YouTube user "Abdalgadar Fadi" has uploaded a video on the arabic language version of the video sharing site purporting to show US Ambassador Christopher Stevens dragged from the consulate in Benghazi.
The translation of the text below the video reads: "Moment directed the U.S. ambassador before his death" and the headline translates to: “U.S. Ambassador and the people of Benghazi rescue attempt before his death.”
The victim in the video appears to be wearing the same pants, belt and t-shirt seen in this photo of Amb. Stevens.
The validity of the video and the accuracy of the description of the events it depicts are still under investigation, but through Twitter and Facebook the video has already taken a life of its own.
UPDATE 9:15 PM ET
Various tipsters have offered differing interpretations of what they hear and witness on this video. The shouts of "Allauha Akbar" are clearly heard and many assume that the cry is meant as a celebration of the attack on the consulate and Amb. Stevens.
However, Arab-speaking readers have pointed out that they hear people saying “Lift him” and "bring him out." But they can’t discern why the crowd is cheering.
Jenan Moussa, who identifies herself as a "Roving Reporter for Arabic Al Aan TV from Dubai" took to Twitter when the video first broke. Moussa claims that some men in the video were saying "he's alive" and "lift him" (referring to Amb. Stevens.) She writes that after reviewing the video she believes the crowd began cheering because the man was found alive.
UPDATE 10:05 PM ET
The New York Times now offers their translation to the events int he video:
“I swear, he’s dead,” one Libyan says, peering in.
“Bring him out, man! Bring him out,” another says.
“The man is alive. Move out of the way,” others shout. “Just bring him out, man.”
“Move, move, he is still alive!”
“Alive, Alive! God is great,” the crowd erupts, while someone calls to bring Mr. Stevens to a car.
Developing...
(John Sexton and Morgen Richmond contributed to this report)
September 17th, 2012, 14:00
Malsua
Re: Is Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and Libya Facing Real Unrest or a Manufactured Crisis?
Here's something to lighten your mood.
--------- "Muslim Supremacist Dies From Inhaling Fumes of Burning American Flag"
One of the participants of the rally, Abdullah Ismail, passed away after he was taken to Mayo Hospital. Witnesses said he had complained of feeling unwell from the smoke from US flags burnt at the rally.
September 17th, 2012, 15:09
Ryan Ruck
Re: Is Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and Libya Facing Real Unrest or a Manufactured Crisis?
US embassy in Awkar, Lebanon on the outskirts of Beirut.
WASHINGTON — Diplomats at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut have started to destroy classified material as a security precaution amid anti-American protests in Lebanon and elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa.
A State Department status report obtained Monday by The Associated Press said the Beirut embassy had "reviewed its emergency procedures and is beginning to destroy classified holdings." It also said that local Lebanese employees were sent home early due to protests by the militant Shiite group Hezbollah over an anti-Muslim film produced in the U.S.
In Washington, a State Department official said there was no imminent threat to the heavily fortified Beirut embassy, which is about an hour away from where the nearest demonstration is planned.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss security procedures, said the decision to "reduce classified holdings" was routine and made by embassy staff.
Protesters have breached the walls or compounds of several U.S. diplomatic missions, including the consulate in Benghazi, Libya where the ambassador and three other Americans were killed, Cairo and Tunis since last Tuesday.
Supporters of Hezbollah shout slogans during a mass rally to denounce an anti-Islam US-made film, at southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, 17 September 2012.
After Tuesday's incidents, the State Department ordered all U.S. embassies and consulates around the world to review their security postures. As a result, a number of missions decided to destroy classified material, the official said.
It was not immediately clear which other missions besides the one in Beirut had taken that step.
The official stressed it was normal under circumstances such as those of last week for embassies to reduce the amount of classified material that they hold. Classified documents are also routinely culled as part of normal embassy operations.
Earlier Monday, the State Department renewed its warning to U.S. citizens to "avoid all travel to Lebanon because of current safety and security concerns. " It said U.S. citizens "living and working in Lebanon should understand that they accept risks in remaining and should carefully consider those risks."
