Navies of 2 Koreas exchange fire

SEOUL: The two Koreas briefly exchanged naval fire Tuesday along their disputed western sea border, with a North Korean ship suffering heavy damage before retreating, South Korean military officials said.

There were no South Korean casualties, the country’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement, and it was not immediately clear if there were any casualties on the North Korean side. Each side blamed the other for violating the sea border.

The clash — the first of its in kind in seven years — occurred as US officials said President Barack Obama has decided to send a special envoy to Pyongyang for rare direct talks on the communist country’s nuclear weapons program. Obama is due in Seoul next week.

North Korea’s military issued a statement blaming South Korea for the “grave armed provocation,” saying its ships crossed into North Korean territory.

The North claimed that a group of South Korean warships opened fire but fled after the North’s patrol boat dealt “a prompt retaliatory blow.”

The statement, carried on the official Korean Central News Agency, said the South should apologize.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, who convened an emergency security meeting, ordered his defense minister to strengthen military readiness.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that a North Korean patrol boat crossed the disputed western sea border around 11:27 a.m. (0227 GMT), drawing warning shots from a South Korean navy vessel. The North Korean boat then opened fire and the South’s ship returned fire before the North’s vessel sailed back toward its waters, the statement said.

The clash occurred near the South-held island of Daecheong, about 220 kilometers off the port city of Incheon, west of Seoul, the statement said.

The North Korean ship was seriously damaged in the skirmish, a Joint Chiefs of Staff officer said on condition of anonymity, citing department policy. Prime Minister Chung Un-chan told lawmakers the ship was enveloped in flames when it fled north, according to Yonhap news agency.

The shooting lasted for about two minutes, during which the South Korean ship fired 50 rounds from naval guns at the North Korean vessel, about 3.2 kilometers away.

Several Chinese fishing boats were operating in the area at the time of clash, but they were undamaged. It wasn’t clear if the North Korean ship was trying to clamp down on the Chinese boat for possible poaching.
Source: Arab News

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Fort Hood Shooting No Terror Plot: FBI

TEXAS – A deadly shooting spree by a US Muslim soldier at a military base in Texas last week was not a terror plot, the FBI has concluded. “There is no information to indicate Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan had any co-conspirators or was part of a broader terrorist plot,” the FBI said in a statement cited by The New York Times on Tuesday, November 10.

Officials said army psychiatrist Major Nidal Hasan came to the FBI notice in December after communicating with an American imam living in Yemen.

But investigations by the Joint Terrorism Task Force found that the communications did not suggest any threat of violence.

"Because the content of the communications was explainable by his research and nothing else derogatory was found, the JTTF concluded that Major Hasan was not involved in terrorist activities or terrorist planning."

War Trauma Envelops Fort Hood Shooting: Experts Fort Hood Tragedy... Muslim Soldiers Speak Out Fort Hood Incident: Why Did it Happen? Hasan went on a shooting spree at Fort Hood military base last week, killing 13 people and wounding 30 others.

The army major was shot and rushed to hospital, where he came out of coma Saturday.

"He is talking. He is conversing with the medical staff," a spokeswoman for the Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

A round-the-clock inquiry at Fort Hood has so far failed to uncover the motives behind the shooting.

US President Barack Obama has ordered a full review of the shooting to determine its motives.

Obama told ABC television that he was determined "to complete this investigation and we are going to take whatever steps are necessary to make sure that something like this doesn't happen again."

Acted Alone

US officials say that investigations did not alter the prevailing theory that the army major acted alone.

“There was no indication that Major Hasan was planning an imminent attack at all, or that he was directed to do anything,” a senior investigator told the Times.

A government officials said that the general tender of the communications between Hasan and the overseas imam “was benign”.

The communications contained "no red flag", according to the official.

Officials said the Departments of Defense and Justice had decided to prosecute the army major in a military court, an indication that investigators believe he acted alone.

Investigators tried to interview the army major, but he invoked his right to speak to a lawyer.

Hasan spent years counselling severely wounded soldiers, many of whom had lost limbs fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Having counselled the soldiers, the army major has become too well aware of the terrifying realities of the war.

According to army officials, Hasan was to be deployed this month to Afghanistan later this month.

Relatives have said Hasan wanted to leave the Army to avoid being deployed to Afghanistan and that he had faced harassment by fellow soldiers because of his religion.

Mental health and war experts have pointed the finger at combat trauma running rampant in the military for the shooting.

"There is some evidence that the Major was -- at least in part-- negatively affected by his caring for the psychologically wounded; that he loved his country and felt the emotional pain of his patients who he saw, like him, serving the country they love," Professor Charles Figley of Tulane University in New Orleans, a mental health and trauma specialist, told IslamOnline.

Source: IslamOnline

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Nicaragua Mosque Stirs Furor

CAIRO – The building of a mosque in Managua, the capital city of the Central American country of Nicaragua, is stirring furor over claims of being funded by the Iranians. "Did Iran put up the money? That's the question everyone asks," Ismat Khatib, treasurer of the Nicaraguan Islamic Cultural Association, told the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, November 10.

