8-year-old girl asks for divorce in court
By: Hamed Thabet
An eight-year-old girl decided last week to go the Sana’a West Court to prosecute her father, who forced her to marry a 30-year-old man.
Nojoud Muhammed Nasser arrived at court by herself on Wednesday, April 2, looking for a judge to handle her case against her father, Muhammed Nasser, who forced her two months ago to marry Faez Ali Thamer, a man 22 years her senior. The child also asked for a divorce, accusing her husband of sexual and domestic abuse.
According to Yemeni law, Nojoud cannot prosecute, as she is underage. However, court judge Muhammed Al-Qathi heard her complaint and subsequently ordered the arrests of both her father and husband.
“My father beat me and told me that I must marry this man, and if I did not, I would be raped and no law and no sheikh in this country would help me. I refused but I couldn’t stop the marriage,” Nojoud Nasser told the Yemen Times. “I asked and begged my mother, father, and aunt to help me to get divorced. They answered, ‘We can do nothing. If you want you can go to court by yourself.’ So this is what I have done,” she said.
...
“He used to do bad things to me, and I had no idea as to what a marriage is. I would run from one room to another in order to escape, but in the end he would catch me and beat me and then continued to do what he wanted. I cried so much but no one listened to me. One day I ran away from him and came to the court and talked to them.”
“Whenever I wanted to play in the yard he beat me and asked me to go to the bedroom with him. This lasted for two months," added Nasser. "He was too tough with me, and whenever I asked him for mercy, he beat me and slapped me and then used me. I just want to have a respectful life and divorce him.”
...
Thamer is in jail now. “Yes I was intimate with her, but I have done nothing wrong, as she is my wife and I have the right and no one can stop me," he said. "But if the judge or other people insist that I divorce her, I will do it, it’s ok.”
...
“So far there is no case and no charges, as Nojoud arrived by herself to court asking just for a divorce,“ said Shatha Ali Nasser, a lawyer in the Supreme Court who is following Nojoud Nasser’s story.
Shatha Ali Nasser confirmed that item number 15 in Yemeni civil law reads that “no girl or boy can get married before the age of 15." However, this item was amended in 1998 so parents could make a contract of marriage between their children even if they are under the age of 15. But the husband cannot be intimate with her until she is ready or mature,” said Nasser.“This law is highly dangerous because it brings an end to a young girl’s happiness and future fruitful life. Nojoud did not get married, but she was raped by a 30-year old man.”
...
“We are not planning to return Nojoud to her family. Who knows? Maybe after a few years the same thing will happen to her again," said Shatha Ali Nasser. "We are planning to put her in Dar Al-Rahama [an non-governmental organization that works with children], where she can have a better life and education. We do not want her family to pay her expenses, as they are poor.”
Pertinent Links:
1) 8-year-old girl asks for divorce in court
Showing posts with label yemen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label yemen. Show all posts
Friday, April 11, 2008
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
DAR AL HARB-FRANCE: MOSLEM 'JEW HATRED' ON THE WORLD STAGE - - - IS ANYONE PAYING ATTENTION?!?
Muslim Protest At Paris Book Fair
A book fair in Paris has become the subject of controversy with several Muslim countries announcing boycotts because the guest of honour is Israel.
Saudi Arabia has become the latest to withdraw, following Iran, Lebanon, Yemen, Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria.
...
Pertinent Links:
1) Muslim Protest At Paris Book Fair
A book fair in Paris has become the subject of controversy with several Muslim countries announcing boycotts because the guest of honour is Israel.
Saudi Arabia has become the latest to withdraw, following Iran, Lebanon, Yemen, Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria.
...
Pertinent Links:
1) Muslim Protest At Paris Book Fair
Saturday, March 01, 2008
DAR AL ISLAM-YEMEN: SALE OF YOUNG CHILDREN PROSPERS BETWEEN YEMEN & GULF STATES
Yemen, children sold for a handful of dollars
Many, too many minors are sold by poor families in Yemen to rich Gulf countries. The trap of hunger and cultural factors are the causes of the phenomenon, which is showing an alarming increase.
...
