Obama to Egyptian Christians: Don’t Protest the Brotherhood

June 25, 2013 By Raymond Ibrahim

As Egyptians of all factions prepare to demonstrate in mass against the Muslim Brotherhood and President Morsi’s rule on June 30, the latter has been trying to reduce their numbers, which some predict will be in the millions and eclipse the Tahrir protests that earlier ousted Mubarak. Among other influential Egyptians, Morsi recently called on Coptic Christian Pope Tawadros II to urge his flock, Egypt’s millions of Christians, not to join the June 30 protests.

While that may be expected, more troubling is that the U.S. ambassador to Egypt is also trying to prevent Egyptians from protesting—including the Copts. The June 18th edition of Sadi al-Balad reports that lawyer Ramses Naggar, the Coptic Church’s legal counsel, said that during Patterson’s June 17 meeting with Pope Tawadros, she “asked him to urge the Copts not to participate” in the demonstrations against Morsi and the Brotherhood.

The Pope politely informed her that his spiritual authority over the Copts does not extend to political matters.

Regardless, many Egyptian activists are condemning Patterson for flagrantly behaving like the Muslim Brotherhood’s stooge. Leading opposition activist Shady el-Ghazali Harb said Patterson showed “blatant bias” in favor of Morsi and the Brotherhood, adding that her remarks had earned the U.S. administration “the enmity of the Egyptian people.” Coptic activists like George Ishaq openly told Patterson to “shut up and mind your own business.” And Christian business tycoon Naguib Sawiris—no stranger to Islamist hostility—posted a message on his Twitter account addressed to the ambassador saying “Bless us with your silence.”

Indeed, the U.S. ambassador’s position as the Brotherhood’s lackey is disturbing—and revealing—on several levels. First, all throughout the Middle East, the U.S. has been supporting anyone and everyone opposing their leaders—in Libya against Gaddafi, in Egypt itself against 30-year U.S. ally Mubarak, and now in Syria against Assad. In all these cases, the U.S. has presented its support in the name of the human rights and freedoms of the people against dictatorial leaders.

So why is the Obama administration now asking Christians not to oppose their rulers—in this case, Islamists—who have daily proven themselves corrupt and worse, to the point that millions of Egyptians, most of them Muslims, are trying to oust them?

What’s worse is that the human rights abuses Egypt’s Coptic Christians have been suffering under Muslim Brotherhood rule are significantly worse than the human rights abuses that the average Egyptian suffered under Mubarak—making the Copts’ right to protest even more legitimate, and, if anything, more worthy of U.S support.

Among other things, under Morsi’s rule, the persecution of Copts has practically been legalized, as unprecedented numbers of Christians—men, women, and children—have been arrested, often receiving more than double the maximum prison sentence, under the accusation that they “blasphemed” Islam and/or its prophet . It was also under Morsi’s reign that another unprecedented scandal occurred: the St. Mark Cathedral—holiest site of Coptic Christianity and headquarters to the Pope Tawadros himself—was besieged in broad daylight by Islamic rioters. When security came, they too joined in the attack on the cathedral. And the targeting of Christian children —for abduction, ransom, rape, and/or forced conversion—has also reached unprecedented levels under Morsi. (For more on the plight of the Copts under Morsi’s rule, see my new book Crucified Again: Exposing Islam’s New War on Christians .)

Yet despite the fact that if anyone in Egypt has a legitimate human rights concern against the current Egyptian government, it most certainly is the Christian Copts, here is the U.S., in the person of Ms. Patterson, asking them not to join the planned protests.

In other words, and consistent with Obama administration’s doctrine, when Islamists—including rapists and cannibals—wage jihad on secular leaders, the U.S. supports them; when Christians protest Islamist rulers who are making their lives a living hell, the administration asks them to “know their place” and behave like dhimmis, Islam’s appellation for non-Muslim “infidels” who must live as third class “citizens” and never complain about their inferior status.

Posted on 25 Jun 13 by FrontPage Mag

[Editor’s Note: This does not necessarily entail the beliefs, thoughts, or theories of the local Act chapters or the National Act office…they are my beliefs, thoughts and/or theories. Once again, President Sheikh Barack Hussein Obama is trying to become an icon as the Mehdi…by trying now to make sure the Egyptian Coptic Christians stay out the protests against the Muslim Brotherhood’s dictatorship/Shari’a Law push that the Egyptians do not want. Looks like he is doing it because he cares for them and doesn’t want violence against them, but in reality, it is something his Muslim Brotherhood handlers are telling him to do, so they would think he means well and would honor his request…but we know better than that, don’t we?

