USA: Second 'House Of Horrors' Abortion Clinic Where Doctor 'Twisted Heads Off Fetus' Necks With His Bare Hands' Is Investigated In Texas. Oh Dear LORD! Another Monster Is Coming To Light

The Daily Mail UK

Second 'house of horrors' abortion clinic where doctor 'twisted heads off fetus' necks with his bare hands' is investigated in Texas

written by Helen Pow

Thursday May 16, 2013

A second 'house of horrors' abortion clinic is being investigated in Texas, just days after Dr Kermit Gosnell was found guilty of murdering newborns at his Philadelphia termination center.

Houston doctor Douglas Karpen is accused by four former employees of delivering live fetuses during third-trimester abortions and killing them by either snipping their spinal cord, stabbing a surgical instrument into their heads or 'twisting their heads off their necks with his own bare hands'.

Other times the fetus was so big he would have to pull it out of the womb in pieces, Karpen's ex-assistant, Deborah Edge, said in an Operation Rescue video, which has prompted a criminal investigation into the doctor.

'Sometimes he couldn't get the fetus out... he would yank pieces – piece by piece – when they were oversize,' Edge explained.

'And I'm talking about the whole floor dirty. I'm talking about me drenched in blood.'

Two of Edge's colleagues, Gigi Aguliar, and Krystal Rodriguez, also described the hellish scenes which took place at the Aaron Women's Clinic in Houston in 2011, and possibly two other abortion clinics run by Karpen in Texas.

Another staffer, who remains anonymous, filed an affidavit with her account of events, which the Texas Department of State Health Services is using in its investigation.

'We have several people looking into the allegations,' Harris County District Attorney spokesman Sara Marie Kinney told Chron.com.

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said he had read the allegations 'with disgust' before calling for a full investigation into Karpen and his clinics.

Lifenews.com, an anti-abortion news website, has published cell phone photographs taken by the employees of fetuses with gashes in their necks after they were killed at the clinic, though these are far too gruesome for MailOnline to show.

Edge said fetuses were killed well after 24 weeks gestation at the Houston clinic, which resulted in a sweat-inducing job that took about an hour per procedure. She said every morning on multiple occasions she would see fetuses born alive and then quickly killed by the doctor.

'When he did an abortion, especially an over 20 week abortion, most of the time the fetus would come completely out before he either cut the spinal cord or he introduced one of the instruments into the soft spot of the fetus in order to kill it.... or actually twisting the head off the neck with his own bare hands,' she explained.

'It was still alive because it was still moving and you could see the stomach breathing.'

The women described one occasion where a fetus that Karpen thought was dead suddenly 'opened its eyes and grabbed (the doctor's) finger' after he wrenched it from the womb. However, it met a similar fate to the other fetuses at the clinic, the women said.

'He thought it was dead but the fetus actually opened its eyes and grabbed his finger,' Aguliar said. 'He was alive. He thought it was deceased already. He was getting ready to put it in the back.'

They also recounted occasions when women were so far along with their pregnancy they were actually induced into labor and in two cases their fetus' came out while they were in the bathroom.

Rodriguez described another incident where a patient's fetus fell from her and onto the floor in the clinic's waiting room.

'(Karpen) just picked it up with a Chux and put it in the trash bag,' she said.

According to Rodriguez, as long as patients had the cash, Karpen would perform an abortion well past 24 weeks. A late-term procedure cost between $4,000 and $5,000 at the clinic, they said in the video which was filmed as the clinic was still operating and released on Wednesday.

Edge said she regularly got upset during her work and couldn't watch when Karpen allegedly killed the newborns. But she said she didn't know that what he was doing was illegal.

'We used to look at each other and sometimes our tears would come out with the other assistants,' Edge said. 'We would always think "he's so greedy."'

USA: Senate Democrats Object to Resolution to Investigate 'Gosnell-Like' Abortion Practices

Breitbart's BIG Government

Senate Dems Object to Resolution to Investigate 'Gosnell-Like' Abortion Practices

written by Dr. Susan Berry

Friday May 17, 2013

For a second time, Senate Democrats have objected to a resolution introduced by Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) that calls upon the Senate to review public policies that led to the illegal abortion practices of Kermit Gosnell and others like him.

Kermit Gosnell was convicted of three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of infants born alive during abortion procedures. He and his staff “snipped” the spinal cords of babies who survived botched late-term abortions.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) claimed for a second time that the resolution should address other health care workers, such as dentists, engaging in objectionable practices, rather than focusing solely on abortion practices.

Blumenthal, whose chief of staff is Laurie Rubiner, a former executive with Planned Parenthood Federation of America, stated:

I believe this problem is broader than the issue cited in Senator Lee’s resolution. I believe the misconduct alleged in the Gosnell case was abhorrent, but I’m also concerned about patient safety in all instances. Any time patient safety is threatened because of criminal behavior or malpractice whether in clinics, hospitals, or dental offices, the perpetrator should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

Lee’s resolution has 26 additional cosponsors and resolves that “Congress and States should gather information about and correct abusive, unsanitary, and illegal abortion practices and the interstate referral of women and girls to facilities engaged in dangerous or illegal second- and third-trimester procedures.”

In addition, Lee’s resolution recognizes that “there is substantial medical evidence that an unborn child is capable of experiencing pain at 20 weeks after fertilization, or earlier.” It also argues that “there is compelling governmental interest in protecting the lives of unborn children beginning at least from the stage at which substantial medical evidence indicates that they are capable of feeling pain.”

In response to objections from Blumenthal and other Senate Democrats, Lee said, “With numerous reports of similar instances surfacing around the country, the need for greater regulatory oversight of these so-called clinics is so plainly obvious it strains the limits of disbelief to think all members of the Senate would not agree.”

USA: More Than 60 Injured, 5 Critically, After Two Passenger Trains Collide Near Fairfield, Connecticut

The NY Daily news

More than 60 injured, 5 critically, after two trains collide near Fairfield, Conn

written by Pete Donohue, Denis Slattery and Thomas Tracy

Friday May 17, 2013

More than 60 people were hospitalized Friday — five critically — when a Metro-North train derailed and slammed into an oncoming train in Connecticut.

Officials said a New Haven-bound commuter train flew off the tracks near the Fairfield station during a “major derailment” at 6:10 p.m. and collided with a Manhattan-bound Metro-North train on an adjacent track.

