AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 5/14/04 : Utah IMC

AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 5/14/04

* HADITH OF THE DAY: WORLDLY WEALTH
* NY: MUSLIM TA FIRED FOR SPEAKING ARABIC (News 10)
* SIGN THE 'NOT IN THE NAME OF ISLAM' PETITION
- US Muslim Petition Rejects Terror (BBC)
- U.S. Islamic Leaders Denounce Terrorism (LA Times)
- Muslim Petition Decries Terror (Washington Post)
* N.J. MUSLIM ORGANIZATIONS CONDEMN BERG'S SLAUGHTER (AP)
* CAIR-LA TO BE HONORED AT INTERFAITH DINNER
* CO: DENVER MOSQUE RECEIVING THREATS (Denver Channel)
- FL: Police Probe Acts Against Mosque (Miami Herald)
- Two Miami Mosques Vandalized, One Threatened (AP)
- Three S. Fl mosques Targeted (Sun-Sentinel)
* OK: SCHOOL HEAD SCARF SUIT SETTLEMENT NEAR (Oklahoman)
- Oklahoma Student Suspended for Wearing Hijab (CAIR)
* INCITEMENT WATCH: ROCK STAR GIVES ISLAM KISS-OFF
* CA: EDUCATE TO COUNTER ANTI-MUSLIM INCIDENTS (VC Star)
- Incidents of Anti-Muslim Bias Jump 70 percent (BP)
* VATICAN WARNS CATHOLICS AGAINST MARRYING MUSLIMS (Reuters)
- Nigerian Muslims Recount Horror of Attack (Reuters)
- 80 Percent of Iraqis Oppose Occupation (Wash Post)
- Israel Takes Bloody Revenge in Gaza (Guardian)
- Iraqi Prisoners Tell of Torture (Agence France Presse)
- Iraqis Tells of U.S. Abuse (NY Times)

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HADITH OF THE DAY: WORLDLY WEALTH

The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) told his companions: "I am not
afraid that you will be poor, but I fear that worldly wealth will be
bestowed upon you as it was bestowed upon those before you. (Then) you will
compete amongst yourselves for it, as they competed for it, and it will
destroy you as it did them."

Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume 5, Hadith 351

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[NOTE: This case has been referred to CAIR's Civil Rights Department.]

NY: CONTROVERSY SURROUNDS TA'S FIRING
Bill Carey, News 10, 5/13/04
http://news10now.com/content/all_news/?ArID=18677&SecID=83

Teaching assistant Abdul Mustafa lost his job at HW Smith Elementary School
for speaking Arabic and bringing a copy of the Muslim holy book, the Koran,
into the classroom.

But is this a case of the District enforcing the separation of Church and
State, or of it punishing a worker for their religion?

Paperwork associated with the firing shows Mustafa was warned against
speaking Arabic in the classroom.

He says the use of Arabic was minimal.

"Me using the term, or responding to the term, 'Asalam malekum,' which
means, 'Peace be upon you'.when the children would come into school, they
would say, 'Asalam malekum, Mr. Mustafa' and I would respond to them, 'Wa
malekum asalam,' which means, 'Peace be upon you.' That's the extent of
it," he said.

There were also warnings against bringing a copy of the Koran into class.

The Syracuse School District says it has no policy that bars employees from
being a devout member of any religious group, but that an employee crosses
the line when that religion is brought into the classroom.

"Whether it's the Bible. Whether it's the Koran. Whether it's the Torah.
Excluding historical or literary value, they cannot be used for religious
proselytizing and this is basically the Constitution. Not so much a
District policy, but the separation of Church and State in the public
school system," said Syracuse School District spokesperson Neil Driscoll.

An evaluation of Mustafa by Principal Sharon Birnkrant shows a majority of
good or excellent grades, with the exception of unsatisfactory findings in
areas covering his receptiveness to supervision and respect for
confidentiality.