After all, his Muslim upbringing tells him that death to all non-Muslims…proof…the MB told him to basically get in Egypt into violent riots when they wanted Mubarak out, and he didn’t try to stop anyone from protesting…he doesn’t try to stop the Islamic groups from their daily killing of the Coptic Christians…but now, when there is going to be a huge protest against the MB, Sheikh Obama steps in and now wants there to be peace with the Coptics and the Muslims…you do the math.

But Sheikh Obama will have to realize, he cannot and will not be chosen from the MB to be the Mehdi because he is not a warrior, he is a coward. He relies on warriors, and the Mehdi, or the anti-Christ as Christians know the Mehdi as, is a devout warrior, so sorry Sheikh Obama, the best you can do in Islamic prophecy fulfillment is being the Son of the West.]

Jihad in Boston: Muslim suspect held as 2 dead, 50 injured in Boston Marathon bombings

Jihad in Boston. “Authorities ID suspect as Saudi national in marathon bombings, under guard at Boston hospital,” from the New York Post, April 15:

Investigators have a suspect — a Saudi Arabian national — in the horrific Boston Marathon bombings, The Post has learned.

Law enforcement sources said the 20-year-old suspect was under guard at an undisclosed Boston hospital.

It was not immediately clear why the man was hospitalized and whether he was injured in the attack or in his apprehension.

The man was caught less than two hours after the 2:50 p.m. bombing on the finish line of the race, in the heart of Boston.

12 DEAD, 50 INJURED AFTER 2 EXPLOSIONS ROCK BOSTON MARATHON

NY AUTHORITIES RAMP UP SECURITY AFTER BOSTON EXPLOSIONS

PHOTOS: EXPLOSIONS ROCK BOSTON MARATHON

In addition, Boston police have has surveillance video of someone bringing multiple backpacks to blast site, according to CBS News.

Police also confirmed that there was a third explosion, at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. It was not immediately clear how much damage was done or whether it was related to the bombings at the marathon finish line.

The library bombing occurred about 4:30 p.m. and more than a mile from the marathon.

A law enforcement source confirmed to The Post that 2 people were killed and nearly 50 were injured in today’s blast.

UPDATE: CBS and other sources say that police deny that they have a suspect in custody, but CBS also says that they’re questioning possibly someone linked to the attack. The situation is unclear at this point, but despite the chorus of denials and numerous Leftists and Islamic supremacists crowing on Twitter, the New York Post story about the “Saudi national” has not been changed or taken down. I will keep you posted.

Posted on 15 Apr 13 by Jihad Watch

New York Times Reports on Increase in Sexual Assaults in Brotherhood-Led Egypt

Here’s the discussion over the past couple of years:

WESTERN LEADERS: “Hey! If we help Islamist organizations in the Middle East, we can topple secular dictators and bring about a renaissance in Muslim leadership!”

PEOPLE WHO’VE STUDIED ISLAM: “That’s not going to work. If the Muslim Brotherhood takes over, women and religious minorities will be severely oppressed.”

WESTERN LEADERS: “How racist and Islamophobic of you to say that! You don’t understand the wonderful nature of Islam!”

(Later)

WOMEN AND RELIGIOUS MINORITIES: “Help! Help! We’re being severely oppressed by the Muslim Brotherhood!”

WESTERN LEADERS: “Sorry, can’t help you. Who are we to interfere in the affairs of Muslims? It would be racist and Islamophobic to object to your oppression.”

PEOPLE WHO’VE STUDIED ISLAM: “We tried to tell you.”

You know the problem has gotten bad when even the New York Times is forced to say something about it.

CAIRO — The sheer number of women sexually abused and gang raped in a single public square had become too big to ignore. Conservative Islamists in Egypt’s new political elite were outraged — at the women.

“Sometimes,” said Adel Abdel Maqsoud Afifi, a police general, lawmaker and ultraconservative Islamist, “a girl contributes 100 percent to her own raping when she puts herself in these conditions.” The increase in sexual assaults over the last two years has set off a new battle over who is to blame, and the debate has become a stark and painful illustration of the convulsions racking Egypt as it tries to reinvent itself.