The new alert, which superseded a May 8 warning, said the potential for a "spontaneous upsurge in violence remains" in Lebanon and that Lebanese authorities are not able to guarantee protection if violence erupts quickly.
The warning also noted that the Fulbright and the English Language Fellow programs that gave grants to American scholars to live and work in Lebanon during the academic year have been suspended "because of the deteriorating security situation and the increased possibility of attacks against U.S. citizens in Lebanon."
September 17th, 2012, 22:36
vector7
Re: Is Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and Libya Facing Real Unrest or a Manufactured Crisis?
“The U.S. ambassador to Libya was raped sexually before killing by gunmen who stormed the embassy building in Benghazi last night to protest against the film is offensive to the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh),” The sources said that “Ambassador was killed and representation of his body in a manner similar to what happened with Gaddafi, such as murder. “
Arab media outlets are reporting, with graphic images, that US Ambassador Christopher Stevens was raped and his naked body paraded through the streets of Benghazi. Lebanese Tayyar.org news was among those running the report with photos of the Ambassador's body.
The news organization, citing AFP news sources, said U.S. ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens, who was killed by gunmen that stormed the U.S. consulate in Benghazi on Tuesday, was raped before being murdered. A news report made by the Libyan Free Press is also reporting that Ambassador Stevens was sodomized before he was killed.
The article was originally printed in Arabic and it translates as follows:
“The U.S. ambassador to Libya was raped sexually before killing by gunmen who stormed the embassy building in Benghazi last night to protest against the film is offensive to the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh),” The sources said that “Ambassador was killed and representation of his body in a manner similar to what happened with Gaddafi, such as murder.“
Additional information revealed that Libyan Security personnel may have disclosed the whereabouts of the... to the attackers, after Ambassador Stevens was moved to a safe location. “Wanis al-Sharef, a Libyan Interior Ministry official in Benghazi, said the four Americans were killed when the angry mob, which gathered to protest a U.S.-made film that ridicules Islam’s Prophet Muhammad, fired guns and burned down the U.S. consulate in Benghazi.”
http://thegatewaypundit.com/wp-conte...mb-stevens.jpg
AFP has not confirmed the account. If the reports are true, it would add bitter irony to the controversy over the US embassy in Cairo apologetic statenebt. Senator John Kyl (R-AZ) lambasted the statement r — and later "understood" in a statement by Obama as an attemptto defuse tensions by criticizing an anti-Islamic movie that fueled protests in Egypt. In that statement, released hours before the protests even began, the embassy condemned "the continuing efforts by misguided individuals to hurt the religious feelings of Muslims."
Kyl told reporters Wednesday that the embassy’s statement “was like the judge telling the woman, ‘You got raped, you asked for it because of the way you dressed.’” Kyl's statement was made before reports of the alleged rape of the Ambassador
After a flurry of incredulous and outraged reaction to the bizarre analogy, a Kyl spokesman later released a statement clarifying that the “comments were meant to demonstrate that innocent victims of violence need never apologize to those committing the heinous acts of violence.”
September 18th, 2012, 01:20
Malsua
Re: Is Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and Libya Facing Real Unrest or a Manufactured Crisis?
What is with Muslims and gay rape? They're a bunch of savages.
Islam is incompatible with any society, even other Muslim societies. They're a bunch of animalistic ass rapers.
September 18th, 2012, 02:11
Ryan Ruck
Re: Is Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and Libya Facing Real Unrest or a Manufactured Crisis?
Supposedly there is amateur video of the Ambassador being found by the mobs in the burned out building. That said I haven't seen it.
There is, however, what I believe some heavy propaganda being put out on it based on what I heard on Sirius Radio from the AP News top of the hour reporter.
He claimed that the video shows the mob finding Stevens and on finding him alive begin chanting "Allah ackbar!" (they played that audio clip) and then "carry him" to get care.
Yeah... :rolleyes:
What I suspect the video shows (again, having not seen it) is the crowd finding a white guy dead/near dead in the rubble, begin chanting "Allah Ackbar!" for bringing death to the infidel, and then begin parading the body as we saw in the pictures.
This level of propaganda from a source like AP is downright Soviet in nature. Utterly disgusting...