On the same form, when asked if she would recommend his continued service
at the school, Birnkrant marked "No."

Mustafa says he thinks much of the problem stems from the events of
September 11th, a subject he says the Principal cautioned him about.

"People in America are very sensitive to anything that has anything to do
with Islam, and that she has to be very sensitive to their perceptions," he
said.

The District maintains that Mustafa is not being penalized for his
religion. HW Smith, they say, has a long history of honoring many cultures.

But Mustafa believes his firing is a manifestation of anti-Muslim
sentiment, and says he turns to his religion to find meaning in the events
of recent days.

"I'm a Muslim and I believe that nothing happens unless God allows it and I
believe that, in any situation that appears to be negative, there is more
good in it than bad..."

ACTION REQUESTED: (As always, be POLITE and RESPECTFUL.)

CONTACT the Syracuse City School District to ask that Abdul Mustafa be
reinstated as a teaching assistant and that his religious rights be protected.

CONTACT:

Mr. Stephen C. Jones
Superintendent of Schools
725 Harrison St.
Syracuse, NY 13210
Phone: (315) 435-4161
Fax: (315) 435-4015
E-Mail: sjones17@scsd.us, cdrisc96@scsd.us, jblack45@scsd.us
COPY TO: cair@cair-net.org

-----

SIGN THE 'NOT IN THE NAME OF ISLAM' PETITION

CAIR has launched an online petition drive designed to disassociate the
faith of Islam from the violent acts of a few Muslims. The petition on
CAIR's web site (http://www.cair-net.org), called "Not in the Name of Islam,"
allows Muslims around the world to help correct misperceptions of Islam and
the Islamic stance on religiously-motivated terror.

TO SIGN THE PETITION, GO TO: http://www.cair-net.org
TO READ THE PETITION ACTION ALERT, GO TO:
http://www.cair-net.org/asp/article.asp?id=169&page=AA

SEE ALSO:

US MUSLIM PETITION REJECTS TERROR
Jane Little, BBC, 5/14/04
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3713625.stm

A leading Islamic advocacy group in the US has launched an online petition
designed to dissociate Islam from the violent acts committed under its banner.

The Council on American Islamic Relations' petition, called "Not in my
Name", follows the beheading in Iraq of a US hostage by a group said to be
linked to Al Qaeda.

American Muslims have come under pressure to denounce extremism

The move reflects a growing defensiveness among American Muslims who feel
they are being forced to prove their patriotism.

The message could not be clearer: "We hope this effort will demonstrate
once and for all that Muslims in America and throughout the Islamic world
reject violence committed in the name of Islam."

The tone, bordering on exasperation, betrays the deep sense of unease among
American Muslims who have increasingly felt alienated by what they feel is
a "with us or against us" mood that has deepened after the beheading of US
hostage Nicholas Berg.

---

U.S. ISLAMIC LEADERS CALL ON FAITHFUL TO DENOUNCE TERRORISM
Larry B. Stammer, Los Angeles Times, 5/14/04
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-muslim14may14,1,7435762.story

Alarmed by resurgent anti-Muslim rhetoric in the aftermath of the beheading
of an American in Iraq, U.S. Muslim leaders launched a new campaign
Thursday to disassociate their faith from terrorism.

In Washington, the Council on American-Islamic Relations called on the
nation's Muslims to sign an online petition to declare that terrorism
betrays Islam and that American Muslims abhor it.

Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations,
and others said Muslims were being painted with a broad brush on radio talk
shows and on Internet sites. Hooper said talk-show callers were asking why
Muslims were not condemning the brutality.

The new American Muslim campaign, "Not in the Name of Islam," is "one way
we can get that word out," Hooper said of the online petition drive.

---

MUSLIM PETITION DECRIES TERROR
Caryle Murphy, Washington Post, 5/15/04
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A25782-2004May13.html

A national Muslim advocacy group announced yesterday that it is asking
Muslims around the world to sign an online petition condemning terrorism as
"un-Islamic" and a betrayal of their faith.

The Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations said that its
petition, titled "Not in the Name of Islam," is "designed to disassociate
the faith of Islam from the violent acts of a few Muslims."

CAIR noted that its initiative was announced two days after a videotape
showing the decapitation of an American in Iraq "shocked television viewers
worldwide." The tape showed Nicholas Berg's masked assailant shouting "God
is great."

The online petition, posted at CAIR's Web site -- http://www.cair-net.org -- is a
way for Muslims to demonstrate how they feel about Berg's killing, Awad added.

The petition states that "no injustice done to Muslims can ever justify the
massacre of innocent people, and no act of terror will ever serve the cause
of Islam."

-----

N.J. MUSLIM ORGANIZATIONS CONDEMN BERG'S SLAUGHTER
WAYNE PARRY, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, 5/14/04

NEWARK - Muslim groups in New Jersey condemned the beheading of an American
in Iraq, saying his captors violated Islamic law and human decency.

Nicholas Berg, 26, a telecommunications businessman from suburban
Philadelphia, was killed this month. His beheading was shown in a video
broadcast on an al-Qaeda-linked Web site, which claimed it was done in
retribution for the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. troops.

"I see no religious, moral, or legal justification for the brutal killing
of a human being," said Sohail Mohammed, a lawyer for the American Muslim
Union, based in Paterson. "We condemn the killing. These types of acts have
no place in Islam."

The Majlis Ash-Shura of New Jersey, the state's council of mosques, said
the killing was an abomination.

"I've seen things in the past that have shocked me, and as time goes by,
you get less shocked, but this shocked me," said the group's chairman,
Yaser El-Menshawy.

"[Berg] had some background and understanding of Muslim culture. He wasn't
there to spy. It made no sense. There were no grounds, no justification.

"You put that next to what's going on in the prisons, and it seems like
this whole world has gone upside down," he said. "It's a bad situation that
just got a whole lot worse."

-----

CAIR-LA TO BE HONORED AT INTERFAITH DINNER

The Interfaith Council of Garden Grove, Westminster and Stanton's Eighth
Annual Unity Banquet will present the Spirit in Action Awards for
outstanding community service to Hussam Ayloush for his work in education,
combating discrimination as Executive Director of CAIR. Two other community
activists and leaders will be honored as well.

WHEN: Friday, May 14, 2004 at 6 p.m.
WHERE: Garden Grove Community Center 11300, Stanford Avenue, Garden Grove,
CA 92842 (714) 741-5262

TICKETS: $15.00
CONTACT: Ann Nguyen, (714) 890-5203 or Barbara George, (714) 943-2290

-----

DENVER MOSQUE RECEIVING THREATS
Caller Upset About Death Of Nicholas Berg
Denver Channel, 5/13/04
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/3301210/detail.html

The president of the Colorado Muslim Society said the mosque on Parker Road
received a threatening phone call Wednesday from a man who was upset about
the death of 26-year-old Nicholas Berg, an American civilian working in Iraq.

The caller reportedly said Islam was a barbaric religion and that Muslims
shouldn't be in the United States.

The society president said the mosque has received such calls periodically
since the 2001 terrorist attacks.

The mosque has also received bomb threats, and authorities have been
keeping a close eye on the building.

A video posted on a Web site linked to al-Qaida showed Berg beheaded by a
group that said it was to avenge the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by American
soldiers.

SEE ALSO:

POLICE INVESTIGATE ACTS AGAINST ISLAMIC SITES
Miami Herald, 5/14/04
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/8662302.htm

Local police are investigating a threatening letter sent to an Islamic
center and recent incidents of vandalism, calling the incidents ''criminal
mischief.''

But Muslim officials say it's much more than that and they want the FBI to
get involved.

"Whenever this happens at a synagogue, it's automatically handled as a hate
crime," said Altaf Ali, executive director of the Florida chapter of the
Council on American-Islamic Relations.

