Pamela Geller's Blog, page 8

Death Penalty Order for those who Insult Muhammad Deepens Sharia Trend in Pakistan

185,000,000 Pakistani Muslims can't be wrong. Or are they, too, misunderstanders of Islam? *chuckle*

Obama say, "The future does not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam."

"Death Penalty Order Deepens Hard-line Islamist Trend in Pakistan, Critics Say," December 30, 2013 By Our Pakistan Correspondent, Morningstar News

Ruling could broaden powers of Federal Shariat Court, they fear.

Muslim mobs attack a Christian area of Lahore after blasphemy allegation. (Morning Star News, M. Ali)

LAHORE, Pakistan (Morning Star News) – Compliance with an order that only the death sentence can be given to those convicted of insulting Islam’s prophet will further endanger Christians and increase the powers of the Islamic court that issued it, critics said.

While Christians fear that government compliance with the Federal Shariat Court’s (FSC) Dec. 4 order to remove life imprisonment as a punishment for insulting Muhammad could usher in a new era of persecution, some critics say the greater concern is that it could broaden the powers of the controversial court.

Section 295-C of Pakistan’s blasphemy laws calls for either death or life imprisonment for persons convicted of insulting Muhammad. The FSC has given the government a “couple of months” to implement, through parliament, the order to remove life imprisonment as a possible punishment.

The FSC order comes less than three years after assassinations of two government officials silenced most criticism of the blasphemy laws.

While the ruling could further encourage extremists to attack those they believe are insulting Muhammad, the FSC order may have little specific legal impact since judges have tended to issue death penalty sentences for such convictions anyway, according to Yasser Latif Hamdani, who practices law in superior courts.

“This is a guideline that the courts have already followed,” Hamdani told Morning Star News. “The problem is that it has symbolic significance. It opens the door for the Federal Shariat Court to exercise greater influence on the legal system. Will the FSC also rule that insanity is not a defense?”

Hamdani said he hoped that the order would land before the Supreme Court’s Shariat Appellate Bench, “which may take a more positive and liberal view,” he said.

Attorney Shoaib Salim of the Lahore High Court also expressed hope that it could be reversed.

“The FSC is only empowered to examine and determine whether the laws of the country comply with sharia [Islamic law] or not,” Salim said. “The ultimate decision rests with the parliament.”

He said it was unlikely that the government would implement an order that would further incite religious hatred and persecution in Pakistani society. The blasphemy laws have been routinely abused to settle personal vendettas as antagonists can easily level false accusations that ruin lives.

Since its establishment in 1980, the FSC has been the subject of criticism and controversy. Created as an Islamization measure by the military regime of Gen. Muhammad Zia-ul Haq, and subsequently protected under the controversial 8th Amendment, the FSC has opponents who question its existence and usefulness. Comprising eight Muslim judges, including three required to be Islamic law scholars (Ulema), the court exercises jurisdiction over criminal courts deciding Hudood cases, which involve punishments prescribed by Islamic writings.

Critics say the FSC merely duplicates the functions of superior courts and contravenes the authority of parliament. They allege that the way its judges are appointed and retained is tainted, and that the court does not fully meet criterion for an independent judiciary.

The FSC’s decisions are binding on high courts as well as on subordinate judiciary. Appeals against its decisions lie with the Shariat Appellate Bench of the Supreme Court, consisting of three Muslim judges of the Supreme Court and two Islamic scholars appointed by the president.

Criticism Silenced

Misuse of the blasphemy laws in Pakistan has long been debated, but the assassination of two top government officials and a senior judge in the last decade and a half has silenced even the most vocal critics.

Former Punjab Gov. Salmaan Taseer’s own police bodyguard gunned him down on Jan. 4, 2011 for calling for a review of the blasphemy laws and giving moral support to a woman sentenced to death for alleged blasphemy. Two months later, on March 2 of that year, Federal Minister for Minority Affairs Shahbaz Bhatti was assassinated in Islamabad; members of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, or Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility. He had faced threats on his life for voicing opposition to the blasphemy laws.

The Rt. Rev. Michael Nazir-Ali, former Lord Bishop of Rochester, United Kingdom, and current president of the Oxford Centre for Training, Research, Advocacy and Dialogue, said the FSC verdict is a cause of concern for Pakistani Christians.

“Everyone knows how the blasphemy laws are misused in this country,” Dr. Nazir-Ali, on a visit to Pakistan, told Morning Star News. “During several of our engagements with the Pakistani government, we have repeatedly asked them to deal with blasphemy cases with utmost care and consideration to ensure that there’s no miscarriage of justice. No blasphemy case should be registered without proper investigation at the highest government level regardless of whether the accused is a Christian or of another faith.”

Islamist Clerics Defiant

Pakistan’s top Islamist clerics, meantime, have not only pushed for greater FSC powers but declared that they will not tolerate any amendments to the blasphemy laws.

A few days after nearly 150 Christian homes were burned to the ground in March by violent Muslim mobs in Lahore’s Joseph Colony over allegations that a Christian youth had insulted Muhammad, top Sunni Islamist clerics led by Ruet-e-Hilal Committee Chairman Mufti Muneebur Rehman recommended that all persons accused of blasphemy should be tried by the FSC.

The clerics also opposed the imposition of penalty for the accusers in such cases, arguing that no punishment existed for falsehood in other cases. Mufti Muneeb also demanded that defamation of sacred religious personalities should be declared a crime under international law.

