Koran Burning Support

Bloomberg defends Terry Jones, pastor planning Koran-burning rally despite warnings from White House

BY Sean Alfano AND Adam Lisberg
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Originally Published:Tuesday, September 7th 2010, 10:40 AM
Updated: Tuesday, September 7th 2010, 5:52 PM

John Raoux

Rev. Terry Jones at the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Fla.

Noonan for News

Mayor Mike Bloomberg.

Miller for News

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs.

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• Biden to visit Ground Zero for Sept. 11 anniversary
• Afghanistan protests over Florida church's plans to burn Korans

Mayor Bloomberg said Terry Jones, the Florida pastor who plans on a Koran-burning rally on Saturday's 9/11 anniversary, has every right to burn the sacred books – even though he finds it distasteful.
"In a strange way, I'm here to defend his right to do that. I happen to think that it is distasteful," Bloomberg said Tuesday.
"The First Amendment protects everybody, and you can't say that we're going to apply the First Amendment to only those cases where we are in agreement," he added.
"If you want to be able to say what you want to say when the time comes that you want to say it, you have to defend others, no matter how, how much you disagree with them."
Jones, the Florida pastor who's planning a Koran-burning rally on Saturday's 9/11 anniversary, says he will go through with the event despite warnings from the White House and General David Petraeus that it could harm U.S. soldiers.
"We have firmly made up our mind, but at the same time, we are definitely praying about it," Jones, who heads the Dove World Outreach Church in Gainesville, Fla., told CNN Tuesday.
Jones said his group is "weighing the situation."
Later Tuesday, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters that burning Korans "puts our troops in harm's way."
Gibbs' comments echo those of Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, who said Monday that the rally could hurt U.S. soldiers.
"It could endanger troops and it could endanger the overall effort in Afghanistan," Petraeus said. "Were the actual burning to take place, the safety of our soldiers and civilians would be put in jeopardy and accomplishment of the mission would be made more difficult," he said.
Muslims in Afghanistan protested outside a mosque in Kabul Monday, chanting "Death to America" a day after thousands of Indonesians demonstrated outside the U.S. embassy in Jakarta.
Jones said his rally is aimed at the "radical" Muslims, not moderate Muslims.
"Our message is a message of warning to the radical element of Islam."
The three-hour rally is scheduled for Saturday amid heightened security, according to the Gainesville Sun.
Gibbs announced that President Obama will attend a memorial ceremony at the Pentagon Saturday to commemorate the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Vice President Joe Biden will be in New York to honor 9/11 victims.
Michelle Obama and former first lady Laura Bush will be at an event in Pennsylvania to honor the passengers of United Flight 93, one of the hijacked planes which crashed in a field on Sept. 11, 2001, Gibbs said.
salfano@nydailynews.com


Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2010/09/07/2010-09-07_terry_jones_pastor_of_dove_world_outreach_center_will_go_through_with_koranburni.html#ixzz0yuJk8zyp

Kill all - Ampatuan

Ampatuan Jr. wanted all killed—helper

By Tetch Torres
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 10:14:00 09/08/2010

MANILA, Philippines—(UPDATE 2) Andal Ampatuan Jr., the main defendant in the Maguindanao massacre, wanted everyone in the convoy killed, including the media practitioners, a former house helper of the political clan said on Wednesday, the first day of the trial on the massacre of 57 people.
At the ambush site on November 23 last year, Ampatuan Jr. phoned his father and told them that their political enemy’s convoy was there.
According to Lakmudin Saliao (not Suliya), the conversation allegedly went this way:
“Andito na sila (They’re here),” said Ampatuan Jr.
“Andyan ba si Toto (Is Toto there)?” asked the older Ampatuan, referring to their political rival then Buluan mayor Ismael “Toto” Mangudadatu.
“Wala, ama. Asawa at kapatid na babae lang (No, father. Just the wife and sisters),” said the younger Ampatuan.
“Alam mo na ang gagawin mo. Patayin mo na sila. Itira mo ang media (You know what to do. Kill them. Spare the media),” the father said.
“Hindi. Lubus-lubusin na natin. Makakapagsalita pa kundi natin uubusin (No. Let’s go all the way. They will be able to speak if we don’t finish all of them),” the son said.
Saliao, climbed onto the stand after lower court judge Jocelyn Reyes rejected a motion by lawyers for main defendant Ampatuan Jr. to move back the start of the trial 10 days.

