Iranian storming of the British embassy; what happened inside the walls

Here is a first-person account of the siege of the British embassy in Iran. Needless to say the embassy is now closed, diplomats sent home and the escalation of tensions mounts.

From Reuters/Yahoo December 2 by Adrian Croft

UK envoy tells of fear as mob rampage in Iran embassy

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's ambassador to Iran described Friday how he took refuge while a mob rampaged through his embassy inTehran, smashing windows, tearing up portraits and starting fires, while seven staff were seized by protesters at a second compound.

Speaking three days after the attack by protesters on the British embassy in Iran that sparked a crisis in British-Iranian relations,Dominick Chilcott said he had feared he might be taken hostage as U.S. diplomats were in 1979.

Britain responded by shutting its embassy in Tehran and ordering the closure of Iran's embassy in London, expelling all Iranian diplomats who left the country Friday.

Chilcott told how protesters rampaged through the embassy building, removing a picture of Britain's Queen Elizabeth, mutilating portraits of previous British monarchs, damaging furniture, writing graffiti on walls and smashing up rooms in what he called "spiteful, mindless vandalism."

Protesters also took mobile phones and computers "anything that might give information about who you were talking to or what you were doing," he told Sky News.

Chilcott said Tuesday's protest was different to previous demonstrations at the embassy because the police stood back, adding that it was clear the demonstration had state support.

"It was quite frightening. In our compound we were locked in to the chancery building. We were up on the top floor in our safe area and the mob failed to get into the building," Chilcott, now back inBritain, told the BBC.

"We'd heard them trying to smash the doors and the windows down below but they couldn't get into our part of the building, except in one point where they got into one of the consular offices and started a fire. In the end it was the fire and the smoke ... which forced us out," he said.

By the time he and his staff came downstairs, the protesters had lost interest and moved to other buildings, he said.

HOSTAGE CRISIS

Asked if it had occurred to him that he might suffer the same fate as 52 Americans held hostage for 444 days by hardline students at the U.S. Embassy in Iran from 1979, Chilcott said: "It would be untrue to say that those thoughts don't go through your mind, of course, and you hope that that is not going to happen."

"We were in a completely new situation and how it was going to end was not predictable and the behaviour of the police was so strange that we weren't sure whose side they were on, if you like, and that didn't really give us much comfort," he said.

Read it all

"In the land of Islam, I can't let people decide what is permissible or what is prohibited..."

Of course not, ultimate power and control must come from Allah and the Qur'an, not from the flawed mind of man.

He said it.

From AP/Yahoo December 2 by Ben Hubbard and Maggie Michael

Ultraconservative party to push for Islamic Egypt

CAIRO (AP) — Anticipating a strong presence in the new Egyptian parliament, ultraconservative Islamists outlined plans Friday for a strict brand of religious law, a move that could limit personal freedoms and steer a key U.S. ally toward an Islamic state.

Egypt's election commission announced only a trickle of results from the first round of parliamentary elections and said 62 percent of eligible voters cast ballots in the highest turnout in modern history.

However, leaked counts point to a clear majority for Islamist parties at the expense of liberal activist groups that led the uprising against Hosni Mubarak, toppling a regime long seen as a secular bulwark in the Middle East.

The more pragmatic Muslim Brotherhood is poised to take the largest share of votes, as much as 45 percent. But the Nour Party, which espouses a strict interpretation of Islam in which democracy is subordinate to the Quran, could win a quarter of the house, giving it much power to affect debate.

A spokesman, Yousseri Hamad, said his party considers God's law the only law.

"In the land of Islam, I can't let people decide what is permissible or what is prohibited," Hamad told The Associated Press. "It is God who gives the answers as to what is right and what is wrong."

The Nour Party is the main political arm of the hard-line Salafist Muslim movement, which espouses a strict form of Islam similar to that practiced in Saudi Arabia. Salafis, who often wear long beards and seek to imitate the life of the Prophet Muhammad, speak openly about their aim of turning Egypt into a state where personal freedoms, including freedom of speech, women's dress and art, are constrained by Islamic law — goals that make many Egyptians nervous.