Punishment for false witness does have some advocates. After much lobbying, in September Pakistan Ulema Council Chairman Allama Tahir Ashrafi strove to make the country’s top religious body, the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), recommend the death sentence for those making false blasphemy accusations. Ashrafi believes that such a law was necessary as a deterrent.

Hardliners in the CII, however, shot down Ashrafi’s initiative.

“I have been relentlessly protesting the misuse of the blasphemy laws,” Ashrafi said. “This is not only bringing a bad name to Pakistan but also the entire Muslim Ummah [community]. It’s a pity that the other religious leaders failed to understand the importance of a strong deterrent for false accusers. Those making a false accusation needed to face death penalty because the words attributed to the accused were actually uttered by the accuser.”

CII Chairman Maulana Muhammad Khan Sheerani said a majority of the CII members believed there was no need to amend the blasphemy laws.

“We don’t want to discourage people from coming forward and lodging complaints against blasphemers,” he said. “There’s already a law – Section 194 of the Pakistan Penal Code – which envisages punishments for lodging a false FIR.”

Sheerani, who believes the FSC order removing life in prison for those convicted under Section 295-C was in line with Islamic injunctions, said the FSC was the right forum to decide blasphemy cases.

“Laws relating to Islam should be decided by the FSC,” he said. “Our senior clerics have already recommended that such cases be decided within three months. If the suspect is found innocent, the false accuser can be tried under the relevant section of the PPC [Pakistan Penal Code],” he said.

Napolean Qayyum, a Christian rights activist, said the ruling would usher in a new era of persecution.

“We have seen people taking the law into their own hands and deciding for themselves what the punishment should be,” Qayyum said. “This ruling will only embolden elements who use the blasphemy laws to target the weak and marginalized communities of this country. How many more innocent lives would it take for the government to realize that it needs to do something to bring an end to this victimization?”

Attorney Aneeqa Maria, head of Christian rights group The Voice Society, told Morning Star News that Pakistan’s blasphemy laws have no standards for evidence or for proof of intent, even though intent must be shown for a conviction, as well as no procedural safeguards to penalize those who make false allegations.

“They are a constant sword hanging over our heads, and no government has so far been able to stop their blatant misuse,” Maria said. “Everyone knows how these laws are used as a tool for settling personal disputes, and now the FSC has taken this skeleton out of the closet after so many years. I believe this would encourage the accusers to try and get their victims implicated under Section 295-C.”

 

Jihad in China: 8 Muslim Terrorists Killed in Attacks on Police

Perhaps Russia gave the Uighurs (Chinese Muslims) jihad-envy:

"China Says Police Kill 8 'Terrorists' in Xinjiang," ABC News, December 30, 2013

Authorities in western China said Monday that police fatally shot eight "terrorists" who had attacked them using knives and explosives in the latest in a string of violent incidents in the ethnically tense region.

The Xinjiang government news portal Tianshan Net said that the group of nine attacked officers and burned police cars in Shache county, which is overseen by the famed Silk Road city of Kashgar.

It was the latest in a series of attacks pointing to growing unrest in the large sprawling region of Xinjiang, home to a simmering rebellion against Chinese rule among parts of the native Muslim Uighur population who want more autonomy from Beijing. Recent clashes, including an attack on a police station last month, have left dozens of people dead.

A Xinjiang government press officer confirmed Monday's report but said he had no further information. He gave only his surname, Cao. Police reached by phone in Shache and Kashgar said they had no information about the incident.

The Chinese government typically calls such incidents terrorist attacks linked to radicals based overseas, although there is little evidence that they are carefully organized.

Xinjiang is home to about 9 million Uighurs, who make up less than half of the population of Xinjiang, which they used to dominate. Many complain that they have been marginalized by policies favoring migrants from China's ethnic Han majority.

Beijing says it treats all minorities fairly and spends billions of dollars on development and improving living standards in Xinjiang.

Tianshan Net said the police took "resolute measures" by shooting the eight and arresting one, adding the case was under further investigation.

Sweden-based Uighur activist Dilxat Raxit said Uighurs were being shot to death "due to their discontent with China's policies."

"To label the protesters as terrorists and shoot them to death is a new way of suppressing the Uighurs following China's judicial reforms," he said, referring to recent moves to improve the country's party-controlled justice system.

As well as a number of deadly clashes in Xinjiang this year, an attack in October struck at the heart of Beijing. Three Uighurs drove a vehicle through crowds in front of iconic Tiananmen Gate, killing themselves and two tourists.

 

Both Jihadists named in Russia bombings were converts to Islam

More Muslim converts who misunderstand Islam. Enough already. They understand all too well. The problem is in Islam -- and the problem is that we can't talk about the problem. Misunderstanders of Islam. Pathetic.

"Volgograd suicide bomber's identity confirmed, photos now public," from the Voice of Russia, December 29 (thanks to Robert Spencer)

The second bomber was a medical school graduate, his father Nikolai spoke about his conversion: 'My son changed for the better. He stopped arguing with me, did not drink, went to the mosque. I bought him Halal meat.'

For the better ......

Was the Volgograd train station suicide bomber a Russian paramedic who converted to Islam and joined terrorist cell? Daily Mail, December 30, 2013 (thanks to David)

 WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT

At least 16 people have killed and 50 have been injured
Officials believe bomber could now be former Russian paramedic
A police officer and child among the dead according to local reports
Experts claims the explosion was the equivalent of 10kg of TNT
Attack has raised concerns over terrorism ahead of Winter Olympics
Parents begged suspected bomber Pavel Pechonkin not to use violence

A former paramedic who converted to Islam and joined a militant cell could be the Volgograd train station suicide bomber according to investigators.