Pertinent Links:
1) Yemen, children sold for a handful of dollars
Many, too many minors are sold by poor families in Yemen to rich Gulf countries. The trap of hunger and cultural factors are the causes of the phenomenon, which is showing an alarming increase.
...
Pertinent Links:
1) Yemen, children sold for a handful of dollars
Monday, July 02, 2007
DAR AL HARB/ISLAM - YEMEN: JIHAD IN YEMEN - - - NO GREAT SURPRISE THERE
Jihad in Yemen:
Yemeni temple bombing kills 7 Spaniards
by AHMED Al-HAJJ,
SAN'A, Yemen - An al-Qaida suicide bomber drove into a convoy of Spanish tourists visiting an ancient Yemeni temple, officials said, killing seven Spaniards and two Yemenis less than two weeks after a U.S. terror warning about the area.
Witnesses said the bomber drove a car through the gate of the temple compound, and the vehicle exploded near the structure, which was built about 3,000 years ago and dedicated to the Queen of Sheba.
Spain's foreign minister, Miguel Angel Moratinos, said seven dead and five wounded — one seriously — were Spaniards when the bomber drove into the middle of the Spanish convoy.
No one claimed responsibility for the attack in the central Marib province, about 85 miles east of the capital San'a, but authorities linked the suicide bomber to al-Qaida. Police said they received information last month about a possible al-Qaida attack.
...
and
Six Spaniards, two Yemeni dead in car bomb blast in Yemen
Madrid/Sana'a, Yemen - Six Spanish tourists and two Yemenis were killed and eight others injured in an al-Qaeda suicide bomb attack on a tourist convoy near an archaeological site in north- central Yemen Monday, the Spanish Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The injured included six Spanish tourists and two Yemenis, according to sources in Yemen while Spanish sources spoke of seven injured Spaniards.
'Initial information show that the al-Qaeda organisation was behind this cowardly terrorist attack,' a statement by the Yemeni Interior Ministry added.
The two Yemeni victims were a tour guide and a driver. The injured have been airlifted to a hospital in Sana'a for treatment.
Meanwhile, the Spanish Foreign Ministry in Madrid confirmed the deaths of the seven Spaniards saying six other Spaniards had been injured.
...
If you want to learn more about the possibility of al queda regrouping in Yemen, visit my American Infidels' Musts page here...
Pertinent Links:
1) Yemeni temple bombing kills 7 Spaniards
2) Six Spaniards, two Yemeni dead in car bomb blast in Yemen
Yemeni temple bombing kills 7 Spaniards
by AHMED Al-HAJJ,
SAN'A, Yemen - An al-Qaida suicide bomber drove into a convoy of Spanish tourists visiting an ancient Yemeni temple, officials said, killing seven Spaniards and two Yemenis less than two weeks after a U.S. terror warning about the area.
Witnesses said the bomber drove a car through the gate of the temple compound, and the vehicle exploded near the structure, which was built about 3,000 years ago and dedicated to the Queen of Sheba.
Spain's foreign minister, Miguel Angel Moratinos, said seven dead and five wounded — one seriously — were Spaniards when the bomber drove into the middle of the Spanish convoy.
No one claimed responsibility for the attack in the central Marib province, about 85 miles east of the capital San'a, but authorities linked the suicide bomber to al-Qaida. Police said they received information last month about a possible al-Qaida attack.
...
and
Six Spaniards, two Yemeni dead in car bomb blast in Yemen
Madrid/Sana'a, Yemen - Six Spanish tourists and two Yemenis were killed and eight others injured in an al-Qaeda suicide bomb attack on a tourist convoy near an archaeological site in north- central Yemen Monday, the Spanish Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The injured included six Spanish tourists and two Yemenis, according to sources in Yemen while Spanish sources spoke of seven injured Spaniards.
'Initial information show that the al-Qaeda organisation was behind this cowardly terrorist attack,' a statement by the Yemeni Interior Ministry added.
The two Yemeni victims were a tour guide and a driver. The injured have been airlifted to a hospital in Sana'a for treatment.
Meanwhile, the Spanish Foreign Ministry in Madrid confirmed the deaths of the seven Spaniards saying six other Spaniards had been injured.