Salafis object to women in leadership roles, citing Muhammad as saying that "no people succeed if led by women." However, when election regulations forced all parties to include women, Salafi cleric Yasser el-Bourhami relented, saying that "committing small sins" is better than "committing bigger ones" — by which he meant letting secular people run the government.

In the end, the party put women at the bottom of its lists, represented by flowers since women's photos were deemed inappropriate.

This week, Salafi cleric and parliamentary candidate Abdel-Monem Shahat caused a stir by saying the novels of Egypt's Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz, read widely in Egyptian schools, are "all prostitution."

Salafis are newcomers on Egypt's political scene. They long shunned the concept of democracy, saying it allows man's law to override God's. But they formed parties and entered politics after Mubarak's ouster, seeking to enshrine Islamic law in Egypt's new constitution.

By contrast, the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's largest and best organized political group, was officially banned under Mubarak but established a nationwide network of activists who built a reputation for offering services to the poor. After Mubarak's fall, the group's Freedom and Justice Party campaigned fiercely, their organization and name-recognition giving them a big advantage over newly formed liberal parties.

Stakes are particularly high since the new parliament is supposed to oversee writing Egypt's new constitution. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which took control of the country when Mubarak fell, has tried to impose restrictions on membership in the 100-member drafting committee. The Muslim Brotherhood has said it will challenge the move, and a strong showing by Islamists in the elections could boost its popular mandate to do so.

Hamed, the Nour Party spokesman, said democracy can't pass laws that contradict religion.

"We endorse Egyptian democracy," he said. "However, I don't give absolute freedom to people to legislate to themselves and decide on what is right or wrong.

"We have God's laws that tell us that."

Iranian women do not like the new "Family Protection Bill"

And no wonder, the original bill re-enforces the Qur'anic tenet that allows Muslim men to take up to four wives(4-3), and they don't have to ask permission of any of the other wives to do this. Isn't that nice of Muhammad, to allow for this kind of gender equality.

This may blow up in the faces of the ruling party, we shall see.

From Payvand Iran News December 1

Iranian women fight controversial 'polygamy' bill

On a summer night in 2008, the wives of some Iranian members of Parliament started receiving phone calls. “Would you mind if I married your husband - just for a week?” asked the female voice on the end of the line.

The callers argued that taking another wife is a Muslim man’s right. By allowing it, the MPs’ wives would be performing a good Islamic deed. Some of the wives hung up in shock.

But marrying the MPs was the last thing the callers actually wanted. In reality, they were women’s rights activists opposed to a controversial “Family Protection Bill” which the Iranian government proposed in 2007.

The activists say they discovered that at least 65 male members of the country’s 290-strong parliament had two or more wives. This is despite the fact that polygamy contravenes the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which Iran has ratified. Article 23 stipulates that states must ensure that men and women have equal rights when marrying or at the dissolution of marriage.

If passed, “The Family Protection Bill” would reduce Iranian women’s rights even further, allowing men to take up to three additional wives without the consent or knowledge of their first spouse. Iranian law currently allows Muslim men to have up to four wives, but only after obtaining a court order demonstrating the permission of the first spouse and his ability to treat them all equally. For women who depend entirely on their husband’s income, sharing that with a second, third or fourth wife can mean severe financial hardship.

According to Shi’a Islam, Iranian men can already take any number of “temporary wives” without informing their first wife. The length of a temporary marriage is defined in advance and can last anything from hours to decades. Temporary wives generally face social ostracism, and their children may face difficulties in accessing public services such as education because if the marriage is unregistered, it may be hard for the mother to prove paternity.

Roya Kashefi of the Association of Iranian Researchers works closely with women’s rights activists in Iran.

“In Islam, family is the most important element within society,” she says.

Which Qur'an is she reading?

Read it all

The country with the highest rate of honor attacks is....

Nope, you're wrong. Not Saudi Arabia,or Yemen, or Iran, or Syria or any other Islamic country. The country with the highest number of honor attacks is England. Almost 3,000 women in 2010, it can be expected to rise for 2011.