It was unclear how fast the two trains were going, but Anthony Bottalico, a general chairman for the Association of Commuter Rail Employees, estimated that the New Haven-bound train was going more than 60 mph before derailing, plowing through the dirt and hitting the oncoming train.

“It’s a miracle nobody was killed,” he said, speculating that a rail either broke or was pushed out of alignment under the train’s weight.

Both the tracks and the overhead wires that power the trains were damaged, officials said.

The derailed train apparently clipped the front of the oncoming train then scraped along its side, officials said.

About 700 people were thrown about the two trains when they collided, said MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan.

Passengers like Lola Oliver, 49, found themselves flying in mid-air.

“Finally I came to a stop on one of the seats. And I just gripped it because I felt the train sliding,” Oliver said. “It happened so fast I had no idea what was going on. All I know is we crashed.”

Passenger Bradley Agar said he was in the first car of the Manhattan-bound train when he heard screaming and the window smash behind him.

“I saw the first hit, the bump, bump, bump all the way down,” said Agar, who had just returned to work after he broke his shoulder in January. Agar thought it would be safer to take Metro-North to work rather than drive while he healed, he said.

“It's clear these cars came into contact and ripped off at least a portion of siding of one of the cars,” Connecticut Gov. Dannell P. Malloy told reporters. “(There was) extensive damage in the front and the wheels and that system is sticking into the other train."

“It wasn’t a straight head-on collision, but the fronts of the two trains struck each other,” Metro-North spokesman Aaron Donovan said.

Malloy said 60 passengers were rushed to St. Vincent’s and Bridgeport hospitals. Five were in critical condition, and one was in very critical condition, Malloy said.

A hospital worker at St. Vincent’s estimated that more than 70 injured commuters were brought to the two hospitals. Most of the injuries were bumps and bruises, he said.

"Everybody seemed pretty calm," Bridgeport Police Chief Joseph Gaudett said as he described the scene. "Everybody was thankful they didn't get seriously hurt. They were anxious to get home to their families.”

The two engineers who operate the trains were not seriously harmed, Donovan said — an indication that the accident could have been much worse.

The National Transportation Safety Board will lead an investigation with the FBI, the Connecticut Office of Emergency Management and the Federal Railroad Administration to determine the cause of the derailment, but Malloy doesn’t believe the rails were sabotaged.

“There is no reason to believe it’s anything but an accident but obviously that’s something that has to be looked at,” he said.

Four sets of tracks take commuters back and forth from Manhattan to New Haven, but two of those tracks have been out of service as crews replace the overhead wires that power the trains.

Normal service through this area is not expected to resume until a full investigation is complete and repairs are made, Donovan said.

Amtrak trains between New York Penn Station and Boston have also been suspended indefinitely, the railroad said.

USA: 6 Killed, 7 Missing, 100 Injured After Mile-Wide Tornado With 200 mph Winds Rip Through North Texas

Fox news

6 killed, 7 missing after mile-wide tornado with 200 mph winds rip through North Texas

written by Staff

Thursday May 16, 2013

Authorities searched for survivors Thursday after a powerful storm system that spawned multiple tornadoes tore through two North Texas neighborhoods, killing at least six adults.

As of daybreak, seven people were missing in the town of Granbury, which is just outside Fort Worth, authorities said at a press conference Thursday morning. It was not clear if they were were away from the area for other reasons.

At least one tornado was listed as an EF-4, which means winds can reach 200 mph.

"I've been assured by my deputies on the scene that they're pretty confident with the six that they found, but there was a report that two of these people that they found were not even near their homes. So we're going to have to search the area out there," Hood County Sheriff Roger Deeds said.

Deeds said he did not expect to find anyone else in the rubble. Search-and-rescue efforts were to wrap up by 10 a.m., The Dallas Morning News reported.

MyFoxDFW.com reports as many as 10 tornadoes may have touched down as a result of the storms, one may have been a mile wide. About 50 people were taken to a Granbury hospital, where 14 were admitted for treatment of injuries and two were transferred to a hospital in Fort Worth, about 35 miles to the northeast, Deeds said.

Utility officials say about 20,000 homes and businesses have lost electricity.

Matt Zavadsky, spokesman for MedStar Mobile Healthcare, tells the Associated Press his company believes as many as 100 people were injured. Medstar sent three ambulances and a medical bus from its Fort Worth base to Granbury.

Hardest hit in Granbury were two neighborhoods, Rancho Brazos Estates and DeCordova Ranch, in the southern end of the town of about 8,000 residents about 65 miles southwest of Dallas.

Ambulances from as far away as Fort Worth were being called to Granbury, said Tye Bell, Richland Hills police spokesman who was heading to Granbury on Wednesday night.

Rancho Brazos Estates resident Elizabeth Tovar said she rode out the tornado with her husband and sister as she clutched her 9-month-old daughter.

"We heard the winds whipping and glass smashing everywhere," said Tovar, 25. "I felt like a long time and when things died down I looked up and saw that the roof was gone."

Another resident of that neighborhood, Allacia Jenny, said she witnessed devastation in her neighborhood.

"The house across from mine looked like it was destroyed," said Jenny, 22.

Toppled large trees litter her yard, and "I saw power lines all over the place," she said.

At Stumpy's Lakeside Grill in Lake Granbury, the storm took diners and workers by surprise. Some people rushed inside from the patio and ducked under tables as the wind gusts and hail started, but nobody was injured, said Eric Martinez, a cook. Then they looked across the lake and saw several homeowners' boat docks "just get torn apart," he said.

"The boat docks just flew off, and they're actually gone," Martinez said, adding that the boards and other debris landed in some yards.

The same storm spawned another tornado that storm spotters told the National Weather Service was a mile wide. That twister tore through the southwestern quadrant of Cleburne, a courthouse city of about 30,000 about 25 miles southeast of Granbury.

There were no reports of deaths in that storm, Cleburne Mayor Scott Cain said, "but we do have the potential for some injuries." He had no estimates.

Cain had no estimate on the number of homes damaged, but he said he expected the number to soar into the dozens based on his inspection of damage ranging from roof damage to total destruction.

Another tornado hit the small town of Millsap, about 40 miles west of Fort Worth. Parker County Judge Mark Kelley said roof damage was reported to several houses and a barn was destroyed, but no injuries were reported.

Hail as large as grapefruit also pelted the area around Mineral Wells on Wednesday evening. A police dispatcher reported only minor damage.