...
If you want to learn more about the possibility of al queda regrouping in Yemen, visit my American Infidels' Musts page here...
Pertinent Links:
1) Yemeni temple bombing kills 7 Spaniards
2) Six Spaniards, two Yemeni dead in car bomb blast in Yemen
Friday, May 25, 2007
DAR AL HARB - CANADA: CANADIAN BANKS: BANK OF NOVA SCOTIA & TORONTO-DOMINION ARE QUIETLY CONSIDERING IF THEY SHOULD OFFER SHARI'AH BANKING
Hello,
Yesterday I posted a story concerning this very thing...It doesn't seem to matter to Canadians (Americans too, as well as the majority of the non-moslem world) that the end goal of islam is to create a worldwide caliphate...
Islam & moslems cannot accomplish that without help from dhimmis, and it appears there is no shortage of very short sighted & misguided individuals that are completely ignorant when it comes to the game that is being played, the slow drip drip drip islamization of the West...
Islam, jihad & moslems want to set up parallel islamic systems within the West, so that when the tipping point is reached (demographically) the systems will be in place and the trap can be sprung. When that happens, Western dhimmis are going to look around and ask: When did this happen?!? Why wasn't I aware of it?!?
But while it is happening, they are helping their civilizations own demise...
It was like that in the 7th century when large swaths of Christendom were invaded and it appears it is almost the same in the 21st century, when The West (the descendant of Christendom) is helping in its own demise...
Comeeeeeeeeeeeeee onnn people ! ! !
I know golf, baseball, football, etc. are important but come the future you won't have it if you don't pay attention & fight against the jihad now...
Banks give sharia a second look
by TAVIA GRANT
TORONTO — Bank of Nova Scotia and Toronto-Dominion Bank are quietly considering whether to start offering sharia-compliant products, as part of the big banks' strategy to reach out to a growing immigrant population.
Representatives at Canada's second- and third-largest banks by market capitalization were among the 200 delegates at the Islamic Finance World conference in Toronto this week.
"I can confirm it's something we're tentatively looking at," said Frank Switzer, Scotiabank's spokesman, without providing further detail. TD spokeswoman Kelly Hechler said "it's something we're looking at and we're interested in."
That interest comes as Islamic financial services are growing in Canada and abroad. KPMG has estimated worldwide assets at more than $300-billion (U.S.), with global Islamic institutions growing at 15 per cent a year.
What was considered fringe three decades ago has now become mainstream. Global banks, from HSBC to Deutsche Bank, are offering sharia-compliant financial services as petrodollars fuel demand from the Middle East. The Gulf region alone has as much as $2-trillion (U.S.) in investments, much of which is flowing abroad.
"Every day we are told about the start of a new Islamic bank," Sheik Nizam Yaquby of Bahrain told the Toronto conference. Sharia-compliant products vary and there's little standardization in the sector, which is thought to be the fastest growing in financial services today. Generally, products can't have any explicit interest; transactions can't be in such areas such as gambling, alcohol, pork or pornography; and they can't be deemed as too high risk.
Practitioners liken it to any other form of socially responsible investing and stress that it's open to all religions.
Canada's been a bit late to the game, but momentum's building. Yesterday, iTrust Partners Inc. launched a $400-million (Canadian) sharia-compliant income fund for Middle Eastern and European investors that are interested in Canadian assets. BMO is the prime brokerage and CIBC is providing administrative services.
Retail demand in Canada is still unclear and that may be why the Big Five banks are slow to jump on board. At present, though, services such as mortgages are more expensive. UM Financial Inc. has provided sharia-compliant mortgages to almost 500 homeowners in Ontario - even though it charges a deposit and costs about 0.60 percentage points more than a regular mortgage. Its homeowner mortgages tend to be structured like a rent-to-own system to avoid interest.
Demand has been so great that UM Financial has stopped all marketing and has a 5,000-person waiting list of people who want to switch over from conventional mortgages to ones that are sharia-compliant, said Omar Kalair, the chief executive officer of UM Financial.
