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Tag: radicals

  • Visit By The Pope To Turkey Puts UMNO To Shame

    Visit By The Pope To Turkey Puts UMNO To Shame

    KUCHING: The just-concluded Umno General Assembly was marked by racist slurs, religious intolerance and bigotry, observed Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, while Christians and Muslims elsewhere in the civilised world are reaching out to each other in peace and tolerance.

    Anwar pointed out that Pope Francis, currently on a visit to Turkey, had been invited by Grand Mufti Rahmi Yaran of Turkey to pray at the famous Blue Mosque which was once a Cathedral when the country was part of the Eastern Roman, or Byzantine, Empire.

    “The gesture by the Grand Mufti is unthinkable in Malaysia under Umno,” said Anwar who was on a visit to Kuching. “Umno leaders are taking backward steps in their relations with non-Muslims.”

    Anwar noted that the media had described the Pope’s visit to Turkey as demonstrating “a powerful vision of Christian-Muslim understanding at a time when neighbouring countries are experiencing violent Islamic assaults on Christians and religious minorities”.

    “There is a need to appreciate this move. It has relevance in terms of our attitude and the Umno General Assembly’s on relations with non-Muslims in this country,” Anwar said. “Pope Francis’ visit is a gesture that would go a long way towards blazing a trail for a new chapter on Christian-Muslim relations and mending the strained relations of the past.”

    “Once we get past theological polemics, which more often than not puts a strain on inter-religious relations, the matters that bind these two great faiths could be reason enough for cultivating tolerance and respect.”

    Pope Francis was radical, pointed out Anwar, as he preferred to relate rather than pontificate.

    “That has made all the difference. He goes to Turkey not to preach but to reach out, very much in the tradition of Christ, with humility and peace to the Muslim world,” said Anwar.

    Pope Francis’ genuine desire for understanding must be received warmly and reciprocated by leaders of the Muslim world, he added, but ruled out Umno taking a positive attitude on the Pope’s visit to Turkey.

     

    Source: www.freemalaysiatoday.com

  • Video Of A Beheading Carried Out By ISIS Militants Aired At UMNO General Assembly

    Video Of A Beheading Carried Out By ISIS Militants Aired At UMNO General Assembly

    KUALA LUMPUR (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) – Delegates at Malaysia’s Umno general assembly in Kuala Lumpur watched in pin-drop silence as a short video clip of a beheading by Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants was aired.

    The clip, lasting about a minute, was shown during the winding-up speech by Umno vice-president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

    The video showed several men, believed to be ISIS militants, walking with their captives in a desert landscape.

    Several people in the audience were heard gasping as the militants grabbed knives and placed them against the neck of the captives, who were made to kneel in front of them, before the clip abruptly ended.

    Earlier, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid, who is also Home Minister, said he would be leading the committee to draw up new anti-terrorism laws against such a threat.

    He also said that he did not mind being labelled a hardcore Malay or an Islamic fundamentalist – all in the name of race and religion.

    Despite this, he said his respect towards other religions remained strong and he would never reject those of other races living under the Malaysian sun.

    “It is all right if people perceive me as hardcore because that means I am hardcore for the Malays and if I am known as a fundamentalist, I am so in the name of religion.”

    Umno vice-president Hishammuddin Hussein said the Bar Council was not the country’s sole authority that had the right to speak on legal matters.

    Datuk Seri Hishammuddin, who is the party’s legal bureau chairman, said its newly-formed unit called Bonafide Friends of Umno had engaged legal practitioners and found that many lawyers agreed with the party on issues such as the Sedition Act.

    The Bar has been pressing for the repeal of the Act, calling it draconian.

    “The right to speak on legal matters is not the exclusive right of the Bar Council. It is the right of all Malaysians,” he said.

    Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal said between June 2013 and September this year, the party registered 5,939 new voters, MCA (256), MIC (266) and Gerakan (373).

    “However, this pales in comparison with that of Opposition parties with PAS registering 1,775 new voters, PKR (2,103) and DAP (9,309).

    “The Umno president has ordered me to team up with all coalition components for a national movement to register new voters,” he said.