USA: Teenage Muslim Convert In North Carolina Pleads Guilty To Plotting Terrorist Attacks Against Unbelievers

Bare Naked Islam

NORTH CAROLINA: Teenage Muslim convert pleads guilty to plotting terrorist attacks against unbelievers

written by Staff

Wednesday May 15, 2013

Fay Observer (h/t Susan K) Rios met with an FBI informant over several months and detailed his attacks. They included robbing armored vehicles, killing guards protecting them, and luring police to a home and setting off bombs, documents say.

Rios adhered to the ideology of radical Islamic extremism groups, according to court documents. Those groups believe violence is religiously justified.

Rios told an FBI informant he wanted to be a soldier for Allah, according to an affidavit signed Feb. 7 by Special Agent Frank Brostrom.

Rios started talking to the informant June 27, after meeting at an Islamic house of worship in Raeford. Part of his planned attacks included staging a robbery of an armored vehicle and shooting two of the guards in the face, the documents say.

Another attack would have involved police, according to records. Rios said he wanted to make bombs and plant them in a house. After doing so, Rios said he would call police about a crime in progress at the home and then trigger the explosives when police arrived.

Other planned attacks were smaller robberies and murders. Money made from those incidents would go toward purchasing weapons and planning larger attacks, the documents say.

During subsequent meetings with the informant, the two discussed how to get Rios access to a weapon. The teenager told the informant he did not think he could legally obtain one because of his criminal history.

He had been convicted in January 2010 on several charges, including breaking and entering, breaking and entering a motor vehicle and possession of a stolen firearm, according to court records.

On Tuesday, Rios pleaded guilty to possession of a stolen firearm in U.S. District Court in Greenville, U.S. Attorney Thomas Walker said in a news release. That gun, a 9 mm Beretta pistol, was sold to Rios for $100 on Feb. 7 by a second FBI informant in Lillington.

Before agreeing to purchase the weapon, Rios told the first informant he was worried the seller might be a member of law enforcement and the sale was entrapment. FBI officials removed the gun’s firing pin, making the weapon inoperable, according to court documents.

In one of the multiple meetings between Rios and the first informant, Rios said he had found someone who would sell him two AK-47s and a handgun for between $350 and $500, according to records.

USA: Judge Says It’s Ok For Muslim Violence Against Christians. Sharia Compliant Court System Emerging In Dearborn, Michigan.

The Western Center for Journalism

Judge Says It’s Ok For Muslim Violence Against Christians

written by Staff

Thursday May 16, 2013

If you want to experience the Middle East, you only have to travel as far as Dearborn, Michigan. This western suburb of Detroit has a population of close to 100,000. Over 40,000 of them are Arab or of Arab descent, giving Dearborn the distinction of having the largest Muslim population of any city in the United States.

The Muslims have been taking over many of the cities elected positions and have instituted many Muslim friendly ordinances. In fact the Muslim influence is so strong in Dearborn that the local high school held a girl’s only prom, since their religion does not allow girls and boys to dance or socialize together. If any other school in America did something similar based on Christian or Jewish beliefs, the ACLU and other groups would be circling the school waiting their turns to file lawsuits for violation of church and state. But these legal groups were nowhere to be seen in Dearborn.

Every year around June, the Muslim community holds an annual Arab Festival. For several years, some of the Christian pastors and their followers have stood outside the festival trying to hand out water bottles and tracts as they witness to the lost. A number of the Muslims have responded with violence, throwing garbage, rocks and other items at the Christians. When the police showed up, they made arrests, but it wasn’t the ones carrying out the violence that were arrested, it was the Christians.

A number of lawsuits have been launched against the city and although a couple were actually won by the Christians, that didn’t stop the violence against them. When they did win, the city appealed and most of the rulings were overturned.

Several of the Christian pastors filed a lawsuit against Wayne County, the Wayne County Sheriff’s Department and two of deputies for refusing to protect them from the Muslims that were attacking them. The deputies not only refused to protect them, they threatened to arrest them for disorderly conduct if they continued talking about Jesus and the Bible in the presence of the Muslims. Such talk was deemed to be offensive to the Muslims who felt justified in responding with violence.

USA: Prominent American Muslim, Umar Lee, Leaves Islam: "We Were Lied To"

Jihad Watch

Prominent American Muslim, Umar Lee, leaves Islam: "We were lied to"

written by Robert Spencer

Friday May 17, 2013

Umar Lee, a convert to Islam from St. Louis, was once enough of an Islamic supremacist to write to a rival: "i could cut your neck with the sword of islam and watch you squeal like a bitch like daniel pearl." In an email exchange with me, he endorsed the death penalty for apostasy.

But now he has left Islam and returned to Christianity. Watch the video; in it he makes many, many important points about how converts to Islam are lied to, and how Islam establishes an empire of fear.

Note especially this, starting at 4:04:

"We can talk about the grievance industry, CAIR, etc., trying to hype up the threat of Islamophobia. Islamophobia is very minor. You want to talk about religious bias? You convert to Christianity in Saudi Arabia, you're murdered. You convert from Islam in so many Muslim countries, it's the death penalty. Why are Muslim societies so afraid of missionaries? Why are Muslim societies so afraid of freedom of speech? Why are Muslim societies so afraid of the Gospel? Why are Muslim societies so afraid of the message of Jesus Christ? If you believe Islam is the truth, why don't you believe Islam can compete in the marketplace of ideas? Obviously you don't, or you wouldn't kill people that convert to Christianity and put missionaries in jail."

Clearly they don't believe Islam can compete in the marketplace of ideas. Just yesterday I offered to debate UC-Berkeley's professor of "Islamophobia," Hatem Bazian. He responded: "Racist are not to be debated they are to be shunned." (Yes, this university professor wrote "racist are." He didn't explain what race jihad terror is. They never do. This "racism" business is just a cover for what Umar Lee says: their knowledge of and fear of the fact that they know their ideas can't compete, or hold up to scrutiny.

Umar: be well, and be safe.

FRANCE: France's Constitutional Council Clears Bill Allowing Same-Sex Couples To Marry And Adopt Kids

The Global Post

Top French court clears gay marriage bill

written by AFP staff

Friday May 17, 2013

France's Constitutional Council on Friday cleared a bill allowing same-sex couples to marry and adopt children, turning down a challenge by the right-wing party of former president Nicolas Sarkozy.

The bill was approved on April 23 by parliament but was immediately challenged on constitutional grounds by the opposition UMP. Its clearance would see France's first gay wedding in a matter of days.

