Middle East War on the Horizon? Iran Likely to Target Arabs Over Oil Embargo

“A proxy war between Sunni and Shia Muslims, which could dramatically further destabilize the Middle East, may be about to erupt, sources are reporting. It would pit Iran, Syria’s regime and Hezbollah on one side and Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, other Arab states and Syrian rebel forces on the other may, according to a report by Ryan Mauro in Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin.

The individual indicators are cumulative:

Just about a week ago, the European Union agreed to an embargo on Iranian oil after Saudi Arabia promised to increase production to make up the difference. Iran immediately threatened that Arab countries assisting with the embargo would be ‘held responsible’ and ‘one cannot predict the consequences.’

There have been reports Saudi Arabia and Qatar have agreed to help buy weapons for the Free Syrian Army, the rebel forces fighting to overthrow Syrian President Bashar Assad. The Free Syria Army is headquartered in Turkey. Assad is a close ally of Iran and Hezbollah and both are accused of secretly helping his security forces to crush the uprising against his rule.

In mid-January, the emir of Qatar called for an Arab military force to enter Syria to end the violence. The Arab League also has submitted a resolution to the U.N. that would condemn the Syrian government for its crackdown.

Then on Jan. 27, Saudi Arabia officially recognized the Syrian National Council, a body of opposition figures, as the representative of the country.

But Iran and Hezbollah have made saving the Syrian government a top priority.” Read more.

Flashback: Iran: Ayatollah Khamenei Calls for World’s Muslim Nations to Form an International Islamic Power Bloc – “Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has called on the world’s Muslim nations to form an international Islamic power bloc. Referring to the popular uprisings in the Arab world and the recent anti-capitalism movement across the world in his message to Hajj Pilgrims in 2011, Ayatollah Khamenei called on the Muslim world to ‘make the most of this opportunity for the formation of an international Islamic power-bloc.’ Ayatollah Khamenei said such global developments ‘can change the destiny of the Islamic Ummah (nation)’ and herald ‘a bright future accompanied with dignity and progress.’” Read more.

Flashback: Saudi King Calls for the Formation of a Sunni Arab Super State Into One Unified Diplomatic and Military Confederation – “King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia formally called for the formation of a Gulf Union on a backdrop of regional unrest and growing tensions with rival Iran. ‘I ask today that we move from a phase of cooperation to a phase of union within a single entity,’ Abdullah said during his address at the opening session of the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council conference in Riyadh.” Read more.

Flashback: Jews Familiar With Yalkut Shimoni Believe Iran and Saudi Arabia May Soon Fulfill Ancient Messiah Prophecy – “Jews familiar with an ancient compilation of Aggadic exegesis called Yalkut Shimoni noticed in recent weeks that current tension between Iran and Saudi Arabia matches a prophecy it contains regarding the year in which the Messiah – the King who redeems Israel and the world – is to appear. In particular, the recently revealed Iranian plot to assassinate Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the U.S. and subsequent reports that the Arab nations are pressuring the West to attack Iran, appear to fit the sequence of events predicted in the Yalkut Shimoni. In to the part of the book dealing with the Book of Isaiah, the following passage appears:” Read more.

Genie’s Out of the Bottle: Djinns Blamed for ‘Fires’ Erupting at House in Saudi Arabia

“Two Saudi brothers who were scared out of their home and moved to another house because of repeated mystery fires were shocked to find that fires had not stopped at the old house. A week after they settled down in the new house, a big blaze erupted and damaged a large part of it.

The two were then convinced that Jinn (ghosts) were behind the blazes and their theory was supported by the police and a Moslem scholar who said he himself witnessed the fire at the house in the southern town of Bisha.

But that was not the opinion of the Saudi civil defence, who believe all the fires were an act of arson.

Quoted by the Saudi Arabic language daily Okaz, the two brothers, Fahd and Bandar Al Gamdi, said they were forced to move to another house nearly three km away from the old house because of persistent fires.