    Mr Mohd Shafie highlighted a lack of coordination between religious institutions on Islamic affairs, especially on judgments made by the civil and syariah courts.

    “There has to be a stricter enforcement, which would not allow any party to take advantage.

    “For instance, the National Fatwa Council and state religious councils should work together,” he said.

    He referred to verses in the Quran, which called on Muslims to uphold their faith while at the same time respect other religions.

     

    Source: www.straitstimes.com

  • 60 Of Estimated 550 Germans in Syria and Iraq Are Believed To Have Died

    60 Of Estimated 550 Germans in Syria and Iraq Are Believed To Have Died

    BERLIN – The number of Germans fighting alongside Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq has increased sharply to 550 and around 180 have returned, the head of Germany’s domestic intelligence said in a newspaper interview published on Sunday.

    “We are concerned about the high number of departures. Especially in the last six weeks, it has risen further,” Hans-Georg Maassen told Welt am Sonntag.

    By now we are counting 550 people, that is how many have left Germany to go to Syria and Iraq,” he added. The previous number was 450 people.

    Around 60 of them have been killed during fighting, with at least nine killing themselves in suicide attacks, Maassen said. “That is a sad success for the Islamist propaganda.”

    As with other Western European countries, Germany is struggling to stop the radicalization of young Muslims, some of whom want to become jihadists in Syria or Iraq. Officials also worry that they might return to plot attacks on home soil.

    Since Germany is part of the alliance fighting Islamic State, the country is “naturally” a target for the militants as well as al Qaeda members, Maassen said.

    Intelligence services estimate that around 180 jihadists have returned to Germany after having fought in Syria and Iraq, Maassen said.

    In one of the largest sweeps against alleged Islamists in Germany yet, authorities last week arrested nine men suspected of supporting militant groups in Syria and raided numerous properties in several German states.

     

    Source: www.todayonline.com

  • Wong Kan Seng: Singapore Not Immune To Threat Of Radicalisation

    Wong Kan Seng: Singapore Not Immune To Threat Of Radicalisation

    SINGAPORE: Former Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng said there is no immunity to the threat of radicalisation for any society, including Singapore.

    Speaking at a seminar by the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies on Tuesday (Nov 18), Mr Wong said that the “vigilance of the security services must ultimately be augmented by the vigilance of the society itself.”

    He said groups like Islamic State (IS) are savvy in their use of social media to propagate radical rhetoric and recruit fighters to their cause. He also urged governments in the region to step up efforts in the sharing of information and intelligence.

    Mr Wong said: “13 years on from 9/11 and Singapore’s discovery of the regional JI (Jemaah Islamiyah) network, we are none the safer from the terrorism threat. The terrorism threat has not diminished, but has evolved and adapted to a more hostile security environment. It has also become more diffused with the rise of the phenomenon of self-radicalised or ‘lone wolf’ terrorists.”

    He felt that the conflict in Syria and and the IS have given new impetus to existing regional jihadist groups like JI and the Jemaah Anshorut Tauhid (JAT), which have sent their members to Syria to fight.

    Mr Wong said the manner in which foreign fighters flock to Syria reminds him of how Muslims around the world had similarly been drawn to fight in the Soviet-Afghan war in the 1980s.

    He added: “The Soviet-Afghan war not only led to the creation of the Al-Qaeda terrorist organisation, but also a global fraternity of terrorist brotherhood. Many governments anticipate that the Syrian conflict will likewise lead to the emergence of a new generation of mujahidin and the perpetuation of the terrorism menace for many years to come.”

    Mr Wong, who was also Minister for Home Affairs, recounted how Singapore had taken a multi-pronged approach to counter the threat of jihadist terrorism.

    “Apart from investigations and exchange of intelligence with foreign security services, the Government held closed-door national dialogues with religious and community leaders to share our concerns on the terrorism threat and how we must not let it destroy our Singapore’s social cohesion,” he stated.

    Mr Wong said there was also the awareness to go beyond the detention of JI members to counter the deviant religious teachings. A core group of religious teachers formed the Religious Rehabilitation Group (RRG) to provide religious counselling for the JI detainees and their families.