Claims have been circulating that the Iranian government has funded the building of the mosque in the capital city of Managua.

Khatib said Iran has not paid a penny to build the gold-domed mosque, which was opened last September.

He noted that Iran only pledged to donate a large, special rug for the mosque's prayer room -- and has not even sent it.

"This is the real version," insisted Khatib, a native Nicaraguan lawyer and businessman.

"You can end the mystery with this."

Nicaragua is home to a tiny Muslim minority of 1,500, mostly Sunnis who came from the Palestinian territories and Libya or are natural-born citizens.

The Islamic Cultural in Managua serves as the primary worship place for Muslims in the capital, with approximately 320 men attending on a regular basis.

Personal Funding

Muslim leaders say the mosque construction, which cost $600,000, was largely funded by a Pakistani-born businessman in neighbouring Honduras.

"He paid around $350,000," said Fahmi M. Hassan, president of the Islamic Cultural Association.

"The rest was paid by the Muslim community in Nicaragua."

Yusuf Amdani, the Pakistani businessman, confirmed funding the mosque construction.

"There’s no mystery about the mosque."

Amdani said his company, which also financed the only mosque in Honduras, agreed to pay for the Managua mosque.

Nicaraguan Muslims, especially of Palestinian origin, have established a number of businesses in the Central American country, especially in the fabric trade.

But because their numbers are few, Islam remains foreign to most Nicaraguans, who are largely Catholics or evangelicals.

Many Nicaraguans refer to all Muslims or Middle Easterners as Turks, and seem to know next to nothing about their religious beliefs.

Source: IslamOnline

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Uighur Executions Draw Fire

CAIRO – China's execution of eight Uighur Muslims on charges of involvement in the recent deadly unrest in the Muslim-majority Xinjiang region drew fire from Uighur leaders in exile. "The executions of these men exacerbate the terror and helplessness of Uighurs in East Turkestan whose friends and loved ones have been killed and detained since July 5," Rebiya Kadeer, the iconic leader of the Uighur American Association (UAA) said in a statement mailed to IslamOnline.

"They add to the unknown number of Uighurs who were already killed on July 5 and in detention following July 5."

China said Monday, November 9, it had put to death nine people over deadly unrest in Xinjiang.

Authorities did not give the identities of the nine but eight of nine people sentenced to death in October were Uighurs.

It was not clear when the executions took place.

Xinjiang was plunged into turmoil in July after thousands of Uighurs protested prevailing discrimination and religious and cultural controls in their region.

Some 197 people were killed and more than 1,600 injured in the violence which pit Uighurs against members of China's dominant Han group.

Authorities convicted 21 defendants in October on charges of murder, intentional damage to property, arson, and robbery.

"I fear that the executions and killings of Uighurs will continue as China begins an intensified drive to 'strike hard' against the Uighur people," warned Kadeer.

Xinjiang and its Uighur Muslims, a Turkish-speaking minority of more than eight million, continue to be the subject of massive security crackdowns.

Muslims accuses the government of settling millions of ethnic Han in their territory with the ultimate goal of obliterating its identity and culture.

Beijing views the vast region as an invaluable asset because of its crucial strategic location near Central Asia and its large oil and gas reserves.

Politicized

Exiled Uighur groups said the trials were politicized and did not adhere to standards of domestic or international law.

"We don't think they got a fair trial, and we believe this was a political verdict," said Dilxat Raxit, a spokesman for the World Uighur Congress.

The Uighur groups insisted that political criteria were used to select judicial personnel assigned to handle the trials.

They cited statements by officials even before trial, including Communist Party official Li Zhi who told reporters on July 8 that executions would be used to deal with those involved in the unrest.

The Uighur leaders said the trials were hampered by state-sanctioned threats against lawyers not to represent the defendants.

Washington reacted to the executions by urging China to ensure fair trials.

"The US government continues to urge China to handle all detentions and judicial processes relating to the Urumqi violence in a transparent manner," said State Department spokesman Ian Kelly.

"We also urge China to ensure that the legal rights of all Chinese citizens are respected in accordance with international standards of due process."

But Uighur leaders were disappointing by the mild international reactions to the executions.

"The US and the EU did not put any pressure on China or seek to intervene and for that we are extremely disappointed," Raxit said.

The executions came ahead of US President Barack Obama's scheduled visit to China next week.

"The fact that Chinese authorities had the audacity to carry out these executions on the eve of President Barack Obama’s visit to China displays their utter disregard for international human rights standards," Kadeer said.

He urged for a full investigation into the killings and detentions of Uighurs since July 5.

"Chinese authorities must be held to account for their actions, or tensions in East Turkestan will worsen even further."

Source: IslamOnline

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Fight Far-right Extremism: UK Officials

LONDON – Local councils across Britain are raising the alarm that the government is too much focussed on combating radicalization among Muslims while ignoring the growing threat of far-right extremism. "Councils have to be as vigilant about the far-right as they are against terrorism," Councillor Les Lawrence of the Local Government Association (LGA) told a conference on community safety on Tuesday, November 10.