On Tuesday at Masjid Al-Ihsan mosque, the front door and windows were
broken, telephone and electrical lines were cut and the alarm system was
destroyed, Ali said.

On Wednesday, vandals wrote curse words and scrawled a swastika on the sign
of the Islamic School of Miami, he said.

Thursday morning, a letter that read "Kill them all in the name of Allah,"
was found at the Darul Uloom mosque, Ali said.

The recent incidents were likely fueled by anger over the beheading of
American civilian contractor Nicholas Berg in Iraq, Ali said.

Miami-Dade police, which are investigating two of the cases, said they
would present their information to the state attorney's office to see
whether the cases could be classified as hate crimes, which carry heftier
criminal penalties than acts of vandalism and criminal mischief.

---

TWO MIAMI MOSQUES VANDALIZED, ONE THREATENED
Associated Press, 5/14/04
http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Florida/03FloridaSTAT06051404.htm

MIAMI -- Muslim officials want the FBI to investigate three recent
incidents of vandalism or threats at local mosques.

In the past three days, obscene graffiti was written on the sign of a
center in Miami, another mosque in Miami had severe damage both inside and
out and a threatening letter was left at a mosque in Hollywood in Broward
County, said Altaf Ali, Florida director of the Council on American-Islamic
Relations.

The letter, which read "Kill them all in the name of Allah," was found at
the Darul Uloom mosque Thursday morning, Ali said.

On Tuesday at Masjid Al-Ihsan mosque, the front door and windows were
broken, telephone and electrical lines were cut and the alarm system was
destroyed, Ali said. Vandals wrote curse words and scrawled a swastika on
the sign of the Islamic School of Miami on Wednesday night, he said.

Police reports have been filed for all the incidents, he said...

Miami-Dade County police officials would not discuss security plans
Thursday. Hollywood police did not return a phone call.

---

THREE S. FLORIDA MOSQUES VANDALIZED AS IRAQ EVENTS FUEL BACKLASH ON MUSLIMS
Tanya Weinberg, Sun-Sentinel, 5/14/04
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-fvandals14may14,0,4128001.story

Three South Florida Islamic institutions have reported vandalism and
threats in recent days as Muslims nationwide are experiencing a backlash to
recent events in Iraq.

In the two days after the public revelation of Nicholas Berg's beheading by
masked men, dozens of calls have poured into the Council on
American-Islamic Relations, national spokeswoman Rabiah Ahmed said.

"Centers and mosques are saying they have been threatened that if they
don't condemn these terrorist attacks, that we will face the kind of fate
that Nick Berg did," she said.

Not two hours after he condemned the brutal murder in a television news
interview Wednesday, the religious leader of the Darul Uloom Institute said
he returned to the Pembroke Pines school and mosque to learn of a letter
left posted on the mailbox there.

"It said `Kill them all in the name of Allah,'" Maulana Shafayat Mohamed said.

Mohamed said he already had planned to focus his weekly sermon today on
condemning both Berg's murder and the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by U.S.
forces, for which Berg's captors said they were retaliating.

"I'm not going to talk about this because of backlash, but because it was
wrong," he said.

"They may be soldiers, but what they did is not the voice of America.
Similarly, the guys who beheaded Berg, they may be Muslims, but they do not
represent Islam and the voice of all Muslims."

Pembroke Pines Police Department spokesman Captain David Golt said
detectives are trying to find out who left the letter at the mosque.

"If we determine there are any crimes, we'll take appropriate action," he
said, and encouraged anyone with information to call the department.

Monday morning, a worker discovered a break-in and vandalism at the
Al-Ihasan mosque in Perrine. Nothing was stolen, a mosque leader said.

Then, Wednesday afternoon, the caretaker of the Islamic School of Miami
discovered an expletive and a reverse swastika spray-painted on the
school's sign in Kendall.

"People are angry, and they're also scared, like, what's coming next," said
Tasnim Uddin, chairman of the school board.