    To this end, Mr Wong said that for some “hardcore” detainees, results so far have not been positive, and that they will only be released once they are rehabilitated.

    Overall, he said that while Singapore has been successful in keeping the terrorism threat at bay, the general public must continue to remain vigilant and stay united in the event of an incident.

    “The irony is, the more successful we are in our counter-terrorism efforts, the more the urgency and cogency of the terrorism threat will diminish in the public’s consciousness,” said Mr Wong. “We need every resident to be vigilant against this threat. Should we one day be unable to stop a bomb from exploding or a murderous act by an ISIL supporter in Singapore, I hope Singaporeans will have the resilience to overcome the attack, cope with the crisis and maintain our social cohesion.”

     

    Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

  • Pasangan Suami Isteri Antara Tujuh Yang Didakwa Di Malaysia

    Pasangan Suami Isteri Antara Tujuh Yang Didakwa Di Malaysia

    KUALA LUMPUR: Sepasang suami isteri adalah antara tujuh warga Malaysia yang dikaitkan dengan militan Negara Islam (IS) di Syria, yang dihadapkan ke mahkamah atas dakwaan mencari dana dan memberikan sokongan kepada kumpulan itu.

    Mereka didakwa terbabit dalam kegiatan dan usaha mengumpul dana serta berniat menyertai kumpulan militan IS di Syria.

    Pasangan suami isteri itu – Amir Azlan Zainuddin, 48 tahun, dan isteri, Nazhatulshima Sahak, 44 tahun – dituduh di Mahkamah Majistret Shah Alam kelmarin bersama pembantu kedai makanan, Muhammad Fadhil Ibrahim serta Muhammad Na’eem Apandi, kedua-duanya berusia 24 tahun, cuba memberi sokongan kepada kumpulan IS.

    Nazhatulshima, pengusaha taska, didakwa bersama Muhammad Fadhil cuba memberi sokongan kepada pengganas IS dengan cara membeli tiket penerbangan pesawat Emirates bagi perjalanan dari Lapangan Terbang Antarabangsa Kuala Lumpur (KLIA) ke Istanbul, Turkey.

    Mereka didakwa mahu memasuki Syria melalui Istanbul.

    Sementara itu, pekerja kedai kek, Mohammad Na’im Abd Rashid, 26 tahun, didakwa di Mahkamah Sesyen Sepang atas tuduhan memberi sokongan dengan berada di Syria.

    Mohammad Na’im didakwa memberi sokongan dengan memasuki Syria melalui Istanbul menggunakan penerbangan antarabangsa Qatar Airways.

    Mohammad Na’im, dari Nibong Tebal, Pulau Pinang, ditahan oleh anggota Bahagian Counter Terrorism, Cawangan Khas Ibu Pejabat Polis Bukit Aman sejurus sebelum meninggalkan Malaysia.

    Tertuduh, yang telah berkahwin, pernah berada di Syria untuk tempoh tertentu dan ditahan ketika cuba berlepas ke negara tersebut kali kedua.

    Seorang perunding kewangan, Rohaimi Abd Rahim, 37 tahun, pula didakwa di Mahkamah Majistret atas pertuduhan mencari dana bagi manfaat kumpulan militan IS melalui blog Revolusi Islam.com sejak Mac lepas.

    Rohaimi didakwa melakukan perbuatan itu di No. 5B, Jalan Raja Ali, Kampung Baru di sini antara 29 Mac hingga 13 Oktober lepas.

    Seorang lagi tertuduh, penjual kereta, Muhamad Fauzi Misrak, 34 tahun, didakwa bersubahat bersama Rohaimi atas tuduhan sama dengan membenarkan akaun Maybank miliknya digunakan dalam blog Revolusi Islam sebagai medium mencari dana bagi manfaat IS pada masa dan tempat sama.

    Tiada pengakuan direkodkan daripada ketujuh-tujuh tertuduh.

    Kesemua mereka juga tidak dibenarkan diikat jamin kerana ditahan mengikut Akta Kesalahan Keselamatan (Langkah-Langkah Khas) 2012 yang melarang jaminan diberikan. – BHM, Utusan Malaysia.

     

    Source: http://beritaharian.sg