Miami Imam Convicted of Supporting Pakistani Taliban

The 77-year-old former leader of Miami's oldest mosque was convicted Monday of providing material support to the Pakistani Taliban and of aiding a conspiracy to murder, maim and kidnap people abroad.

Hafiz Khan faces up to 15 years in prison for each of the four counts on which he was convicted and is scheduled to be sentenced in May. He sent $50,000 overseas, including money that went to a madrassa where children "learn to kill Americans in Afghanistan," the indictment said.

He had been imam at Miami's Flagler Mosque since 1999. Though supporters decried his 2011 indictment, evidence showed he wanted Pakistan's government replaced by one adhering to strict Islamic law and that he wished that "all opponents of Islam [need] to be destroyed." He also praised the failed 2010 Times Square bombing attempt by Faisal Shahzad.

The Pakistani Taliban is suspected of training Shahzad.

"Today, terrorists have lost another funding source to use against innocent people and U.S. interests," Michael B. Steinbach, the FBI's Special Agent in Charge in Miami, said in a prepared statement from the Justice Department. "We will not allow this country to be used as a base for funding terrorists. Individuals such as Hafiz Muhammed Sher Ali Khan, who support terror, represent a threat to our safety and provide an example of why the FBI's number one priority is counterterrorism."

Jurors saw Khan's bank records and listened to him discuss his activity with a man who turned out to be an FBI informant, the Miami Herald reports. In one of those recorded conversations, Khan said that children from his madrassa have gone to train to kill Americans in neighboring Afghanistan, the Justice Department statement said.

The indictment also charged Khan's two sons, but both were cleared.

Coptic Writer Fears for Egypt's Antiquities

Egypt's new Islamist government has drawn criticism for policies restricting free speech, freedom of religion and for its treatment of women. Coptic activist Ashraf Ramelah offers another concern in a column published Monday by Israel's Arutz Sheva.

Religious decrees place the nation's art, and even one of the "seven wonders of the world," in peril.

A fatwa issued in November by Murgan Salem al-Gohary calls for the destruction of the pyramids and Sphinx as idols whose existence violates religious orders. "God ordered Prophet Mohammed to destroy idols," he said. "When I was with the Taliban we destroyed the statue of Buddha, something the government failed to do."

One man later was arrested for trying to attack the Sphinx with a hammer, Ramelah writes. In the past month, statues of an Egyptian singer and an academic were vandalized. It's an outgrowth of the country's political dominance under the Muslim Brotherhood.

"This is the terror of state religion," Ramelah writes. "Often authored on the whim of a solitary, unknown sheik, absurd rulings stand firm and absolute with power to shape and control behavior."

Ramelah described other challenges facing Christians in Egypt during a recent interview with the Investigative Project on Terrorism. Read his full column here.

Saudi Cleric Calls Suicide Bombings "Pinnacle of Jihad"

Saudi clerical circles are notorious for spewing anti-Semitic vitriol.

Muhammad Musa Al-Sharif offered a clear new example during a January television appearance, when he advocated for continued suicide operations against Israel and invoked the anti-Semitic publication The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

According to a translation by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), Al-Sharif called "martyrdom operations … the pinnacle of Jihad for the sake of Allah." He urged Palestinians "to continue these wonderful, Jihadi, martyrdom operations."

Jews, Al-Sharif said, are annoyed by an Islamic revival among the young. The anti-Semitic forgery The Protocols of the Elders of Zion shows "They have been doing all they can to lead you astray."

The comments contrast with a public relations campaign in the United States aimed at redefining jihad as a peaceful struggle for personal betterment. And, coming from an influential Saudi cleric, they contradict the benign interpretation of jihad offered by John Brennan, President Obama's nominee to head the CIA.

It is not the first time MEMRI has showcased Al-Sharif's radical theological views. In 2011, he lauded the Arab Spring uprisings, saying they paved the way for Islam's return to global rule. Communism and capitalism were bankrupt, he said. "Only Islam is left to lead the world." Muslims "must become soldiers of this emerging leadership."

A year earlier, he minimized the issue of Saudi men marrying girls aged 13 and younger. Out of an estimated 10 million Saudi girls, there were only "3,000 girls under the age of 13 were married off to men more than 20 years their senior," Al-Sharif said.

"Does 3,000 out of 10 million constitute a social phenomenon?"

It is acceptable under Islamic law, he said, and would be unjust to make the practice illegal. "There are many good girls who, at the age of 13 or 14, are developed and ready for marriage."

