Minaret of Freedom Weblog

“So far, there has been no known friction with conservatives over the new excavations” of non-Muslim sites, but “hard-liners have been known to raze even ancient Islamic sites to ensure that they do not become objects of veneration”:

• Digging up the Saudi Past: Some Would Rather Not (AP / Washington Post)

McChrystal compares “the US military to a bull charging at the matador-like Taliban and slightly weakened with each ‘cut’ it receives” …

• Afghanistan Strategy Not Working, US Commander McChrystal to Tell Obama (Guardian)

… but Anthony Cordesman thinks no strategy can succeed short-term:

• How to Lose in Afghanistan (Washington Post)

The Meghrabi controversy is not over:

• Lockerbie Bomber: Megrahi’s Lawyer to Release Dossier ‘Proving’ His Innocence (Telegraph)

“I don’t think the reconciliation will include a review of the election or delegitimize Ahmadinejad. It will look at the torture accusation and it will basically smooth out the court procedure to remove all the hard-line accusations” – Mustafa Alani:

• Panel in Iran Will Oversee Investigations Into Unrest (NY Times)

Despite US attempts to reduce the scope of it’s responsibilities in Iraq, funding needs are likely to exceed $1.8 billion annually:

• Embassy Costs to Rise in Baghdad (Washington Post)

Emphasizing the radical nature of the BJP party, Jaswant Singh is expelled over a sympathetic portrayal of Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founding father of Pakistan in his book:

• Expelled Leader Attacks India’s BJP (Al Jazeera)

Critics dismiss the charges as “blood libel” and “anti-Semitic”; Alison Weir examines the evidence and testimony for  such charges:

• Israeli Organ Harvesting (Counterpunch)

Larijani moves to depoliticize the issue:

• Prosecutor in Iranian Opposition Trials Is Fired (Washington Post)

Other Middle Eastern nations could benefit from emulating the school program designed to promote tolerance and unity in Lebanon:

• In Fractured Lebanon, Starting Reconciliation at a Young Age (Christian Science Monitor)

Prisoner acquiescence is not a indication of the effectiveness of torture:

• How a Detainee Became An Asset (Washington Post)

Any rift in US-Pakistani relations would be a major setback for US interest in fighting Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Northern Pakistan:

• U.S. Says Pakistan Made Changes to Missiles Sold for Defense (NY Times)

With US public support waning, Obama attempts to fulfill his promise of “clear benchmarks” indicating progress in Afghanistan:

• U.S. Sets Metrics to Assess War Success (Washington Post)

Accusations of electoral fraud could come to ahead if Karzai manages to meet the 50.1% of the vote required to prevent a run-off:

• Tally in Afghanistan Shows Karzai Lead Widening (NY Times)

The founder of the rebel movement denies Agwai’s parting assessment:

• UN Peacekeeping Chief Says Darfur War Over (Christian Science Monitor)

Legislation proposed to protect journalists actually consolidates government regulation and could serve to severely restrict freedom of the press:

• Protecting Journalists in Iraq (Guardian)

Ahmadinejad says, “those caught up in the unrest should be freed, but the leaders should face justice”:

• Iran President Wants Opposition Leaders Punished (Reuters / Washington Post)

Although a meeting between Netanyahu and Abbas may occur next month, peace negotiations are likely to stall once again:

• Palestinians Say Full Settlement Freeze is Precondition to New Peace Talks (Christian Science Monitor)

While the US takes responsibility for only 19 casualties, the relatively short 8 week test period included over 250 civilian deaths…

• Afghan Civilian Deaths Decline Under New U.S. Tactics (LA Times)

… Admiral Mullen warns that US attempts to win over Muslim populations fall short because “we need to worry a lot less about how to communicate our actions and much more about what our actions communicate”:

• Message to Muslim World Gets a Critique (NY Times)

Given the internal political disputes of Iran, experts agree the Nuclear program is unlikely to see a huge boost in priority or development:

• Nuclear Drive a Casualty of Iran’s Turmoil (LA Times)

As supreme leader Khamenei dismisses the idea that protesters were backed by Western forces …

• Iran Protests Not ‘Foreign Backed’ (Al Jazeera)

… Grand Ayatollah Montazeri echoes our open letter to Khamenei, complaining “that this ruling system is neither a republic nor Islamic and that nobody has the right to express opinion or criticism”:

• Senior Iranian Cleric Calls System a Dictatorship (AP / Washington Post)