A tragedy of Biblical proportions that the West does almost nothing about, simply because it is a cultural thing, and God forbid we mess with someone else's culture.

From The Mail Online December 3

Alarming rise of Muslim 'honour attacks' in the UK as police reveal thousands were carried out last year

Nearly 3,000 so-called honour attacks were recorded by police in Britain last year, new research has revealed.

According to figures obtained by the Iranian and Kurdish Women's Rights Organisation (Ikwro), at least 2,823 incidents of 'honour-based' violence took place, with the highest number recorded in London.

The charity said the statistics fail to provide the full picture of the levels of 'honour' violence in the UK , but are the best national estimate so far.

The data, taken from from 39 out of 52 UK forces, was released following a freedom of information request by Ikwro.

In total, eight police forces recorded more than 100 so called honour-related attacks in 2010.

The Metropolitan Police saw 495 incidents, with 378 reported in the West Midlands, 350 in West Yorkshire, 227 in Lancashire and 189 in Greater Manchester.

Cleveland recorded 153, while Suffolk and Bedfordshire saw 118 and 117 respectively, according to the figures.

Between the 12 forces able to provide figures from 2009, there was an overall 47 per cent rise in honour attack incidents.

Police in Northumbria saw a 305 per cent increase from 17 incidents in 2009 to 69 in 2010, while Cambridgeshire saw a 154 per cent jump from 11 to 28.

A quarter of police forces in the UK were unable or unwilling to provide data, Ikwro said.

The report stated: 'This is the first time that a national estimate has been provided in relation to reporting of honour-based violence.

'The number of incidents is significant, particularly when we consider the high levels of abuse that victims suffer before they seek help.'

'Honour' attacks are punishments usually carried out against Muslim women who have been accused of bringing shame on their family and in the past have included abductions, mutilations, beatings and murder.

Ikwro director Diana Nammi told the BBC that families often deny the existence of the attacks.

She said: 'The perpetrators will be even considered as a hero within the community because he is the one defending the family and community's honour and reputation.'

Calling for more support for victims, she added: 'For some cases, police and some organisations just help them up to a length of time, then they will stop. With honour-based violence, the threat may be a lifetime threat for them.

1400 years is a lifetime.

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The sickness that is Islam destroys young girls life before it begins

The depravity of Muslim males regarding females is as base as it gets, remember that it is women who must cover up lest their mere presence sets off the Muslim male, to where the frenzy of the little head knows no restraint.

This poor girl had no chance to live any kind of life; groomed for sex at an early age and then tossed away when the convenience of her lady parts wore out. She spoke up, and that got her murdered at age 17.

From The Mail Online December 2 by Rob Cooper

Groomed for sex at 12, stabbed to death at 17: Shocking life of white teenage mother murdered after Asian lover rejected her child

A teenage student stabbed to death and dumped in a canal was groomed for sexual exploitation by adults from the age of 12, it has been revealed.

Laura Wilson, 17, had been tracked by social services since 2005 after she was identified as being 'at risk' of sexual exploitation by British Pakistani men.

But their work focused on other girls who were more closely associated with abusers in Rotherham, South Yorkshire.

The white teenager was the victim of a cycle of sexual abuse and little was done to help her, Laura's family have claimed.

Rather than removing her from the situation, social services only carried out 'preventative' work to stop her falling into the clutches of abusers.

The student was murdered in October last year after bringing 'shame' on two Asian families.

She had a brief fling with married Ishaq Hussain, now 22, and became pregnant with his child while she

was in a sexual relationship with Ashitaq Asghar.

A few days before she was murdered and dumped in the canal she had revealed to the two families that she had had affairs with both men.

After being informed of the relationship, Asghar's mother apparently hit Laura with a shoe. she said her son would never have a baby with a white girl and called Laura a 'dirty white b****', and she should 'keep her legs closed'.