"We need to listen to and encourage the vast majority of moderate, law-abiding, hard-working people to counter extremist beliefs at every turn and keep our neighbourhoods free from the poison that turns people to violence."

Scotland Yard warned in July that far-right extremists are plotting terrorist attacks to stoke racial tensions in the European country.

A London court on Wednesday, July 15, convicted a white supremacist who wanted to fight a racist war against the "non-British" of plotting acts of terrorism and bomb attacks.

A Scottish racist was released in August after threatening to kill Muslims until all mosques in the European country are demolished.

"I Will Kill Muslim Per Day"

Concerns have been growing in Britain over far-right extremism in view of the growing popularity of the far-right, whites-only British National Party (BNP).

Though it is not represented in parliament, the BNP won one council seat in both Lancashire and Leicestershire, and one European Parliament seat each in Yorkshire and the Humber and North West England in June.

The BNP is notorious for attacks against immigrants and Muslims, estimated at nearly two millions.

Alienated

Lawrence, a Birmingham city councillor, warned that focusing the government’s anti-extremism strategy on Muslims leaves many Muslims alienated.

"Focusing solely on one part of society, or being perceived to be, can only store up resentment and problems for the future," he said.

"There remains a very real and present danger from violent extremists, but it is vital that we focus on working with young Muslim men and women rather than creating the impression that they are all part of the problem."

He dismissed as "unfair" focusing on Muslim communities.

"It is vital to make sure that our efforts to counter extremist beliefs do not leave members of the Muslim community feeling alienated and unfairly targeted."

Launched in 2006, the “Prevent” strategy is widely seen as focusing predominantly on British Muslims, who have taken the full brunt of anti-terror laws since the 7/7 attacks.

British Muslims have repeatedly complained of maltreatment by police for no apparent reason other than being Muslim.

"It would be counter-productive if the excellent work that many Councils are doing to promote citizenship and civic engagement gave rise to an unfounded perception that some groups are being treated differently to others."

Source: IslamOnline

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U.S. army fears anti-Muslim backlash

WASHINGTON – The US Army’s top general expressed worries Sunday, November 8, that a deadly attack on a military base in Texas could prompt a backlash against Muslim soldiers.

"I'm concerned that this increased speculation could cause a backlash against some of our Muslim soldiers,” Army chief of staff General George Casey told CNN.

“I've asked our Army leaders to be on the lookout for that."

At least 13 people were killed and 30 wounded when an army major, Nidal Malik Hasan, went into a shooting rampage at Fort Hood base in Texas on Thursday.

Casey said focusing on Hasan’s Muslim background could “heighten the backlash” against Muslim troops.

Senator Joe Lieberman, the chairman of the Senate’s Homeland Security committee, termed Sunday the attack as “Islamist extremism”.

"There are very, very strong warning signs here that Dr Hasan had become an Islamist extremist,” Lieberman told Fox News.

“And, therefore, that this was a terrorist act."

Born in the US to immigrant parents, Hasan, a psychiatrist, joined the army and received his medical license on July 12, 2005.

During his army service, he counselled many war-wearing soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, becoming aware of the terrifying realities of the war.

According to army officials, Hasan was to be deployed this month to Afghanistan later this month.

Relatives have said Hasan wanted to leave the Army to avoid being deployed to Afghanistan and that he had faced harassment by fellow soldiers because of his religion.

Though American Muslims have vehemently denounced the attack, fears are growing of an anti-Muslim backlash.

President Barack Obama urged Americans Saturday, November 7, not to jump into conclusions over the attack, stressing the diversity of the US army.

There is no official count of Muslims serving in the 1.4 million-strong US armed forces because recruits are not required to state their religion.

But according to the American Muslim Armed Forces and Veterans Affair Council, there are more than 20,000 Muslims serving in the military.

* Casualty

Casey warned that anti-Muslim backlash would undermine the Army diversity needed to fight wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"Our diversity, not only in our Army, but in our country, is a strength,” he said on NBC’s “Meet the Press”.

“And as horrific as this tragedy was, if our diversity becomes a casualty, I think that's worse."

Asked whether Muslim soldiers are more conflicted than other soldiers in fighting wars in Muslim countries like Afghanistan and Iraq, Casey said: "I think that's something that we have to look at on an individual basis."

"But I think we as an Army have to be broad enough to bring in people from all walks of life," he said.

Casey’s remarks echo those by Obama, who said that servicepersons of every religious affiliations and different origins have greatly contributed to the US military.

"They are descendents of immigrants and immigrants themselves. They reflect the diversity that makes this America."

US Muslim soldiers have already condemned the attack on the army base.

"What Maj. Hasan did does not represent us," Robert Salaam, a former Marine who reverted to Islam after 9/11, told IslamOnline.net.
Source: IslamOnline

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