Leaving a major void in political leadership, will al-Maliki’s exclusion from the Shi’ite bloc be reconsidered:

• Largest Shiite Party In Iraq Loses Leader (Washington Post)

The devastating drought threatens a total blackout in the city of Nasiriyah:

• Water Shortage Threatens Two Million People in Southern Iraq (Guardian)

Will the Bush-era policy of backing warlords to provide stability continue in the Obama administration:

• Alleged Drug Ties of Top Afghan Official Worry U.S. (NY Times)

Fear of radicalism has curbed any progress towards democracy and liberty:

• Islamic Radicalism Slows Moroccan Reforms (NY Times)

With the election much closer than previously believed, Abdullah produces video evidence which he claims illustrates “that state-engineered fraud has been underway”…

• Karzai Slightly Ahead in Partial Vote Count (Washington Post)

The documents underscore that officials in Washington so closely supervised the program that an investigation limited to ” so-called rogue interrogators would be completely inadequate”:

• Report Shows Tight C.I.A. Control on Interrogations (NY Times)

The systematic removal of political opposition only serves short term goals and will eventually work to undermine the regime:

• Iranian Hard-Liners Target 2 Major Reform Parties (LA Times)

As an Israeli municipality, having deprived thousands of Muslims of their historic mosque for decades, now wants to turn it into a museum …

• Palestinians in Israel Fight to Reclaim Beersheva’s Great Mosque (The Rebel)

… Obama seems to cave on the settlement issue, expecting only a partial freeze, …

• Barack Obama on Brink of Deal for Middle East Peace Talks (Guardian)

… While the PLO leadership’s credibility is slipping away:

• PLO Holds Poll Amid Criticism (Al Jazeera)

Women’s rights issues go far beyond the burka, the West’s favorite symbol of Muslim misogyny:

• Don’t be Outraged for Muslim Women (Guardian)

Senator Wyden suggests the investigation passes over “Justice Department lawyers and senior Bush administration officials” while “lower ranking troops who committed abuses were hung out to dry'”…

• C.I.A. Abuse Cases Detailed in Report on Detainees (NY Times)

… Meanwhile, the Obama administration will continue the practice of transferring prisoners abroad with “diplomatic assurances” that torture will not be used:

• U.S. Says Rendition to Continue, but With More Oversight (NY Times)

The conservative political alliance, which has close ties to Iran, could completely reshape Iraqi leadership for the election slated in January:

• Major Shiite Political Parties Exclude Maliki in Forming Coalition (Washington Post)

Israeli policy continues to steal Palestinian land and leaves any future state resembling a piece of swiss cheese…

• How Settlements in the West Bank are Creating a New Reality, Brick by Brick (Guardian)

… However, some Palestinians refuse to surrender their homes without a fight:

• Evicted Palestinians Camp by Home Taken by Settlers (Reuters / Washington Post)

Lawyers for the youngest Guantanamo detainee claim he was only 12 years old when he was sent to the prison seven years ago:

• Guantanamo Detainee Returns Home (Al Jazeera)

Denying that unsuccessful attempts to get the defendant to appeal her sentence are a response to international pressure, Malaysia insists “the government wants to ensure that the spirit of the Islamic legal system was implemented properly”:

• Malaysian Court Puts Caning of Woman on Hold (AP / Washington Post)

As accusations of abuse, rape and “Abu Ghraib-style sexual humiliations” damage the credibility of Ahmadinejad’s regime…

• Iranian Boy Who defied Tehran Hardliners Tells of Prison Rape Ordeal (Times Online)

… the legislature allocates $20 million to investigate human right abuses by the US in retaliation of the $55 million spent by the US to document human right abuses in Iran…

• Iranians Seek Out Abuses By U.S. (Washington Post)

… while improving transparency in US detention policy progresses slowly:

• Red Cross to Get Data on Prisoners Held in Secret at U.S. Camps (Washington Post)
• Justice Dept. Report Advises Pursuing C.I.A. Abuse Cases (NY Times)

Echoing the election crisis in Iran, few election outcomes are predicted to be widely accepted and bring stability:

• Afghan Elections: What Might Happen Next (Christian Science Monitor)

100,000 people have fled their homes after Shia rebels reject the government’s Ramadan truce proposal:

• Fighting in Yemen Escalates (LA Times)