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Another fatwa in the wall

A fatwa is a religious ruling based in Islamic law (sharia) issued by a ruling Islamic fatwa council, made up of accepted and recognized religious leaders both within and outside a particular area. A fatwa carries the same weight as our civil laws and rules, the difference is hat we, as humans make our laws based in what is best for the society as a whole, taking into account social norms, history, current feelings and local customs. Islam bases all it's jurisprudence in one book, the Qur'an and virtually all of its interpretations of those laws in the hadiths of Muhammad. In other words, whatever Muhammad did way back in 620Ad is good enough for Muslims today.

Thus when a fatwa is issued, it is always based in the Qur'an and the behavior of Muhammad, as told by his peers and Islamic historians, starting with Ibn Ishaq. When you read a fatwa it is reflecting Islamic doctrine from 1400 years ago, and is usually not compatible with any Western concepts of fairness or freedoms.

Example; this latest fatwa from a very prominent and respected fatwa council and Sheikh. It justifies the kidnapping, imprisoning and sexual penetration of non-Muslim women. Most Muslims will not practice this, nor will they try to stop it. They will dismiss it with a wave of the hand, claiming that it is only that "Tiny Minority of Extremists" doing such dastardly deeds. By staying silent, they are complicit in the abuse of these women.

In this article, the Sheikh uses Qur'anic quotes to justify his ruling. Are there any "moderate" Muslims who will stand and tell us where this Sheikh has gotten Islam all wrong? Aslan? Hooper? Armstrong? Esposito? Anyone at all?

From MEMRI November 30

Fatwa Permits Mujahideen to Kidnap, Imprison, and Have Sexual Intercourse with Infidel Women

On October 28, 2011, the jihadi forum Minbar Al-Tawhid Wal-Jihad published a fatwa by Sheikh Abu Humam Al-Athari, a member of its shari'a council, in which he unequivocally permits mujahideen to capture the infidels' women and have sexual intercourse with them, even those who are married, on the claim that their marriage bonds to infidels are dissolved as soon as they are taken captive.

(...)Is it permissible to imprison [an infidel woman who has been taken captive] in an infidel land, or must she be brought to Dar Al-Islam [the abode of Islam]? How much time must one wait before having sexual intercourse with her, regarding both one who is a virgin and one who is not?"

Al-Athari replies: "There is no doubt that taking the women of the combatant infidels captive – whether they are from Ahl Al-Kitab [i.e., Christians or Jews] or pagans – is permitted according to the shari'a... That being said, it must be done only after [the spoils] has been divided by an imam in Dar Al-Islam; if there is no imam at hand, prisoners may not be taken..."

Al-Athari emphasizes that before deciding to take infidel women captive, "one must consider the gains and losses that will result from this deed, which is to say that if the imam of the Muslims in a given country believes that taking the infidels' women captive will lead the infidels to band together and rape the Muslims' women, and that the Muslims are in too weak a state to prevent this, he should forbid taking [infidel women] captive..."

Al-Athari notes that "there are too many proofs of the permissibility of taking the infidels' women captive to enumerate here, but we can divide them into two categories: 'general proofs' and 'concrete proofs.'" He explains that the "general proofs" are those which clarify that it is forbidden to violate the honor of Muslim women, but that this does not hold true regarding the infidel women...

Read it all

Rape victim in Afghanistan, sentenced to 12 then 3 years in prison, pardoned and released but will still marry her rapist

Only in Islam are women treated this way. A commodity to be used as men see fit. Imagine having to marry your rapist in order to save your life and that of your child. Could you do it?

I reported on this a few weeks ago, here is an update.

From AFP/Yahoo December 2 by Usman Sharifi

Afghan rape victim freed from jail, to marry attacker

The Afghan President Hamid Karzai has ordered the release of a woman who was jailed for adultery after being raped -- but she now faces having to marry her attacker, officials said.

The move came after some 5,000 people signed a petition for the release of the woman, named Gulnaz, who has served two years in prison after a relative raped her at her home. She has been raising the child she had by her attacker in a prison cell in Kabul.

The case again highlights the poor state of women's rights inAfghanistan, 10 years after a US-led invasion ousted the Taliban who were notorious for their harsh laws against women.

Elsewhere in Afghanistan on Thursday, it emerged that a teenage girl and her family were sprayed with acid after apparently rejecting a marriage proposal for her.