Police now think that Pechonkin, who left to join Dagestani militants in 2011, carried out the devastating attack which killed 17 people on Sunday.

 

Pavel Pechyonkin, who investigators believe carried out the suicide bombing in Volograd

 

Smiling Pechyonkin made the video in response to an appeal from his desperate parents

 
 

Pechyonkin's parents Nikolair (left) and Fanaziya (right) made a desperate appeal for their son to come home earlier this year

The Muslim convert posted a video on Youtube saying that he was following God's will, that he would not turn back and that he working to earn a place in heaven.

Second suicide bomb in 24 hours causes carnage in Volgograd as bus explosion kills 14 people six weeks ahead of the Olympics

His video was in response to a message from his parents Nikolai and Fanaziya, begging him not to use violence and described their lives as 'hell' without him.

 

Pavel's father Nikolai tearfully appealed to his son to return home, and continue in his medical role

A medical school graduate, his father Nikolai spoke about his conversion: 'My son changed for the better. He stopped arguing with me, did not drink, went to the mosque. I bought him Halal meat.'

His parents heard he had gone 'in the forest' with rebels and made an internet appeal for him to return.

'Pasha, come back, let your hands be on blood from wounds, injuries, and not from kills, you're a doctor,' said his father.

He replied about his parents' video appeal:  'It was sad to see your tears, very sad. I didn't even want to watch.  I thought it would weaken me. I came here so Allah would be pleased with me, to earn my way to paradise.'

His parents travelled to Dagestan, hoping to find their son and rescue him from the militants they believe indoctrinated him.

The Moscow Times reported that his mother said: 'Imagine that somebody were to kill your parents, how would that make you feel? Why are you turning children into orphans?'

Pechyonkin told his parents that he had then decided he would not be swayed.

 



CCTV footage of blast at Russian Train station

 

He said: 'I didn't want to watch your appeal, I thought that it would weaken me, that it would make me softer.'

He added: 'Why should we follow those Christian commandments, when Allah, may he be glorified, urges us to fight those kafirs [unbelievers].

17 people are known to have died in the blast, with more than 50 left injured.

itness Alexander Koblyakov said: ‘People were lying on the ground, screaming and asking for help. I helped carry out a police officer whose head and face were covered in blood. He couldn’t speak.’

 

 

 

 

 

 

Explosion: CCTV footage capture the blast at Volgograd train station in Russia

 

 

Blast scene: Debris is scattered across the steps of the station after a blast which killed 16 people

 

 

Casualty: A man lies outside the station as emergency services attend the incident

 

 

Wounded: A man, who has sustained injuries to his head, arrives at hospital following the blast

 

 

Vladimir Markin, a spokesman for Russia’s Investigative Committee, said:  ‘A suicide bomber who was approaching a metal detector saw a law enforcement official and, after growing nervous, set off an explosive device.’

More than 40 people were reported as injured and the death toll could rise, according to Russian officials.

The attacker was originally named as Oksana Aslanova, who had twice married separatist Muslim gang leaders from the troubled Caucasus region, sources said.

She had been on Russia’s wanted list for 18 months before the attack which used 16lb of TNT, the deadliest in Russia for three years.

The bomb was the equivalent to at least 10kg of TNT, said to Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin, and was stuffed with metal shrapnel.

 

Metal detectors have been mandatory in railway stations and airports throughout Russia since a suicide bomber killed 37 people at Domodedovo airport in 2011.

 

 

"Moderate" Indonesia: Muslim Threats Force Cancellation of New Years Celebrations “they are not Islamic holidays”

More tolerance from the moderates .....

Lest we forget, our President grew up in Indonesia, "a street kid in Jakarta." He studied quran in school, where he described himself as Muslim on school records. School friends say that he was "quite religious in Islam." Is that why he never says anything against this vicious supremacism?

Just sayin.

Indonesia: Muslim threats lead to cancellation of New Year celebrations Asia News, via Creeping, December 30, 2013

Due to the massive protest campaign launched by extremist Islamic groups in recent days, the management of Hermes Palace – a multi-starred hotels in Banda Aceh – have canceled plans for New Year’s Eve. The celebrations for the last day of the year were planned some time ago, but the pressure from fundamentalist movements in Aceh, the only province in Indonesia where Shariah , or Islamic law is in vigor, has led to the evening’s cancellation for safety reasons and public order. Moreover, the Ulema Advisory Council of Banda Aceh (MPU) has called on the Muslim community not to “celebrate” Christmas and New Year because “they are not Islamic holidays”.

Octowandi , general manager of the hotel, confirmed the suspension of the dances and the concert scheduled for the evening, despite the event being a showcase for local entertainers, according to organizers, so that they could take advantage of free publicity and gain a wider and international audience.

The decision came after a meeting with Islamic leaders, who have proclaimed themselves the “guardians of Sharia law in Aceh .” The hotel managers were forced to publish a written document confirming the cancellation of all the events planned for the evening, including music and dance. The hotel, however, can organize similar events in any one evening in 2014 , but not New Year’s Eve because it “does not come from the Islamic calendar , but comes from the Christian tradition”.

The fundamentalist movements also promise raids and punishment for those who organize parties or celebrations for the last night of the year. The governor of Aceh and the police chief have been placed in charge of enforcing Islamic norms , such as the ban on alcohol, the explosion of fireworks and other things that are not inherent to the Muslim culture

Indonesia is the most populous Muslim nation in the world. Increasingly however, it has become the scene of attacks or episodes of intolerance against minorities, whether they are Christians, Ahmadi Muslims or belong to other faiths.

