Liberal Saudi Blogger Targeted for Death

Updated Feb. 10:

Malaysian police arrested Kashgari Friday as he tried to fly to New Zealand seeking political asylum. It is unclear whether he will be returned to Saudi Arabia to face charge.

Islamists in Saudi Arabia are calling for the execution of a 23-year-old blogger who decided to share his feelings about the prophet Muhammad on Twitter shortly before the anniversary of the prophet's birthday.

"On your birthday, I find you wherever I turn. I will say that I have loved aspects of you, hated others, and could not understand many more," Hamza Kashgari tweeted.

"On your birthday, I shall not bow to you," Kashgari wrote in a separate tweet. "I shall not kiss your hand. Rather, I shall shake it as equals do, and smile at you as you smile at me. I shall speak to you as a friend, no more."

Despite removing the tweets and issuing a long apology, the damage was already done. Angry Saudis accused Kashgari of blasphemy and called for his death; an influential cleric urged that Kashgari be tried in Sharia court for apostasy, which is a capital offense; and even the king himself issued a warrant for Kashgari's arrest. Someone even went so far as to post the blogger's home address on YouTube.

The scandal is unlike anything seen before in Saudi Arabian history. Fouad al-Farhan, a prominent liberal and Saudi Arabia's most influential blogger, said Kashgari struck a tone with his tweets that even Saudi liberals steer clear of.

"There was an amazing anger. I've never seen anything like it in my life," al-Farhan said. "I think it's because this is an extremely unique case…We've never had a case as extreme as this one of someone crossing the line."

Kashgari, who was raised a religious conservative in a Salafi community, grew more liberal as he got older and became more active on the web. He also apparently drew the attention of conservative activists, who began to monitor him as his social media feeds became more controversial.

"Most people feel strongly about the situation. But at the same time, I feel that conservatives are trying to take advantage of the situation, make an example out of him, and show their strength," Ahmed al Omran, who runs the blog Saudi Jeans, said.

Kashgari agrees that he's become a "scapegoat for a larger conflict."

"I view my actions as part of a process toward freedom," he told The Daily Beast in an interview. "I was demanding my right to practice the most basic human rights—freedom of expression and thought—so nothing was done in vain."

Nevertheless, the uproar over his tweets led Kashgari to flee to Southeast Asia and he has accepted the fact that he can never return home.

"It's impossible. No way," he said. "I'm afraid, and I don't know where to go."

Christians Facing Genocide in Muslim World

Modern political Islam is eliminating the second-class, "protected" status of religious minorities in Muslim countries, Ayaan Hirsi Ali claims in a new article for The Daily Beast. Powerful Islamic lobbies have kept Muslim-Christian dialogue focused on discrimination problems in Western countries, ignoring a global, slow-moving genocide against religious minorities under Muslim rule.

"The conspiracy of silence surrounding this violent expression of religious intolerance has to stop. Nothing less than the fate of Christianity—and ultimately of all religious minorities—in the Islamic world is at stake," Hirsi Ali writes. Her comments are borne out by statistics about Christian minorities in nearly all Muslim-dominated countries.

In Nigeria, where Christians number almost 40 percent of the population, local non-Muslims suffer from a variety of types of government-sponsored forms of religious persecution. The Boko Haram terrorist organization also killed at least 510 Christians and burned down more than 350 churches just last year.

Sudan committed open genocide against Christians in the course of its "civil war" in the last decade, killing more than 2 million Christians and animists in the South. A half a million Iraqi Christians, more than half of their ancient community, have fled the nation because of Islamist violence starting in 2003. In Egypt, more than 200,000 Coptic Christians have fled since the fall of Dictator Hosni Mubarak and the rise of local Islamists, last year. Even Indonesia, considered the most accepting Muslim-dominated state, saw a 40 percent rise in violence directed at the nation's Christians, who number 7 percent of the population.

State-sponsored persecution dominates in other Muslim countries. Pakistani Christians fear both Muslim extremists, but suffer terribly from the misuse of state-sponsored blasphemy laws and the imposition of Sharia. Iran routinely rounds up practicing Christians, forcing them to convert to Islam or die. Saudi Arabia completely bans open Christian practices in their country, despite the presence of over a million Christian foreign workers.