Under President Hosni Mubarak, the omnipresent police kept sexual assault out of the public squares and the public eye. But since Mr. Mubarak’s exit in 2011, the withdrawal of the security forces has allowed sexual assault to explode into the open, terrorizing Egyptian women.

Women, though, have also taken advantage of another aspect of the breakdown in authority — by speaking out through the newly aggressive news media, defying social taboos to demand attention for a problem the old government often denied. At the same time, some Islamist elected officials have used their new positions to vent some of the most patriarchal impulses in Egypt’s traditional culture and a deep hostility to women’s participation in politics.

The female victims, these officials declared, had invited the attacks by participating in public protests. “How do they ask the Ministry of Interior to protect a woman when she stands among men?” Reda Saleh Al al-Hefnawi, a lawmaker from the Muslim Brotherhood’s political party, asked at a parliamentary meeting on the issue.

The revolution initially promised to reopen public space to women. Men and women demonstrated together in Tahrir Square peacefully during the heady 18 days and nights that led to the ouster of Mr. Mubarak. But within minutes of his departure the threat re-emerged in a group attack on the CBS News correspondent Lara Logan. There are no official statistics on women attacked — partly because few women report offenses — but all acknowledge that the attacks have grown bolder and more violent.

By the second anniversary of the revolution, on Jan. 25, the symbolic core of the revolution — Tahrir Square — had become a no-go zone for women, especially after dark.

During a demonstration that day against the new Islamist-led government, an extraordinary wave of sexual assaults — at least 18 confirmed by human rights groups, and more, according to Egypt’s semiofficial National Council of Women — shocked the country, drawing public attention from President Mohamed Morsi and Western diplomats.

Hania Moheeb, 42, a journalist, was one of the first victims to speak out about her experience that day. In a television interview, she recounted how a group of men had surrounded her, stripped off her clothes and violated her for three quarters of an hour. The men all shouted that they were trying to rescue her, Ms. Moheeb recalled, and by the time an ambulance arrived she could no longer differentiate her assailants from defenders.

To alleviate the social stigma usually attached to sexual assault victims in Egypt’s conservative culture, her husband, Dr. Sherif Al Kerdani, appeared alongside her.

“My wife did nothing wrong,” Dr. Kerdani said.

In the 18 confirmed attacks that day, six women were hospitalized, according to interviews conducted by human rights groups. One woman was stabbed in her genitals, and another required a hysterectomy. (Continue Reading.)

 

Posted 27 Mar 13 by Answering Muslims

Egyptian mosque turned into house of torture for Christians after protesting Muslim Brotherhood

Muslim Brotherhood hard-liners stormed a mosque in suburban Cairo, turning it into torture chamber for Christians who had been demonstrating against the ruling Muslim Brotherhood in the latest case of violent persecution that experts fear will only get worse.

 FOX News Such stories have become increasingly common as tensions between Egypt’s Muslims and Copts mount, but in the latest case, mosque officials corroborated much of the account and even filed a police report. Demonstrators, some of whom were Muslim, say they were taken from the Muslim Brotherhood headquarters in suburban Cairo to a nearby mosque on Friday and tortured for hours by hard-line militia members.

Amir Ayad lies in a hospital bed after he was beaten by Islamic hardliners who stormed a mosque in suburban Cairo.

“They accompanied me to one of the mosques in the area and I discovered the mosque was being used to imprison demonstrators and torture them,” Amir Ayad, a Coptic who has been a vocal protester against the regime, told MidEast Christian News from a hospital bed.

Ayad said he was beaten for hours with sticks before being left for dead on a roadside. Amir’s brother, Ezzat Ayad, said he received an anonymous phone call at 3 a.m. Saturday, with the caller saying his brother had been found near death and had been taken to the ambulance.

“He underwent radiation treatment that proved that he suffered a fracture in the bottom of his skull, a fracture in his left arm, a bleeding in the right eye, and birdshot injuries,” Ezzat Ayad said.

Officials at the Bilal ibn Rabah Mosque said radical militias stormed the building, in the Cairo suburb of Moqattam, after Friday prayers. “[We] deeply regret what has happened and apologize to the people of Moqattam,” mosque officials said in a statement, adding that “they had lost control over the mosque at the time.” The statement also “denounced and condemned the violence and involving mosques in political conflicts.”