-----

OK: HEAD SCARF SUIT SETTLEMENT NEAR
Sheila K. Stogsdill, Oklahoman, 5/14/04
http://www.newsok.com/cgi-bin/show_article?ID=1238720

MUSKOGEE - A settlement on a lawsuit involving a Muslim girl suspended
twice for wearing a head scarf awaits approval of the Muskogee School
Board, court records reflected Thursday.

Nashala Hearn, an 11-year-old sixth-grader at Ben Franklin Science Academy,
was suspended twice in October for wearing the religious scarf, or hijab,
to school.

Court records in the U.S. Eastern District of Oklahoma show the agreement
is pending approval of the school board and the matter should be resolved
in about seven days.

Attorneys for the girl's family and the district met until 9:30 p.m.
Wednesday before reaching the agreement, said D.D. Hayes, the school's
attorney.

Both sides were ordered by U.S. District Court Magistrate Kimberly West not
to discuss the case, Hayes said.

The lawsuit asked the school to revise its rules to accommodate religious
dress and to expunge the girl's two suspensions.

The U.S. Justice Department joined the dispute in April when it said the
school policy against religious headwear violated the U.S. Constitution.

SEE ALSO:

2003 CAIR ACTION ALERT: OKLAHOMA STUDENT SUSPENDED FOR WEARING HIJAB
http://www.cair-net.org/asp/article.asp?id=152&page=AA

-----

INCITEMENT WATCH: ROCK STAR GIVES ISLAM KISS-OFF
http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_1527060,00.html

Melbourne, Australia - Australia's Muslim community reacted with outrage
Friday following an attack on Islam by rock star Gene Simmons, front man of
the American band KISS, who are currently touring Australia.

In an interview with the Melbourne radio station 3AW on Thursday, he
described Islam as a "vile culture" which he said treated women worse than
dogs, forcing them to walk behind their men and forbidding them to be
educated or to own property.

"Your dog, however, can walk side by side, your dog is allowed to have its
own dog house... you can send your dog to school to learn tricks, sit, beg,
do all that stuff," he said.

"None of the women have that advantage," added Simmons, who has famously
boasted of sleeping with more than 4 600 women.

The Israeli-born bass guitarist went on to say the west was under threat
from Islamic terrorists.

"This is a vile culture and if you think for a second that it's going to
just live in the sands of God's armpit you've got another thing coming.

-----

EDUCATION NEEDED TO COUNTER GROWING INCIDENTS
Frank Moraga, Ventura County Star, 5/14/04
http://www.venturacountystar.com/vcs/opinion_columnists/article/0,1375,VCS_223_2884928,00.html

In an overfilled classroom at Moorpark College recently, the names the
lecturer put up on the screen sounded awfully familiar: Basra, Kufa and
Baghdad.

While the ongoing war in Iraq first came to mind, Ebraheem Fontaine cited
those cities as being the birthplaces or centers of learning of individuals
who have contributed to the world in the areas of culture, science and
medicine.

Why is it important to understand that there is more to the region than
what can be seen on Headline News?

Given the recent statistics on hate crimes and incidents of discrimination
against U.S. Muslims, we could all benefit from a deeper understanding of
other cultures worldwide.

"Learning something in school about the historical and intellectual
contributions of Islam to the world would perhaps make a difference to
school-age children and allow them to give that different perspective to
their parents," said Fontaine, who presented the session "Islamic
Contributions to Civilization" during Moorpark College's annual
Multicultural Day held last month.

A total of 221 complaints were filed in California in 2003, up 233 percent
over the prior year. As a result, the so-called Golden State outdistanced
New York (191), Virginia (69) and Texas (57) in the number of
discrimination complaints filed last year with the Council on
American-Islamic Relations which compiled the report "The Status of Muslims
Civil Rights in California: 2004."

Besides improved reporting by community members, the rise in acts of
harassment at work, schools and communities was also attributed by the
council to residual feelings from the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the war in
Iraq, ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, negative media portrayals of
Muslims and anti-immigration legislation.