September 18th, 2012, 03:45
vector7
Re: Is Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and Libya Facing Real Unrest or a Manufactured Crisis?
Source: State Department in Talks to Transfer ‘Blind Sheikh’ to Egypt; DOJ Denies
Source: State Department in Talks to Transfer ‘Blind Sheikh’ to Egypt; DOJ Denies
Posted on September 17, 2012 at 5:31pm by Erica Ritz
The U.S. State Department is actively considering negotiations with the Egyptian government for the transfer of custody of Omar Abdel-Rahman, also known as “the Blind Sheikh,” for humanitarian and health reasons, a source close to the the Obama administration told TheBlaze.
The Department of Justice, however, told TheBlaze that Rahman is serving a life sentence and is not considered for possible “release.” Previous calls to the State Department were referred to the Department of Justice and so far, the State Department has neither confirmed nor denied the report.
Glenn Beck revealed the controversial news on his show Monday.
The Blind Sheikh is currently serving a life sentence in American prison for his role in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, but the newly-elected Islamist government in Egypt has been actively petitioning his release. Many have pinpointed a cause of last week‘s unrest in in the country to be protests over the Blind Sheikh’s release — not an anti-Muslim YouTube video.
Citing the handling of the current crisis in the Middle East, and the administration’s explanation that an anti-Islamic video is to blame, Beck warned that the administration may be trying to initiate a “Bubba effect.”
“If this is true…I believe this administration is trying to initiate a ‘Bubba effect,’” he explained. “That is, the average person turning against the government, collectively…because no one trusts them.”
“No matter how bad a citizen may be behaving, the citizen’s reaction is worse in the Bubba effect. We have to be very careful America…because it’s going to get tougher from here on out.”
Watch more from Beck’s show:
A veteran intelligence analyst and researcher for TheBlaze said he met with an official within the Obama administration who told him the transfer of the Blind Sheikh to Egypt is something that is being “actively considered” by the administration as a solution to the ongoing crisis in the Middle East. His source asked not to be identified.
When asked if the transfer of the convicted terrorist was being seriously considered, the intelligence analyst said yes, according to his source, who stressed that the move, if executed, was not intended to take place or be announced until after the presidential election.
He also said it is likely that the riots and unrest in the Middle East are related to efforts pressing for the release of Rahman, not the anti-Muslim YouTube clip that the Obama administration is adamant sparked the chaos.
“When radical Islamists in Egypt were calling for the burning down of the U.S. embassy this past weekend, before the riots took place this week, they said they were going to do this to push for the release of the Blind Sheikh,” he added.
Rahman, or the Blind Sheikh, is the former leader of the radical “Islamic Group” in Egypt, which now holds 13 seats in the Egyptian Parliament. The Obama administration recently hosted a member of the designated terrorist organization at the White House, where Hani Nour Eldin met with senior State Department and Obama administration officials. Eldin reportedly urged the National Security Council to release Rahman during his visit, the analyst explained.
Former federal prosecutor Andrew McCarthy, who was the lead prosecutor in the Blind Sheikh case, told TheBlaze that he does not doubt the accuracy of the report, saying “there are very good reasons as to why it could be true.”
McCarthy explained that Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi has been calling for the release of the Blind Sheikh ever since he was elected earlier this year. He said it is a matter of “great importance” to the radical Islamists in Egypt and throughout the Middle East, adding that his transfer to Egypt would undoubtedly lead to the terrorist’s release.
“I think the plan has been to agree to the Blind Sheikh’s release but not to announce it or have it become public until after the election. That is consistent with Obama’s pattern of trying to mollify Islamists,” he added. “Obviously, they did not want this information to surface yet… but sometimes a situation can spin out of control.”
McCarthy also said the way the Department of Justice worded its denial may prove to be significant. The DOJ said Rahman’s “release” was not being considered, however, the question was whether or not his “transfer” to Egypt was being discussed.
“Islamists in Egypt have been advocating for his release since we arrested him in the Summer of 1993 and have threatened and committed horrendous acts of violence to force his release,” the former federal prosecutor said. “The worst in Luxor, Egypt, where 58 tourists and 4 police officers were brutally shot, stabbed and the attackers left behind leaflets demanding the release of the Blind Sheikh, some inside the torsos of the victims.”