Hirsi Ali argues that although Western nations have an essential responsibility to protect Muslims at home, the conversation with Muslim nations must focus on ending the persecution of Christians in the Islamic world. Aid, trade, and investment should not be given freely, but rather are tools to leverage a better life for Christians in the Muslim world.

Read her article here.

Report: Second Guilty Plea Coming in "South Park" Threat

A second man involved in online threats against the producers of "South Park" will plead guilty to three felonies, reports Politico's Josh Gerstein.

Jesse Morton, a convert to Islam who also goes by the name Younus Abdullah Mohammad, will plead to conspiracy, communicating threats, and internet stalking, a defense attorney told Gerstein.

Morton was charged in a criminal complaint last May and arrested in Morocco about two weeks later. Court records indicate Thursday was the last day for prosecutors to issue an indictment in the case. Morton's associate, Zachary Chesser, received a 25-year prison sentence last year after pleading guilty to communicating the threats and for trying to provide material support to the Somali terrorist group al-Shabaab.

Chesser warned on the website Revolution Muslim that "South Park" producers Trey Stone and Matt Parker "will probably wind up like Theo van Gogh" after an April 2010 episode of the animated comedy mocked the violent reaction of radical Islamists to images of the prophet Mohammad by portraying him concealed in a bear suit. "Mohammad is the only person in the world that can't get ripped on," a character says.

Van Gogh was murdered on an Amsterdam street by a radical Islamist who was offended by Van Gogh's film protesting the treatment of women in Islam.

Morton allegedly helped Chesser with the threats by issuing a "clarification statement" in response to media inquiries. It included a picture of Van Gogh's dead body and included "pages of justification under Islamic law for the death of those who insult Islam or defame its prophet, and for Muslims to bring about such deaths," an FBI affidavit said.

While Morton's defense may have argued the statement was protected by the First Amendment, law enforcement officials say it crossed the line into a threat because it warned Stone and Parker they would meet a similar fate to those killed for insulting Islam.

Each count in the plea agreement carries a five year sentence.

Qaradawi Meets Hamas Leaders, Predicts "Victory"

A Hamas delegation headed by the self-proclaimed Prime Minister of Gaza met Yusuf al Qaradawi, the highly influential Muslim Brotherhood theologian, in Qatar Saturday. In the love fest which followed, as reported on Qaradawi's website, "His Eminence also gave the people of Gaza and Palestine the good news that victory is near and at the door."

Along with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, the delegation included Yehya Al-Sinwar, a top security strategist, and his deputy Rawhi Mushtaha, recently released from long terms in Israeli prison as part of the prisoner swap. They invited Qaradawi to visit Gaza, where he could broadcast over Hamas's media outlet, al Aqsa TV. They also prayed that God would extend the Sheikh's life to allow him to pray alongside them in Jerusalem's Al Aqsa Mosque.

Qaradawi returned to Egypt from a long exile following the fall of President Hosni Mubarak last year to preach the Friday sermon in Tahrir Square. "A message to our brothers in Palestine: I harbor the hope that just like God allowed me to witness the triumph of Egypt, He will allow me to witness the conquest of the al-Aqsa mosque, and will enable me to preach in the al-Aqsa Mosque."

In a 2009 speech before the Arab Spring Qaradawi was less optimistic and merely hoped to die fighting the Jews: I'd like to say that the only thing I hope for is that as my life approaches its end, Allah will give me an opportunity to go to the land of Jihad and resistance, even if in a wheelchair. I will shoot Allah's enemies, the Jews, and they will throw a bomb at me, and thus, I will seal my life with martyrdom."

Cab Driver Pleads Guilty to Funneling Funds to Al-Qaida

A Chicago cab driver pleaded guilty Monday to funneling money to a Kashmiri separatist leader working with al-Qaida. Raja Lahrasib Khan was charged earlier with providing material support to al-Qaida.

According to the complaint, Khan gave hundreds of dollars to al-Qaida commander Ilyas Kashmiri to fight Indian forces in Kashmir. Khan, who grew up in the Azad Kashmir region of Pakistan, traveled to the region regularly to visit family since immigrating to the United States in the late 1970s. Khan met with Kashmiri twice in the past decade.

Kashmiri, who reportedly was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Pakistan last June, worked closely with al-Qaida. His terrorist outfit, Harkatat ul-Jihad al-Islami (HuJI), has been involved in several terrorist attacks against Indian forces in Kashmir.