Ampatuan and more than 100 gunmen allegedly stopped a convoy belonging to a political rival in the southern Philippines in November last year, killed 57 people and pushed the bodies into mass graves the suspects had dug beforehand.
Manette Salaysay, a relative of one of the victims who attended the court session, hailed the start of the trial, which had been delayed for five months.
"It is difficult to fight these devils," she told AFP, referring to Ampatuan and 16 police officers also facing trial, accused in relation to the massacre.
"We want to see the light of justice," Salaysay added.
Ampatuan, wearing a yellow prison shirt and flanked by plainclothes police, sat impassively behind his lawyers as the witness was sworn in.
The trial, held at a special courtroom built inside a maximum-security police jail in Taguig, south of Manila, is being held amid allegations of witness intimidation and fears the case could drag on for years.
It was to start last week but Reyes moved it back seven days to give the Ampatuan lawyers more time to comment on previous court rulings related to the case.
Rights groups and the victims' relatives have accused the Ampatuans of applying delaying tactics while ordering their men to terrorize witnesses.
Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia chief of the New York-based monitor Human Rights Watch, said five people with knowledge of alleged abuses by the Ampatuans had been killed since the massacre.
The five included a key massacre witness who could have placed Ampatuan at the scene, she said.
"Abuses in Maguindanao have not stopped with the arrest of six members of the Ampatuan family," Pearson said in a statement.
"Prompt investigation of ongoing crimes is essential to prevent further killing and to stop suspects from interfering with the trial."
At least 30 journalists were among those shot dead in the massacre in Maguindanao province in the single biggest attack on the working press in history, according to global press watchdogs.
Five other Ampatuans, including the patriarch Andal Ampatuan Sr., are among the 196 people facing charges related to the massacre, although more than 100 of the alleged gunmen remain at large.
Ampatuan Jr., then a local mayor, allegedly led the massacre to stop the rival from running against him for the post of Maguindanao province governor in this year's national elections.

AFP

The Muslim Chams

Vietnam's Chams remain steadfast to Islam

(Top) Cham Muslim men pray inside a mosque in District 8 Southern Ho Chi Minh City. This small community in an area known as District 8 says it is the largest enclave of Cham Muslims in the city formerly known as Saigon. (Center) Cham muslims leaving a mosque. (Above) A Cham Muslim woman and her granddaughter walk outside a mosque. Pictures: AFP

HO CHI MINH CITY

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

THE call to prayer from the minaret reaches out over tightly-packed alleys in a Ho Chi Minh City neighbourhood as men in white knitted skullcaps and colourful sarongs walk to their local mosque.

The scene is more reminiscent of Malaysia, Indonesia or Brunei — not Vietnam and its Chinese-influenced culture where Muslims are a tiny fraction of the population.

This small community in an area known as District 8 says it is the largest enclave of Cham Muslims in the metropolis informally still known as Saigon.

It has more than 1,300 residents, halal restaurants, a large mosque and a madrassa that regularly sends students to Malaysia for further study.

These and other Cham communities in southern and central Vietnam are all that remain of the Champa kingdom that ruled for centuries.

There are more than 100,000 Chams in the Buddhist-dominated country of 86 million, the government says.

"The Cham fell and lost their country. I feel like I live in another country and it's not my home," says a noodle-seller who gave her name only as Hachot, 49.

The Cham were a Hindu people who ruled parts of south and central Vietnam for hundreds of years and gradually converted to Islam.

But by the late 15th century the Vietnamese had pushed south and Champa was in decline.

Today, the kingdom's most visible legacy is the My Son temple ruin near Danang city. It is a Unesco world heritage site and popular with tourists.