Former State Department senior official Christian Whiton appeared on Real News From TheBlaze to discuss the report, and stated that it is certainly a possibility.
“Unfortunately, I think it is [conceivable]. And it’s unfortunate because it amounts to negotiating with terrorists…but after all, this administration was inching closer and closer to some sort of trade of terrorists with the Taliban, so perhaps it’s considering the same with [Egyptian President Morsi].”
He also noted that the administration could avoid what he deemed “political suicide” by “whispering” to Egypt’s President Morsi that they can move in that direction after the election.
Buck Sexton noted that the transfer of the Lockerbie bomber was similarly unexpected.
“As with so many things in the Middle East, we’ve accepted the unacceptable,” Whiston remarked.
Re: Is Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and Libya Facing Real Unrest or a Manufactured Crisis?
Quote:
Originally Posted by vector7
Source: State Department in Talks to Transfer ‘Blind Sheikh’ to Egypt
The president of Egypt said this is his #1 goal.
Obama needs the unrest to stop.
All the DOJ said was that the Sheik is ineligible for release. This does not mean they'll won't transfer him to Egypt as long as they promise not to release him. Of course, once he's there there will be a "mistake" or a riot in which prisoners escape.
This amounts to Treason as far as I'm concerned. Bargaining convicted prisoners to get elected is corruption.
September 18th, 2012, 12:26
vector7
Re: Is Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and Libya Facing Real Unrest or a Manufactured Crisis?
An intelligence source on the ground in Libya told Fox News that there was no demonstration outside the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi prior to last week's attack -- challenging the Obama administration's claims that the assault grew out of a "spontaneous" protest against an anti-Islam film.
"There was no protest and the attacks were not spontaneous," the source said, adding the attack "was planned and had nothing to do with the movie."
The source said the assault came with no warning at about 9:35 p.m. local time, and included fire from more than two locations. The assault included RPG's and mortar fire, the source said, and consisted of two waves.
The account that the attack started suddenly backs up claims by a purported Libyan security guard who told McClatchy Newspapers late last week that the area was quiet before the attack.
"There wasn't a single ant outside," the unnamed guard, who was being treated in a hospital, said in the interview.
These details appear to conflict with accounts from the Obama administration that the attack spawned from an out-of-control protest. The Libyan president also said Sunday that the strike was planned in advance.
U.S. officials, in response to the claim that there was no demonstration at the time of the attack, told Fox News there was a small protest earlier in the day -- but they did not dispute that there was no significant or sizeable demonstration at the time.
But a senior Obama administration official told Fox News on Monday morning that the Libyan president's comments are not consistent with "the consensus view of the U.S. intelligence community," which has been investigating the incident, and are accordingly not credible.
"He doesn't have the information we have," the U.S. official said of Libyan President Mohammed el-Megarif. ""He doesn't have the (data) collection potential that we have."
The Libyan leader told CBS News' "Face the Nation" on Sunday that the government in Tripoli harbors "no doubt" that the Sept. 11 attack that killed U.S. ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans was "preplanned, predetermined." That assessment conflicted directly with the preliminary conclusion offered on Sunday by U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice, who appeared on all five Sunday morning talk shows.
There, Rice maintained that the Benghazi incident "was a spontaneous reaction to what had just transpired in Cairo, as a consequence of the video," and that after the protest outside the U.S. consulate gathered steam, "those with extremist ties joined the fray and came with heavy weapons."
Asked if the timing of the Benghazi incident - the eleventh anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks -- was simply a coincidence, the senior U.S. official said on Monday: "It is coincidental. All evidence we have points to this video being the spark of these events. In all of the intel and traffic, there was no one out there saying, 'Oh, it's September 11th, we must avenge...'"
The senior U.S. official added that this is "the consensus view of the U.S. intelligence community at this point," and that Rice "was not out there volunteering her own opinions."
The official also discounted as "not accurate" reports that staff at U.S. embassy in Egypt warned the State Department -- in a cable purportedly sent on the afternoon of Sept. 10 -- about the effect the anti-Islam video was having, and the likelihood of violent protests in Cairo, but received no response from Washington.