Following the outcry over Gulnaz's case, Karzai called a meeting where judicial officials decided to pardon her, said presidential spokesman Aimal Faizi.

But the officials also said that Gulnaz should marry the man who attacked her, due to fears she could be in danger if released because of the stigma surrounding her attack in Afghanistan.

She consented to the union, Faizi said.

"She agreed to the marriage but only if his (the attacker's) sister marries Gulnaz's brother," the spokesman added, explaining that this was a way to try and ensure Gulnaz was not attacked by the man in future.

Read it all

Q Society in Australia accused of spreading hate against Islam

Well, let's see. Here is one of three posters being distributed.

There is nothing incorrect on this poster, unless your multicultural perspective sees any criticism of Islam and Muslims as a hate crime. It is funny that the loudest protestations, from Andrew Fraser, Deputy Premier can only attack through generalities, he cannot dispute anything said. A typical tactic from those who know nothing about Islam except that it is a religion of peace.

From The Courier Mail December 1

Hate mail hits westside letterboxes

A Victorian group is being blamed for anti-Islamic propaganda being distributed on the westside.

Deputy Premier and Member for Mt Coot-tha Andrew Fraser has blasted the pamphlets, distributed by QSociety.

``There is no room in Queensland for hate politics,'' he said.

``The flyer makes a number of outrageous and false claims that the practice of Islam by many Australians threatens our food production, academic integrity in our schools, and equal access to public spaces.

``Modern Australia has a proud multicultural heritage. This kind of prejudicial rubbish has no place anywhere, let alone here in Queensland.''

On Monday, QSociety organised a Brisbane visit by controversial anti-Islamist US author Robert Spencer.

22 arrested in Britain while protesting "anti-Muslim" drone strikes

The "United Ummah" held a protest to complain about drone strikes killing innocent Muslims in Pakistan. Since we do not, and never have targeted innocent civilians, those we have terminated must have been with family or other hangers-on, or they were hiding in an area that was close to innocents. I am sorry for the loss of life, the enemy takes many forms and hides in many places, we cannot take the time to determine if there are a few innocents at the location. It is not our responsibility to knock on a door and ask who else is inside, when we know the person(s) we want are behind that door.

War is hell and non-combatants die. So does the enemy, and we must never forget that.

From DAWN December 1

UK arrests 22 in drone demonstration

LONDON: British police say 22 people have been arrested outside of the US Embassy in London during a protest over the American use of drones in Pakistan.

Scotland Yard confirmed the arrests on Friday at the demonstration, organised by a group calling itself ”United Ummah.”

Police said 20 people were arrested on suspicion of being members of a group banned by the Home Office. It would not say what group it believed the suspects belong to. One other person was arrested for violent disorder and another for obstruction.

”United Ummah” does not appear on the Home Office’s list of banned groups, but prescribed organisations have rebranded themselves in the past after they were featured.

The demonstration was advertised online – on YouTube, Twitter and various forums – and in a publicity video as a gathering to expose ”the recent spate of anti-Muslim drone strikes that have been launched by the US government against innocent Muslims.”

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Long-time advocate for the people of Pakistan kidnapped by Al-Qaeda

Warren Weinstein has been working as a NGO in Pakistan, trying his best to improve the lives of the impoverished. After 5 years in-country he is kidnapped, used as a tool for the glory of Allah and jihad. At 70 years old he may not survive his ordeal, let's hope and pray he gets out alive.

The only demands for his release are for the U.S. to release all Taliban and Al-Qaeda suspects held in jails around the world. A simple request with an impossible success; the U.S. has little pull to tell countries to release convicted prisoners.

From the BBC December 1

Al-Qaeda says it kidnapped Warren Weinstein in Pakistan

Al-Qaeda says it has 70-year-old US aid expert Warren Weinstein, who was kidnapped by armed men in the Pakistani city of Lahore nearly four months ago.

In a video, al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri said he would be freed if the US stopped air strikes in Afghanistan and Pakistan, among other demands.

Mr Weinstein is a former USAID worker who has lived in Pakistan for five years.