Erdoğan Calls Zionism a "Crime Against Humanity"

A homeland and refuge for Jews is a "crime against humanity," Turkish Prime Minister and NATO ally Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during a United Nations forum in Vienna on Wednesday.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon sat silently on stage as Erdoğan likened Zionism to anti-Semitism, fascism, and Islamophobia. UN Watch urged Ki-moon to condemn the speech and called for Erdoğan to apologize.

Updated March 1: A spokesman for Ban issued a statement critical of Erdoğan, saying "it is unfortunate that such hurtful and divisive comments were uttered at a meeting being held under the theme of responsible leadership."

Secretary of State John Kerry intends to "be very clear about how dismayed we were" by Erdoğan's comments, an unnamed senior official said in Reuters report.Kerry is in Turkey to discuss Syria's civil war, and the comments about Israel hurt efforts to mend fences between Turkey and Israel and "complicates our ability to do all of the things that we want to do together when we have such a profound disagreement about such an important thing," the official said.

Erdoğan's comments reek of irony in light of the fact that Turkey, under his watch, has witnessed significant state discrimination against the county's Kurdish minority. And Turkey refuses to acknowledge its genocide against Armenians prior to World War I.

Erdoğan's hostility toward the Jewish state has been evident since the 2008 Israeli conflict against terrorists in Gaza. After more than 8,000 rockets fell on Israeli civilian communities, Erdoğan demanded that "Israel must pay a price for its aggression and crimes" in retaliating and trying to eliminate the threat.

Turkey has indicted Israeli officials and called for UN sanctions stemming from the 2010 flotilla which started in Turkey and aimed to break the blockade on the Hamas government in Gaza. An Israeli raid on one ship ended with nine people dead after they attacked Israeli commandos trying to enforce the blockade. Though the UN acknowledged the blockade was a lawful attempt to block weapons from reaching terrorists, Erdoğan expelled Israeli diplomats and suspended military and defense ties with Israel.

He also has denied that Hamas is a terrorist group.

His comments in Vienna came amid references to a resurgence among European fascists.

"We are facing a world in which racist attacks have gained momentum, terrorism has claimed more lives, and religions and sects treat each other with less understanding," he said. "Just like Zionism, anti-Semitism and fascism, it becomes unavoidable that Islamophobia must be regarded as a crime against humanity."

They also come as Israel has renewed efforts to revitalize the strained relationship with Turkey.

Fatah Activist Praises Suicide Bombers

A prominent member of Fatah, the party controlled by the ruling Palestinian Authority, publicly praised suicide bombers last month and said "Fatah's rifles and people [are needed] more than ever, the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) reported Monday.

The comments by Gaza-based Fatah activist Ahmad Mansour Dughmush directly contradict PA President Mahmoud Abbas' statement last fall supporting "peaceful resistance."

Dughmush's comments were published Jan. 17 in a PLO-connected website, MEMRI reported. He mentioned a litany of suicide bombers and said the sanctity of their blood should not be "violated." He called on Fatah members to resist pressure to submit to the "dictates of the sons of Zion" (Israel) and its effort to "Judaize Arab land). "

"We must unite all Fatah forces for the sake of the movement, and recruit all leaders, field commanders, and activists to the defense of our national enterprise, our just cause and our people," he said. "We must encourage anyone who tries to sabotage Fatah's resources or achievements."

Abbas, in a November interview with Israel's Channel 2 said he favored diplomacy rather than terrorism to obtain his objectives.

"We don't want to use terror," Abbas said. "We don't want to use force. We don't want to use weapons. We want to use diplomacy. We want to use politics. We want to use negotiations. We want to use peaceful resistance. That's it."

But in a separate speech captured last month by MEMRI, Abbas praised dead terror leaders including Haj Muhammad Amin Al-Husseini, also known as "Hitler's mufti" for his support of the Nazi dictator during World War II.

Abbas has been criticized for issuing conflicting messages when addressing Western audience and when speaking to Palestinians. He should denounce Dughmush's incitement to prove he means what he tells Israelis and the West.

Dar al-Hijrah Imam Calls For Armed Jihad

Sheik Shaker Elsayed, the imam of the Dar al-Hijrah Mosque in Falls Church, Va., advocated armed jihad before an Ethiopian Muslim group gathered at T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, Va. last week.

"Muslim men when it is a price to pay, they are first in line," Elsayed said in comments seen on a YouTube video found by the Creeping Sharia blog. "They are the first in the prayer line. They are the first in the zakat (charity) line. They are the first in the hajj line. They are the first in the clean-up line. They are the first in the community-service line. They are the first in jihad line. They are the first in the da'wa line."

"But they are last if anything is being distributed, unless it is arms for jihad," Elsayed said. "We are the first to rush and run to defend our community and defend ourselves. The enemies of Allah are lining up; the question for us is, 'Are we lining, or are we afraid because, because they may call us terrorists.'"