"There was cable traffic, involving discussion of the video and the potential for protests, the Embassy was aware," the U.S. official told Fox News. "There were discussions about protests between the relevant agencies -- intel and State -- but the idea that there was no response from State is false."
Officials at the State Department and the White House continue to express satisfaction with the cooperation they are receiving from foreign governments in the protection of American diplomats and their families. This is said to be especially the case in those instances where President Obama has reached out to foreign heads of state, namely Egypt, Yemen and Libya.
Still, the State Department over the weekend -- in a shift of plans that occurred sometime after Friday evening -- announced the evacuation of diplomats' family members and "non-essential" personnel from U.S. Embassies in Tunisia and Sudan, sites of some of the most violent scenes on Friday.
September 18th, 2012, 12:36
vector7
Re: Is Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and Libya Facing Real Unrest or a Manufactured Crisis?
On tonight’s episode of “The Glenn Beck Program” on TheBlazeTV, Beck stated that he believes, based on his research and analysis, U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens was murdered not as a result of a spontaneous riot over an anti-Muslim YouTube clip but rather as part of a coordinated and planned attack using the protests as a cover.
“You’re being set up, America. Your freedom of speech is being set up and it’s being set up all over the world,” Beck said. “If you say somebody on YouTube can’t make a video that is offensive to somebody else, you stop everything, free speech is dead, the First Amendment is over. That’s what this is really all about.”
Beck went on to analyze the U.S. consulate attack in Benghazi in depth, going point-by-point comparing the U.S. government’s explanation to what reality suggests.
Watch the segment via TheBlazeTV here:
September 18th, 2012, 20:06
vector7
Re: Is Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and Libya Facing Real Unrest or a Manufactured Crisis?
Claims violence over film proof constitutional protection 'benefits no one'
"One of the world’s most influential Muslims is now calling on the United Nations – in light of the YouTube movie blamed for violent protests across the Mideast – to impose international restrictions on free speech, criminalizing any statement that impugns Islam.
Sheikh Abdullah Bin Bayyah, a professor at King Abdul Aziz University in Saudi Arabia, is a member of several international organizations, including the Centre for Studying the Aims of Sharia in the U.K., as well as serving as the vice chairman of the International Union of Muslim Scholars.
The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre ranked bin Bayyah No. 31 on its list of the 500 most influential Muslims in the world for 2011.
In a public declaration issued to several Islamic bodies, including the All Dulles Area Muslim Society, one of the largest Muslim mosques in the D.C. metro area and the U.S., bin Bayyah called upon “people of reason and understanding” to put a legal stop to statements that would offend Muslims and thereby threaten world peace."
“We ask everyone to ponder the ramifications of provoking the feelings of over one billion people by a small party of people who desires not to seek peace nor fraternity between members of humanity,” bin Bayyah wrote. “This poses a threat to world peace with no tangible benefit realized. Is it not necessary in today’s world for the United Nations to issue a resolution criminalizing the impingement of religious symbols? We request all religious and political authorities, as well as people of reason to join us in putting a stop to this futility that benefits no one.”
Bin Bayyah’s statement was titled a “Declaration Regarding the Offensive Video to Muslims,” a clear reference to the YouTube film, “Innocence of Muslims,” which has been widely – if controversially – blamed for inciting riots against embassies in the Middle East and the resulting death of four U.S. diplomats.
The Obama administration had similarly asked Google, the parent company of YouTube, to review whether “Innocence of Muslims” violates its terms-of-use policies.
Thus far, Google has refused to remove the video from YouTube, though it blocked access in some sensitive countries.
Pundits from a wide spectrum of news outlets have agreed the video is protected by free speech rights in the U.S.
Bin Bayyah’s statement continued, condemning the embassy attacks in the Middle East:
“We implore you not to inflict violence upon anyone, whether foreign delegations or otherwise. You should not destroy property or flout the values and cherished principles that you defend, as attacking innocents, killing foreign diplomats and ambassadors contravenes religious and moral principles before it contravenes political ones.”
Nonetheless, bin Bayyah reiterated the U.S. should make videos like “Innocence of Muslims” illegal, even while he claimed to back “free speech.”