UM wants to offer its mortgages at prices similar to what the banks offer - and to do so it says it's talking with one of the Big Five banks about financial backing. He estimates there are about 200,000 Muslim households in Canada and wants to capture 2.5 per cent of that market within a year or two.
In Canada, lawyers from many of the big law firms were in attendance at this week's conference, scrambling to learn about the new, and potentially lucrative, field.
"Every indicator we've seen, both statistical and anecdotal, has made it clear that the retail market in Canada is a multibillion-dollar market," said Walied Soliman, a lawyer at Ogilvy Renault LLP.
...
Pertinent Links:
1) Banks give sharia a second look
Yesterday I posted a story concerning this very thing...It doesn't seem to matter to Canadians (Americans too, as well as the majority of the non-moslem world) that the end goal of islam is to create a worldwide caliphate...
Islam & moslems cannot accomplish that without help from dhimmis, and it appears there is no shortage of very short sighted & misguided individuals that are completely ignorant when it comes to the game that is being played, the slow drip drip drip islamization of the West...
Islam, jihad & moslems want to set up parallel islamic systems within the West, so that when the tipping point is reached (demographically) the systems will be in place and the trap can be sprung. When that happens, Western dhimmis are going to look around and ask: When did this happen?!? Why wasn't I aware of it?!?
But while it is happening, they are helping their civilizations own demise...
It was like that in the 7th century when large swaths of Christendom were invaded and it appears it is almost the same in the 21st century, when The West (the descendant of Christendom) is helping in its own demise...
Comeeeeeeeeeeeeee onnn people ! ! !
I know golf, baseball, football, etc. are important but come the future you won't have it if you don't pay attention & fight against the jihad now...
Banks give sharia a second look
by TAVIA GRANT
TORONTO — Bank of Nova Scotia and Toronto-Dominion Bank are quietly considering whether to start offering sharia-compliant products, as part of the big banks' strategy to reach out to a growing immigrant population.
Representatives at Canada's second- and third-largest banks by market capitalization were among the 200 delegates at the Islamic Finance World conference in Toronto this week.
"I can confirm it's something we're tentatively looking at," said Frank Switzer, Scotiabank's spokesman, without providing further detail. TD spokeswoman Kelly Hechler said "it's something we're looking at and we're interested in."
That interest comes as Islamic financial services are growing in Canada and abroad. KPMG has estimated worldwide assets at more than $300-billion (U.S.), with global Islamic institutions growing at 15 per cent a year.
What was considered fringe three decades ago has now become mainstream. Global banks, from HSBC to Deutsche Bank, are offering sharia-compliant financial services as petrodollars fuel demand from the Middle East. The Gulf region alone has as much as $2-trillion (U.S.) in investments, much of which is flowing abroad.
"Every day we are told about the start of a new Islamic bank," Sheik Nizam Yaquby of Bahrain told the Toronto conference. Sharia-compliant products vary and there's little standardization in the sector, which is thought to be the fastest growing in financial services today. Generally, products can't have any explicit interest; transactions can't be in such areas such as gambling, alcohol, pork or pornography; and they can't be deemed as too high risk.
Practitioners liken it to any other form of socially responsible investing and stress that it's open to all religions.
Canada's been a bit late to the game, but momentum's building. Yesterday, iTrust Partners Inc. launched a $400-million (Canadian) sharia-compliant income fund for Middle Eastern and European investors that are interested in Canadian assets. BMO is the prime brokerage and CIBC is providing administrative services.
Retail demand in Canada is still unclear and that may be why the Big Five banks are slow to jump on board. At present, though, services such as mortgages are more expensive. UM Financial Inc. has provided sharia-compliant mortgages to almost 500 homeowners in Ontario - even though it charges a deposit and costs about 0.60 percentage points more than a regular mortgage. Its homeowner mortgages tend to be structured like a rent-to-own system to avoid interest.
Demand has been so great that UM Financial has stopped all marketing and has a 5,000-person waiting list of people who want to switch over from conventional mortgages to ones that are sharia-compliant, said Omar Kalair, the chief executive officer of UM Financial.
UM wants to offer its mortgages at prices similar to what the banks offer - and to do so it says it's talking with one of the Big Five banks about financial backing. He estimates there are about 200,000 Muslim households in Canada and wants to capture 2.5 per cent of that market within a year or two.
