Ex-ISI Chief Hamid Gul: CIA “Choreographing” Osama Assassination Hoax.

MFS - The Other News - Special Osama Bin Laden

Osama Bin Laden was not killed by a Putter or an Iron!
         It were the brave Navy Seals who did it!

             Special Osama Bin Laden Posting.

• Islamabad is 9:0 hours ahead of Washington DC.The president left the White House to play golf at 9:42 am, arriving at the Andrews Air Force Base course about 25 minutes later, according to the press pool report. He then ended his game after nine holes at 1:39 pm and made it back to the White House at 2:04 pm, about two hours before the attack on Bin Laden appears to have occurred.Hmmm....2:04 pm would be 11:04 pm Islamabad.According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, the attack on Bin Laden’s compound north of Islamabad seems to have happened at about 1:10 am local time,thats about 4 pm. Hmmm.....Poor guy had to cut short his golf.Still the Nine Americans who came home on Sunday in bodybags from Afghanistan did not prevent him from playing.

• Osama bin Laden Has Been Dead For Years.(Davidicke). In an address to the nation, Obama said he ordered the strike that allegedly killed Osama. The remainder of his speech followed the standard war on terror propaganda script. A small team of Americans killed bin Laden in a firefight at a compound in Pakistan, the president said in a dramatic late-night statement at the White House, the Associated Press reported following Obama’s address.Obama said the military took custody of his remains. It remains to be seen if the government will attempt to provide evidence that the remains are indeed those of Osama bin Laden.''Killing Osama bin Laden is a pretty big deal. You’d think that it would be in the interests of US forces to take a snapshot of the elusive terror leader to milk the propaganda value of such a momentous turn of events, and yet the corporate media has given us nothing but a years old fake picture. This makes little sense, unless of course, somebody is trying to hide something, namely the fact that Osama’s dead corpse has been on ice for the best part of a decade.According to some reports, Bin Laden’s body has already been hastily “buried at sea,” meaning that the comic book story of his dramatic killing is based solely on the less than credible word of the U.S. government.'Read the full story here.

• Reactions to Osama Bin Laden’s Death.Bin Laden Assassination – Hamas Condemns It, PA Welcomes It, Islamists Expect Revenge, Iran Doubts Whether He Was Assassinated At All. (Memri).

Gaza Hamas prime minister Isma'il Haniya said that despite the dispute between Hamas and Al-Qaeda, Hamas condemns the assassination of "jihad fighter" Osama bin Laden. He said, "This is a continuation of the American policy based on violence and on the shedding of Arab and Islamic blood." Palestinian Authority spokesman Ghassan Al-Khatib said that the assassination "will benefit worldwide peace, but the important thing is to defeat the sheikh and the violent style that bin Laden and others implemented and encouraged." Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt deputy leader Dr. 'Issam Al-'Arian said that bin Laden's death removes one of the reasons for violence in the world, and predicted that revenge would come. Al-Gama'a Al-Islamiyya Shura Council chairman Sheikh Safwat Abd Al-Ghani said that the incident would not end the dispute between Al-Qaeda and the U.S., while council member Sheikh 'Issam Abd Al-Magid predicted that bin Laden's path and outlook would fade following his death. Leading Salafi preacher Omar Bakri said in Lebanon that bin Laden's death expresses the loss of a leader in the region, but that it was good that he had achieved the martyrdom that he wanted. Bakri too said that there would be revenge operations. Muslim clerics said that the burial of bin Laden at sea that was a violation of Islamic law, which permits such burial only if the death took place at sea. Iranian Majlis National Security Commission chairman Alaeddin Boroujerdi raised doubts regarding whether bin Laden had actually been killed, saying that the U.S. had made similar announcements before (see Iranian Majlis Member: Nothing New In Bin Laden Death Report). He said that even if the assassination was carried out, it was a minor achievement after a decade of U.S. aggression in Afghanistan

Former Muslim Brotherhood UK Leader Praises Osama Bin Laden.

In a live question-and-answer session titled "Bin Laden Dead: What Next?" on Onislam.net, Dr. Kamal Helbawy answered questions about the situation in the Arab and Muslim world following the assassination of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Dr. Helbawy, an Egyptian, served as official spokesman of the Muslim Brotherhood in the West from 1995-1997. While living in London, he helped create the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB, on whose board he still serves) and the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB). During the onislam.net discussion, Dr. Helbawy praised bin Laden for being a leader of jihad, saying "We appreciate him as a rich man living in KSA who left this luxurious life and moved to a hard life in mountains and caves. He helped his Afghan brethrens and participated in Afghan jihad effectively." Dr. Helbawy also accused the U.S. of being behind the 9/11 attacks, saying, "I think that what the Americans claim about September 11th was a trick and a bait they accused Al-Qaeda of. All evidences and indications refer that the Americans are the ones who planned this matter." He further wrote, "I ask Allah to have mercy upon Osama bin Laden, to treat him generously, to enlighten his grave, and to make him join the prophets, the martyrs, and the good people."

Bin Laden's Four Children, Two Wives Arrested.

Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden's four children and two wives have been arrested, sources said. A close friend of bin Laden named as "Akbar" was also arrested and transferred to an undisclosed location. Osama bin Laden was killed today in a U.S. special forces operation in Abbottabad, less than 100 km from the Pakistan capital Islamabad. A security alert was declared in Abbotabad and adjacent areas following the U.S. operation in which bin Laden was killed. Read the full story here.

• Indian Media Reports on Osama bin Laden's Killing: 'Osama was Killed in an ISI Safehouse'; 'Finger of Suspicion at ISI'; 'More Shame… Heading ISI's Way'.(Memri).

Quoting Pakistani officials, a number of media reports state that Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden could not have hidden in the Pakistani town of Abbottabad (where he was killed) without the knowledge of the Pakistani military, especially its powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

The website of the leading Indian weekly magazine India Today published a report from its Pakistan correspondent titled "Osama Dead: Pak May Have Known About His Presence in Abbottabad." The report noted growing speculation that Osama bin Laden was killed at a safehouse operated by the ISI. Two more reports were published by the websites rediff.com and timesofindia.com that indicated that the ISI knew bin Laden's whereabouts.It should be noted that the website of the Urdu-language Pakistani daily Roznama Jang reported earlier today that Pakistani army forces did not participate in the operation to kill bin Laden. The report quoted a statement of the Pakistani Foreign Office as confirming that Osama bin Laden was killed in the operation but the "Pakistani security forces did not take part in the operation."The Pakistani military's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) is known to be the most powerful player in Pakistan, virtually dictating Pakistan's foreign relations with Afghanistan, India, and the United States. It has been known over the past several decades for its support to the Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region. Last month, Admiral Mike Mullen, the Chairman of U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, stated in Islamabad that the ISI continues to support the Haqqani Network, the second largest group of militants among the Taliban in Afghanistan.

"A senior Pakistan military official has told India Today that it was impossible for the army to have not known that Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was in Abbottabad. This has further fuelled speculation that Osama was killed in an ISI safehouse. Bin Laden was killed in the operation late on Sunday night at a mansion in Abbottabad, 80 kilometers north of Islamabad."The cantonment [military camp] town houses many military institutions, including Pakistan's Military Academy at Kakul, where most of its military elite - including present [Pakistan Army] chief General [Ashfaq Pervez] Kayani - have passed through.

"The joint operation of Pakistani troops and American special forces that killed Osama bin Laden did not encounter any fierce resistance from the Al-Qaeda chief's bodyguards. 'There was minimal resistance and none of the troops in the operation were injured,' the official told India Today.

"Sources say this was unusual for a high-value target like bin Laden, who was normally surrounded by dozens of his elite bodyguards. No one was willing to talk about how many troops took part in this operation. Bin Laden's body was transported to Bagram airbase near Kabul, Afghanistan.  ????

"Pakistan-U.S. intelligence agencies got a tip-off last Friday that Osama was hiding somewhere in Abbottabad. After tracing the exact location, a joint operation was carried out by special troops of Pak and U.S. Special Forces, which finally killed Osama bin Laden along with some of Al-Qaeda operatives."However, a spokesperson of Inter-Services public relations [of the Pakistani military] Major General Athar Abbas declined [to] comment. The Pakistan Foreign Office has stated that bin Laden was killed in an 'intelligence driven operation' around Abbottabad in the early hours of this morning. 'The operation was carried out by U.S. forces in accordance with the declared U.S. policy that Osama bin Laden will be eliminated in a direct action by U.S. forces wherever found in the world,' the statement said…"'If Bin Laden Managed to Play Hide and Seek with the World All This While, It was Only Thanks to ISI's Patronage"

"More Shame and Retribution Heading ISI's Way" and published on the Indian website rediff.com also noted that Osama bin Laden could not have lived in Abbottabad without the knowledge of the Pakistani military. Following are excerpts from the report:

"Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence [ISI] is bound to be cornered in the days to come following the killing of dreaded terrorist Osama bin Laden."A source in the intelligence agency says that Osama's death will no doubt put the ISI in a very uncomfortable position among the Al-Qaeda, Haqqani Network, and the Lashkar-e-Taiba, who now feel betrayed by the agency."When the dust settles, more embarrassment could come the ISI's way with the trial of terror suspects David Coleman Headley and Tahhawur Rana, due to commence [in a Chicago court]."Nothing in the Af-Pak region goes unnoticed by the ISI, and if bin Laden managed to play hide-and-seek with the world all this while, it was only thanks to ISI's patronage. Although the U.S. has claimed that Pakistan was not in the know of this operation, terror groups would not believe so."They are aware that nothing is possible unless there has been a certain degree of support from the establishment. Moreover, Osama was living in a place close to the army headquarters in Abbottabad, about 70 kilometers northeast of Pakistan's capital Islamabad. This is not a fact that would have gone unnoticed by the ISI.