‘But fires did not stop at the old house and they then spread to the new house, forcing my brother to move to another house,’ Fahd said.

Sheikh Mohammed Al Omari, a well known scholar in that town, said he was called by the two brothers to read Koran and ‘evict the jinn out of the house.’

‘As I started to read in one room, a fire erupted but was put out by the civil defence units who were there at that time,’ he said.

‘I then moved to another room and started reading Koran when a fire flared…fire erupted in every room I moved to and then I felt the Jinn movements…I was not scared and kept reading Koran.’

The paper quoted police spokesman Major Abdullah Al Shaathan as saying investigation showed there was no act of arson as no one could sneak into that house, adding that forensic experts found no electric or building faults.

‘These fires are abnormal or in other words are supernatural…we are still working on the final report which includes statements by neighbours.'” Read more.

Sweden: Powerful Bomb Explosion Rocks Police Station in the ‘Muslim City’ of Malmo

“‘Several people reacted to the powerful explosion and we received a number of calls,’ Skåne police duty officer Marie Keimar told the TT news agency.

Two men dressed in dark clothing were seen placing what is believed to be a bomb outside the building before fleeing the scene.

The blast, which took place around 2.30am, left a hole in the police station’s brick wall and caused extensive damage to the offices inside.

Police say there are a number of witnesses to the incident, but Keimar was unable to elaborate on what witnesses may have said about what they saw.

However, eye witness Tomas Holmqvist told Svergies Television (SVT) that he had seen two men dressed in black place the charge outside the station.

The two men then fled the scene on a black scooter.

The police station singled out in the attack is located on Eriksfältsgatan in central Malmö.

According to police, there were people present in the station shortly before the explosion occurred.

‘It was lucky there wasn’t anyone in there, but it was still a serious attack against us,’ said Keimar.” Read more.

Flashback: Losing Malmo: Sweden Surrenders Their Third Largest City … to Muslims – “Do you remember the jihadist terror campaign that ravaged Malmo, Sweden’s third largest city? Do you recall the bombings, the suicide-hijackings, and the random assassinations that finally coerced the city to surrender to Islamization? No? Funny, I don’t remember them either. Yet there is no question that Malmo has surrendered. Large enclaves of the city, like similar enclaves throughout Western Europe, have earned the dread label ‘no-go zone.’ They are unsafe for non-Muslims, particularly women who do not conform to Islamist conventions of dress and social interaction. They are especially perilous for police, firefighters, and emergency-medical technicians.” Read more.

Flashback: Sweden: Wave of Violence and Shootings in Malmo Puzzles Swedish Police – “A new wave of execution-style shootings in Sweden’s third largest city has left police puzzled, raising concerns that Malmo has become a magnet for gang-related killings. On Thursday dozens of police took to the streets in the southern Swedish city of 250,000 to try calm the public and to collect tips about the attacks, which come only a year after a suspected serial shooter was arrested there. ‘We’ve never experienced anything like this before. It’s exceptional that there have been so many murders in such a short period of time,’ police spokesman Lars-Hakan Lindholm said.” Read more.

Vive la Democracy: Elected Egyptian Political Parties Refusing to Commit to Women’s Rights

Freedom! Kind of. But not really. And only if you’re a man. And a Muslim. And one who understands that there is no real freedom in Islam.  If this is you, then you are free! …

“When I stood on the door of hell, I saw most of its inhabitants were women” – Prophet of Islam, Mohammed, Sahih AlBukhari, 5196

Oh, the irony

AFP – “Many Egyptian political parties, especially dominant Islamist groups, have refused to commit to protecting women’s rights and to abolishing the death penalty, Amnesty International said on Tuesday.

‘Most of the biggest Egyptian political parties have committed to delivering ambitious human rights reform in the country’s transition, but have either given mixed signals or flatly refused to sign up to ending discrimination, protecting women’s rights and to abolishing the death penalty,’ Amnesty said.