Kashmiri also was charged by prosecutors in Chicago in connection with a plot to attack the offices of the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten and kill an editor and cartoonist. The newspaper had published cartoons of the prophet Mohammad in 2005 that had led to violent protests across the Muslim world.

In November 2009, Khan sent $930 dollars from Chicago to an individual in Pakistan, and then instructed the individual by phone to give Kashmiri approximately $300. "Although Khan intended the funds to be used for terrorist attacks in Kashmir, he was also aware that Kashmiri worked for al-Qaida," a Department of Justice press release said.

In early 2010, Khan met several times with an undercover law enforcement agent, who posed as someone interested in sending money to Kashmiri to purchase weapons and ammunition.

At another meeting Khan discussed bombing a stadium in the United States. "You know put one bag here, one there, one there, you know three, four, five different places, you know, boom, boom, boom," he said in a recorded conversation.

Though the charge Khan to which Khan pleaded carries a 15-year prison term, terms of his agreement with prosecutors mean that he faces five to eight years in prison when he is sentenced May 30.

Syria Shells Civilians, Releases Terrorist Leader

The State Department has closed the American embassy in Damascus in response to the failure of diplomacy and the deteriorating security situation in Syria. Violence there has brought the nation to edge of a sectarian war between the ruling Alawites and majority Sunni population.

Shelling of rebellious cities and civilian protesters has intensified following last week's Chinese and Russian veto of a United Nations Security Council vote condemning the regime. Dictator Bashar al-Assad has also released a leading al-Qaida ideologue as a gesture to the West about the consequences of the fall of his regime.

The BBC reports that the Syrian government has launched its fiercest attack yet on the rebel stronghold of Homs, shelling homes and launching rockets into the city for the first time. The regime blamed "terrorist gangs" for the destruction of the buildings.

The UN registered 5,400 casualties in 11-month uprising, but stopped counting during the latest and most deadly outbreak of assaults by the Syrian regime. Rebels estimate that the figure has quickly climbed above 7,000.

The Telegraph reports that Syria's government also Abu Musab al-Suri, al-Qaida's former European operations chief, confirming persistent rumors about his release on jihadi forums. The move, which may be meant as a threat to the West, does not take into account the calls al-Qaida-aligned terrorists to wage war against the Syrian regime.

Lawmakers Warn Cairo Over NGO Crackdown

More than 40 members of the House of Representatives have signed letters warning that U.S. aid to Egypt could be jeopardized if the country's military leadership refuses to show respect for human rights and "support a transition to a democratic system under civilian control."

A diverse coalition signed the letters, ranging from Republican Reps. Frank Wolf, Va., and James Sensenbrenner, Wis., to Democratic Reps. Steny Hoyer, Md., and Maxine Waters, Cal., sharply criticized the Egyptian government over Dec. 29 raids and ongoing investigations of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).

The raids targeted NGOs including the National Democratic Institute, the International Republican Institute and Freedom House. They "constitute an attack on Egyptian society writ large and are completely unacceptable," the lawmakers wrote in nearly identical letters to Egyptian military boss Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.

The timing of the raids "is especially ironic as the NDI and IRI were accredited by Egyptian authorities to observe the just-completed parliamentary elections," the letter said. They note that 400 Egyptian groups "face similarly politically-driven allegations and investigations."

Several staff members of those NGOs have been told they cannot leave the country while the investigation continues. That includes the IRI's Sam Lahood, son of Transportation Secretary Ray Lahood.

The letters do not mention that aspect, but do warn that Cairo would pay a heavy price if it continued harassing the NGOs. If the issue isn't satisfactorily resolved soon, it would become "increasingly difficult for congressional supporters of a strong U.S.-Egyptian bilateral relationship to defend current levels of assistance to Egypt – especially in this climate of budget cuts in Washington," according to the lawmakers.

They urged Cairo to "immediately allow these offices to reopen, return all confiscated property, end the investigations into these organizations and other civil society groups and allow NGOs to carry out their activities in an unfettered manner."

House Hearing: Growing Terror Connection to Drug Cartels

There will be "hell to pay" if the United States doesn't stop the growing link between Latin American drug cartels and Iranian-sponsored terror, former Drug Enforcement Administration operations chief Michael A. Braun told a House hearing on Thursday. The Iran-Cuba-Venezuela axis is reaching out to regional terrorist groups and drug traders with networks in the United States, expanding the operational capacity of the Islamic Republic deep into our nation's cities.