While fewer incidents of discrimination were reported in 2003 at California
airports, housing developments, shopping centers and courts compared to the
prior year, government agencies accounted for 41 percent of allegations of
discrimination. Reports of police mistreatment, workplace and school
discrimination also rose.

Recommendations by the council to fight hate crimes include providing
sensitivity/diversity training to government employees, law enforcement,
teachers and companies that hire Muslims and welcoming/encouraging Muslim
representation on community boards, public agencies and organizations
serving the interest of the community at large.

---

INCIDENTS OF ANTI-MUSLIM BIAS JUMP BY 70 PERCENT
Robert Marus, ABP, 5/14/04
http://www.baptiststandard.com/postnuke/index.php?module=htmlpages&func=display&pid=1704

WASHINGTON (ABP)--Incidents of anti-Muslim bias in 2003 jumped 70 percent
over the previous year, a study by an Islamic civil rights group says.

In its 9th annual civil rights report, the Council on American-Islamic
Relations--which calls itself the nation's "largest Islamic civil liberties
group"--said Muslims in the United States reported 1,019 incidents of
discrimination or violence in 2003.

-----

WA: ISLAM 101 DISPELS MYTHS
Tom Christiansen, The Daily, 5/13/04
http://thedaily.washington.edu/news.lasso?-database=DailyWebSQL&-table=Articles&-response=newspage.lasso&-keyField=__Record_ID__&-keyValue=9508&-search

Muslims on and off campus view any event that can confirm truth and resolve
misunderstandings about Islam as essential, said Irmina Haq, the public
relations and advertising officer for the Muslim Student Association.

With that goal in mind, HUB 108 was the site of the group's forum, "Islam
101: You Have Questions, We Have Answers," last night from 6 until 8:30
p.m. This event intended to dispel myths on a primarily non-Muslim campus.

Amar Khalifa, a teacher of Islamic law and the speaker for the first half
of the forum, formally established the welcoming atmosphere by greeting the
crowd of about 100 in Arabic with: "I greet you with a greeting of peace."

The way speakers were chosen was meant to dispel the idea that only Islamic
men are knowledgeable about the religion.

Ayesha Akbar, a Microsoft engineer, was chosen to speak alongside Khalifa
and Ahmed Mohammed, a scholar of comparative religion, during the
question-and-answer section.

The event was meant to eradicate misunderstanding, illustrate Jewish and
Christian ties to Islam and allow the campus community to come into contact
with the Muslim community.

Most of the topics covered related to the structure and basis of Islam.
Most questions regarded Islam's interpretation and view of other religions
as well as the theological boundaries of Islam.

Khalifa and Mohammed continually centered their answers on Islam as a
religion in which faith and worship dictate many common actions.

-----

VATICAN WARNS CATHOLICS AGAINST MARRYING MUSLIMS
Shasta Darlington, Reuters, 5/14/04

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The Vatican warned Catholic women Friday to think
hard before marrying a Muslim and urged Muslims to show more respect for
human rights, gender equality and democracy.

Calling women "the least protected member of the Muslim family," it spoke
of the "bitter experience" western Catholics had with Muslim husbands,
especially if they married outside the Islamic world and later moved to his
country of origin.

The comments in a document about migrants around the world were preceded by
remarks about points of agreement between Christians and Muslims but they
seemed likely to fuel mistrust between the world's two largest religions.

The document said the Vatican hoped Muslims would show "a growing awareness
that fundamental liberties, the inviolable rights of the person, the equal
dignity of man and woman, the democratic principle of government and the
healthy lay character of the state are principles that cannot be surrendered."

When a Catholic woman and Muslim man wanted to marry, it said, "bitter
experience teaches us that a particularly careful and in-depth preparation
is called for."

It said one possible problem was with Muslim in-laws and advised future
mothers that they must insist on Church policy that children born of a
mixed marriage be baptized and brought up as Catholics.