“To our Western neighbors … we are extremely concerned with a small active minority in your countries that seeks to perpetuate a state of conflict and war,” bin Bayyah wrote. “We estimate that such objectives do not serve the general interest. Therefore, it is our hope that you reconsider and criminalize the denigration of religious symbols, as such provocations do not serve the principles of free speech, principles that you and us both seek to uphold.”In a WND commentary, Diana West discussed other leading Muslims’ attempts to criminalize criticism of Islam.
“Mohamed Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood president of Egypt (who denies that al-Qaida attacked the U.S. on 9/11, by the way), directed the Egyptian Embassy in Washington to ‘take legal action’ against the movie’s producers,” West writes. “Morsi doesn’t seem to understand First Amendment protections.”
West continued, “Egyptian Prime Minister Hisham Qandil asked for similar action ‘within the framework of international charters that criminalize acts that stir strife on the basis of race, color or religion.’ This is a direct appeal to hold Americans accountable to the U.N. blasphemy resolution Hillary Clinton, along with the Islamic bloc, has championed, despite its repressive controls on free speech.”
West was referring a “defamation against religion” resolution the Organization of Islamic Cooperation has been pushing at the U.N. every year since 1999. Last year, Clinton worked with the OIC to pass a revised version, Resolution 16/18, which included both the usual condemnation of defaming speech and a paragraph affirming “the positive role that the exercise of the right to freedom of opinion and expression” plays in “strengthening democracy.”
Critics of the defamation resolutions fear they could be used to outlaw valid and critical scrutiny of Islamic teachings, as some OIC states do through controversial blasphemy laws at home.
The Clinton compromise version, though still roundly criticized, enjoyed more popularity at the U.N. itself and was adopted by consensus.
September 18th, 2012, 21:32
vector7
Re: Is Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and Libya Facing Real Unrest or a Manufactured Crisis?
French satirical weekly publishes cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed naked, fueling the anger of Muslims who are already incensed by a film depicting him as a womanizing buffoon.
By Reuters Sep.19, 2012 | 2:01 PM
http://www.haaretz.com/polopoly_fs/1...3472618260.jpgAfghan protesters set a U.S. flag on fire during a demonstration against a film mocking the Prophet Mohammad, in Jalalabad province September 19, 2012. Photo by Reuters
The French government said Wednesday that it planned on temporarily shutting down premises including embassies and schools in 20 countries on Friday,after a French magazine ridiculed the Prophet Mohammed by portraying him naked in cartoons.
The move threatened to fuel the anger of Muslims around the world who are already incensed by a film depicting him as a womanizing buffoon.
Riot police were deployed to protect the Paris offices of satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo after it hit the newsstands with a cover showing an Orthodox Jew pushing the turbaned figure of Mohammed in a wheelchair. On the inside pages, several caricatures of the Prophet showed him naked.
The French government had urged the magazine not to print the images.
Reacting to the publication, Essam Erian, acting head of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, told Reuters: "We reject and condemn the French cartoons that dishonor the Prophet and we condemn any action that defames the sacred according to people's beliefs."
Calling for a UN treaty against insulting religion, he added: "We condemn violence and say that peaceful protests are a right for everyone. I hope there will be a popular western and French reaction condemning this."
The posting of a short film on You Tube last week that mocked Mohammed asa lecherous fool has sparked sometimes deadly protests in many countries.
The U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other Americans were killed in an attack in Benghazi, and U.S. and other foreign embassies were stormed in cities in Asia, Africa and the Middle East by furious Muslims. Afghan militants said a suicide bombing that killed 12 people on Tuesday was carried out in retaliation for the film.
One of the Charlie Hebdo cartoons, entitled "Mohammed: a star is born", depicted a bearded figure crouching over to display naked buttocks and genitals, a star covering his anus.
A second cartoon, in reference to the scandal over a French magazine's decision to publish topless photos of the wife of Britain's Prince William, showed a topless, bearded character with the caption: "Riots in Arab countries after photos of Mrs. Mohammed are published."