Being called "terrorists" should not matter to Muslims because Muslims are being called terrorists anyway, Elsayed said.

"You are a terrorist because you are a Muslim," Elsayed said. "Well give them a run for their money. Make it worth it. Make this title worth it, and be good a Muslim."

Elsayed then told Muslims to accept peace when they receive peace, but to fight back when their families, communities, nations and dignity come under attack.

He has been Dar al-Hijrah's imam since 2005. Law enforcement officials have described the mosque as being "associated with Islamic extremists" and "operating as a front for Hamas operatives in U.S.

Elsayed's comments contradict statements he made in a 2005 interview on National Public Radio.

"I believe there is no apology for terrorism. We condemned it; we condemned it on 9/11, I personally signed a paper on behalf of the organization I worked for at that time and sent it everywhere to the press. I spoke with the press," Elsayed said.

This isn't the first time Elsayed has endorsed terrorism. He denounced calling terrorists "suicide bombers, homicide bombers, or murderers, or killers" in a December 2002 speech.

"To decide that this man is a martyr or not a martyr, it is a pure religious matter," Elsayed said. "Nobody who is not Muslim has any right to decide for us, we the Muslims, whose is a martyr or another. We as Muslims will decide that. It is in-house business."

His name also appears in a 1991 Muslim Brotherhood document detailing the group's plan to wage a non-violent civilization jihad to destroy "Western civilization from within."

Syrian Rebels Give Hizballah Ultimatum

Rebels have given Hizballah a 48-hour ultimatum to cease its operations in Syria in support of President Bashar al-Assad's regime or face attacks on its forces in southern Lebanon.

The ultimatum found on the Free Syrian Army's (FSA) Facebook page warns that it will attack Hizballah in Lebanon if it does not stop shelling FSA targets in Syria. "[W]e will respond to the sources of fire by our hands and eliminate it from inside the Lebanese lands," the Facebook post said.

Gen. Selim Idriss, chief of staff of the rebel Free Syrian Army, denounced Hizballah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah as a "criminal" and called on the Lebanese people to "regain their state that has been taken over by the terrorist Hizballah gang."

"Hezbollah is abusing Lebanese sovereignty to shell Syrian territory and Free Syrian Army positions," Idriss told Agence France Presse. "In the past week... Hezbollah has been shelling into villages around Qusayr from Lebanese territory, and that we cannot accept."

The FSA warned that it would bombard Hizballah in several areas inside Lebanon.

Lebanon's government remains divided over the Syrian conflict, with the Sunni-led government identifying with the FSA and Hizballah siding with Assad.

A Hizballah official claimed that Shiite fighters who were killed last weekend in Syria were acting in "self defense" without admitting they were members of the terrorist group.

Hizballah has routinely denied sending its fighters into Syria to fight for Assad; however, Nasrallah acknowledged in October that Hizballah members had fought Syrian rebels on their own and not at the group's direction.

Nasrallah claimed the Hizballah members were killed while defending Lebanese-inhabited border towns inside of Syria.

"The residents of these towns took the decision to stay and defend themselves against the armed groups and did not engage in battle between the regime and the opposition," Nasrallah said.

Three Convicted in Massive British Terror Plot

A court in Birmingham, England has convicted three men of plotting to carry out a suicide bombing campaign inspired by the late terrorist mastermind Anwar al-Awlaki.

Irfan Khalid, Ashik Ali and Irfan Naseer were radicalized by Awlaki's lectures and by al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula's Inspire magazine, which regularly featured the terrorist mastermind's articles prior to his death in a September 2011 drone strike.

Police found lectures by al-Awlaki on Khalid's cell phone, including "The Book of Jihad," "It's a War against Islam," "Brutality towards Muslims" and "Stop Police Terror."

According to the Telegraph, Khalid encouraged his fellow plotters to listen to al-Awlaki's lectures.

Additional CD-ROMs containing talks by al-Awlaki were found in Khalid's grandparents' home. The terrorist leader's messages were also found stored in Ali's laptop and cell phone.

The trio experimented with making bombs using ammonium nitrate they removed from sports injury cold packs. Experts told the court they could have developed a viable improvised explosive device (IED) using their bomb-making recipe.

Such tactics resemble the sort of "Open Source Jihad" tactics advocated in Inspire that call for small groups or individual jihadists to make bombs and other weapons using readily available ingredients.

"They wanted to commit their own 9/11. They were critical of the July 7 [2005] bombers because they didn't kill enough people," said Marcus Beale, assistant commissioner of the West Midlands Police, the Guardian reported. "From evidence we presented to the court there were 8-10 bombs that they wanted to deploy, a mixture of suicide bombs and IEDs. So in terms of their capability, if they delivered on the plans that they had they would have committed mass murder on a horrendous scale."