The latest crackdown is further confirmation that the Muslim Brotherhood’s most hard-line elements are consolidating control in Egypt, according to Shaul Gabbay, a professor of international studies at the University of Denver.

“It will only get worse,” said Gabbay. “This has been a longstanding conflict, but now that the Muslim Brotherhood is in power, it is moving forward to implement its ideology – which is that Christians are supposed to become Muslims. “There is no longer anything to hold them back,” he continued. “The floodgates are open.”

Gabbay said the violent militias that allegedly tortured Ayad work hand-in-hand with police and may, in fact, be beyond the control of increasingly unpopular President Mohammed Morsi. While he may benefit from roving bands that attack demonstrators, they also undermine his claim of being a legitimate leader.

“Egyptian society is split over the Morsi regime, and it is not just a Coptic-Muslim split,” Gabbay said. “The less conservative elements of the Muslim society are increasingly uneasy with the Muslim Brotherhood. The Christian Copts are an easy target, but they are not alone in their mistrust of the Brotherhood.”

Experts agreed that the Copts, who comprise roughly 10 percent of the nation’s 83 million people, are not alone in their opposition to the Muslim Brotherhood, which took power in hotly contested elections following the 2011 ouster of longtime President Hosni Mubarak. Moderate Muslims and secular liberals are increasingly uncomfortable with the Islamization of the government.  

Sheikh Ahmed Saber, a well-known imam and official in Egypt’s Ministry of Endowments, has blasted Morsi’s justice ministry for allowing persecution of Copts. “All Egyptians in general are oppressed, but Christians are particularly oppressed, because they suffer double of what others suffer,” Saber told MCN.

 

Posted 27 Mar 13 by BNI

“Iran-brotherhood Ties: Rooted In History With Eye On Future”

The National, a UAE-based newspaper, has posted an article titled ”Iran-Brotherhood ties: rooted in history with eye on the future” which reviews the history of and prospects for the relationship between Iran and the Global Muslim Brotherhood. The article begins:

A salient feature of Iran’s foreign policy is its ability to build influence where least expected. With the ascent to power of Sunni Islamists throughout the region, and Iran’s support of the military campaign in Syria, many have argued that Iran’s regional standing is in decline.  But the opposite assessment needs to be taken seriously. Iran has been upbeat about the popular revolts, dubbing them an ‘Islamic Awakening’ and confident it can build strong ties with the people of the region after the demise of dictatorial rule in the Arab republics. That prospect is particularly true with the Muslim Brotherhood and its offshoots throughout the region – including even those that currently perceive Iran as an enemy, such as the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood. A closer look at the historical links and ideological similarities between Tehran’s mullahs and Arab Islamists shows that not only could Iran build ties with the emerging political forces in the region, but that it could develop a sustainable special relationship. One of the first encounters between the Muslim Brotherhood and Iranian figures who later helped to bring about Iran’s current regime was in Cairo, in 1954. Sayyid Navvab Safavi, an Iranian leader of the anti-Shah Fadayan-e Islam, met with senior Brotherhood members to bolster ties. Salim Al Bahnsawi, a Brotherhood intellectual who died in 2006, said of the meeting: ‘It’s not surprising that the similarities in approach between the two groups led to this cooperation’. And Rashid Ghannouchi, leader of the Ennahda Movement in Tunisia, has even described Fadayan-e Islam as an offshoot of the Brotherhood.”

Read the rest here.

A post from August reported that Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi was scheduled to attend the meeting of the Nonaligned Movement to beheld in Tehran at the end of the month. A post from June reported that President Morsi denied that he gave an interview to an Iranian news agency in which he was supposed to have said that Egypt would seek closer relations with Iran.  Whether or not the interview is authentic, there are reasons to believe that Egypt under a Muslim Brotherhood government will seek closer ties to Iran. In a 2009 piece titled “Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood and Iran, Rapprochement between Sunnis and Shiites?”, Washington Institute for Near East Policy scholar Mehdi Khalaji looked at the relationship between the Egyptian government, the Muslim Brotherhood and Iran. According to the report:

During a February trip to Iran, Hamas leader Khaled Mashal praised Iranian leaders for their support during the conflict in the Gaza Strip, a further indication of the strengthening ties between the Sunni Islamist group, which the United States has designated as a terrorist organization, and the Shiite regime in Tehran. Mashal’s statements come on the heels of the U.S. Treasury Department’s terrorist designations of al-Qaeda leaders and operatives sheltered in Iran. These latest examples of Sunni-Shiite cooperation raise new questions about whether Iran can improve its relationship with Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood. While such a rapprochement appears unlikely, history suggests it is far from impossible. Iran has maintained informal ties to the Muslim Brotherhood for many years, and Shiite Islam probably has more appeal among Egyptian Sunnis than it does among Sunnis in other Arab countries. Iran’s sharp criticism of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak is also likely to resonate with Egyptian radicals under the thumb of the regime in Cairo. If Iran were to develop close relations with the Brotherhood, Iranian influence would grow considerably in the Arab world, giving Tehran a significant say among Arab radicals and, undoubtedly, producing dangerous developments for U.S. interests in the region.

A previous post had also looked at the possibility of a closer relationship between the Egyptian Brotherhood and Iran.

Al Qaeda Publishes Jihadi Guidebook; NBC’s Mike Brunker Sees it as “Positive”

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula recently published its latest edition of “Inspire” online magazine. Included in this edition is a kind of Guidebook for Jihadis. It’s called the “Lone Mujahid Pocketbook,” and it contains instructions for “lone wolf” actors in the US as to how they might create chaos through acts of sabotage and violence.

Among other things, it offers detailed instructions for torching parked cars, causing vehicular accidents by pouring motor oil on highway curves, starting forest fires, “making a bomb in the kitchen of your Mom” and using a pickup truck with blades welded on the front “as a mowing machine, not to mow grass but (to) mow down the enemies of Allah.”

Lone wolf terrorists are not to be scoffed at. Major Nidal Hassan was a lone wolf terrorist. Carlos Bledsoe, aka Abdulhakim Muhammed, was a lone wolf terrorist. John Allen Mohammed, the mostly forgotten DC Sniper, was a lone wolf terrorist. All three men killed and wounded innocent Americans in the name of Islam.

The ideas and tactics outlined in the Lone Mujahid Pocketbook are also not to be dismissed as harmless.

Nevertheless, in the article linked below, NBC News Investigations Editor Mike Brunker sees the recommendations in the guidebook in a “positive light.” Now, Brunker tries to assign that thought to terrorism expert Evan Kohlmann, but nowhere does Kohlmann even infer that he views the guidebook as a positive development. In fact, Kohlmann says just about the opposite:

“Homegrown terrorism costs al-Qaida nothing, and it garners the same amount of public attention as “real” terrorism. It’s a no-brainer.”

Kohlmann does comment on the production quality of the latest issue of “Inspire,” but he most assuredly does not dismiss the publication of this magazine and guidebook as “positive.” Brunker was irresponsible to infer otherwise. But we’ve come to expect such poor standards of journalism from what NBC has become.

http://openchannel.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/03/03/17161026-new-al-qaida-terror-guidebook-urges-young-extremists-to-think-small?lite

Posted on 8 Mar 13 by Terror Trends Bulletin

CAIR-TX Director says, “Muslims are above the law of the land”

Hamas-linked CAIR (Council on Anti-American Islamic Relations) leader told a crowd at a rally for Islam that members of the faith should not be bound by American law. “If we are practicing Muslims, we are above the law of the land,” said Mustafa Carroll, executive director of CAIR-Dallas branch.

WND (h/t Dubi) The rally in Austin was part of a nationwide effort to hold “Muslim Capitol Day” events. The event included a speech by a representative of Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam, who declared that Texas was an awful place and that Islam was the answer.

“Why did Muhammad say that he would not rest until the Koran was the law of the land?”

“Islam does not have Texas in the current condition, the current socio-political condition that Texas is in. What is this condition that Texas is in? Why is Texas on the brink, when you look at Texas in comparison to 50 states, education, percent of population graduating from high school is 46, high school completion rate is 46, the scholastic assessment rate, the SAT score in Texas is 47, the percentage of population with no health insurance in Texas is first, those without health insurance Texas is first. When you look at the state of a child in Texas, the percentage of uninsured children, Texas is first… etc. etc. You shouldn’t be filing legislation against Islam, when you look at Texas, Islam is not the problem. Islam is the solution. Allah Akbar.”