The London-based rights watchdog had contacted 54 parties running in Egypt’s first post-revolution parliamentary elections to sign a ‘human rights manifesto’ containing 10 key pledges.

‘It is disturbing that a number of parties refused to commit to equal rights for women,’ said Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s interim director for the Middle East and North Africa.

‘With a handful of women taking up seats in the new parliament, there remain huge obstacles to women playing a full role in Egyptian political life,’ said Luther.

The Freedom and Justice Party, the political arm of the powerful Muslim Brotherhood, which won most seats in parliament, did not respond to meeting requests nor give feedback on the manifesto, Amnesty said.

The ultra-conservative Salafist Al-Nur party, which came second, ‘agreed orally to all pledges with the exception of the abolition of the death penalty and protection of women’s rights,’ it said.

The Free Egyptians party, founded by telecom magnate Naguib Sawiris, did not respond to meeting requests nor comment on the manifesto.” Read more.

Flashback: Former Member Exposes Muslim Brotherhood’s Barbaric Treatment of Women – “As the Muslim Brotherhood strives to project the image of a moderate and democratic political organization, a book featuring the angry account of a former member has hit the market. ‘The Memoirs of a Former Sister: My Story with the Muslim Brotherhood’ is the testimony of Intissar Abdel Moneim, an Alexandria-based novelist and author. With a compelling style and sharp language, the book takes the reader on a journey exploring the internal politics of the 83-year-old organization, placing special emphasis on discrimination against female members. Throughout her work, Abdel Moneim decries the sisters’ internalization of oppression as women are socialized in a way that compels them to accept male dominance within the organization — and the household.” Read more.

Flashback: Sudan: Former Prime Minister Accused of Blasphemy After Proposing Women Be Allowed to Lead Prayers in Mosques – “According to Islam’s prophet, women are little more than a man’s possession imparted by Allah with only half the intelligence of her owner-husband. Which is probably why the word of a woman is only worth half that of the superior sex. And why a female receives only half the inheritance that a male receives. Such intellectual and social deficiencies must therefore mean that it’ll be twice as hard for a woman to earn her way into Mohammed’s Paradise, which would explain why Mohammed said that a majority of the occupants in Hell were women …” Read more.

Leichtgläubig: Muslim Brotherhood Tells German FM They’re Committed to Peace with Israel

Taqiyya in action: Behold, the German Foreign Minister, a wise and discerning man who is blissfully encouraged that the Muslim Brotherhood has personally informed him of their commitment to peace with Israel. Unfortunately, in their excitement a couple of insignificant prerequisites must have slipped their mind and they forgot to inform Mr. Westerwelle, such as the need to nullify the existing peace treaty and make good on their promise to kill all the Jews first. Sure, these are just a few minor details, ones that they never seem to forget when fellow Muslims are listening. But hey, that should have already been clear from the outset anyway if he’s a wise and discerning man who takes his position seriously, right? Besides, how can the Muslim Brotherhood maintain a peace treaty with a Jewish state they won’t even recognize on Planet Khalifa? …

By Mohamed Abdel Salam – “CAIRO: German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle renewed on Tuesday his support for more openness and respect towards the new democratic Islamic forces in Egypt.

He said in statements during a visit to Cairo, where he met with the head of the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, Prime Minister Kamal Ganzoury, Foreign Minister Amr Kamal, and the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) Mohamed Morsi.

He described his meeting with Morsi as ‘encouraging’ and said that the latter stated clearly his belief in pluralism, and stressed that the FJP party is committed to maintaining peace with Israel.

Westerwelle met on the second day of his visit to Egypt, with Tantawi, who emphasized his commitment to the roadmap towards democracy.

His visit also came as thousands of anti-military protesters continue to demonstrate in central Cairo, demanding an end to the military junta’s rule over the country.

Westerwelle will next visit Israel as a part of his Middle East tour and the Palestinian territories on Wednesday.” Read more.