"We have the impression that it's officially allowed for Charlie Hebdo to attack the Catholic far-right but we cannot poke fun at fundamental Islamists," Charlie Hebdo editor Stephane Charbonnier, who drew the front-page cartoon, said.
"It shows the climate - everyone is driven by fear, and that is exactly what this small handful of extremists who do not represent anyone want - to make everyone afraid, to shut us all in a cave," he told Reuters.
Many Muslims consider any representation of Allah or the Prophet Mohammad offensive.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius criticised the magazine's move as a provocation.
"We saw what happened last week in Libya and in other countries such as Afghanistan," Fabius told a regular government news conference. "We have to call on all to behave responsibly."
A Foreign Ministry spokesman said France was closing its embassies, consulates, cultural centres and schools in 20 countries on Friday as a "precautionary measure".
Charlie Hebdo has a long reputation for being provocative. Its Paris offices were firebombed last November after it published a mocking caricature of Mohammad.
In 2005, Danish cartoons of the Prophet sparked a wave of violent protests across the Muslim world that killed at least 50 people.
The French Muslim Council, the main body representing Muslims in France, accused Charlie Hebdo of firing up anti-Muslim sentiment at a sensitive time.
"The CFCM is profoundly worried by this irresponsible act, which in such a fraught climate risks further exacerbating tensions and sparking damaging reactions," it said.
Richard Prasquier, head of the body representing France's Jewish community - Europe's largest - said religious censorship was wrong but added: "Publishing Mohammad cartoons at this time, in the name of freedom, is irresponsible".
French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said the authorities had rejected a request to hold a march against the Mohammad film in Paris.
"There is no reason for us to allow conflicts that do not concern France to enter our country," Ayrault told RTL radio.
Social media had circulated calls for a protest on Saturday against the film, after police arrested about 150 people who tried to take part in an unauthorized protest near the U.S. Embassy in Paris last week.
September 19th, 2012, 16:51
American Patriot
Re: Is Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and Libya Facing Real Unrest or a Manufactured Crisis?
"Alive, Alive"? Were they NOT trying to kill him? were they meaning just to beat him?
YouTube user "Abdalgadar Fadi" has uploaded a video on the arabic language version of the video sharing site purporting to show US Ambassador Christopher Stevens dragged from the consulate in Benghazi.
The translation of the text below the video reads: "Moment directed the U.S. ambassador before his death" and the headline translates to: “U.S. Ambassador and the people of Benghazi rescue attempt before his death.”
The victim in the video appears to be wearing the same pants, belt and t-shirt seen in this photo of Amb. Stevens.
The validity of the video and the accuracy of the description of the events it depicts are still under investigation, but through Twitter and Facebook the video has already taken a life of its own.
UPDATE 9:15 PM ET
Various tipsters have offered differing interpretations of what they hear and witness on this video. The shouts of "Allauha Akbar" are clearly heard and many assume that the cry is meant as a celebration of the attack on the consulate and Amb. Stevens.
However, Arab-speaking readers have pointed out that they hear people saying “Lift him” and "bring him out." But they can’t discern why the crowd is cheering.
Jenan Moussa, who identifies herself as a "Roving Reporter for Arabic Al Aan TV from Dubai" took to Twitter when the video first broke. Moussa claims that some men in the video were saying "he's alive" and "lift him" (referring to Amb. Stevens.) She writes that after reviewing the video she believes the crowd began cheering because the man was found alive.
UPDATE 10:05 PM ET
The New York Times now offers their translation to the events int he video:
“I swear, he’s dead,” one Libyan says, peering in.
“Bring him out, man! Bring him out,” another says.
“The man is alive. Move out of the way,” others shout. “Just bring him out, man.”
“Move, move, he is still alive!”
“Alive, Alive! God is great,” the crowd erupts, while someone calls to bring Mr. Stevens to a car.
Developing...
(John Sexton and Morgen Richmond contributed to this report)
September 20th, 2012, 05:50
vector7
Re: Is Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and Libya Facing Real Unrest or a Manufactured Crisis?
Intelligence sources tell Fox News they are convinced the deadly attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, was directly tied to Al Qaeda -- with a former Guantanamo detainee involved.