These days more than 80 per cent of Cham are adherents of Islam, researchers say.

According to government data, Muslims are the smallest of six major religious groups in the country, with Buddhism the largest.

Religious activity remains under state control in communist Vietnam but worship among a variety of faiths is flourishing. However, Catholics have had a long-running dispute with the government over land, and some minority Buddhist groups have complained of persecution.

The Muslims have kept a lower profile.

"We just follow this religion. We don't care about politics," says Haji Mou-sa, 52, deputy manager of the local madrassa. He is fluent in Malay and knows some Arabic.

Mou-sa says Ho Chi Minh City has more than a dozen imams, all trained in Vietnam. Foreign imams also visit, especially from Malaysia, and the holy A-Quran has been translated into Vietnamese.

A slight man in a collarless shirt, sarong, and metal-rimmed glasses, he has lived in District 8 since the 1960s, when Chams first began moving to the area.

Many came from the Mekong Delta province of An Giang, where Chau Doc city is still home to a significant Cham Muslim population.

In the beginning, the District 8 Cham homes were made from wood and thatch. Electricity came to the area in 1990, and much later a bridge was built connecting the once-isolated area to downtown, leading to improved roads and rapid development of the surrounding area.

According to residents, there are 16 mosques in Ho Chi Minh City, some of them built with assistance from Muslim nations.

A plaque in the Cham neighbourhood's Masjid Jamiul Anwar says it was rebuilt in 2006 with funds from the United Arab Emirates and the Red Crescent.

Although they get support from the Middle East, Cham relations remain strongest with Malaysia and Indonesia, thanks partly to shared cultural and religious values.

"Malaysians came here and supported schools and better jobs," Hachot recalls. The ties started more than 20 years ago after Vietnam began a policy of gradual economic openness.

She says she does not feel a part of wider Vietnamese society, even though the government helped to rebuild her house some years ago.

Attitudes of the majority Kinh ethnic group towards the Cham vary, Hachot says.

"Some Kinh say the Cham are dirty," she says, and they object to the Muslims' shunning of pork. "Other people don't care."

Many older Muslim residents make pilgrimages to Mekah, and most Cham have Arabic names on their government-issued identity cards.

Mohamath Zukry, 22, moved from his small town in An Giang more than 18 months ago to study and live at the madrassa. He plans to go to Malaysia to finish his religious education, and to study information technology.

Headscarves, long skirts and sleeves are common in Cham neighbourhoods but women leave their heads uncovered when they go to work, and may opt for jeans. They say this is partly out of a fear of discrimination by co-workers.

Ngo Van Dong, 50, is among a small number of Kinh who have converted, despite initial opposition from his family who thought the religion "weird." The mechanic says he adopted Islam more out of love for his Cham wife than religious piety. Over time, he came to understand his adopted faith better.

Like their fellow Muslims around the world, the Cham in District 8 are marking the holy fasting month of Ramadan until about September 9.

They commonly also enjoy Vietnam's biggest celebration, the Tet Lunar New Year in February, although they do not engage in the spiritual rituals that accompany it.

"But we still have fun," says Dong.

AFP

Birth Pang for PKR

By Patrick Lee

PETALING JAYA: Internal squabbles are no strangers to political parties, especially the “newer” ones like PKR, say analysts.
"It is normal for all parties to go through a difficult genesis," said Farish Ahmad Noor, political analyst at Nanyang Technological University.

He was commenting on the current infighting in PKR over the deputy presidency post in the party election in November.

The main top contenders for the prize are PKR supreme council member Zaid Ibrahim and vice-president Azmin Ali.

"What is happening to PKR is not new or unique," Farish Ahmad said, making comparisons to the disputes that both Umno and PAS had been involved in over the years.

PKR also seemed to lack the foundation that the other, more experienced parties seemed to have.

“PAS and DAP have gone through the same stages in their early days,” said Sivamurugan Pandian, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) political analyst.

“PKR, on the other hand, has a lot of new leaders.”