UK: Islamic Terrorists Admit Plot to Bomb London Stock Exchange and US Embassy

By Duncan Gardham – “Four radical Islamists have admitted plotting a major pre-Christmas terror attack on the London Stock Exchange.

The al Qaida-inspired fundamentalist group wanted to send five mail bombs to various targets over the 2010 festive period, and discussed launching a ‘Mumbai-style’ atrocity.

A hand-written target list found at one of the defendant’s homes listed the names and addresses of London Mayor Boris Johnson, two rabbis, the American Embassy and the Stock Exchange.

A total of nine men admitted various terror offences at Woolwich Crown Court and will be sentenced next week.

“Lynchpin” Mohammed Chowdhury, 21, and his London accomplice Shah Rahman, 28, were followed by undercover detectives on November 28, 2010, observing Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, the London Eye and the Palace of Westminster.

The conspiracy also involved three defendants from Cardiff and four from Stoke. It was stopped by undercover anti-terror police before firm dates could be set for attacks.

The terrorists met through their membership of various hardcore Islamic groups and met at specially arranged meetings held in parks in a bid to make surveillance difficult.

The nine, all British nationals, were due to stand trial but changed their pleas at the last minute. Chowdhury, of Stanliff House, Tower Hamlets, and Rahman, 28, of St Bernard’s Road, Newham, admitted preparing for acts of terrorism by planning to plant an improvised explosive device (IED) in the toilets of the London Stock Exchange. Brothers Gurukanth Desai, 30, of Albert Street, and Abdul Miah, 25, of Ninian Park Road, both Cardiff, also admitted the same count.” Read more.

‘The Most Important International Story Not Being Told by the Mainstream Media’: Christian Persecution in the Middle East

By Benjamin Weinthal and Giulio Meotti – “The case of the Iranian pastor sentenced to death for his faith has attached a human face to the horrible situation of Christians in the Middle East…

Our colleague, the former New York Times reporter Clifford D. May, writes that ‘persecution of Christians in numerous Muslim-majority countries is the most important international story not being told by the mainstream media.’

Take the example of Habib Bastam, an Iranian who converted to Christianity and sought political asylum in Romania. In 2009, one of Tehran’s star chamber courts sentenced him to death for ‘apostasy.’ Earlier this month, the Romanians denied him asylum.

U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom chairman Leonard Leo declared that Arab Christians face increasing persecution. ‘Christianity in Iraq could be eradicated in our lifetime, partially as a result of the U.S. troop withdrawal,’ Leo wrote.

After Hosni Mubarak’s regime collapsed, 100,000 Christians fled Egypt in what the Egyptian Union of Human Rights called a ‘mass exodus.’ In the Gaza Strip, which is controlled by the radical Islamic terror group Hamas, 3,000 Christians face persecution…

Should the exodus of Christians from Bethlehem continue in the next two or three decades, there may be no clergy left to conduct religious services in Jesus’ birthplace.

Unsurprisingly, but nonetheless largely ignored by the media, Israel is the only country in the Middle East where a Christian population is vibrant and growing. As documented in the Jerusalem Central Bureau of Statistics, the Israel’s Christian community that numbered 34,000 people in 1949 is now 163,000 strong, and will reach 187,000 in 2020.

In Egypt, the provisional military rulers’ traditional hostility toward radical Islamic groups has led them to embrace the more moderate Muslim Brotherhood.

The public backlash has empowered more radical Salafists, who’ve been implicated in deadly attacks on Coptic Christian churches.

In 2005, Syria launched a nefarious campaign against Lebanon’s Christians, targeting pro-Western politicians and journalists.

In Saudi Arabia, religious police beat and torture Christians…” Read more.

Nigeria: Christians Fear Being Kicked Out of Unreached Areas as Boko Haram Begins Focusing on Villages

“Nigeria (MNN) ― Five more people are dead as Boko Haram continues its spread of terror across northern Nigeria. Churches have been attacked, Christians murdered, and now even Muslims are being targeted. Mostly those who are trying to protect Christians, or are sympathetic to them.