Underfunded and devastated by Israeli invasion,

• Gaza Schools Reopen Amid Problems (Al Jazeera)

Deprived of both his visiting professorship at Erasmus University and his advisory position to the city of Rotterdam, Tariq Ramadan sends an open letter to his detractors:

• Choosing the Path of Critical Debate on Iran (MR Magazine)

Some don’t share the optimism over the fact that Sunnis and Shia began fasting on the same day for the first time in ten years …

• Sunnis and Shiites See an Omen for Reconciliation in Iraq (NY Times)

… and Iraqis fear political motivated violence will continue to rise ahead of elections scheduled for January:

• In Iraq’s Capital, Fear of Violence Makes for a Quiet Beginning to Ramadan (LA Times)

“His core message … is ‘to suggest’ to his new colleagues that there is nothing to fear in recognising the notion of a Jewish state. ‘The correct response is that we will not recognise an Israel defined by political Zionism’:

• Why Israeli Jew Uri Davis Joined Fatah to Save Palestine (Guardian)

“Women’s rights activists” and conservative clerics both oppose Ahmadinejad’s appointment of women to the cabinet:

• Cabinet Nominees Criticized In Iran (Washington Post)

Will the election results be considered legitimate and widely accepted by the Afghani population?

• Intimidation and Fraud Observed in Afghan Election (NY Times)

An opportunity for interfaith dialogue as Muslims rent space in a synagogue to accommodate the surging population during the month of Ramadan:

• Abundant Faith, Shrinking Space (Washington Post)

If upheld, the ruling would take away what attorney David Cole calls “a blunt sledgehammer that permits the government to shut down charities indefinitely without any finding of wrongdoing”:

• Federal Court Rules U.S. Seizure of Muslim Charity’s Assets Unconstitutional (The Public Record)

In the wake of the arrest of five New Jersey rabbis for illegal body part sales, a leftist paper’s explosive claim provokes cries of anti-Semitism from a liberal rival:

• Top Sweden Newspaper Says IDF Kills Palestinians for Their Organs (Haaretz)

The 19-year-old “making her debut in a regional women’s league … has not said if she will play without the scarf”:

• Swiss Basketball Body Forbids Muslim Headscarf (AP/ Washington Post)

Holbroke says he “would not be surprised if you see candidates claiming victory and fraud in the next few days”:

• Afghan Election Called a Success Despite Attacks (NY Times)

As U.S. drones continue to hit the border areas …

• Officials Say US Missile Kills 12 in NW Pakistan (AP / Washington Post)

… Zardari panders to Beijing’s yearning for endorsement from Muslim countries for policies critics say “suppressed Uighur religious life”:

• Pakistan Leader Backs China over Xinjiang (AP / Washington Post)

The “only person convicted in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing” continues to maintain his innocence:

• Anger Grows over Hero’s Welcome for Libyan Convict (NY Times)

A Kremlin source calls the rebels’ claim of responsibility for destruction of a dam “idiotic”:

• Chechen Rebels Declare “Economic War”: Website (Reuters)

Ahmadinejad’s proposed cabinet filled with “loyalists and little-known figures” faces a hard sell in the parliament:

• Critics Purged as Ahmadinejad Nominates New Iran Cabinet (AP / Guardian)
• Iran Parliament to Reject Ahmadinejad Ministers:  Lawmakers (Reuters)

An assassination scheme approved in 2004 was only brought to the attention of Congress this June:

• C.I.A. Sought Blackwater’s Help in Plan to Kill Jihadists (NY Times)

Amid intimidation of voters in the south, Obama observers express confidence about transparency of voting, but not about the vote counting:

• Turnout Seen as Uneven in Afghanistan as Polls Close (NY Times)
• Vote Count Starts in Afghan Poll (BBC)

With 631 casualties, the blasts challenge Maliki’s ability to maintain security:

• Iraq Bombings Kill 95 (LA Times)

Denied her request for a public punishment that she hoped would convince other Muslims  not to drink,

• Model to Be Caned for Drinking Beer in Malaysian Bar (Guardian)

Taliban deputy’s claim to power “may fuel rifts” the leadership:

• Pakistani Taliban Deputy Chief Says Takes Command (Reuters)

After the Taliban “bombed or set fire to 230 of Swat’s 1,600 public and private school buildings” (sparing the religious schools), students return to study in unventilated tents:

• School is H-O-T in Pakistan’s Swat Valley (LA Times)