In Canada, lawyers from many of the big law firms were in attendance at this week's conference, scrambling to learn about the new, and potentially lucrative, field.
"Every indicator we've seen, both statistical and anecdotal, has made it clear that the retail market in Canada is a multibillion-dollar market," said Walied Soliman, a lawyer at Ogilvy Renault LLP.
...
Pertinent Links:
1) Banks give sharia a second look
Thursday, May 03, 2007
DAR AL ISLAM: SHIITE MOSLEMS CHASE JEWS OUT OF THEIR HOMES IN YEMEN
YEMEN: JEWS CHASED FROM THEIR HOMES BY SHIITE REBELS
Sanaa, 3 May (AKI) - A group of armed Shiite rebels led by the Yemeni imam Abdel Malik al-Houthi are chasing members of the small Jewish community in the province of Sada, in north Yemen, from their homes and forcing them to leave the region. According to a report on the Arabic newspaper al-Zaman, the armed group, which the government of Yemen believes to be financed by Iran, forced a group of 45 Yemeni Jews, who have lived for hundreds of years in the village of Salim in the province of Sada to move to the capital Sanaa for security reasons.
The Islamic rebels have been engaged for some years in a violent conflict with the Yemen military. Their aim is to bring about the fall of the government in Sanaa in order to install an Islamic state.
The small community of Jews was forced to flee from their homes after the rebel movement warned them to leave the area within 10 days.
Jews are a small minority in the mostly Muslim country. Most of Yemen's Jews were transferred to Israel in 1949-1950 following the 1948 Muslim riots against the Jewish community in Aden that killed 82 people. Currently there are some 300 people who make up the Jewish community in Yemen.
Hundreds of people have been killed in the current conflict with the Shiite rebels. According to the authorities in Sanaa, Tehran is behind this armed group and is seeking to destabilise the region.
Pertinent Links:
1) YEMEN: JEWS CHASED FROM THEIR HOMES BY SHIITE REBELS
Sanaa, 3 May (AKI) - A group of armed Shiite rebels led by the Yemeni imam Abdel Malik al-Houthi are chasing members of the small Jewish community in the province of Sada, in north Yemen, from their homes and forcing them to leave the region. According to a report on the Arabic newspaper al-Zaman, the armed group, which the government of Yemen believes to be financed by Iran, forced a group of 45 Yemeni Jews, who have lived for hundreds of years in the village of Salim in the province of Sada to move to the capital Sanaa for security reasons.
The Islamic rebels have been engaged for some years in a violent conflict with the Yemen military. Their aim is to bring about the fall of the government in Sanaa in order to install an Islamic state.
The small community of Jews was forced to flee from their homes after the rebel movement warned them to leave the area within 10 days.
Jews are a small minority in the mostly Muslim country. Most of Yemen's Jews were transferred to Israel in 1949-1950 following the 1948 Muslim riots against the Jewish community in Aden that killed 82 people. Currently there are some 300 people who make up the Jewish community in Yemen.
Hundreds of people have been killed in the current conflict with the Shiite rebels. According to the authorities in Sanaa, Tehran is behind this armed group and is seeking to destabilise the region.
Pertinent Links:
1) YEMEN: JEWS CHASED FROM THEIR HOMES BY SHIITE REBELS
Saturday, April 14, 2007
DAR AL HARB - U.S.A. - INDIANA: MOSLEMS PUTTING PRESSURE ON MAYOR OF MERRYVILLE
Muslim groups seek to pressure hotel developer
Associated Press
INDIANAPOLIS - Several groups are calling on Mayor Bart Peterson to pressure the developer of a 1,000-room downtown hotel overs concerns its policies discriminate against Muslim women.
The Muslim Alliance of Indiana, the Islamic Society of North America and a union representing hotel workers have asked Peterson to arrange a meeting with White Lodgings Services Corp., which was sued in Kentucky after four Muslim women said the company would not hire them unless they worked without wearing traditional head coverings called hijabs.
