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Archive for March, 2012

Egypt: Christian Man Given Six-Year Prison Sentence for Insulting Islam’s Prophet

03/01/2012 Leave a comment

By Joseph Mayton – “CAIRO: Egypt has jailed a Christian man for 6 years on charges of showing contempt of religion and insulting the Prophet Mohamed, the country’s state-owned al-Ahram newspaper reported on Thursday.

The court, in the southern Egyptian province of Assiut, said that Makram Diab, a school employee, had made offensive remarks against Islam’s prophet, according to the report.

The remarks infuriated Diab’s Muslim colleagues, who went on strike until he was arrested and prosecuted.

The sentencing comes after a Cairo court earlier this week dismissed a lawsuit against the Christian business tycoon, Naguib Sawiris, who was accused of insulting Islam by tweeting images of Mickey Mouse with a beard and his counterpart Minnie wearing a veil.

Sawiris faces two other lawsuits over the same images.

Recent parliamentary elections have produced a strong showing for Islamists in Egypt, sparking concerns over freedom among liberals and Christians, who make up around 10 percent of the country’s 80 million population.” Read more.

Two More US Soldiers Killed After Obama Claims Apology to Afghans Over Qur’an Burning ‘Calmed Things Down’

03/01/2012 2 comments

When Obama speaks, the oceans recede, the planet heals, and he demonstrates yet again just how often he is out of touch with reality …

By DEVIN DWYER – “President Obama said his formal apology to Afghan President Hamid Karzai for the burning of Korans by U.S. troops last week has ‘calmed things down’ after the incident sparked an outbreak of violence across the country.

‘We’re not out of the woods yet,’ Obama said in an exclusive interview with ABC News’ Bob Woodruff at the White House. ‘But my criteria in any decision I make, getting recommendations from folks who are actually on the ground, is what is going to best protect our folks and make sure that they can accomplish their mission.’

The president’s comments came just hours before a formal White House dinner to honor Iraq War veterans, some of whom have also served in Afghanistan and may be redeploying there to assist ongoing U.S. military operations. Woodruff was the only journalist invited to attend the dinner.

Obama said his letter to Karzai aimed to curb further danger to U.S. troops on the ground. It reportedly expressed regret for the apparently inadvertent burning of the Korans, the sacred text of Islam, on a U.S. military base in Afghanistan.” Read more.

2 US troops killed in Afghanistan following Koran burning – “Two American soldiers were killed Thursday in a shooting by an Afghan soldier and a literacy teacher at a joint base in southern Afghanistan, officials said, the latest in a series of deaths as anti-Americanism rises following the burning of Korans by U.S. soldiers. Both were killed on the same day that the top NATO commander allowed a small number of foreign advisers to return to work at Afghan ministries after more than a week of being locked down in secure locations because of the killing of two other Americans. Thursday’s killings raised to six the number of Americans killed in less than two weeks amid heightened tensions over the Feb. 20 burning of Korans and other Islamic texts that had been dumped in a garbage pit at Bagram Air Field near Kabul. More than 30 Afghans also were killed in six days of violent riots that broke out after the incident.” Read more.