Aceh is the only Indonesian province where Sharia (Islamic law) is enforced, following a peace agreement between the central government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM). Yet, in many other areas of the country, a more radical and extreme vision of Islam is spreading among ordinary Indonesians.

Certain rules such as the infamous building permit (Izin Mendirikan Bangunan or IMB in Indonesian) have been used to prevent the construction of Christian places of worship or stop construction already underway, as was the case for the Yasmin Church in West Java.

 

FBI investigates military-style attack on California power station: ‘You should have expected U.S.’

Another enormous story that the enemedia deigned to ignore. If it smells like jihad, the media goes into scrub-a-dub-dub mode.

And they ignored it fresh on the heels of the jihad attack on our streets in Boston just the day before. Astonishing. It's what I have been telling you: the media is the enemy.

FBI investigates military-style attack on California power station (thanks to Robert Spencer)

"Not amateurs taking potshots… this was a dress rehearsal" -- possibly for large-scale attacks on power stations. Although this was initially thought to be related to the Boston Marathon jihad bombing, no connection was established. This may not have been a jihad attack, but it may have been: jihadists have targeted power stations in the UK, so there is no indication that they wouldn't or couldn't do so in the US.

"FBI investigates military style attack on California power station," by Ryan Gorman for the Daily Mail, December 29 (thanks to Ab):

The FBI is investigating a ‘military-style’ attack on a California electric power facility earlier this year.

The April 16 attack saw as many as two gunmen storm the PG&E Metcalf substation after severing phone service and fire several dozen rounds at transformers.

Federal officials took over the investigation from local law enforcement on fears it was linked to the Boston marathon bombing only a day earlier, but those fears appear to have subsided.

At least one person, maybe two, went down multiple manholes at the facility in a San Jose suburb and cut fiber cables leading to the substation, according to Foreign Policy, which detailed the well-planned attack.

This knocked out 911 and landline service o the substation, as well as cell phone service to the surrounding area.

PG&E employees had no means to call for help when, at 1am, as many as two gunmen began their attack.

More than 100 rounds were fired from high-powered rifles at many transformers – 10 were damaged in one area and three transformer banks in another, a PG&E spokesperson told the site.

Cooling oil leaking from at least one transformer bank caused transformers to overheat and shut down. This led officials to warn locals to conserve energy, but no major power outages occurred.

No major damage or injuries were sustained either, but a stalled local investigation led the feds to take over the case.

‘Initially, the attack was being treated as vandalism and handled by local law enforcement,’ a senior intelligence official told Foreign Policy.

‘However, investigators have been quoted in the press expressing opinions that there are indications that the timing of the attacks and target selection indicate a higher level of planning and sophistication,’ the official explained.

The FBI was initially worried that the attack was somehow linked to the April 15 Boston Marathon bombing, but further investigation showed it to likely be an isolated local event, an agency spokesperson told Foreign Policy.

A PG&E official disagreed with that assertion, and told Foreign Policy the attack was ‘not amateurs taking potshots… this was a dress rehearsal.’

The agency is following a couple of leads, but has yet to name any suspects. No one has claimed responsibility.

The FBI is also investigating a series of attacks on the Arkansas power grid where multiple high-voltage transmission lines were severed and one substation was set on fire, according to the New York Times.

‘You should have expected U.S.’ was scribbled on a control panel at the torched substation.

There is no indication the attacks in Arkansas and California are related.

 

Pamela Geller, WND Column: Islamic jihad against Christians

And the churches busy themselves with this. Sick.

Islamic jihad against Christians
Exclusive: Pamela Geller reveals how Muslims have been celebrating Christmas

 With their typical mutual respect, devout Muslims have been celebrating Christmas the world over. Jihad bombers murdered 34 people as Christians were coming out of church on Christmas morning in Baghdad, and Muslims threatened and protested against Christmas celebrations all over the world. Two days after Christmas, Lebanon’s former ambassador to the U.S. and at least four other people were murdered in a car bombing in Beirut. That same day, jihadists killed 10 people with a bomb in a restaurant in Mogadishu and three soldiers with a homicide car bombing in Kabul.

Of course, we all know that it’s Islamophobia that’s the real problem – although I suspect that the victims might not agree. And meanwhile, on Christmas Muslims showed the respect and tolerance they demand from everyone else at a time when Christians are being mercilessly persecuted and slaughtered under Muslim rule across the world.

In Denmark, Muslims screaming “Allahu akbar” held a demonstration on Christmas Eve. They were not the only ones: It is not unusual for Muslims to denounce Christmas. In November 2011, the Lebanese Muslim cleric Abu Musaab Wajdi Akkari said:

You cannot say: “Merry Christmas.” Not even if an alien came and said it to you – you cannot even say it to him, and say: “He’s just an alien. I’m never going to see him again. He’s not going to tell anyone.” No “Merry Christmas” – not from a Muslim and not from a non-Muslim. It’s not part of our religion – period! It is the concept that God was born on the 25th of December. That’s as polytheistic and heretic as you can get. When you say: “Merry Christmas,” you are saying: “Congratulations on your false religion,’ ‘Congratulations on your false understanding of life.” You are congratulating them on the most evil of polytheism and heresy.

In Turkey, according to ANI, “a Turkish Muslim youth group has condemned Santa Claus for bringing booze, drugs and immorality to the society. The Anatolia Youth Association held a demonstration in Istanbul urging residents to turn against Santa for contributing to moral decay, degeneration of their culture and leading to identity crises in their society, CNN reports. The group used an inflatable plastic Santa as a prop, littering the ground below it with beer cans, a syringe and a cross to illustrate the dangers of inviting Santa into Turkish homes, the report added.” Posters appeared in Macedonia and Turkey of Muslims hitting Santa Claus.