A statement by the council, however, said that gay adoption did not automatically mean the "right to a child" and that the "interest of the child" would be the overriding factor in such cases.

The issue of gay marriage has divided France, which is officially secular but overwhelmingly Catholic, with street protests against the bill drawing hundreds of thousands that often spilled over into violence.

President Francois Hollande, who had made "marriage for all" a key election pledge, has said he will sign the bill into law once the council ruled on the challenge.

CAMBODIA / LAOS: How the World Bank funds illegal logging in Cambodia and Laos

The Global Post

How the World Bank funds illegal logging in Cambodia and Laos

written by Denise Hruby

Tuesday May 14, 2013

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Five-months pregnant, Im Chanthy was told that her husband's body had been found in the trunk of his car, brutally hacked to death for reporting on illegal logging and land concessions in Cambodia.

Many of these concessions, a new report by environmental watchdog Global Witness found, are owned by two Vietnamese rubber companies, which — with the financial support of Deutsche Bank, an arm of the World Bank and local governments — have acquired more than 500,000 acres of land in Cambodia and neighboring Laos.

The companies and officials involved have made millions growing resin trees and harvesting their sap to make rubber, while thousands of poor Cambodians and Laotians lost the little they had. Villagers have been sued and prosecuted, intimidated, threatened and shot at while trying to defend their livelihoods.

Heng Serei Odom, the journalist, paid with his life, and his wife Chanthy is now raising their 5-month old daughter on construction sites. She works carrying sand bag after sand bag for $2.50 a day — too little to eat properly, or care for her sick child.

“I move around from one construction site to the other, where I build small tents to stay there temporarily. That's why my daughter is sick a lot, because she has no proper accommodation to shade her and I don't have enough milk to feed her,” Chanthy said.

The companies in question continue undeterred despite allegedly being aware that many of their undertakings, such as the extensive logging of timber in national parks, are illegal, according to "Rubber Barons," the report released by London-based Global Witness on Monday that sheds light on the secretive operations of Hoan Anh Gia Lai (HAGL) and the Vietnamese Rubber Group (VRG).

Germany's Deutsche Bank, according to the report, holds $3.3 million in a subsidiary of VRG, which is chiefly owned by the Vietnamese government, and $4.5 million in the privately owned HAGL. The International Finance Cooperation (IFC), which is an arm of the World Bank, indirectly funds HAGL through its $14.95 million share in a Vietnam-based fund that invests in HAGL.

“We’ve known for some time that corrupt politicians in Cambodia and Laos are orchestrating the land-grabbing crisis that is doing so much damage in the region. This report completes the picture by exposing the pivotal role of Vietnam’s rubber barons and their financiers, Deutsche Bank and IFC,” said Megan MacInnes, who runs Global Witness’ land team.

Both Southeast Asian governments have argued that the land concessions granted to HAGL and VRG will help develop the poor countries and turn simple, self-reliant farmers into plantation workers.

But in reality, the 165,000 acres HAGL, VRG and affiliated companies hold in Laos and the 445,000 acres Global Witness identified in northeastern Cambodia have brought misery and despair to communities that depend on the forests, the report shows.

Bulldozers arriving are often the first sign of a fight for land the poor countryside stands to lose. Houses have been demolished, farms flattened, cemeteries dug up, and trees in which holly spirits are said to live have been uprooted.

“Losing the forest is like losing life,” a villager told Global Witness, describing how essential the fast evergreen and semi-evergreen forests are for the community.

HAGL and VRG have made millions off the plantations and the illegal selling of luxury wood. Between 2001 and 2011, prices for natural rubber increased ten-fold and reached about $3,600 per tonne last year, when Vietnam became the world's third-largest producer of rubber.

Most rubber is shipped to China, where it is processed and exported to the United States and Japan. As demand surges, the tight supply has fueled HAGL's and VRG's land-grabbing in Cambodia and Laos.

In addition, luxury rosewood grows inside the land concessions, which is illegally logged and exported, Global Witness says.

“The revenues are a planned part of the companies' financial plan for the concessions — the impression given is that without these revenues, the concession would not be economically viable,” says Josie Cohen, a researcher for Global Witness.

In northeastern Cambodia, Dong Nai, a member of VRG is estimated to have logged 30 percent of the total forest in the area, amounting to about 10,000 resin trees, which are used for the production of varnishes or perfumes, for example.

For 100 resin trees, the company offered to pay between $250 to $330 in compensation, a sum the families would make from tapping the tree in two to three months, they said.

But reports and complaints the residents filed regarding Dong Nai's illicit activities went unanswered — most likely due to the involvement of a cousin of prime minister and strongman Hun Sen, who has ruled Cambodia for almost 30 years. Senior government officials, including the minister of land management, have visited the community to convince residents of the company's good intentions.

Residents protesting the illicit timber trade in Cambodia are threatened by police and military police paid to guard the concessions, and have even shot live rounds. May 16 marks the one-year anniversary of the killing of a 14-year-old girl protesting a rubber concession by officials.

Despite Deutsche Bank’s and the IFC’s claim that they are respecting human rights, environmental and anti-corruption standards, Global Witness says that they didn't properly research the companies before investing millions of dollars in HAGL and VRG.

“The suffering that [VRG and HAGL] have inflicted on local people, however, gives claims that they contribute to the two countries’ development a distinctly hollow ring. It also begs the question: What sort of institutions could countenance financing companies such as these?" the report concludes.

And while hundreds of thousands of Cambodians see their existence threatened — or already destroyed — a culture of impunity surrounds those responsible.

“We very much hope — for the sake of the communities whose livelihoods, forests, burial grounds and spirit forests have been destroyed — that those responsible are brought to justice,” Cohen said.

Neither government holds a positive track record in pursuing powerful and well-connected perpetrators. But international pressure has helped in some recent cases, such as the killing of journalist Heng Serei Odom, who worked to uncover similar ties between officials, rubber plantations and illegal logging. Earlier this month prosecutors announced that the case be reinvestigated.

Justice would offer some solace, Chanthy, the young mother, said.

“I am so happy that the court decided to reinvestigate the killing of my husband, and I hope that all perpetrators will be prosecuted and punished,” Chanthy said.

BAHRAIN: A Bahraini Court Sentences 6 Tweeters To 1 Year In Prison, Charged With Insulting King. Like Seriously!