US officials have not said publicly who they believed was holding him.

"Just as the Americans detain whomever they suspect may be connected to al-Qaeda or the Taliban even in the slightest of ways, we have detained this man who has been involved with US aid to Pakistan since the 1970s," Zawahiri said in the 31-minute video.

'Retaliation'

He also demanded that America stop air strikes on Somalia and Yemen, according to a US monitoring group, Site Intelligence.

Zawahiri confirmed, too, an announcement by US officials in August that his Libyan deputy, Atiyah Abd al-Rahman, had been killed in an air strike in Pakistan's north-western tribal region.And he called for the release of al-Qaeda and Taliban suspects around the world, including the 1993 World Trade Center bombers.

"The retaliation, with permission from Allah, will be taken against those crusader Westerners who killed him [Rahman] and his two sons, and killed hundreds of thousands of our brothers, sons, women, and sheikhs, and occupied our countries [and] looted our wealth," said Zawahiri.

He took over at the top of the militant network this year after Osama Bin Laden was killed in May by US special forces at his hideout in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad.

In the video, Zawahiri reportedly addressed Mr Weinstein's family, telling them not to believe any claim by US President Barack Obama that he would try to free the hostage.

"He might say to you, 'I sought to release your relative, but al-Qaeda was stubborn.' Do not believe him," Zawahiri was quoting as saying.

"He might say to you, 'I tried to contact them and they did not answer.' Do not believe him."

Twelve days after Mr Weinstein's abduction on 13 August, Lahore police said he had been freed, but they then retracted the claim. The US embassy in Islamabad said at the time it had no evidence he had been released.

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Women drivers cause homosexuality, says Saudi Arabia

OK, what medication are they taking over there? This is one of the most absurd and surreal claims I have heard in a long time, but not surprising considering past claims by Islam of Zionist sharks, rats, snakes and fenugreek seeds. Also it is claimed that women drivers will cause a shortage of virgins in paradise. Obviously they will all be out speeding, applying make-up while driving and running the kids to soccer practice so there will be no time to be a virgin.

With this possible lack of virgins, now is not the time to become a Muslim.

From The Mail Online December 1

Saudis fear there will be ‘no more virgins’ and people will turn gay if female drive ban is lifted

Repealing a ban on women drivers in Saudi Arabia would result in ‘no more virgins’, the country’s religious council has warned.

A ‘scientific’ report claims relaxing the ban would also see more Saudis - both men and women - turn to homosexuality and pornography.

The startling conclusions were drawn by Muslim scholars at the Majlis al-Ifta’ al-A’ala, Saudi Arabia’s highest religious council, working in conjunction with Kamal Subhi, a former professor at the King Fahd University.

Their report assessed the possible impact of repealing the ban in Saudi Arabia, the only country in the world where women are not allowed behind the wheel.

It was delivered to all 150 members of the Shura Council, the country’s legislative body.

The report warns that allowing women to drive would ‘provoke a surge in prostitution, pornography, homosexuality and divorce’.

Within ten years of the ban being lifted, the report’s authors claim, there would be ‘no more virgins’ in the Islamic kingdom.

And it pointed out ‘moral decline’ could already be seen in other Muslim countries where women are allowed to drive.

In the report Professor Subhi described sitting in a coffee shop in an unnamed Arab state.

‘All the women were looking at me,’ he wrote. ‘One made a gesture that made it clear she was available... this is what happens when women are allowed to drive.

Read it all’

Salafists in Tunisia; spreading Islam by the sword

Spreading the joy and wisdom of Islam, Salafists in Tunisia stormed a university, demanding veiled women and segregated classes. With their power growing throughout the region, expect to see sharia laws such as the ones they are demanding to be implemented on a wider scale in the coming months.

From Middle East Online November 29

Salafists besiege Tunisian university: Dean, professors taken hostage

Plotting extermination in Tunisia

TUNIS - A group of Salafists disrupted classes on Monday at a university west of the capital Tunis, demanding a stop to mixed-sex classes and for female students to wear full face veils, officials said.