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2013/12/islamic-jihad-against-christians/#djyibuGPKI5uSFvf.99

Read the rest here.

VIDEO: 2nd deadly jihad bombing hits Stalingrad (Volgograd) ahead of Olympics, another 10 killed

Jihad hit Russia again, again Stalingrad (Volgograd). The explosion occurred on a crowded bus just after 8am at the height of the morning rush, less than 24 hours after a female homicide bomber blew up the railway station in the same city.

President Vladimir V. Putin’s government has worked to protect the Olympics with some of the most extensive security measures ever imposed for the Games. But the bombings, in Volgograd, underscored the threat the country faces from a radical Islamic insurgency in the North Caucasus that has periodically spilled into the Russian heartland, with deadly results, including several recent attacks.

Security has become a paramount concern at all major international sporting events, especially in the wake of the bombing at the Boston Marathon in April, but never before has an Olympic host country experienced terrorist violence on this scale soon before the Games. And would-be attackers may have more targets in mind than the Russian state.

Current and former American law enforcement and intelligence officials said Sunday that they were more concerned about security in Russia during the Sochi Games than they have been about any other Olympics since Athens in 2004.

Russian officials attributed the explosion on Sunday to a bomb packed with shrapnel, possibly carried in a bag or backpack.

(NY Times) 

But it's islamophobia -- that's the real problem.

2nd deadly blast hits Russian city of Volgograd ahead of 2014 Sochi Olympics," By CNN, December 30, 2013 (thanks to Joseph)

Another deadly blast has struck the southern Russian city of Volgograd, killing at least 10 people and further highlighting Russia's security challenges as it readies to host the Winter Olympics in less than six weeks.

An explosion hit a trolleybus near a busy market during the morning rush hour Monday, taking place the day after a blast at Volgograd's main train station killed 17 people and wounded at least 35 others.

Like Sunday's attack, the blast Monday was a terrorist act, Vladmir Markin, a spokesman for the country's federal investigation agency, told the state-run news agency RIA Novosti.

No one claimed responsibility for the explosions. But they come several months after the leader of a Chechen separatist group pledged violence to disrupt the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.

2 blasts in 2 days

More deadly bombings in Russia

Suicide bomber kills 16 at Russian train station

Police: Suicide bomber triggered blast

Report: Female bomber behind blast

Video footage from the scene Monday showed the twisted shell of the blue trolleybus, with debris spread around it. The impact of the blast blew out the roof of the bus, as well as windows of several nearby houses. At least 15 people were reported to be wounded.

Based on the footage, the blast appeared to have occurred in the back half of the bus. It was most likely caused by an explosive left inside the vehicle, Russia's National Anti-Terrorism Committee told RIA Novosti.

Investigators said the train station blast Sunday appeared to have been caused by a suicide bomber, who may have been female.

Markin told Ria Novosti that DNA testing will be carried out on the remains of the bomber, who used the equivalent of 10 kilograms of TNT in a device containing shrapnel. Investigators say they also found an unexploded grenade at the scene.

Video taken from an outside security camera shows a huge fireball inside what appears to be the main entrance of the three-story stone building followed by a steady trail of smoke coming out shattered windows.

The approaching Olympics

The deadly explosions come ahead of the Winter Olympics in Sochi, which is situated less than 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) southwest of Volgograd. The Games will take place between February 7 and 24.

Once called Stalingrad, Volgograd is a major rail hub in the region, and each day thousands of passengers pass through the station, many on their way to Moscow.

In October, a bomber blew up a passenger bus in Volgograd, killing six people and wounding more than 30 others. Russian media reported that a female Islamist suicide bomber from the Russian region of Dagestan was responsible for that attack.

Russia's security challenge

Russian President Vladimir Putin has maintained that the Sochi games will be safe and security will be tight.

Visitors to Sochi and the surrounding area are subjected to rigorous security checks, and vehicle license plates are monitored.

But the deadly blasts in Volgograd highlight the challenge Russian authorities face in policing the rest of the country amid ongoing unrest in the North Caucasus. That region includes Chechnya, where Russia fought two wars against separatist movements, and Dagestan.

Volgograd is a hub for people traveling to Sochi from Moscow and other parts of central Russia. It also has key transportation links with the North Caucasus.

Umarov's threat

In July, Doku Umarov, the leader of the Chechen group Caucasus Emirate, released a video statement in which he vowed to unleash "maximum force" to disrupt the games at Sochi.

The U.S. State Department considers the Caucasus Emirate a foreign terrorist group and has authorized a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to the location of Umarov.

The State Department said Umarov organized a suicide bombing outside the Chechen Interior Ministry in May 2009.

His group also claimed responsibility for the 2011 bombing of Domodedovo Airport in Moscow that killed 36 people, the 2010 bombings of the Moscow subway that killed 40 and the 2009 bombing of the high-speed Nevsky Express train in which 28 people died.

NY Times Tall Tales: A deadly dishonest mixed-up narrative on Benghazi

 

Perhaps the NY Times is desperate to stave off impeachment hearings on Obama's treasonous perfidy in Libya on September 11, 2012: A Deadly Mix in Benghazi -- The New York Times

Perhaps the New York Times is trying to shore up the imploding Democrat party by deconstructing the truth on their greatest most lethal failure, Benghazi.

The New York Times published their "investigation" into the Sept. 11th Benghazi attacks on our Ambassador, US attaches and consulate. It is "filled with misleading information, including details contradicted by the U.S. government, Benghazi victims and numerous other previous news reports."