The Daily Star, Lebanon

Bahrain court jails 6 tweeters for a year

written by AFP staff

Wednesday May 15, 2013

DUBAI - A Bahraini court on Wednesday sentenced six tweeters charged with insulting King Hamad to one year in prison, the public prosecutor's office announced.

The six were charged by the lower criminal court with "misusing the right of free expression," it said in a statement.

They were accused of writing remarks "undermining the values and traditions of Bahrain's society towards the king on Twitter," according to the statement.

Activists in Bahrain, scene of a Shiite-led uprising that began two years ago against the ruling Sunni monarchy, use Twitter as a platform to report what they describe as regime "violations" against them.

"Free expression is a right adopted by law ... but must be practised objectively away from insults and undermining values," the statement read.

Prominent activist Nabil Rajab, who heads the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, was arrested last year on charges of insulting members of the Sunni community via Twitter.

The avid tweeter was also accused of insulting the security forces in postings that he admitted came from his account on the microblogging website.

He was cleared of the charges on August 23.

A total of 80 people have been killed in Bahrain since the protests erupted in February 2011, according to the International Federation for Human Rights.

Strategically located just across the Gulf from Iran, Bahrain is home base to the US Navy's Fifth Fleet and is also a major offshore financial and services centre for its Arab neighbours in the oil-rich Gulf.

SCIENCE: New Spectre Of Cloned Babies: Scientists Create Embryos In Lab That 'Could Grow To Full Term', Ugh :/ God help us

The Daily Mail UK

New spectre of cloned babies: Scientists create embryos in lab that 'could grow to full term'

written by Fiona Macrae

Wednesday May 15, 2013

The prospect of cloned babies has moved a step closer after scientists extracted stem cells from human embryos created in a laboratory.

The breakthrough could lead to customised cells to help treat and even cure a range of diseases, from Alzheimer’s to multiple sclerosis.

However, it also raises the spectre of babies being cloned in laboratories. This could allow couples who lose a child to pay for the creation of a ‘duplicate’.

While human embryos have been cloned before, none have had healthy stem cells extracted from them. The latest advance means scientists are now even closer to being able to clone children.

The US team behind the work stress that they want to find treatments for incurable diseases – but critics fear there is little to stop a rogue scientist from copying their work to try to clone humans.

Dr David King, founder of the campaign group Human Genetics Alert, called for an international ban on human cloning and said it was ‘irresponsible in the extreme’ to have published details of the stem-cell technique.

The world first was achieved at Oregon Health and Science University, with a technique similar to the one used to clone Dolly the sheep.

First, Dr Shoukhrat Mitalipov took eggs donated by healthy young women and removed their DNA.

He then placed skin cells inside the hollowed-out eggs and used a zap of electricity to make them start developing into embryos.

When the embryos were five or six days old, and around the size of a pinhead, Dr Mitalipov successfully harvested them for stem cells.

These cells, known as ‘master cells’, are capable of turning into every type of cell in the body and are widely seen as a potential repair kit for diseased, damaged and worn-out body parts.

Dr Mitalipov has spent many years refining the technique, which involves feeding the eggs caffeine at a key point in the process.

He said: ‘Our finding offers new ways of generating stem cells for patients with dysfunctional or damaged tissues and organs.

‘Such stem cells can regenerate and replace those damaged cells and tissues and alleviate diseases that affect millions of people.

‘While there is much work to be done in developing safe and effective stem-cell treatments, we believe this is a significant step forward in developing the cells that could be used in regenerative medicine.’

Using a sliver of the patient’s skin at the start of the process would ensure that stem cells would be a perfect match for their body.

This would raise the odds of the treatment being successful, and remove the need for powerful drugs to suppress the patient’s immune system.

Tailor-made cells could also be used to learn more about a person’s illness, and test drugs to find those that work best.

Chris Mason, a professor of regenerative medicine at University College London, said Dr Mitalipov’s work, detailed in the journal Cell, looked like ‘the real deal’.

Dr Paul De Sousa, of Edinburgh University, said that improving our understanding of women’s eggs could lead to new treatments for infertility. However, other scientists warned that the new research brings us closer to babies being cloned to order.

In Britain, the law states that cloned embryos have to destroyed after 14 days, and it is illegal to implant them in a woman. Other countries have more relaxed rules for so-called reproductive cloning.

Josephine Quintavalle, of campaign group Comment on Reproductive Ethics, questioned the need for the research, given that another, more simple way of making customised stem cells already exists.

She said: ‘The suspicion has to be that the real interest is not stem cell therapy per se, given that other uncontroversial approaches are already so successful. Let’s hope that the goal is not out and out reproductive cloning.’

Dr Mitalipov said he has failed to create baby monkeys via cloning, and that it is therefore unlikely his technique could be used to clone humans.

Others claim that creating a five-day-old bundle of cells is a far cry from someone giving birth to a fully-formed cloned baby.

However, Dr King warned: ‘Scientists have finally delivered the baby that would-be human cloners have been waiting for: a method for reliably creating cloned human embryos.

'This makes it imperative that we create an international ban on human cloning before any more research like this takes place.

‘It is irresponsible in the extreme to have published this research.’

In 2004 Hwang Woo-suk of South Korea claimed to have cloned the first human embryo and extracted stem cells from it.

It later emerged that his data was fabricated, and he was convicted of embezzlement and other charges.

EGYPT: Christian Teacher Faces Trial In Egypt For Allegedly Insulting Islam

Bare Naked Islam

Christian Teacher faces trial in Egypt for allegedly insulting Islam

shared by Staff

Thursday May 16, 2013

Morning Star News Mohammed Noubi, a human rights advocate with the Luxor office of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), who is working with Al-Nour’s lawyers, said Al-Nour was at home struggling under the weight of the accusations and investigation. “The situation is really bad; she is emotionally devastated,” Noubi said.

Her court hearing is set for Tuesday (May 21), according to court documents. The prosecutor general’s office continues its investigation; if attorneys there decide to formally charge her, prosecutors could go forward with a trial the same day.

On April 10, three elementary schoolchildren at Sheikh Sultan Primary School in the village of Al-Edisat, Luxor Province, along with their parents and some teachers, complained to the school administration that Al-Nour had made blasphemous comments while teaching. Two days earlier, she taught a class about the pharaoh Amenhotep IV, later known as Akhenaten, who did away with all other Egyptian gods in favor of sun worship in ancient Egypt.