Merrillville-based White Lodgings was selected last year to lead a partnership to build the $250 million hotel that is part of the city's bid for the 2011 Super Bowl.
The Muslim groups and Unite Here! asked Peterson to withhold more than $48.5 million in subsidies until White Lodgings meets its demands, including establishing diversity training and an anti-discrimination policy for its workers and allowing employees to organize in unions.
"We're not against this deal or a subsidy," said Shariq Siddiqui, executive director of the Muslim Alliance. "But taxpayers have a say about how the city spends our money. We're saying if you want to get this incentive, you have to play by the rules of this country."
The Associated Press left a message Friday seeking comment from White Lodgings.
Peterson said he is willing to discuss the issue with both sides.
"A private business has a right within the law to do business as it sees fit," Peterson said. "On the flip side, when you're doing business with a public entity, the public has the right to ask questions about who we're partnering with."
...
Pertinent Links:
1) Muslim groups seek to pressure hotel developer
Associated Press
INDIANAPOLIS - Several groups are calling on Mayor Bart Peterson to pressure the developer of a 1,000-room downtown hotel overs concerns its policies discriminate against Muslim women.
The Muslim Alliance of Indiana, the Islamic Society of North America and a union representing hotel workers have asked Peterson to arrange a meeting with White Lodgings Services Corp., which was sued in Kentucky after four Muslim women said the company would not hire them unless they worked without wearing traditional head coverings called hijabs.
Merrillville-based White Lodgings was selected last year to lead a partnership to build the $250 million hotel that is part of the city's bid for the 2011 Super Bowl.
The Muslim groups and Unite Here! asked Peterson to withhold more than $48.5 million in subsidies until White Lodgings meets its demands, including establishing diversity training and an anti-discrimination policy for its workers and allowing employees to organize in unions.
"We're not against this deal or a subsidy," said Shariq Siddiqui, executive director of the Muslim Alliance. "But taxpayers have a say about how the city spends our money. We're saying if you want to get this incentive, you have to play by the rules of this country."
The Associated Press left a message Friday seeking comment from White Lodgings.
Peterson said he is willing to discuss the issue with both sides.
"A private business has a right within the law to do business as it sees fit," Peterson said. "On the flip side, when you're doing business with a public entity, the public has the right to ask questions about who we're partnering with."
...
Pertinent Links:
1) Muslim groups seek to pressure hotel developer
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
DAR AL HARB - FRANCE: ISLAMIC SCHOOLS IN FRANCE
Koranic schools under DGSE surveillance
Report by Jean Chichizola
The episode illustrates how attentive French intelligence services are to Salafist schools worldwide.
Three days prior to the death of Frenchman Patrick Francoeur-Ravoavy in Yemen, the Koranic school in which he had been studying was the subject of a confidential DGSE [General Directorate for External Security] report entitled "Dar el-Hadith, Koranic Institution for Islamist Radicalization."
This nine-page document points out that Yemen is "a choice destination for young recruits from Europe and especially from France. These young Salafists, who are cut off from all external influences, live in a traditionalist environment governed by the strictest religious rules."
Especially targeted are the 13 centres of the Dar el-Hadith organization, which "constitute centres of radical Islamism that can make it easier for Western youths who have broken links with their countries of origin to swing over to jihadist networks." The report mentions "the deaths in Iraq of two French nationals" that had come out of the same school as Patrick Francoeur-Ravoavy. Upon verification, these deaths (which still have to be confirmed) allegedly date back to 2004-2005.
The centre in Damaj, where Patrick Francoeur-Ravoavy studied, is "Dar el-Hadith's flagship." The centre, located in the northwest part of the country, in an isolated village that can only be reached by a sandy path, has "reportedly had up to 5,000 students in the summer, out of which 1,000 are foreigners."
...
and
From Madagascar to Yemen: The Itinerary of a young French salafist from Trappes shot dead
Report by Jean Chichizola
Patrick Francoeur-Rovaovy fell in the Yemeni sands on 25 March; shot dead by a small Shi'i group that is at war with the school where he was learning Arabic and the Salafist version of the Koran. It is a curious fate for this karate fanatic, who had been pre-selected by the French team for the 2000 European championships; for this Catholic high school graduate. It is also a long way away from Majunga (Madagascar), where he was born on 1 September 1975. He arrived in France at the age of three. He lived with his mother and step-father, a civil servant, in Paris and in Seine-Saint-Denis. He got a vocational high school diploma in micro-electronics and registered to attend university.
