Sarkozy Calls For Debate On Islam

Following last year’s controversial ban on the full Islamic veil in public places, French President Nicolas Sarkozy now wants to formalise the relationship between Islam and France's fiercely secular state.
Last week Sarkozy joined British Prime Minister David Cameron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in announcing multiculturalism is not working and setting out to formalize the relationship between Islam and the fiercely secular state of France.
The role of Islam in France is going to be a central issue in the 2012 presidential campaign.
Secularism in France, a country with Catholic roots but a deep-rooted suspicion of religion, has been enforced by law for over a century. The Republic does not officially recognize, pay salaries for, nor subsidize any religion.
It is henceforth forbidden to erect or display any religious signs or emblems publicly, and political meetings may not take place in places of worship.
The law does not address prayer meetings in the city streets (some mosques in France have overcrowding issues, thus leading to an overspill into the streets), which is a particular bugbear of the National Front.

Link : http://www.france24.com/en/20110218-france-paris-sarkozy-elysee-islam-secular-religion

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Indonesia Pressured Over Ahmadiyah Muslim Sect Killings

Indonesia has been criticised by US groups and others after a murderous attack against supporters of the minority Ahmadiyah Muslim sect.

This attack was sickening because the anti-Ahmadiyya Muslim attack was allowed to happen because law enforcement agencies just stood by and did nothing. The attack witnessed conservative Muslims with machetes, rocks, and sticks, and while they were stoning Ahmadiyya Muslims to death they were in a state of high religious frenzy.

This brutal attack on Ahmadiyya followers reflects the continued failure of the Indonesian government to protect religious minorities from harassment and attacks and to hold the perpetrators accountable, said Donna Guest, Asia-Pacific Deputy Director at Amnesty International.

The recent brutal killings against the Ahmadiyya community and attacks against Christians is clear evidence that Indonesia is not so tolerant. Therefore, President Obama must stop making sweeping statements. After all, his comments about Islam in Cairo were not based on facts but sadly the recent massacre of innocents in the name of Allah in Indonesia is a reality

Link : http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12389097

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International Petition As Afghan Christians Face Execution

Christian rights activists launched on Monday, February 7, an international petition urging Afghanistan to release detained converts to Christianity, amid fears they may be executed.
Among Christian prisoners in immediate danger are 45-year-old Said Musa, a father of six, and another Christian, identified as Shoaib Assadullah, 25. Both men could face execution on charges of apostasy, or abandoning Islam, a crime punished by death under Islamic law and upheld by Afghanistan's constitution.
Musa has been held in prison since May last year, after a local TV network broadcast secret images of Afghan Christians being baptized by westerners. The broadcast caused outrage as protesters demanded the expulsion of those who appeared in the footage.
He sought asylum at the German Embassy but was arrested by authorities after calls by the deputy secretary of the Afghan parliament, Abdul Sattar Khawasi, for the public execution of the alleged converts, sparking a nationwide manhunt.
Musa, who lost his left leg in a landmine explosion in the 1990s, worked as a physiotherapist for the Red Cross for 15 years while assisting in the treatment of fellow amputees.

http://www.bosnewslife.com/15305-international-petition-as-afghan-christians-face-execution-bosnewslife-in-depth

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Violence In Egypt As Foes, Supporters Of Hosni Mubarak Clash

Clashes have broken out between pro- and anti-government demonstrators in the Egyptian capital Cairo.
Protesters from both sides threw stones at each other in Tahrir Square, the epicentre of ongoing opposition demonstrations against President Hosni Mubarak for the past nine days.
Al Jazeera correspondents, reporting from the scene, said that more than 500 people have been injured in Wednesday's clashes that are continuing to rage.
Earlier, witnesses said the military allowed thousands of pro-Mubarak supporters, armed with sticks and knives, to enter the square. Opposition groups said Mubarak had sent in thugs to suppress anti-government protests.

Link : http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/02/201122124446797789.html

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Unrest In North Africa And Middle East May Spread To Syria

What began as a popular uprising that toppled the Tunisian government before spreading into Algeria, Jordan, Yemen, Sudan and, of course, Egypt, may now be headed for Syria.

Opposition movements in Syria are calling for mass protests on Saturday against the rule of President Bashar Al-Assad.

The groups are organizing on Facebook, with several pages promoting protests in Damascus, Aleppo and other cities.

Link : http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/01/31/egypt.protests.where.else/index.html?hpt=C2

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Total Internet Blackout In Egypt

Egypt's last working internet service provider, the Noor Group, has been disconnected, a US Web monitoring company said, leaving the crisis-torn country completely offline.
Mobile telephone networks have also been severely disrupted in Egypt along with the Internet.
Activists have used mobile phones and the internet to organise the most serious anti-government demonstrations in decades, protests inspired by the uprising in Tunisia.
Google, in response to the Internet blockade in Egypt, said on Monday that it had created a way to post messages to microblogging service Twitter by making telephone calls.
Google worked with Twitter and freshly acquired SayNow, a startup specialising in social online voice platforms, to make it possible for anyone to tweet by leaving a message at any of three telephone numbers.
Voice mail messages left at +16504194196; +390662207294 or +97316199855 will instantly be converted into text messages, referred to as tweets, and posted at Twitter with an identifying hashtag of #egypt.
People can call the same numbers to listen to messages or hear them online at twitter.com/speak2tweet

Links : http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/some-weekend-work-that-will-hopefully.html
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/02/2011210459908692.html

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EU Becoming Christian club Turkish Minister Says At Davos Forum

Turkey's deputy prime minister complained Saturday that the European Union was becoming an inward-looking Christian club, slamming a lack of progress in his country's bid to join.
Speaking on a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos that included EU President Herman Van Rompuy, Ali Babacan said: We always thought the EU is a big peace project ... but then the enlargement process literally stalled.

Link : http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=turkey-says-eu-becoming-christian-club-2011-01-29

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