The most recent attack came when the Boko Haram Islamic Sect on Monday night invaded the Nigerian Air Force, NAF, barracks as well as a police station in Maiduguri, Borno State, killing five people including a soldier, two policemen and two civilians.

It’s a quest to force the region into Sharia law

Africa Director for Christian Aid Mission Rae Burnett says missionaries they’re supporting are reaching the unreached in these areas, but she’s concerned that openness will end. ‘The fear is that the villagers will get word of this and be afraid to allow the Christian missionaries in. They’ve seen and appreciated the love of the Christians to be helpful to them. If Boko Haram gets word of it, they’ll chase them out.’

Up until just recently Boko Haram had been focusing on terror in major cities. But, that’s changing, says Burnett…

This would destroy the work Christian Aid Mission has been able to do. It’s already affected some of their partners. ‘Several of the missionaries have had to leave their fields because of the threats. Of course, these Boko Haram people have relatives everywhere. And if one of them is in one of these villages, then it can cause these missionaries trouble.'” Read more.

Iranian Christian Convert Sentenced to Two Years in Prison

“A Christian convert whom security authorities arrested in her home was sentenced to two years in prison by the Revolutionary Court in Tehran.

According to reports sent by reporters of Iranian Christian news agency, Mohabat News, Ms. Leila Mohammadi, a Christian convert who resided east of Tehran, was sentenced to two years of imprisonment after enduring 5 months of uncertainty in notorious Evin prison.

Her trial was held on 18 January in Revolutionary Court in Moalem street where she was charged with ‘collaboration with foreign-dependent groups, broad anti-Islamic propaganda, deceiving citizens by formation of what is called a house church, Insulting sacred figures and action against national security.’ However she was acquitted of collaboration with foreign-dependent groups because the judge believed she had done that unintentionally. For the other charges she was sentenced to two years in prison and the ruling was delivered to her.

After the verdict was issued knowledgeable sources reported that her attorney announced that the case was sent to the high court of Tehran province to be reviewed.

Leila Mohammadi, was arrested after a number of security agents raided her home on 30 July, 2011 at 10:30 P.M. in Kianshahr town, east of Tehran. The agents thoroughly searched her house and also confiscated some of her belongings.

Ms. Mohammadi was taken to Horr custody center which belongs to the Iranian police forces. From there, she was transferred to Evin prison. On 28 December 2011, she was released on a bail of 150,000 USD after 74 days in harsh conditions in solitary confinement in Evin prison.

It is being reported that some other people were also arrested in relation to this case. According to this report, some days after Ms. Mohammadi’s arrest, another person called Parviz G. was also arrested by security agents. Again, in this case they thoroughly searched Parviz G’s house and seized his belongings including his computer. He was freed after spending three days in Evin custody center and being subjected to interrogations and signing a disclaimer. It seems that his arrest was related to evangelical activities of his wife ‘Masoumeh’ who was linked to the case of Leila Mohammadi.” Source – Mohabat News.

Alaska: Cleveland Volcano Lava Dome Forms, Alert Level Raised

Associated Press – “The warning level for a remote Alaska volcano has been raised after a new lava dome began forming, indicating the mountain could explode and send up an ash cloud that could threaten aircraft.

he Alaska Volcano Observatory on Tuesday elevated the alert status for Cleveland Volcano.

Officials say the new lava dome was spotted in the summit crater. The observatory says as of Monday, the dome was about 130 feet in diameter.

There have been no eruptions since those on Dec. 25 and Dec. 29, which destroyed the earlier lava dome built up over the fall.

Cleveland is a 5,675-foot peak on an uninhabited island 940 miles southwest of Anchorage.

Authorities say sudden eruptions could occur at any time, and ash clouds 20,000 feet above sea level are possible.” Source – Anchorage Daily News.