If the marriage is registered in the consulate of a Muslim country, the
document said, the Catholic must be careful not to sign a document or swear
an oath including the shahada, the Islamic profession of faith, which would
amount to converting.

The document highlighted the contrasting approaches the Vatican has taken
in recent years toward Islam, which has emerged as a strong rival for
souls, especially in Africa.

Pope John Paul II has broken ground in dialogue with Muslims and even
prayed in a mosque in Damascus. He won praise in the Muslim world for
strongly opposing the Iraq war.

But Vatican officials and leading Catholic prelates have expressed
increasingly critical views about the spread of Islam and the challenge
this poses for Catholicism.

The Vatican's top theologian, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, said earlier this
week the West "no longer loves itself" and so was unable to respond to the
challenge of Islam, which was growing because it expressed "greater
spiritual energy."

SEE ALSO:

NIGERIAN MUSLIMS RECOUNT HORROR OF ATTACK
Tume Ahemba, Reuters, 5/14/04
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=ourWorldNews&storyID=5147267

YELWA, Nigeria (Reuters) - Hafsat Garba wept as she recounted how heavily
armed Christian militiamen, stripped to the waist and wearing charms on
their arms, invaded her home town.

The 36-year-old mother of two was one of hundreds of Muslim women abducted
by the warriors during a two-day assault on the central Nigerian town of
Yelwa in which hundreds were killed.

"At the town center, they separated women and children from the men,"
Hafsat said, trembling uncontrollably as she sat at a military checkpoint
near the town. "They killed our men and took the women and children away."

The attack on Yelwa 225 miles east of the capital Abuja, was the latest
fighting between Christian tribes and the Muslim Hausa-Fulani people which
first broke out in 2001 when about 1,000 people were killed in the Plateau
state capital of Jos.

At least another 1,000 have been killed in the last three months in small
towns and villages across the southern part of Plateau state.

The conflict is rooted in competing claims over land, property and
political rights, as well as religion.

The Tarok and other predominantly Christian indigenous tribes say the
semi-nomadic Fulani are foreign to the area and that their large herds of
cattle destroy crops. The Fulani say they have been grazing their livestock
there for centuries.

---

80% IN IRAQ DISTRUST OCCUPATION AUTHORITY
Thomas E. Ricks, Washington Post, 5/13/04
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22403-2004May12.html

WASHINGTON - Four out of five Iraqis report holding a negative view of the
U.S. occupation authority and of coalition forces, according to a new poll
conducted for the occupation authority. 82 percent of Iraqis oppose U.S.
occupation

In the poll, 80 percent of Iraqis surveyed reported a lack of confidence in
the Coalition Provisional Authority, and 82 percent said they disapprove of
the United States and allied militaries in Iraq.

Although comparative numbers from previous polls are not available,
"generally speaking, the trend is downward," said Donald Hamilton, a senior
counselor to civilian administrator L. Paul Bremer. The occupation
authority has been commissioning such surveys in Iraq since late last year,
he said. This one was taken in Baghdad and several other Iraqi cities in
late March and early last month, before the surge in anti-coalition
violence and the detainee-abuse scandal.

The findings appeared consistent with a poll taken about the same time by
USA Today, CNN and Gallup, which found that 57 percent of Iraqis wanted
foreign troops to leave immediately.

---

ISRAEL TAKES BLOODY REVENGE IN GAZA FOR KILLING OF SOLDIERS
Conal Urquhart in Gaza City, Guardian, 5/14/04
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1216300,00.html

Israeli forces yesterday left a trail of destruction in the Zeitoun
neighbourhood of Gaza City, blowing up homes and streets as they retreated
following an agreement to recover the body parts of six soldiers killed
earlier this week.

In the Rafah refugee camp, at the southern end of the Gaza Strip, at least
12 Palestinians were killed and scores wounded as troops searched for the
remains of five soldiers blown up by Palestinian fighters. The bodies were
ripped apart and spread across a wide area.