His family left the Paris region for the Cote d'Azur and, starting in 1999, Patrick stayed with a friend in Trappes. Friends introduced him to Islam and he had a somewhat crazy plan: learn Arabic, leave for Morocco and establish a karate school there. He left for Saudi Arabia in 2001 and then Yemen, where he got married and had a child. "He was not a radical Islamist, he had nothing to do with all that," his step-father asserts. "We were in contact with him by mail and with the webcam. He had created a cybercafe. He was still thinking about his karate school. He was very well liked: more than 3,000 people came to his funeral." For French intelligence, Patrick was a young Salafist from Trappes known for his austere convictions and his many links to radical sites. His departure in 2001, at a time when he was a monitor at a Versailles high school, was noted. In Yemen, the [intelligence] services considered that he had links to the French radical Islamist community and was in charge of helping students sort out their administrative situations.
Pertinent Links:
1) Koranic schools under DGSE surveillance
2) From Madagascar to Yemen: The Itinerary of a young French salafist from Trappes shot dead
Report by Jean Chichizola
The episode illustrates how attentive French intelligence services are to Salafist schools worldwide.
Three days prior to the death of Frenchman Patrick Francoeur-Ravoavy in Yemen, the Koranic school in which he had been studying was the subject of a confidential DGSE [General Directorate for External Security] report entitled "Dar el-Hadith, Koranic Institution for Islamist Radicalization."
This nine-page document points out that Yemen is "a choice destination for young recruits from Europe and especially from France. These young Salafists, who are cut off from all external influences, live in a traditionalist environment governed by the strictest religious rules."
Especially targeted are the 13 centres of the Dar el-Hadith organization, which "constitute centres of radical Islamism that can make it easier for Western youths who have broken links with their countries of origin to swing over to jihadist networks." The report mentions "the deaths in Iraq of two French nationals" that had come out of the same school as Patrick Francoeur-Ravoavy. Upon verification, these deaths (which still have to be confirmed) allegedly date back to 2004-2005.
The centre in Damaj, where Patrick Francoeur-Ravoavy studied, is "Dar el-Hadith's flagship." The centre, located in the northwest part of the country, in an isolated village that can only be reached by a sandy path, has "reportedly had up to 5,000 students in the summer, out of which 1,000 are foreigners."
...
and
From Madagascar to Yemen: The Itinerary of a young French salafist from Trappes shot dead
Report by Jean Chichizola
Patrick Francoeur-Rovaovy fell in the Yemeni sands on 25 March; shot dead by a small Shi'i group that is at war with the school where he was learning Arabic and the Salafist version of the Koran. It is a curious fate for this karate fanatic, who had been pre-selected by the French team for the 2000 European championships; for this Catholic high school graduate. It is also a long way away from Majunga (Madagascar), where he was born on 1 September 1975. He arrived in France at the age of three. He lived with his mother and step-father, a civil servant, in Paris and in Seine-Saint-Denis. He got a vocational high school diploma in micro-electronics and registered to attend university.
His family left the Paris region for the Cote d'Azur and, starting in 1999, Patrick stayed with a friend in Trappes. Friends introduced him to Islam and he had a somewhat crazy plan: learn Arabic, leave for Morocco and establish a karate school there. He left for Saudi Arabia in 2001 and then Yemen, where he got married and had a child. "He was not a radical Islamist, he had nothing to do with all that," his step-father asserts. "We were in contact with him by mail and with the webcam. He had created a cybercafe. He was still thinking about his karate school. He was very well liked: more than 3,000 people came to his funeral." For French intelligence, Patrick was a young Salafist from Trappes known for his austere convictions and his many links to radical sites. His departure in 2001, at a time when he was a monitor at a Versailles high school, was noted. In Yemen, the [intelligence] services considered that he had links to the French radical Islamist community and was in charge of helping students sort out their administrative situations.