One of the main contentions of the Times piece is that “contrary to claims by some members of Congress,” the Benghazi attack “was fueled in large part by anger at an American-made video denigrating Islam.” (more here)

The U.S. government knew about al-Qaeda's "pep rally for jihad" in Benghazi that included calls for the murder of American diplomats -- just months before terror attack.

 The terrorists who attacked the Benghazi consulate last year knew the location of the safe room where Ambassador Chris Stevens and his security team sought shelter, according to a congressman who spoke for 90 minutes with the diplomatic security agent severely injured in the assault.

"He confirmed this - that it was a very well orchestrated, and well organized, almost a military operation, using military weapons and using military signals," the late Florida Rep. Bill Young said after meeting diplomatic security agent David Ubben at Walter Reed Medical Center last summer, when both were patients there. (more here)

The State Department was told that Benghazi was a "terrorist attack" minutes after it began.

House Intelligence Committee members took to "Fox News Sunday" to question an extensive New York Times report on the 2012 attack that killed four Americans in Benghazi, Libya, saying the newspaper was wrong to suggest al-Qaeda had no involvement.

Huff Post: "What did they get wrong?" host Chris Wallace asked Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.), chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

"That al-Qaeda was not involved in this," Rogers replied. "There was some level of pre-planning; we know that. There was aspiration to conduct an attack by al-Qaeda and their affiliates in Libya; we know that. The individuals on the ground talked about a planned tactical movement on the compound -- this is the compound before they went to the annex. All of that would directly contradict what The New York Times definitively says was an exhaustive investigation."

Rogers said that his committee has also done an "exhaustive investigation" into what happened in Benghazi, including going through 4,000 classified cables, and that the committee's findings were very different from those of the Times.

"It tells me they didn't talk to the people on the ground who were doing the fighting and shooting and the intelligence gathering," Rogers said. "When you put that volume of information, I think it proves that story is just not accurate."

Wallace also asked Rogers whether he thought there was a political motive for the White House's statements on Benghazi, pointing to speculation that the aim was to "clear the deck" for a presidential run in 2016 by Hillary Clinton, who was secretary of state at the time of the attack.

"I find the timing odd," Rogers said. "I don't want to speculate on why they might do it, but I can tell you that the information that's being presented in a way that we heard before ... through the [committee] investigation [we] have been able to determine [it] is not accurate in its portrayal."

Links of relevance include: (thanks to P Poole):

Hearing Revelations by Deputy Chief of Mission: "The YouTube Video Was a Non-Event in Libya" here

Congress, in bipartisan tone, disputes the New York Times report that Al-Qaeda was not involved in deadly Benghazi attack here

More evidence linking al Qaeda to Benghazi attack

The New York Times report contradicts its own reporting on the attack and ignores critical countervailing evidence here

The Benghazi youtube fiction was debunked by AP a year ago here

GOP congressman blasts NY Times Benghazi claims as ‘misleading’ FOX News, December 29, 2013

A top congressional Republican is saying a new report that concludes Al Qaeda did not carry out the 2012 attack on the U.S diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, is “misleading.”

The new report published Saturday in the New York Times concludes that there was no evidence that Al Qaeda or other international terrorist groups had any role in the assault that killed four Americans on September 11, 2012, and that it appeared that the attack was fueled in large part by anger at an American-made anti-Islamic video, as the Obama administration first claimed.

New York Rep. Peter King, member and former chairman of the House’s Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, told Fox News the argument that the most overtly anti-Western militia, Ansar al-Shariah – not Al Qaeda – led the attack is an academic argument over semantics, considering Ansar al-Shariah is widely believed to be an affiliate terror group of Al Qaeda.

“It’s misleading,” King said. “It’s a distinction without a difference.”

The claims by the New York Times also conflicts with other evidence, including the testimony of Greg Hicks, the deputy of Ambassador Christopher Stevens who was killed in the attack. Hicks described the video as "a non-event in Libya" at that time, and consequently not a significant trigger for the attack

It would also contradict a separate report by a leading social media firm that found that the first reference to the anti-Islam film that was initially blamed for sparking the attack was not detected on social media until a day later.

 

Kill and Cry, Kill some more, Cry some more

Kill and cry. That is Islamic strategy boiled down to its essential oils.

First, they murder and then whine about islamophobia. Slaughter, then school us on racist-islamophobic-anti-muslim-bigoty.

Consider if Christian groups around the world started beheading people while screaming things like "In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit." What would that say about Christianity?
 
What does it say about Islam? Jihadists play soccer with severed heads.
 
And yet.......the tools at The Guardian cut and pastes this propaganda from jihadist websites and runs it as news: UK anti-Muslim hate crime soars: (thanks to Inexion)

Forces report a surge in the number of reported incidents after the murder of soldier Lee Rigby by Islamic extremists in May

UK Muslim group that fabricated evidence of "wave of attacks on Muslims" in wake of London jihad murder still claiming sharp rise in "Islamophobia" (thanks to Robert Spencer)

Fiyaz Mujhal

Andrew Gilligan reported in the Telegraph last June 9 that Tell Mama was not going to "have its government grant renewed after police and civil servants raised concerns about its methods." What was wrong with its methods? It had "claimed that there had been a 'sustained wave of attacks and intimidation' against British Muslims after the killing of Drummer Lee Rigby." But Tell Mama and Fiyaz Mujhal (spelled "Mughal" in Gilligan's report and elsewhere) "did not mention, however, that 57 per cent of the 212 reports referred to activity that took place only online, mainly offensive postings on Twitter and Facebook, or that a further 16 per cent of the 212 reports had not been verified. Not all the online abuse even originated in Britain. Contrary to the group’s claim of a 'cycle of violence' and a 'sustained wave of attacks', only 17 of the 212 incidents, 8 per cent, involved the physical targeting of people and there were no attacks on anyone serious enough to require medical treatment."'

