News and Analysis (10/4/11)

US officials affirm the meetings while MB officials deny them; Israeli backers are nervous:

• U.S. Meet with Egypt Islamists (Reuters / Daily Star)

According to the Amnesty study, the elderly parents of a US-based Syrian were badly beaten and locked in their bathroom in the city of Homs after their son – a pianist and composer – was filmed performing at a pro-reform demonstration in front of the White House

• Syria Accused of Torturing Relatives of Overseas Activists (Guardian)

Despite “relatively positive relations” between the Seattle Muslims and “local law enforcement agencies,” S. Arsalan Bukhari,” of the Seattle chapter of CAIR, notes that “a  ‘cottage industry’ has been built up around the country of people who claim to be experts on Islam and have instead been spreading lies and misinformation, sometimes with the backing of agencies like the FBI”:

While we agree he should have the same right as Jewish prisoners, perhaps Abdul Awkal should be more concerend with Allah’s wrath over the fact that he killed his estranged wife and brother-in-law than over being forced to eat meat not formally slaughtered in a strictly Islamic fashion:

• Ohio Muslim Inmates Sue over Meal Preparation (Taiwan News)

“The list includes a series of incidents in which soldiers allegedly shot or bombed civilians. In one, they are suspected of killing a man who was praying in a field. In another, a man was shot collecting grass and rocks near a firing range”:

• UK Forces’ Attacks on Afghan Civilians Investigated by Military Police (Guardian)

Dissatisfied with Pakistan’s cooperation investigating the Rabbani assassination, Afghanistan turns to India:

• Afghans: Pakistan Won’t Help Probe Rabbani’s Death (abc News)
• Afghanistan and India Sign ‘Strategic Partnership’ (BBC)

“The truck bomb, driven by two suicide bombers, struck a building compound housing government employees, and killed scores of college students queuing up for results of a scholarship program that would have allowed many Somali students to study in Turkey”:

• Somalia Truck Bombing: Is Al Shabab Back in Mogadishu? (Christian Science Monitor)

“Muslims should not adopt violent ways in response to the provoking acts by miscreants because they first provoke Muslims then as per pre-planned program they destroy properties and lives of Muslims with the help of communal minded Police. If there is anything wrong, consult to regional Muslim leaders who should take it to the authorities – Shahi Imam of Delhi Jama Masjid, Maulana Ahmad Bukhari:

• Rudrapur Killings: Muslim Leaders Demand Punishment for Guilty Officials (twocircles.net)

The “campaign of sectarian violence … has exposed Islamabad’s inability to protect minorities”:

• Pakistan: Gunmen Execute Shiite Muslims (Huffington Post)

ImadadDean