Pertinent Links:
1) Koranic schools under DGSE surveillance
2) From Madagascar to Yemen: The Itinerary of a young French salafist from Trappes shot dead
Saturday, March 31, 2007
DAR AL HARB - U.K.: TERRORISTS LIVING AMONGST MOSLEM COMMUNITY
Terrorists hiding in Muslim community
THE man in charge of tackling terrorism in the north west believes there are 200 extremist cells at work in Britain, some in the Greater Manchester area.
Detective Chief Superintendent Tony Porter, head of Greater Manchester's counter terrorism unit, said the Director General of M15 had said the country was under a "severe" threat from terrorism and said there were 1,600 extremists within the networks.
His department will grow dramatically over the next two years as 400 new specialist staff are taken on.
Mr Porter said his unit - the first of its kind to be set up outside London - will be `very aggressive' in stopping `violent extremists', but it needs the assistance of the general public to ensure success.
"We have recognised that the Muslim community generally do not know who the terrorists hiding among them are, because those terrorists are acting under the blanket coverage of a law-abiding community," Mr Porter, 44, said.
"We are still trying to understand the radicalisation process. We have seen people who are well-educated and in good employment go through the process where they are turning towards extremism.
"I do not want to go into figures, but there is a proportion here, just as there will be in any large metropolitan area made up of diverse communities."
Former Greater Manchester Police special branch chief Mr Porter said the nature of the work of the anti-terror unit inevitably means it is not often in the public eye.
...
Pertinent Links:
1) Terrorists hiding in Muslim community
THE man in charge of tackling terrorism in the north west believes there are 200 extremist cells at work in Britain, some in the Greater Manchester area.
Detective Chief Superintendent Tony Porter, head of Greater Manchester's counter terrorism unit, said the Director General of M15 had said the country was under a "severe" threat from terrorism and said there were 1,600 extremists within the networks.
His department will grow dramatically over the next two years as 400 new specialist staff are taken on.
Mr Porter said his unit - the first of its kind to be set up outside London - will be `very aggressive' in stopping `violent extremists', but it needs the assistance of the general public to ensure success.
"We have recognised that the Muslim community generally do not know who the terrorists hiding among them are, because those terrorists are acting under the blanket coverage of a law-abiding community," Mr Porter, 44, said.
"We are still trying to understand the radicalisation process. We have seen people who are well-educated and in good employment go through the process where they are turning towards extremism.
"I do not want to go into figures, but there is a proportion here, just as there will be in any large metropolitan area made up of diverse communities."
Former Greater Manchester Police special branch chief Mr Porter said the nature of the work of the anti-terror unit inevitably means it is not often in the public eye.
...
Pertinent Links:
1) Terrorists hiding in Muslim community
Sunday, March 25, 2007
DAR AL ISLAM - YEMEN:
Riots over Koran mistreatment
ADEN: Hundreds of workers rioted in Yemen over a French engineer's alleged defilement of the Muslim holy book, damaging a gas export terminal project and setting fire to cars and a helicopter, officials said.
Security officials and witnesses said around 400 workers were protesting against what they said was the desecration of the Koran at the site, a liquefied natural gas terminal under construction in Belhaf, southeastern Yemen.
The project is being led by France's Total.
The official Saba news agency said a peaceful demonstration after a "dispute with one of the engineers" turned violent when protesters attacked some of the project's assets.
It said a team that includes security and labour officials was investigating the incident.
...
Pertinent Links:
1) Riots over Koran mistreatment
ADEN: Hundreds of workers rioted in Yemen over a French engineer's alleged defilement of the Muslim holy book, damaging a gas export terminal project and setting fire to cars and a helicopter, officials said.
Security officials and witnesses said around 400 workers were protesting against what they said was the desecration of the Koran at the site, a liquefied natural gas terminal under construction in Belhaf, southeastern Yemen.
The project is being led by France's Total.
The official Saba news agency said a peaceful demonstration after a "dispute with one of the engineers" turned violent when protesters attacked some of the project's assets.
It said a team that includes security and labour officials was investigating the incident.
...
Pertinent Links:
1) Riots over Koran mistreatment
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