He also told FMT that this was representative of a new political landscape, where younger leaders were putting themselves into the party's ranks.

Clear leadership

Calling the situation “quite normal”, James Chin, political analyst at Monash University, said that the other opposition parties had the same problems.

“It's just that they've been able to hide their problems better,” he said.

Nevertheless, Chin sees the infighting in PKR a boon for the party.

"It's better to have an all-out fight (for the positions), because then you'll have clear results (on who should be the leaders)," he said.

“(At the moment), no one knows who is the number two in the party. If I were a PKR member, I would want to see clear leadership.”

However, PKR's leaders have also been cautioned against continuing their mudslinging.

“Many thought PKR would have been able to handle itself better than how it is handling itself now,” Sivamurugan said.

He added that it was not surprising, considering that many of PKR leaders were former Umno members.

“But once you're out of Umno, you should have got yourself a new campaign strategy,” the USM analyst said.

“PKR delegates don't want to see another Umno. They want to see a new party.”

"Rather than focusing on national issues, they seem to be looking at positions," Sivamurugan said, adding that politicians should know when to call for “ceasefire”.

When asked if the public had enough of PKR's episodes, Farish Ahmad said, "I dont know if the public is bored with PKR, but I certainly am by now."

He also told FMT that many PKR's leaders were stuck with personality politics, especially with their de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim.

"Should this reign of personality politics continue, then PKR may just end up being another typical ego-based party where personalities come before substance."
FMT

More reps disclaimed supporting Azmin

Several Selangor and Negri Sembilan PKR state assemblypersons have disclaimed involvement with a group of elected representatives which voiced open support for vice-president Azmin Ali to contest for the party deputy presidency.

This morning, a press conference in Shah Alam was held by a group led by Kota Anggerik state assemblyperson Yaakob Sapari, purportedly representing nine of the party's state assemblypersons from Selangor and four from Negeri Sembilan who endorse Azmin.

This comes in the wake of a similar press conference held yesterday by a group of PKR MPs, claiming to represent 18 parliamentarians and two senators.

It was later established that not all the MPs named by the group had given permission for their names to be used to lend support to Azmin's candidacy.

Today was no different as a large number of state assemblypersons purportedly from the group expressed surprise that they were named by Yaakob.

Among them was Kajang state assemblyperson Lee Kim Sin, who said that while he did not object to the function this morning, he is 'independent' and did not belong to any faction as asserted by Yaakob.

“My opinion is, it is too early to declare any support because further nominations may yet come in. I have to wait until after the nominations and see the situation.

“Although Azmin is the Selangor state chief, we have to choose a leader based on the party's needs and abilities, not according to faction," said Lee.

What if Syed Husin contests?

Others who claimed that they were named by Yaakob without their permission were Chai Tong Chai (Chuah), Aminudin Harun (Sikamat), Gan Pei Nei (Rawang) and Rodziah Ismail (Batu Tiga).

Chai said he was against stating support for any candidate at the moment on the assumption that PKR deputy president Syed Husin Ali would not defend his post.

“It is still early to declare support for anyone. What if Syed Husin Ali (incumbent) decides to seek re-election?” he asked.

Syed Husin, though expected to step down, is well respected in the party and any attempt to challenge him would likely split the party.

Aminudin confirmed that he was asked to join the press conference this morning, but declined.

“To me this is an internal (arrangement), so there is no need to put my name if I'm not coming... In Negri Sembilan, members are focused on fulfilling their Ramadan obligations rather than the party polls,” said Aminudin.

'Wait for their manifesto first'

He added that the press conference by Yaakob's group may even prove to be of detriment to the party.

“Today this group has a press conference. Tomorrow there might be another press conference by a different group. This is not healthy for the party,” he said.

When contacted, Gan said she was surprised that she had been named as one of the 13 state assemblypersons who endorsed Azmin for the deputy presidency.

“I didn't know my name was in the list. I was informed by (Batu Caves state assemblyperson) Amirudin Shari to attend the press conference today but he didn't state the details,” she said.

