Uighur militants have been waging a violent campaign for an independent state by plotting bombings, sabotage and civic unrest. Since the 9/11 attacks in the US, China has increasingly portrayed its Uighur separatists as auxiliaries of al-Qaeda.
It has accused them of receiving training and indoctrination from Islamist militants in neighbouring Afghanistan. However, little public evidence has been produced in support of these claims.
More than 20 Uighurs were captured by the US military after its invasion of Afghanistan. Though imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay for six years, they were not charged with any offence. Albania accepted five in 2006, four were allowed to resettle in Bermuda in June, 2009, while the Pacific island nation of Palau has agreed to take the others.
What complaints have been made against the Chinese in Xinjiang?
Activists say the Uighurs’ religious, commercial and cultural activities have been gradually curtailed by the Chinese state. China is accused of intensifying its crackdown on the Uighurs after street protests in the 1990s - and again, in the run-up to the Beijing Olympics.
Over the past decade, many prominent Uighurs have been imprisoned or have sought asylum abroad after being accused of terrorism. China is said to have exaggerated the threat from Uighur separatists in order to justify repression in the region.
Beijing has also been accused of seeking to dilute Uighur influence by arranging the mass immigration of Han Chinese, the country’s majority ethnic group, to Xinjiang.
Han Chinese currently account for roughly 40% of Xinjiang’s population.
What is the current situation in Xinjiang?
Over the last decade, major development projects have brought prosperity to Xinjiang’s big cities. The activities of local and foreign journalists in the region are closely monitored by the Chinese state and there are few independent sources of news from the region.
China has been keen to highlight improvements made to the region’s economy while Uighurs interviewed by the press have avoided criticising Beijing. However, occasional attacks on Chinese targets suggest Uighur separatism remains a potent - and potentially violent - force.
A protest in July in Urumqi, the region’s capital, turned violent, with about 140 people killed and hundreds injured. Authorities blamed Xinjiang separatists based outside China for the unrest; while Uighur exiles said police had fired indiscriminately on a peaceful protest calling for an investigation into the deaths of two Uighurs in clashes with Han Chinese at a factory in southern China.
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