Al-Nour reportedly expressed her admiration for the former head of the Coptic Orthodox Church, the late Pope Shenouda III, in class. In some versions of the alleged incident, she also made comparisons between Shenouda and Muhammad, the prophet of Islam. When the complaint was made, a group of head teachers and parents, known as the School Council, conducted an investigation into the allegations. They found there wasn’t any reliable evidence that Al-Nour had committed any offense, according to EIPR sources.

When the students were questioned, three of them said she had said or done something wrong. The rest of the class however, 10 students in all, said Al-Nour was blameless, EIPR found. A survey of the staff at the school revealed that she was widely respected by her colleagues, according to EIPR.

The case likely would have been dropped, but two attorneys representing the parents of one student went directly to the prosecutor’s office, obligating officials to conduct their own investigation. In what are known as “hisba cases,” Egyptian law allows citizens to file lawsuits against anyone who has transgressed the “exalted right of God.” Many blasphemy cases are filed in such a manner.

CAMBODIA: Roof Collapse Shoe Factory Kills Three

The Star, Malaysia

Roof collapse at Cambodian shoe plant kills three

written by Prak Chan Thul, Reuters

Thursday May 16, 2013

PHNOM PENH - Three people were killed when the ceiling of a warehouse fell in at a shoe factory in Cambodia, a government minister said on Thursday, adding to concern about safety standards at Asian factories producing clothes cheaply for Western consumers.

Cambodia has seen a rush of investment in recent years, especially into the shoe and garment sector, with Western and Asian firms attracted by its low-cost labour. The International Monetary Fund says garments account for about 80 percent of the Southeast Asian country's exports.

Ith Sam Heng, minister of social affairs, told Reuters another six people had been injured in the incident at the plant in the Kong Pisei district of Kampong Speu province, 50 km (30 miles) west of the capital, Phnom Penh.

"We will investigate the case and we will take measures against those involved," he said, meaning anyone who might be held responsible for poor safety standards.

He said no one remained trapped inside the building.

Earlier, a trade union member at the factory had said six people had died in the collapse, which happened at around 7 a.m. (2400 GMT on Wednesday)

The shoe factory, owned by Wing Star Shoes Co Ltd, a Taiwan company, employed about 7,000 people but only about 100 worked in the single-storey warehouse, according to staff.

Work at the plant stopped after the accident.

A Reuters reporter saw footwear bearing the name "Asics" scattered around the damaged warehouse, where a bulldozer was clearing away rubble.

A spokeswoman for Japanese sportswear maker Asics Corp said the factory made running shoes for it. "Our prayers go out to the families of those who have died," she said.

Asics relies on sports shoes for about two-thirds of its sales, which amounted to 57.33 billion yen ($560 million) company-wide in the year to March 31, 2013.

POOR CONDITIONS

A series of deadly incidents at factories in Bangladesh, the world's biggest exporter of clothing after China, has focused global attention on safety standards in the booming garment industry there.

An eight-storey complex of factories housing garment manufacturers collapsed in Bangladesh on April 24, killing more than 1,100 people. That has sparked campaigns in the West to improve safety conditions at plants in the country supplying Western brand names.

Strikes over pay and poor working conditions are common in the sector in Cambodia, also home to numerous factories producing clothing cheaply for Western retailers.

Ngeth Phat, 29, who was among those rescued on Thursday, said Wing Star had been open for little more than a year but there had already been two strikes by workers over poor working conditions and low wages she put at $80 a month.

"After I got into work, bits of brick dropped on me, and about 10 minutes later the whole ceiling collapsed. It was completely dark and I was under other people," she told Reuters from a hospital bed in Phnom Penh.

Ou Sam Oun, the governor of Kampong Speu province, said the factory would provide compensation of $5,000 to the families of the people who had died and $1,000 each to workers who were injured.

($1 = 102.4250 yen)

SWAZILAND: The Kingdom's Prime Minister Bars Political Parties Advocating For Democracy From Swazi Senate; Ruthless King, Like Literally. Nation Is A Monarchy.

All Africa

Swaziland: PM Bars Democrats From Swazi Senate

written by Staff

Thursday May 16, 2013

Members of political parties advocating for democracy in Swaziland will not be allowed to become members of the Swazi Senate, the kingdom's Prime Minister Barnabas Dlamini has decreed.

Swaziland goes to the polls later this year to select a parliament, generally considered outside the kingdom to be without powers and simply a fig-leaf for King Mswati III to claim he does not rule as an absolute monarch.

Ordinary people are not allowed to vote for members of the Swazi Senate. Of its 30 members, 20 are chosen by the king and 10 are elected by members of the House of Assembly.

Of the 65 members of the House of Assembly, 10 are chosen by King Mswati and 55 are elected by the people.

All political parties are banned from participating at the elections. King Mswati claims that political parties are allowed to operate in his kingdom, but he has banned completely all parties that oppose his absolute rule and advocate democracy in Swaziland, because he considers them to be 'terrorists'.

The Prime Minister told the House of Assembly on Monday (13 May 2013) that members of the banned political parties, most notably the Peoples' United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) and its youth wing, the Swaziland Youth Congress (SWAYOCO), would not be allowed into the senate.

He was responding at a meeting of PM's office portfolio committee to a question from Lobamba MP Majahodvwa Khumalo who wanted to know if he could elect a card carrying member of any of the proscribed entities in the kingdom.

Dlamini, himself was not elected Prime Minister, or even to parliament. King Mswati, who rules Swaziland as sub-Saharan Africa's last absolute monarch, personally appointed him following the last election in 2008.

Despite the claims of King Mswati and his supporters that ordinary Swazi have representation in parliament, King Mswati is in complete control of his kingdom.

Last August (2012), at the Sibaya People's Parliament (a quaint idea of democracy where people turn up at a cattle byre and voice their opinions on topics of concern to them) speakers overwhelmingly called on the government to resign, citing its inability to control an economy spiralling out of control as a major reason.

The king claims that Sibaya is the supreme governing body in Swaziland and is above the king, but he ignored the peoples' voice.

In October 2012, the House of Assembly passed a vote of no-confidence in the prime minister and cabinet. In such circumstances the constitution requires the monarch to sack the government (he has no discretion in the matter), but King Mswati ignored this and put pressure on the House to re-run the vote, this time ensuring that it did not have the required majority to pass. Members of the House did as they were told and the government continued in office.

A number of prodemocracy groups have called for a boycott of this year's election. These include the Communist Party of Swaziland, Trade Union Congress of Swaziland (TUCOSWA) and the Swaziland United Democratic Front.