The mob of Salafists also took hostage the dean of the University of Letters, Arts, and Humanities of Manouba along with several other professors.

One of the professors who witnessed the protest said the group threatened him and verbally abused other professors. The professor called on the protection of the army, but no security forces had yet been confirmed arrived.

"A group of Salafists, dressed like the Afghans, have been camped in front of my office since early afternoon," Habib Kazdaghli, the dean of faculty at the University of Manuba, said.

The group of several dozen students interrupted an English class in the morning, Kazdaghli said.

"They want girls to wear the niqab, a mosque in the middle of the campus, a stop to mixed classes and a prohibition of women teaching male students and vice versa," he said, adding that it marked the first such incident on campus.

Tunisia's Salafists have become more assertive in recent months, following the revolution that ousted a staunchly secular regime along with president Zine el Abidine Ben Ali in January following mass protests.

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England expels Iranian ambassador; Iran threatens retaliation

Lets see; Britain supports new sanctions against Iran, Iran calls for demonstrations against Britain, protesters lay siege to the British embassy, ransack said premises, Britain responds by kicking Iran diplomatic corps out of England, Iran threatens attacks against Britain.

That explains everything. It's all England's fault.

From YNet November 30 by Dudi Cohen

Iran: UK will suffer consequences of envoy's expulsion

Europe is turning on the pressure on Iran , as the Islamic Republic strikes back: Iranian parliament's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman Aladdin Burucerdi warned Wednesday that the UK will suffer "the consequences" of its decision to expel Iranian diplomats stationed in London following the storming of its embassy in Tehran on Tuesday.

Following the announcement by UK's Foreign Secretary William Hague on Wednesday, Burucerdi called other European countries to avoid taking similar measures, after Germany, the Netherlands, France and Italy had already taken diplomatic steps against Iran.

"We recommend that other European countries avoid following in Britain's and the Unites States' footsteps," Burucerdi said. "The parliament approved downgrading the diplomatic relations with Britain but Iran's public is pleased that the British diplomats are no longer in Tehran."

Earlier, Iran said Britain's decision to close the Iranian embassy in London was "hasty" and that it would lead to further retaliation: "The foreign ministry spokesman ... described the move as ... hasty and added that naturally the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran would take further appropriate action regarding the issue," Tehran's state TV reported.

Meanwhile, the Iranian news agency Fars reported that Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu had spoken with his British and Iranian counterparts in an attempt to defuse the growing tension between Tehran and London. It was also reported that Davutoglu is set to meet with Iran's Atomic Energy Organization and Foreign Minister Ali Akhbar Salahi, in an upcoming conference in Saudi Arabia.

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Reverse justice in Iran

Rather than prosecute the protesters arrested for breaking into the British embassy the other day, they are released and praised for their actions by the government. The embassy is now closed and shuttered, the personnel gone and with that, tensions rise and the pot starts to slow boil.

From AP/Yahoo November 30 by Nasser Karimi

Iran releases students who stormed British Embassy

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran has released 11 hardline protesters detained for storming the British Embassy and diplomatic compounds in Tehran this week, the semi-official Fars news agency said Thursday.

Fars said 11 people, described as students, were set free late on Wednesday, a day after they were arrested for storming and ransacking the embassy and British diplomatic compounds in Tehran.

There was no immediate explanation for the release. Under Iranian law, damaging property carries a prison term of up to three years. It could, however, indicate the 11 have high-level protection from circles within the Iranian establishment.

The storming of the compounds was preceded by an apparently state-approved rally outside the British Embassy to denounceBritain's support for the latest round of U.S. sanctions on Iran over its controversial nuclear program.

The incident has deepened Iran's isolation and significantly escalated tensions with the West.

It prompted Britain to pull its diplomats out of Iran, shutter the ransacked embassy and order all Iranian diplomats out of the U.K. within 48 hours. Germany, France and the Netherlands have recalled their ambassadors in solidarity.