Gan said that as nominations have yet to begin, it was improper to make any announcements to declare support for anyone.

“Secondly, the most important thing is, the candidates should also release their manifesto. Only then can we decide whether to support him or her," she said.

'200 percent support for Azmin'

Meanwhile, Port Dickson assemblyperson M Ravi confirmed that he consented to being on the list, adding that he supported Azmin “200 percent”.

“We shouldn't give a new guy too high a post,” said Ravi, in an apparent reference to Zaid Ibrahim, who has stated his intention contest for No 2.

Taman Medan assemblyperson Haniza Talha said that she, too, supports Azmin, but this does not necessarily translate to votes from the 400,000 members.

“The nomination is from a division member, not me. We have to be fair, and as a democratic party, we have to undergo this path. There are no shortcuts.

“Before making decisions we should discuss with the grassroots members first. What's the hurry? The nominations will only be made after Hari Raya,” she said.

Addtional reporting by Ng Ling Fong and Abd Rahim Sabri.

Malaysiakini

Meeting Over GE 13 Strategy

BN sec-gens meet today over election strategy

By G. Manimaran and Adib Zalkapli

September 08, 2010

Tengku Adnan will chair a meeting of BN secretary-generals today. — Picture by Choo Choy May

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 8 — Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders will meet today to discuss election preparations amid speculation that the Sarawak polls and the 13th general election would be called by the middle of next year. “We will meet tomorrow (today), I will chair the first meeting with all BN component members, all the secretary-generals to discuss voters registration, strategies — it is basically about strengthening BN,” said BN secretary-general Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor in an interview with The Malaysian Insider.
“We are not only going to talk about registering new voters, but also problems faced [by] component parties ahead of the next election,” he said.
Tengku Adnan, also the Umno secretary-general, admitted that some BN component parties were facing problems but believed they could be solved ahead of the next general election.
He said that BN must address the needs of the majority of the voters as the coalition only has about six million members including 3.4 million from Umno.
Currently, there are 11,381,193 registered voters.
“We need the people’s support,” said the Putrajaya MP.
“We may have our shortcomings and weaknesses but they can addressed. We are listening to what the people are saying. This is not an authoritarian party or a communist party where only an individual is in power,” he added.
“BN consists of small and big component parties, but with equal representation in BN,” he said.
The ruling coalition now has 13 members after Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) left in late 2008.
The term for Sarawak state government expires next July while elections for parliament and other states are not due until May 2013.
BN parties are still trailing behind Pakatan Rakyat (PR) in registering new voters. Umno is ahead of all BN component parties, while DAP leads the voters registration drive in Pakatan Rakyat (PR).
According to official figures released by the Elections Commission (EC) today, DAP registered 9,106 voters in July compared to Umno’s 7,230.
Voter registration in June was two times higher, with a total of 48,655 new voters signed up.
In June, the DAP enrolled 20,862 people (42.8 per cent) while Umno only managed 10,675 (21.5 per cent.)
 Between January and June this year, MCA registered 2,917 voters, MIC (1,109), Gerakan (476), PAS (36,618), PKR (13,098), PPP (four), PBS (686), SAPP (218), Upko (241), LDP (37), PBB (649), SUPP (972), SPDP (435), PRS (191) and SNAP (six).
Speculation has the Sarawak state election being called after the Hari Raya celebration, with the general election in the second quarter of next year, depending on BN’s performance in Sarawak.
BN is also said to be considering holding both elections simultaneously next year.
However, an Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) report last week dismissed such talk, saying the results of recent by-elections suggest that the electorate has become much more volatile — especially non-Malay voters.
Non-Malay voters have been turned off by calls from Malay rights groups such as Perkasa for Datuk Seri Najib Razak to keep affirmative action measures from the New Economic Policy (NEP) in his New Economic Model (NEM) which envisions an open high-income economy.
In an interview with The Malaysian Insider early last month, EC chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof said he did not expect a general election to be called prior to 2012.
It is understood that several Umno leaders and BN component parties were also not in favour of an early election.
MI