They describe the Swazi system of governance known as Tinkhundla as 'illegitimate, unpopular and a mockery to democracy'.

King Mswati has yet to set a date for the election. He has sole say over its timing.

INDIA: 750 Residents, But No Toilet In This West Delhi Slum

The Times of India

750 residents, but no toilet in this west Delhi slum

written by Staff

Friday May 17, 2013

NEW DELHI - A slum cluster in west Delhi has a problem that can shame the government for its lofty claims of making Delhi an ideal city. About 750 people in this Punjabi Bagh neighbourhood don't have a single toilet. As a result, they have been forced to defecate in the open. And this has been on for almost a year.

Upset with officials' attitude, the slum dwellers had protested outside Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board last year but to no good. "In the last few months, we were going to a nearby plot to defecate but even that place is choking now," said Rakesh Kumar, pradhan of the slum.

Highlighting the plight of these 300-families, Kumar said that women especially are facing harassment as it has become a challenge to go out and defecate.

"Last month, some men tried to grope a woman when she went out in the evening. Even if someone wants to use the brimming broken toilet, they cannot as the ceiling can collapse anytime. The water tank placed above it has been leaking for months and it has become very risky."

Moved by the suffering of these people, nearby Punjabi Bagh residents had also written to DUSIB.

"The officials had assured us that work will begin soon. They even promised to construct a new toilet block and said that the budget has been passed. We also approached the area MLA and councillor but they too turned a blind eye," said Anita Bhargava of Lets do it Delhi.

When TOI contacted the officials, they seemed unaware of the situation. "We will look into the matter. We can only comment of the situation after inspection ... we haven't received any letter or any other complaint from the resident of JJ slum cluster," said an official with DUSIB.

AUSTRALIA: A 21-Year-Old Australian Man Was Sentenced To 45 Years In Jail For The Brutal Rape And Murder Of An Indian Student

The Times of India

Australian jailed for 45 years for raping and killing Indian girl

written by Staff

Friday May 17, 2013

MELBOURNE - A 21-year-old Australian man was sentenced to 45 years in jail with a minimum non-parole period of 30 years for the "planned and premeditated" rape and murder of Indian studentTosha Thakkar, who he strangled to death, stuffed into a suitcase and dumped in a canal.

New South Wales Supreme Court Judge Derek Price sentenced Daniel Stani-Reginald to a maximum of 45 years in jail with a minimum non-parole period of 30 years. With time served, he will be eligible for parole in March 2041.

Stani-Reginald strangled 24-year-old Thakkar to death with a cable, stuffed into a suitcase and dumped in the canal off the Parramatta River on March 21, 2011, when he was aged only 19, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

He and Thakkar, who was an accountancy student, lived in neighbouring apartments in a boarding house on Edwin Street, Croydon in Sydney's inner west.

On the morning of the fateful day Stani-Reginald waited for his victim's roommate to leave and then confronted Thakkar as she walked back from a communal bathroom.

He then raped and assaulted her and strangled her with a black coaxial cable, the paper said.

Thakkar's body was discovered in a large black-cloth case floating in a canal near Meadowbank Park by workmen undertaking regular maintenance on an oil line, it said.

"The offender strangled her, an extraordinary cruel act," Judge Price said, adding the accused had shown no remorse, empathy or contrition for the pain he had inflicted.

"The last moments of her life must have been terrifying. This was a terrible way to die," he said. It was heard that the crimes had a "strong sexual element" and that Stani-Reginald had been planning them for months beforehand.

Stani-Reginald also viewed thousands of disturbing internet articles and websites on notorious rapists and serial killers and other cases such as Dean Shillingsworth, the toddler whose body was dumped in a suitcase.

He also read judgments on the sentences of notorious killers and viewed pornography relating to Indian women.

"There's documented evidence that he had been planning the murder for a number of years prior," Price said, adding "The callousness of the act is disclosed in the calm manner in which the offender booked the taxi and took the body to Meadowbank. His lack of empathy is evident from the articles he viewed online before and after the murders."

AFRICA: In Vietnam, Rhino Horns Worth Their Weight in Gold >:/

All Africa

In Vietnam, Rhino Horns Worth Their Weight in Gold

written by Marwaan Macan-Markar

Wednesday May 15, 2013

Bangkok — At first glance, the poster appears to be a typical advertisement for an African safari: a large rhinoceros set against a rugged, open terrain. Then you take a closer look and realise something is amiss.

A cluster of human hands has replaced the two horns that distinguish this African animal from the single-horned Indian and Javan rhino. A message over the creature's head reads: "Rhino horn is made of the same stuff as human nails. Still want some?"

Produced jointly by the wildlife watchdogs TRAFFIC and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), these posters are soon to appear on the walls of public places in major Vietnamese cities including the capital, Hanoi, and Ho Chi Minh City.

Offices, apartment buildings and even airports are all set to become sites in the campaign to end the illegal international trade in rhino horns that is threatening the ungulate to extinction.

Experts say there is no better place than this Southeast Asian nation of 87 million to drive this stark message home. Vietnam has long been singled out by international groups monitoring the illicit wildlife trade for the dramatic rise in domestic demand for African rhino horns.

Close to 290 of the 20,000 rhinos left in South Africa have been killed for their horns since the beginning of this year, according to conservationists worried that such a deadly spree could see the death toll match the record number of 668 rhinos killed by poachers in 2012.

"We are in the midst of a rhino poaching crisis," Mark Jones, a British veterinarian who heads the London-based Humane Society International, told IPS, adding that Vietnam has recently emerged as the main market for rhino horns.

The spike in demand has been shaped by a belief among locals that has taken root over the past five years: that rhino horn has special medicinal powers, including the ability to treat cancer, cure hangovers, and act as an aphrodisiac.

According to Naomi Doak, coordinator of the Greater Mekong Programme at TRAFFIC, the graphics for the new campaign poster were developed after experts realised that a "large proportion of the Vietnamese public" were not aware that rhino horn, a mass of agglutinated hair, is comprised of keratin, the same basic substance that constitutes human finger and toenails.

She hopes that bringing this fact to light will make people "think twice before consuming rhino horn."

Yet driving home this message will be "a long and difficult campaign," Doak admitted in an interview with IPS. "With very few penalties and consequences people really aren't that concerned about the impacts the consumption of rhino (horn) has either on the animals or on people."