Israel closed internal checkpoints, leaving thousands of Palestinians
stranded and making it impossible for aid workers and journalists in Gaza
to assess the effect of the Israeli incursion in Rafah. Journalists were
refused permission to enter the Gaza Strip.

The remains of six soldiers killed in Gaza City on Tuesday were returned to
Israel under an agreement brokered by Egypt.

For the first time in two days, the residents of Zeitoun were able to leave
their homes and survey the damage caused by two days of fighting.

Four hundred metres of dual carriageway had been systematically blown up.
All the street furniture - lamp posts, electricity poles, telephone booths,
trees and water tanks - had been knocked down. The street was lined with
burned out cars, walls had been punched out with explosives and only shards
of glass hung from window frames.

However, despite the destruction, many Palestinians considered the Israeli
withdrawal from the area to be a victory.

One man negotiating mounds of ploughed-up tarmac and pools of mud and water
said: "They came here. We did not go to them.

"We want nothing from them. This is a great victory for the resistance.

"Our people were just defending themselves. We have no intention of being
terrorists."

---

PRISONERS TELL OF TORTURE AFTER RELEASE FROM NOTORIOUS ABU GHRAIB PRISON
MARWAN NAAMANI, Agence France Presse, 5/14/04

Prisoners released from Iraq's infamous Abu Ghraib prison Friday complained
of being hung by their hands from walls for hours and humiliated by
grinning American guards.

One prisoner said two American soldiers had sex in front of him in the
complex's hospital wing and another said he saw wires attached to the
tongue and genitals of a cousin who was also being held.

The former inmates were part of a batch of 293 prisoners freed from the
jail at the centre of the prisoner abuse scandal, a day after a visit by US
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

Speaking to reporters after he got off of the bus at Al-Amiriya, Abu
Mustafa, 24, said he was arrested 10 months ago by US forces who accused
him of being a leader of a terrorist group.

"They kept me in solitary confinement for six days," he said. "They hung me
by my hands from the wall for five hours.

"One day when I was in the hospital, a soldier came in and asked if I was a
Muslim and then started having sex with another (female) soldier right in
front of me."

Mohammed Zadian, 45, said he was detained for four months and also hung
from a wall by his hands for hours while he was "asked to confess that I
attacked the American forces".

He added: "I saw them attach electric wires to the tongue and the genitals
of my cousin. They also used to give me a box of food and made me carry it
around for six hours without putting it down."

Mohammed Khazal Al-Moussawi, 31, who was held for eight months, said he
went into the prison weighing 117 kilos (257 pounds), and came out more
than 30 kilos (66 pounds) lighter.

"One of the soldiers told the prisoners that if it was in his hands, he
would kill all the Iraqis," he said.

Another man, Muthani Mahmoud Salim, 25, from Baghdad, said they would
target sheikhs being held. "They used to dress them like woman and tour the
prison and the soldiers used to laugh and joke at them," he said.

---

IRAQI TELLS OF U.S. ABUSE, FROM RIDICULE TO RAPE THREAT
IAN FISHER, New York Times, 5/14/04
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/14/international/middleeast/14PRIS.html

The rough road to confession began with the ridicule of the naked and
hooded prisoner's name: Saddam.

The now-former prisoner, Saddam Saleh Aboud, 29, said that escalated into a
threat of rape by an American soldier named Ivan in the 1-A block of Abu
Ghraib prison. Then, he said, he was chained in a sitting position to the
bars of a cell for 23 hours in a day. Loud music thumped, he said. He
urinated where he sat.

Every few days, he said, he was uncuffed for other treatments: douses of
cold water, barking dogs, something called ''the scorpion,'' in which his
arms were cuffed to his legs, behind his back.

Fellow prisoners, he said, told him later it lasted 18 days. He said he did
not know, and that it did not matter. He was ready to talk...

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