Carroll’s statement was similar to a statement allegedly made by CAIR co-founder and former chairman Omar M. Ahmad.

Carroll began joking about the widespread concern about Shariah, the religious code that governs Muslim civil and political life. “We tried to downplay Shariah, because we didn’t want to give the other side any excitement for being here,” he said. He dismissed critics who express concern about Shariah, calling them “anti-foreign.”
“When you even say the word Shariah, people get nervous. We are not advocating for Shariah. We are not trying to make Shariah the law of the land,” he said. Carroll claimed Muslims only want the “right to practice our faith.”

But he also said, “If you understand Shariah, the foundation of our faith … how we treat our neighbor, how we treat our parents … how we participate in society, all of that is part of Shariah.” Carroll is on record defending Hamas, classified by the U.S. as a terrorist group. “I think you can only blame Hamas for so long. It takes two to tango. And I think, you know, that what we’ve heard for a number of years is this terrorist, terrorist, terrorist, terrorist, Hamas, Hamas, Hamas, was not just Hamas,” he’s said.

At CAIR’s Dallas banquet in 2007, Carroll denied the Quran is the source of terrorism. “Look at the true cause of the terrorism. It’s not somebody is reading a book, reading a Quran, and then go out and say, ‘Well, the Quran told me to blow this up. I’m gonna blow it up.’ The cause, the root cause of terrorism is oppression. The root cause of terrorism is oppression.”
Read More about CAIR jihadists

In the news clip below, they say extra security was needed because of alleged ‘death’ threats made at the website BNI. According to CAIR, “Bare Naked Islam is an anti-Islam website which posted information about the Muslim Day event prompting angry comments from readers who criticized the capitol and the organizations for taking part.”

This is the BNI post to which they are referring: terror-linked-cair-to-sponsor-muslim-infiltration-of-u-s-government-offices

Posted on 4 Mar 13 by BNI
[Editor’s Note: This does not necessarily entail the beliefs, thoughts, or theories of the local Act chapters or the National Act office…they are my beliefs, thoughts and/or theories. Here is another Islamic act of trying to stealthily infiltrate the government, and they are doing a good job because most government officials (whether federal or state) do not know about true Islam…only what the terrorist creating, funding and deploying group tells them…the extreme whitewashed version…and what the Muslim president, the US president, tells them also, in his undercover actions of trying to get America into becoming a Shari’a country]

Al Qaeda Mag Publishes ‘Wanted: Dead or Alive’ List

“Yes We Can: A Bullet A Day Keeps The Infidel Away.”

Mar 1, 2013 • By DANIEL HALPER

The latest edition of the al Qaeda English-language magazine Inspire is out today. A digital copy of the magazine, provided by MEMRI (the Washington D.C. based Middle East Media Research Institute), shows a “Wanted: Dead or Alive” feature on page 10 of the new issue:

“Wanted: Dead or Alive for Crimes Against Islam,” the page reads. The list includes: Molly Norris, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Flemming Rose, Morris Swadiq, Salman Rushdie, Girt Wilders [sic], Lars Vilks, Stephane Charbonnie, Carsten Luste, Terry Jones, and Kurt Westergaard.

No further reason is provided to explain why these folks were singled out for the hit list, though many are notable critics of radical Islam.

“Yes We Can,” the image reads. “A Bullet A Day Keeps the Infidel Away.”

“Defend Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him,” the image reads.

Posted on 1 Mar 13 by the Weekly Standard

More Evidence Emerges of Worldwide Iranian-Backed Terror Plotting

February 22, 2013

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah meets with Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in 2005. The Lebanese terrorist group and its Iranian sponsor are accused of involvement in a series of terror plots over the past 12 months. (Photo: Supreme Leader website)

(CNSNews.com) – Two incidents almost 3,000 miles apart this week have shed fresh light on allegations that an Iranian-backed network is plotting against Western targets, primarily Israeli but also American.

In a court in the Cypriot seaside resort of Limassol, a dual Lebanese-Swedish national suspected of espionage and terrorism confessed to being a member of Hezbollah, the Iranian-sponsored Lebanese Shi’ite group, and of carrying out tasks including identifying locations in Cyprus where Israelis gather, and arranging the rental of a warehouse.

In his notebook, police found registration numbers of tourist buses.