Tuesday's rampage went on for hours, with the mob hauling down Union Jack flags, torching a vehicle and tossing looted documents through windows. Protesters replaced the British flag with a banner in the name of a 7th-century Shiite saint, Imam Hussein, and one looter showed off a picture of Queen Elizabeth II apparently taken off a wall.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has remained silent on the incident but Iran's foreign ministry expressed regret and called the embassy assault "unacceptable."

However, hard-liners have spoken out in support of the protesters. Mohammad Mohammadian, a representative of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, praised the attackers, saying they had targeted the "epicenter of sedition."

And Iran's Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said the "wrath of (the protesters) resulted from several decades of domination-seeking behavior of Britain."

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Thousands of Muslims go on rampage in Egypt, murder two Copts

It all started because of what most would consider a minor problem; construction materials stacked in the street in front of a house. The neighbor, a Muslim thought the other neighbor, a Coptic Christian was expanding his house into the street and, instead of calling the authorities called the Salafists. The result was another rampage from the religion of peace against the "people of the book"(5-51)

The Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafists just won the first round of elections in Egypt; the Copts will suffer even more as power is consolidated.

From AINA November 30 by Mary Abdelmassih

Thousands of Muslims Attack Christians in Egypt, 2 Killed, Homes and Stores Torched

(AINA) -- Thousands of Muslims attacked and besieged Copts in elGhorayzat village, population 80,000, killing two Copts and severely wounding others, as well as looting and torching homes and businesses. A quarrel between a Copt, John Hosni, and Mahmoud Abdel-Nazeer, who later died in hospital, turned into collective punishment of all Copts in the majority Christian village of elGhorayzat, in the Maragha district of Sohag province. Muslims vowed not to bury Abdel-Nazeer until John Hosni is punished. Mr. Hosni fled from the village with his family, "fearing a wholesale massacre of Copts," reported activist Mariam Ragy.

The events started on Monday, November 28, when John Hosni, a building supplier, had a quarrel with his neighbor, Mahmoud Abdel-Nazeer (48), over some steel rods and cement Mr. Hosni had left in the street to use for erecting a wall around his house. This was perceived by Mr. Abdel-Nazeer as extending the home into the street, which is public property. "Instead of reporting this building transgression to the police or local authorities, Abdel-Nazeer took the matter in his own hands and brought some Salafists and torched the store and the home of the Copt," said an eyewitness.

In the altercation between the neighbors, Mr. Hosni hit Abdel-Nazeer in the head with a wooden branch, which lead to his death later in hospital.

Angry Muslims murdered two Christian brothers, Kamel Tamer Ibrahim (55) and Kameel Tamer Ibrahim (50), in revenge. The brothers were not a party to the altercation. Kamel Tamer, who was defending his shop from looting, was murdered in front of his wife. His brother was also murdered in front of his wife for defending his home (video of the murdered Copts. WARNING: contains highly graphic content).

Three other Christians, Maher Samir Gota, his wife, and his brother Osama Samir Gota, were severely injured and are in intensive care. They were in their homes when their shop was broken into and looted by Muslims. Maher and his wife were stabbed and Osama received a blow on the head. The ambulance could not go to them to transport them to hospital. He was privately transported by his friends. There were reports of Muslims preventing the fire brigades from reaching the burning homes.

After killing the Copts, Muslims went on a rampage, looting and burning Christian owned homes and businesses.

Despite killing the two Coptic brothers the Muslims insist they have not yet avenged Abdel-Nazeer's death.

"This is not revenge; this is simply an excuse to kill people because they are Christians, as well as loot their property," said an eyewitness.

"Security was present in all the streets, and protected the churches, but they did nothing in the face of Muslims killings, looting and torching of Christian property,", said another eyewitness, who managed to get out of the village "by a miracle," as he put it, leaving all his belongings and money behind. "We do not know whether we will be able to go back to the village as the Muslims refuse to bury the dead Muslim before killing all Copts in the village."

He added that Muslims are openly walking the streets carrying firearms and clubs while the police standby and do nothing. The number of police is not enough, there are 500 Muslims for every one policeman.

Most Western countries have a ratio much higher yet do not worry about whether the numbers are enough, as respect for the rule of law trumps religious obedience. A fundamental difference between Islam and the rest of the world.

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