A coordinated series of bombings in London in 2005 killed 52 people in what is known as the 7/7 attacks.

Another of the plans the trio discussed involving the attaching of blades to the wheels of cars to mow down pedestrians came directly from an Inspire article titled, "The Ultimate Mowing Machine."

Al-Awlaki has been tied to numerous other terror plots, including: Maj. Nidal Hasan and the Fort Hood shooting, Umar Farouq Abdulmutallab's plot to blow up an airliner with a bomb in his underwear and Faisal Shahzad's plot to blow up a truck in Times Square. The 9/11 Commission Report also stated he was tied to two of the 9/11 hijackers.

Although al-Awlaki might be gone his message lingers in his videos that are still for sale in Islamic bookstores and in more than 2,000 YouTube videos.

Copts, Liberal Muslims Protest Church Burning in Egypt

The torching of St. George's Church in Sarsena, Egypt – 60 miles southwest of Cairo – by Islamic extremists brought hundreds of Copts and liberal Muslims out in protest on Sunday.

The attack may have been triggered by complaints about noise coming from the church during Friday and Saturday services by a Muslim family living next door, local authorities said. The Muslims called the church an "unlawful neighbor to the Muslims who live adjacent to it and must therefore be moved."

The church itself was not the intended target of the arson, a local police official told Egypt's independent Al-Hayat TV channel. Rather, he said, the attack aimed for a room adjacent to a community center that the Copts wanted to build without a license.

Demonstrators demanded the church's rebuilding and the prosecution of those responsible for this and prior attacks. Numerous Coptic churches throughout Egypt have been burned by radical Muslims since Mubarak fell two years ago.

The Copts have also been forced into "reconciliation" meetings by government officials that they say are humiliating and result in their losing all of their rights.

The church was attacked during a meeting Saturday in the wake of the arson, the Assyrian International News Agency (AINA) reported. The crowd shouted "We do not want the church" as rocks and Molotov cocktails were thrown at it.

Though the church was attacked and its dome damaged, the reconciliation meeting ended with restrictions imposed on its reconstruction. It cannot be returned to its original height, for example, and the church will have to add soundproofing to the wall facing the neighbor who complained. It was not clear if there would be any compensation for the fire damage.

Sunday's protest included a demand that these reconciliation proceedings cease.

Protesters chanted "Maspero," Maspero" calling for the completion of an October 2011 march in which more than two dozen Copts were killed by state police and military officials.

Ex-Lebanese President: Hizballah Threatens To Destabilize Lebanon

Hizballah's reported involvement in Syria, Bulgaria and Bahrain threatens to destabilize Lebanon, says former Lebanese President Amin Gemayel.

Bulgarian officials implicated Hizballah last week in a July 2012 bus bombing in Bulgaria that killed several Israeli tourists. The bombing prompted Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nikolai Mladenov to call on the European Union (EU), which has yet to formally declare Hizballah to be a terrorist group, to take collective action against the organization.

If the EU were to blacklist Hizballah it could harm the group's financing.

Its support of Bashar Assad's regime in Syria has also prompted Syrian rebels to threaten strikes against Hizballah targets inside Lebanon Tuesday. The Free Syrian Army's threat to bring the fighting to Lebanon followed several days of clashes with Hizballah militants around the Syrian town of Qusayr and other villages near the Lebanese border. Three Hizballah members were reported killed in the clashes with Syrian rebels over the weekend.

Hizballah was also implicated by Bahraini authorities in November in several bombings that killed two people in Bahrain's capital Manama.

"Hezbollah's practices harm Lebanon's interests and stability, especially the meddling in Bahrain, Syria and Bulgaria's affairs," Gemayel said in a report in Lebanon's Daily Star. He served a Lebanon's president at the height of the Lebanese Civil War during the 1980s and now heads the Kataeb Party. "Hezbollah should be conscious that its meddling in foreign countries' affairs will result in negative repercussions for the whole country."

The terrorist group has not admitted its involvement in Syria and Bulgaria.

Hizballah Secretary-General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah declined to comment on the Bulgarian accusation.

"Hours after the Bulgarian attack took place [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu immediately accused Hezbollah," Nasrallah said.

Nasrallah, however, threatened to plunge Israel "into darkness" if it attacks Lebanon.

"The resistance will not be silent regarding any aggression against Lebanon," Nasrallah said, claiming that Hezbollah had the capability to strike at Israel's "ports, airports and power stations."

"A few missiles would plunge Israel into darkness," Nasrallah said, referring to plans to attack Israeli power stations. "Can Israel survive six months in the dark?"

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