The 24-year-old, who travels on a Swedish passport, also said he had earlier delivered packages on Hezbollah’s behalf in Turkey, France and the Netherlands. He claimed ignorance of the contents.

The suspect was arrested in a Limassol hotel last July, just days before a bus bombing in Bulgaria killed five Israeli tourists and a Bulgarian. The Bulgarian government early this month said investigations had concluded that Hezbollah members were behind the attack.

Cyprus and Bulgaria are both members of the European Union, which the United States has been urging to designate the Lebanese group as a terrorist organization in a bid to strangle its funding sources in Europe.

The union is divided over the issue, but the revelation that the suspect in Cyprus undertook tasks for Hezbollah in at least three E.U. countries, while traveling on the passport of an E.U. member state, will add to concerns.

Sweden is also a member of the Schengen agreement, which allows travel between 26 countries (although Cyprus is not yet one of them), without border controls.

The Hezbollah operative appeared in the Limassol court on Thursday, and was remanded in custody until a next appearance, scheduled for March 7.

Although he admitted being a member of Hezbollah for four years and of undergoing military training, he denied involvement in a bombing plot. He faces eight counts, including conspiracy, intention to commit a crime, and participation in a criminal organization.

USAID, Jewish Center among targets

Over the past 12 months, a string of terror plots allegedly involving Hezbollah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)–Qods Force were exposed – in Thailand, India, Kenya, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Cyprus, and Bulgaria.

(Some were disrupted, but in India the wife of an Israeli defense attaché was seriously injured in a blast, and in Thailand a series of explosions occurred, including one that blew off the legs of one of the alleged plotters, an Iranian.)

Now another plot can be added to that list, and this one included American facilities among the targets.

In Nigeria on Wednesday, the state security service announced it had cracked a terrorist cell whose members, directed by unnamed handlers in Iran, had scoped Israeli and American targets in Lagos, the largest city in Africa’s most populous country.

“Part of the deadly group’s brief included identifying and gathering intelligence on public places and prominent places frequented by Americans and Israelis to facilitate their attack by Iranian terrorists,” Nigeria’s Vanguard newspaper quoted security service spokeswoman Marilyn Ogar as saying.

They included facilities of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Peace Corps, a Jewish Cultural Center, an Israeli container shipping line and an Israeli information security and wireless networking company.

There were also alleged plans to assassinate two controversial Nigerian Muslim figures, former military ruler Ibrahim Babangida and a man appointed by Babangida during his 1985-1993 tenure as “sultan of Sokoto,” an important ceremonial Islamic leadership role in Nigeria.

Ogar said three of alleged cell members, including a Nigerian Shi’ite cleric, were under arrest, while a fourth remains at large.

Parading the three suspects before the media, Ogar said the cleric, Abdullahi Berende, had been recruited while studying at an Iranian university in 2006. He returned a second time in 2011 and underwent training in firearms and improvised explosive devices (IEDs), she said.

Then on a visit to Dubai in 2012, Berende was tasked to begin the surveillance operation, with his Iranian handlers providing him with around $30,000, some of which was used to relocate and set up a cover business in Lagos.

Ogar said the three would be put on trial soon.

Meanwhile an Iranian IRGC member named Azim Aghajani is facing trial in Nigeria, along with a Nigerian national, over weapons, including rockets and grenades, discovered hidden in a shipment at Lagos port in 2010.

USAID activities in Nigeria include training healthcare workers in medical injection safety, and education projects including a local version of “Sesame Street.”

Posted on 22 Feb 13 by CNSNews

[Editor’s Note: This does not necessarily entail the beliefs, thoughts, or theories of the local Act chapters or the National Act office…they are my beliefs, thoughts and/or theories. The US is still giving aid to Muslim countries (i.e. Egypt), even though it is quite obvious that Islam (the “peaceful religion” that Obama says we are not at war with, but Pres. Thomas Jefferson would gladly disagree with) is trying to take over the world. “Secular” Muslims (or hypocrite Muslims as the Qur’an, ahadith, Sira and Shari’a Law calls them) and apologetic Muslims are lost as well, because they believe that their religion was hijacked by a minority of Muslims, but they refuse to do anything about it, they all just let it slide and say that us “Islamophobes” are just making all Muslims look bad, even though even the secular or apologetical Muslims also want world domination, just not (in words at least) a violent way.]

Islamic countries still attempting to stamp out free speech worldwide