That revelation comes on the same day a top Obama administration official called last week's deadly assault a "terrorist attack" -- the first time the attack has been described that way by the administration after claims it had been a "spontaneous" act.
"Yes, they were killed in the course of a terrorist attack on our embassy," Matt Olsen, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, said during a Senate hearing Wednesday.
Olsen echoed administration colleagues in saying U.S. officials have no specific intelligence about "significant advanced planning or coordination" for the attack.
However, his statement goes beyond White House Press Secretary Jay Carney and Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, saying the Sept. 11 attack on the consulate was spontaneous. He is the first top administration official to call the strike an act of terrorism.
Sufyan Ben Qumu is thought to have been involved and even may have led the attack, Fox News' intelligence sources said. Qumu, a Libyan, was released from the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in 2007 and transferred into Libyan custody on the condition he be kept in jail. He was released by the Qaddafi regime as part of its reconciliation effort with Islamists in 2008.
His Guantanamo files also show he has ties to the financiers behind the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The declassified files also point to ties with the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, a known Al Qaeda affiliate.
Olson, repeating Wednesday that the FBI is handling the Benghazi investigation, also acknowledged the attack could lead back to Al Qaeda and its affiliates.
"We are looking at indications that individuals involved in the attack may have had connections to Al Qaeda or Al Qaeda's affiliates, in particular Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb," he said at the Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing.
Still, Olsen said "the facts that we have now indicate that this was an opportunistic attack on our embassy, the attack began and evolved and escalated over several hours," Olson said.
Carney said hours earlier that there still is "no evidence of a preplanned or pre-meditated attack," which occurred on the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks.
"I made that clear last week, Ambassador Rice made that clear Sunday," Carney said at the daily White House press briefing.
Rice appeared on "Fox News Sunday" and four other morning talk shows to say the attack in Benghazi, Libya, that killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans was "spontaneous" and sparked by an early protest that day outside the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, Egypt, over an anti-Islamic video.
"It was a reaction to a video that had nothing to do with the United States," Rice told Fox News. "The best information and the best assessment we have today is that this was not a pre-planned, pre-meditated attack. What happened initially was that it was a spontaneous reaction to what had just transpired in Cairo."
However, that account clashed with claims by the Libyan president that the attack was in fact premeditated. Other sources, including an intelligence source in Libya who spoke to Fox News, have echoed those claims. The intelligence source even said that, contrary to the suggestion by the Obama administration, there was no major protest in Benghazi before the deadly attack which killed four Americans.
A U.S. official did not dispute the claim.
In the face of these conflicting accounts, Carney on Tuesday deferred to the ongoing investigation and opened the door to the possibility of other explanations.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, called Wednesday for an independent review of the attack.
"A State Department Accountability Review Board to look into the Benghazi attack is not sufficient," Collins said. "Given the loss of the lives of four Americans who were serving their country and the serious questions that have been raised about the security at our Consulate in Benghazi, it is imperative that a non-political, no-holds-barred examination be conducted."
Fox News' Bret Baier contributed to this report.
September 20th, 2012, 11:20
Malsua
Re: Is Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and Libya Facing Real Unrest or a Manufactured Crisis?
28% recidivism among gitmo detainees that get released. Leftists would have us release all of them.
----------- Recidivism rises among released Guantanamo detainees
(Reuters) - The proportion of militants released from detention at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay who subsequently were believed to have returned to the battlefield rose slightly over the last year, according to official figures released on Monday.
In a summary report, the office of the Director of National Intelligence said that 27.9 percent of the 599 former detainees released from Guantanamo were either confirmed or suspected of later engaging in militant activity.
The figures represent a 2.9 percent rise over a 25 percent aggregate recidivism rate reported by the intelligence czar's office in December 2010.
The increase in the apparent recidivism rate, while not large, comes at a delicate time for President Barack Obama, and could further complicate his attempts to negotiate a peace deal with Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan.
September 20th, 2012, 15:47
American Patriot
Re: Is Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and Libya Facing Real Unrest or a Manufactured Crisis?
What the FUCK is wrong with this administration????????????? Releasing these guys and putting them back out there with knowledge of US operations, after having been incarcertated is about the stupidest fucking thing Obama has ever done.