No attack on any innocent person is justified. Tell Mama is clearly not interested in defending innocent people, but in inflating the numbers of attacks on innocent Muslims, so as to create and perpetuate the false and tendentious claim that resisting jihad terror and Islamic supremacism somehow endangers innocent people. Tell Mama and Faith Matters showed this clearly when they demanded that the UK Home Office ban Pamela Geller and me from entering the country; the Home Office should have recognized the dishonesty at the heart of their effort in light of their manipulation of the "Islamophobia" figures. And now we learn that even though this group has been discredited, the Association of Chief Police Officers is still working with it. Insane Britannia indeed.

"UK Islamophobic Attacks Surge in 2013," from OnIslam, December 27:

LONDON – Hundreds of anti-Muslim hate offences have been carried out across the country in 2013, with Britain's biggest force, the Metropolitan police, recording an increase of 49% than last year.

"The far right groups, particularly the EDL (English Defence League) perniciously use the internet and social media to promote vast amounts of online hate," Fiyaz Mujhal, director of Faith Matters, which runs the Tell Mama project, told Press Association on Friday, December 27.

According to Mujhal, reaction to the murder of Fusilier Rigby had caused the number of Islamophobic crimes to "significantly jump".

Reports released on Friday found that the Metropolitan Police recorded 500 Islamophobic offences from January to mid-November this year, compared with 336 offences in 2012 and 318 in 2011....

Mujhal asserted that tougher sentences were needed to tackle Islamophobic crime, noting that the guidelines by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to monitor social media were "not fit for purpose".

"They raised the bar of prosecution significantly.

"Now unless there is a direct threat to somebody on Twitter or Facebook, the CPS will not prosecute. The CPS is just plainly out of sync with reality.

"We also need more robust sentencing. In one case, a pig's head was left outside a mosque and the perpetrator came away with a community sentence.

"When you target a mosque, you are targeting the whole community."...

The Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) has previously said 71 incidents were reported to its national community tension team (NCTT) over five days after Fusilier Rigby was murdered on May 22.

“The police service is committed to reducing the harm caused by hate crime and it is vital that we encourage more victims who suffer crimes to report them to the police or through third party reporting facilities such as Tell Mama,” Superintendent Paul Giannasi, Acpo’s spokesman on hate crime, said.

 
Meanwhile.........Syria's Graphic Beheading Videos (Front Page Magazine)

Based on a widely circulated video and statements from the Vatican, it was believed that Fr. Francois Murad, a Catholic Syrian priest, was recently beheaded in Syria. It was not long before others "vigorously denied" the story, saying that the Christian priest was actually shot dead. And now that's fast become the "big" news. For example, according to the Telegraph, "The footage, said to show Father Francois Murad, 49, as the victim in a brutal summary execution by foreign jihadists is likely to be an older video that bares no relation to the death of the Catholic priest. Father Murad 'died when he was shot inside his church' in the northern Syrian Christian village of Ghassaniyeh on June 23, three separate local sources, who did not wish to be named, told the Telegraph."
 
So apparently that makes it better? That seems to be the Telegraph's take, for it continues: "Claims that Father Murad was one of two men to be decapitated by a foreign jihadist group went viral, with outrage expressed in blogs and articles worldwide."
 
So now that he wasn't beheaded, only shot dead inside his church, there's no longer any call for "outrage"?
 
At any rate, welcome to the "distraction" tactic being exploited by the many elements trying to minimize the atrocities being committed by the jihadis—also known as the "Free Syrian Army" (FSA)—in Syria. Supporters of these jihadis exploit the fact that, in a time of war, as currently in Syria, news is not always reliable. They also claim that any news that portrays the Syrian government as the "good guys"—such as nonstop videos of the FSA committing atrocities—is just pro-Assad propaganda, that cannot be trusted (they never seem to see the flipside to this logic, that Western media can be disseminating false anti-Assad propaganda).
 
Thus, let's not focus too much on the exact particulars—for indeed, exact information is not always clear—and rather acknowledge the big picture: namely that beheadings have become very common in Syria, even if we don't always know the identities of those beheaded. But we do know who are doing the beheadings: al-Qaeda linked jihadis who are trying to transform Syria into a Sharia-ruling emirate.
 
Consider the video which some are now saying was not Fr. Murad—who was only shot (whew!) Whoever the men being beheaded are, what you are witnessing is the true face of the Syria "rebellion"—jihadis, most of them obviously foreigners. The ring leader appears perhaps Chechnyan, and can hardly speak proper Arabic (but one of the few phrases that he utters that is understandable is "we are enforcing the rules of Allah"). The bound men are then beheaded to wild cries of "Allahu Akbar!"
 
To appreciate the frequency of such beheadings, do a quick YouTube search with words like "Syria" and "beheadings," and you will see any number of graphic videos of Syrians being beheaded by U.S.-backed jihadis. These are the videos that have still not been identified and removed by YouTube, but which likely soon will. Before them, there were many others that are now gone.
Among some of the ones currently up, are:

A video of reportedly a Syrian policeman, having his head sliced off, to screams of Allahu Akbar; his head is then picked up and chucked to the ground.
A video of reportedly a Muslim apostate to Christianity, either in Tunisia or Syria, also having his head sheared off to screams of Allahu Akbar.
A video of a child, prodded by the Free Syrian Army, cutting the heads off of Syrian men for apparently being loyal to the Assad government.
A video of the FSA making another child hack a man's head off—again, to cries of Allahu Akbar.
A video of the FSA tormenting and humiliating an obviously mentally-handicapped man, torturing another man, and at the very end beheading a third man—to cries of Allahu Akbar.

