Publication: Terrorism Monitor Volume: 8 Issue: 5 February 4, 2010 01:26 PM Age: 2 days By: Brian Glyn Williams, Bilun Erim Turkish police apprehend al-Qaeda suspects in various raids on January 22, 2010. Turkish police units launched their largest anti al-Qaeda operation to date on the morning of January 22. The operation took place in a series of pre-dawn raids in towns throughout Turkey. It led to the arrest of as many as 140 people allegedly involved in an al-Qaeda ring that was plotting to carry out suicide bombings against Turkish troops in Afghanistan as well as attacks on the Turkish police … Continue reading Turkish Jihadis Respond to Ankara’s Anti-Al-Qaeda Operations

2010/2010: The Year We Make Contact (1984) ** There are two adjectives that are deployed almost every time anyone describes 2010/2010: The Year We Make Contact. The first of these is “long-awaited;” the second is “disappointing.” I was only ten years old in 1984, so I’ll have to take the critics’ word for it that folks were out there eagerly anticipating a sequel to 2001: A Space Odyssey, but if that’s true, then I can certainly understand their disappointment when 2010 finally showed up. As I believe I’ve already made sufficiently clear, I’m not one of the old movie’s fawning … Continue reading 2010/2010: The Year We Make Contact

Ban this ban! Farooq Sulehria Absurdities come in many varieties. The latest example is the French ban on burqa. Worse, the French action is proving contagious. In Denmark, Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen, who heads a right-wing government, has hinted at a ban on burqa, even though no woman in Denmark wears it. The notorious rightwing Jyllands Posten newspaper had to retract a story that three or four women wear it in Denmark. Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt of Sweden is being quizzed by the press corps on the subject of burqa. But the respective countries’ media have found merely 100 … Continue reading Burka and the naked euro politicians

At Afghan women’s cost Sahar Saba The US attempts to broker a deal with the Taliban have neither surprised nor upset Afghan women. The Afghan woman is not like naive liberals across the world who are deeply frustrated over this US betrayal. The liberals had pinned their hopes on the US to rid Af-Pak of the Taliban. Hence, they are most upset and surprised at US endeavours to woo the Taliban. My Afghan sisters are not impressionable fools. Having lived through the horrors of a 30-year-long civil war, they have learnt from experience that imperialism always acts in its own … Continue reading Westerners wooing the Mullahs at the expense of women?

Babar Sattar The writer is a lawyer based in Islamabad. A Manhattan jury has condemned Dr Aafia Siddiqui for attempted murder of American soldiers and FBI agents in Afghanistan, on what appears to be pretty flimsy evidence. The prosecution theory has been that the 37-year-old neuroscientist, with a degree from MIT and a PhD from Brandeis University, was mixed up with Al-Qaeda and had come to Afghanistan of her own volition as an enemy planning attacks against the US. That at the time of her arrest in July 2008 she carried in her handbag do-it-yourself dirty bomb instructions as well … Continue reading Blinkered justice – Dr Aafia Siddiqui

Sheikh Salman al-Oadah I went on an outing with my children. Our main intention was to swim and for the children to have their fair share of recreation and of my quality time. It was also a chance fir me as a father, to have my rightful share of the joy of being with my children, for truly we need our children as much as they need us, if not more. I found myself busy on that day with all sorts of little tasks – like making sandwiches, setting the picnic table, and handing out sweets. It was a beautiful … Continue reading The Many Facets of Happiness

Sheikh Salman al-Oadah It might seem funny to devote an article to sleeping. But think about it. The average person spends around eight hours of a 24-hour day asleep. That is a third of a person’s lifetime. Allah describes sleep as a blessing from Him. He says in the Qur’an: “And We made your sleep a rest for you.” [Surah al-Naba’: 9] “And remember when He made slumber fall upon you as a reassurance from Him.” [Surah al-Anfal: 11] “It is Allah who has made the night for you, that you may rest therein, and the days as that which … Continue reading A Good Night’s Sleep

February 1, 2010 | Issue 46•05 The symbol of American might called the 2003 invasion of Iraq “ill-advised at best, illegal at worst.” // // Related Articles Bush Disappointed To Learn Chinese Foreign Minister Doesn’t Know Karate 10.15.03 Congress Approves $15 Billion MediCruelty 03.12.97 // // THE OREGON WILDERNESS—Frustrated by the widely held assumption that he unequivocally endorses the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, a bald eagle said Monday that his thoughts on the conflicts were far more nuanced than many Americans might expect. Speaking to reporters from his nest in the upper branches of a 175-foot ponderosa pine tree, … Continue reading Bald Eagle Tired Of Everyone Just Assuming It Supports War