Iran and Latin American pariah states support terrorists organization with training bases and territory in South America, but both are increasingly cooperating with one another and drug cartels to advance their own agendas. According to Braun, this means that Iran's al-Quds Force and its proxy Hizballah have more "opportunities to leverage the transportation, money laundering, arms trafficking, corruption, human trafficking and smuggling infrastructures of the Colombian and Mexican drug trafficking cartels."

Ultimately, Braun explained, foreign terrorist organizations and drug cartels use similar methods and have little to divide them ideologically. Both favor increasing the amount and exploitation of ungovernable territory, and the anti-American ideology of the Iran-Latin American alliance means using those resources to harm America. The best solution to fight this cooperation is breaking down the barriers between American counterterrorism forces and drug enforcement.

Other witnesses pointed out the depth of the relationship between some South American countries and Iran, and how these nations benefit from one another. José Azel, a senior researcher on the subject from the University of Miami, explained how the anti-American regimes overcome ideological differences, ultimate uniting secular, pro-communist states with Iran's theocracy.

Norman Bailey of the Institute of Global Economic Growth used his prepared remarks to delve into Iran's use of this alliance to circumvent international sanctions and build influence through investments. He recommended sanctioning Venezuelan banks doing business with Iran, and possibly blacklisting Venezuela as a terrorist sponsoring state.

Michael Shifter, president of the Inter-American Dialogue, argued that current Western sanctions were already hitting Iran hard. Iran has broken investment promises that it is trying to leverage into influence, and its terrorist activity hurts cooperation. Also, strengthening economic cooperation between South American countries and the United States eliminates opportunities for Iran to make inroads.

IDF Facebook Story Called a Fraud

A photograph purporting to show an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldier abusing a Palestinian girl went viral on Facebook earlier this week. The photo, uploaded by a Facebook user named Wesley Muhammad, was said to show the Israeli soldier pressing a boot on the stomach of the girl lying on her back while pointing an AK-47 rifle at her face.

It became a hot topic of conversation in Israel, where close to half the population is on Facebook. Within hours, Israeli subscribers and others began raising questions about the photograph. Many pointed out that the IDF rarely uses AK-47s; that the uniform shown on Facebook wasn't that of the IDF; and that the boots and jacket in the picture are not part of the IDF uniform.

The Los Angeles Times reported that approximately six months ago, someone named @madlamin tweeted what appears to be the same picture with a message in French encouraging users to spread it around the world. The boot was marked with a hashtag indicating that it might have been a picture of a Syrian soldier attacking a demonstrator during domestic unrest there.

But Muslim blogger Omar Dakhane believes that the soldier was neither Israeli nor Syrian. After searching online, he concluded that the image actually came from a 2009 street theater performance in Bahrain.

The picture doesn't show the IDF at all, Dakhane wrote. He appeared to suggest that its dissemination is "all part of the propaganda of hate" directed at Israel.

Read more here.

FBI Director Warns of Rising Cyber Threat

FBI Director Robert Mueller called cyber threats the top future threat facing America in testimony this week before the Senate Intelligence Committee, InformationWeek reports. The broad range of online threats, both from state and non-state actors, highlights a complex threat to key institutions of the government, economy, and media.

"I do not think today it [cyber terrorism] is necessarily [the] number one threat, but it will be tomorrow," Mueller said. "Counterterrorism — stopping terrorist attacks — with the FBI is the present number one priority. But down the road, the cyber threat, which cuts across all [FBI] programs, will be the number one threat to the country."

Director of National Intelligence James Clapper underscored the complexity of threat. Internet attacks are difficult to predict and act on, he said, and "many intrusions into U.S. networks are not being detected." Joining major state actors China and Russia, Iran has also broadened its capabilities and hyped up its willingness to act on attacks. In addition, hacker groups like Anonymous, which brings together thousands of members of the public to act on its own 'campaigns,' have struck key sectors of the economy.

Congress is taking this threat seriously after dragging its feet for years, with the House dealing with cyber security legislation this week and the Senate considering a more comprehensive bill later this month.

Israel provides a model for how cyber attacks occur and how they can be countered. It is fighting an online war with Arab hackers, who have struck financial and governmental websites, as well as released Israeli credit card data.

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