A status symbol

To understand what wildlife protection groups are up against, one need only take a stroll through Hanoi's famed Old Quarter, a colourful network of 36 streets where crafts and local products have been hawked for centuries.

Here, shops specialising in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) attract scores of customers seeking remedies made from wild animal parts, including rhino horn.

In his latest documentary 'Bad Medicine - Illegal Trade in Rhinoceros Horns', conservationist and filmmaker Karl Amman traces the routes of illegal traffickers from the Africans wilds to the streets of Vietnam, where "rhino horns have also become a status symbol," he said.

This explains why gold, once the favourite gift among the communist-ruled country's expanding class of wealthy citizens, has been dethroned by rhino horns, which currently fetch 65,000 dollars per kilogramme.

This is "more than gold, gram for gram," according to Jones. Though the weight of rhino horns vary, an individual horn can fetch upto 150,000 dollars.

The pressure on Vietnam to curb the demand for illegal rhino horns is expected to grow following the resolutions passed in March at the Bangkok meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). The strong language at this 16th global gathering of 178 member countries fell just short of imposing sanctions on Hanoi.

The Vietnamese government, meanwhile, has consistently denied allegations that it is a major market in this global trade. It often points an accusing finger at its powerful northern neighbour, China, which is also under scrutiny for boosting the illegal wildlife trade, particularly the demand for tiger parts.

But activists have proof, and are not prepared to remain silent.

Please click HERE to read the entire article...

SUDAN: Sudan: 'Sudan Air Force' Drops 20 Bombs On Nuba Mountains, South Kordofan. Someone Make Bashir Stop!

All Africa

Sudan: 'Sudan Air Force' Drops 20 Bombs On Nuba Mountains, South Kordofan

written by Staff

Thursday May 16, 2013

South Kordofan — The official spokesman of the rebel group SPLM-N has accused the Sudan Air Force of raining 20 bombs on villages in the Nuba Mountains in South Kordofan on Wednesday. Two civilians were wounded in the raids.

Arnu Ngutulu Lodi told Radio Dabanga that Juma Abdallah Hemaidan had both legs fractured when Kauda village was hit by 12 bombs at 2:05pm.

The Antonov also dropped four bombs on Tablo village in Boram County, wounding Ahmed Azrag. Four more bombs were dropped on Boram.

"This is a new addition to the growing charge sheet of serious crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide committed against its own citizens by the National Congress party", Lodi said.

ITALY: 'Lazy' Italian Postman Hoarded 400 Kilos Of Mail In His Home

France24 news

'Lazy' Italian postman hoarded 400 kilos of mail

written by AFP staff

Friday May 17, 2013

A hard-partying village postman on the Italian island of Sardinia was too "lazy" to deliver post in the morning and instead hoarded some 400 kilos (882 pounds) of it in his home, local residents and the police said.

"Residents had long been complaining to the police they were not receiving hundreds of important documents," local policeman Gianni di Carlo told AFP.

"We went to his house and we found a huge amount of mail in his garage," he said.

"We found 400 kilos of it, all divided up by category," he added. Some of the mail dated back to as far back as four years ago.

The 50-year-old postman in Mores, a village of 2,000 people in rural Sardinia, faces up to three years in prison for "stealing mail".

"He seemed like a nice guy but he did have late nights and drink a bit too much. Maybe that's why he was so lazy," said Fidel, owner of a local hotel.

A local hairdresser said: "I think he just didn't want to work."

TUNISIA: Former 'Head' Of Al Qaeda In Italy An 'Organizer' Of Ansar Al Sharia Rally In Tunisia This Weekend

Long War Journal

Former 'head' of al Qaeda in Italy an 'organizer' of Ansar al Sharia rally

written by Thomas Joscelyn

Friday May 17, 2013

Ansar al Sharia Tunisia's third annual congress is scheduled for this weekend, but the Tunisian government has declined to grant the group a permit for the gathering. Two days ago, Agence France Presse (AFP) interviewed an Ansar al Sharia leader named Sami Essid to get his reaction to this development. AFP described Essid as "one of the organizers" of the rally.

Essid said that Ansar al Sharia plans to move forward with the gathering despite interference from the Islamist government. "On Sunday, we will God willing hold our congress and there will be more than 40,000 of us in Kairouan," AFP quoted Essid as saying. "We do not need any authorization to organize our meeting."

AFP did not offer many details about Essid, other than to say he "is close to the hardline group's fugitive leader" Seifullah Ben Hassine, a.k.a. Abu Iyad al Tunisi. Who is Essid? He is almost certainly the same man known in the West as Sami Ben Khemais Essid, a notorious al Qaeda operative who was convicted in Italy of plotting to attack the US Embassy in Rome.

I wrote about Essid's Ansar al Sharia role and al Qaeda dossier previously. [See LWJ report, From al Qaeda in Italy to Ansar al Sharia Tunisia.] In my piece, you can see pictures of Essid alongside Ben Hassine at an Ansar al Sharia rally.

You can read the UN's designation page for the al Qaeda-linked Tunisian Combatant Group (TCG) here. That UN page mentions Essid's role within the TCG, which was co-founded by Ben Hassine. A US Treasury Department page lists Essid as one of the "terrorist leaders designated for their close operational ties to Al Qaeda."

Magharebia has also published some quotes from Essid on Ansar al Sharia Tunisia's upcoming congress. I included those quotes in a piece earlier this week. According to Magharebia, Essid criticized Tunisian interior minister Lofti Ben Jeddou for interfering with Ansar al Sharia's plans.

And below, I've included a screen shot from the State Department's Patterns of Global Terrorism report for 2001. The report included a special section on Essid's terrorist role, saying he "headed al Qaeda operations in Italy."

"He has declared war on Muslims in Tunisia," Essid said of Ben Jeddou. As in AFP's account, Magharebia reported that Essid vowed Ansar al Sharia Tunisia's third annual congress will be held as planned on May 19. However, Essid said, the group's leader will not be in attendance.

"Abu Iyad (Hassine), a leader of Ansar al Sharia who is wanted by the security forces, won't attend the third annual congress of the group," Essid said. "The only reason for that is that he loves Tunisia and doesn't want to confuse his supporters if he gets arrested by the security forces before them."

In its account of Essid's interview, AFP added the following observation concerning last year's Ansar al Sharia rally:

Thousands attended Ansar al Sharia's gathering in 2012, some in Afghan military garb, waving swords and chanting slogans that included: "We are all children of Osama (bin Laden)."

Shocking, I know.