While strictly not a beheading video, let's also not forget the video of an FSA fighter cutting out and biting into the heart of a dead soldier—the same video Russian president Putin rightly shamed the pr0-FSA West with. Before biting into the organs of his foe, the cannibalistic jihadi declares, "I swear to Allah, soldiers of Bashar, you dogs—we will eat your heart and livers! Allahu Akbar!"
 
So what's to be learned by all this savage carnage, beheadings, cannibalism and what not? Those who wish to distract will insist that we cannot be sure of all the facts and circumstances—the identity of the executioners, the identity of the victims, the exact context, etc. They will nitpick and lose sight of the big picture. Hence the debate on whether Fr. Murad was beheaded or shot (incidentally, here's a video of a man executed by jihadis in Syria by gunfire—again, to screams of "Allahu Akbar"; it's not a whole lot better than the beheadings).
 
Even so, there is one thing we can be absolutely sure about—and it's perhaps the most significant and existentialist point of these barbaric beheadings: they are all done in the name of the god of Islam; they are all accompanied by cries of distinctly Islamic slogans, most prominently, Allahu Akbar.
This speaks volumes, or at least it should. Even Muslims raping Coptic Christian girls, as in this video, shout this most distinctive of Islamic cries, first uttered by Islam's prophet himself when attacking non-Muslims.
 
To understand the significance of all this, consider if Christian groups around the world started beheading people while screaming things like "In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit." What would that say about Christianity?
What does it say about Islam?
 
Hence the true lesson of Syria's beheading videos.

Egypt: Muslim Brotherhood Students Torch University Buildings

While the Egyptian government has designated the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist group (they have been banned there for decades), Obama is supporting these savages both there and here in America, going so far as to appoint them to key positions in his administration.

Burning university buildings..... hey, it's what they do.

"Islamist students torch Cairo buildings," News 24, December 28, 2013

Cairo - Student supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood on Saturday stormed a faculty building at Cairo's Al-Azhar University where exams were being taken and set it on fire, security officials say.

The blaze, which spread through two floors of the commerce faculty building, was later brought under control by firefighters, they said.

A student activist said a supporter of the Brotherhood, designated this week as a terrorist organisation by the state, had been killed, although a security source denied this.

State-run newspaper Al-Ahram said the clashes began when security forces fired teargas to disperse pro-Brotherhood students who were preventing their classmates from entering university buildings to take exams. Protesters threw rocks at police and set tyres on fire to counter the teargas.

State TV broadcast footage of black smoke billowing from the faculty of commerce building and said "terrorist students" had set the agriculture faculty building on fire as well.

Al-Azhar, a respected centre of Sunni Islamic learning, has for months been the scene of protests against what the Brotherhood calls a "military coup" that deposed Islamist Mohammed Morsi as president after a year in office.

Shaimaa Mounir, a member of the pro-Brotherhood "Students Against the Coup" movement, said that Khaled El-Haddad died of a wound, though it was not clear whether he had been hit by birdshot or another kind of ammunition.

It was not immediately possible to confirm the student's account, and a security source denied there had been any deaths.

The violence followed a day of clashes across the country that left five people dead.

Supporters of the Brotherhood took to the streets on Friday after the government designated the Islamist group a terrorist organisation - a move that increases the penalties for dissent against the government installed after the army ousted Morsi in July following mass protests against his rule.

The widening crackdown against the movement that was elected into power after the toppling of veteran leader Hosni Mubarak in 2011 has increased tension in a country suffering the worst internal strife of its modern history following Morsi's ousting.

Constitution vote

The army-backed government appears bent on clamping down on dissent ahead of a referendum next month on a new constitution, a step that will pave the way for parliamentary and presidential elections.

Thousands of Brotherhood members have been arrested. More than 250 Brotherhood supporters were arrested on Friday alone using the new classification.

Human Rights Watch said on Saturday that the government's designation of the Brotherhood as a terrorist group was "politically driven" and intended to end all of the movement's activities.

"By rushing to point the finger at the Brotherhood without investigations or evidence, the government seems motivated solely by its desire to crush a major opposition movement." said Sarah Leah Whitson of the New York-based rights group.

A conservative estimate puts the overall death toll since Morsi's fall at well over 1 500. Most of those killed were Morsi supporters, including hundreds gunned down when the security forces cleared a protest vigil outside a Cairo mosque.

At least 350 members of the security forces have also been killed in bombings and shootings since Morsi's downfall. The state has declared them martyrs of a war on terrorism.

An adviser to interim president Adli Mansour said in comments published on Saturday that he believed Egypt would not return to a state of emergency even if the violence continued.

Authorities lifted the state of emergency in November, three months after the army enforced the measures amid the bloody turmoil that followed its overthrow of Morsi.

Mustafa Hijazi told London-based Asharq al-Awsat newspaper that the designation of the Brotherhood as a terrorist group was not political. "Instead, it is the use and application of existing laws," he was quoted as saying.

Under the anti-terrorism law dating back to the presidency of Mubarak, those convicted can be jailed for life. Authorities said this week that the movement's leaders could face the death sentence.