Report in Indian Daily: "Hiding Bin Laden: Finger of Suspicion at ISI"

In a report, a correspondent of The Times of India newspaper filed a report from Washington under the title "Hiding bin Laden: Finger of Suspicion at ISI." Following are excerpts from the report:"[Announcing the death of Osama bin Laden,] while Obama said: 'It's important to note that our counterterrorism cooperation with Pakistan helped lead us to bin Laden and the compound where he was hiding,' he made no mention of any Pakistani military role in the operation. U.S. officials in background briefing made it clear that no country, much less Pakistan, was informed of the operation. "In fact, there was not even a word of thanks for Pakistan. Instead, Obama said: 'Tonight, I called President Zardari, and my team has also spoken with their Pakistani counterparts. They agree that this is a good and historic day for both of our nations. And going forward, it is essential that Pakistan continue to join us in the fight against al-Qaida and its affiliates.'

"Taken together with President Obama's pointed reference to President Zardari and leaving out any mention of Pakistani forces' involvement, it would seem that Washington believes that Pakistan's military intelligence establishment, including the ISI, was sheltering bin Laden. The ISI was accused as recently as last week by top U.S. military official Admiral Mike Mullen of having terrorist links, and named as a terrorist support entity by U.S. officials, according to the Guantanamo cables. "Lending credence to the charges is the fact that U.S. forces honed in on bin Laden in Abbottabad, which is a cantonment just 50 kilometers from Islamabad, where the Pakistani military has a strong presence. The place where bin Laden was killed is only kilometers from the Kakul military academy, where many Pakistani military elites, including some of its ISI cadres, graduate from. "While U.S. officials are tight-lipped about precise details, analysts are trying to figure out whether the compound that sheltered bin Laden was an ISI safehouse. There is also speculation as to whether Hillary Clinton was referring to this when she made her pointed remarks last May. "U.S. officials have said for years that they believed bin Laden escaped to Pakistan after the American bombing campaign in Afghanistan. But Pakistani officials, including its former military ruler Pervez Musharraf, insisted that he was in Afghanistan, even as Afghan officials would angrily refute it and say he is in Pakistan. In the end, the Americans and Afghans were right on the money."Read the full story here.

• Reactions to News of OBL's Death on Jihadi Websites Voice Disbelief, Call for Revenge. OBL Commemorated on Facebook.

As of this writing, no official message from jihadi media organs has appeared on jihadi websites in reaction to U.S. President Barack Obama's announcement that U.S. forces had killed Osama Bin Laden.The administrators of the Shumoukh Al-Islam forum erased two messages posted by members who discussed the issue, and issued a statement warning members not to talk about the matter and not to believe any media reports, but to rely only on official statements from the mujahideen: "Have faith in Allah, be patient and do not report the rumors that are being spread! We have clarified this matter many times. By God, none of you is to write about this matter until we receive confirmed reports from those concerned." Many forum members responded to this message by expressing denial of the reports in the Western media and by praying for Bin Laden's wellbeing. A prominent writer on Shumoukh, Hussein Bin Mahmoud, posted a message titled "Osama is Alive." Many members took heart in a news item on Russia Today TV, according to which the Pakistani Taliban denied Bin Laden's death, saying that he was in a safe place. Some online jihadists went as far as denying the authenticity of the photos that appeared in the media showing Bin Laden's body.A member of Shumoukh who calls himself Abu Malik Al-Maqdisi, who is most likely Palestinian, expressed the wish for revenge: "America and the community of disbelief must know that Osama's soldiers and religion did not and will not die, Allah willing. We are determined, Allah willing, [to take] revenge, revenge, revenge. If he is alive, we will take revenge, and if he is a martyr, we will take revenge. We will not forget our religion, which you have insulted, and our prophet, whom you have mocked... We are your soldiers, O Osama! By Allah, how good you are, dead or alive."Another member of Shumoukh, going by the name Mukhadib Al-Dima', discussed the spontaneous gathering outside the White House, asking who would be willing to come forth to kill Americans, joining the list of heroes that includes Nidal Hasan, Faisal Shahzad, Khalid Sheikh Muhammad, and others. He reminded his fellow jihadists that there is no need to ask clerical permission for the killing of Americans.The administrators of 'Al-Tawhid', a popular page of jihadist sympathizers on Facebook with over 18,000 followers, reacted to the news with dismay, pleading with members not to believe the reports. Later on, though, the administrators changed the profile picture to that of Bin Laden, and published poems commemorating him.In addition, a new Facebook page sympathizing with Bin Laden was set up this morning, titled "We are all the Sheikh Osama Bin Laden". Several hours after being established, the page has 684 followers. Read the full story here.

• Bin Laden death: Views from Pakistan.(Al-Jazeera).While Americans breath sigh of relief, many Pakistanis are apprehensive of the future after al-Qaeda leader's death.President Obama, in his announcement of bin Laden's death, acknowledged Pakistan's co-operation in the hunt for him.However, it has not yet been established, to what extent did the intelligence agencies of US and Pakistan work together.Gul said: "If they carried the operation without the cooperation of ISI, then it will definitely be seen as a direct attack on Pakistan’s integrity and its sovereignty."And if ISI and CIA co-operated on this operation then this entire rhetoric of tense relations between the two agencies was a complete drama.""Given that the helicopters flew at night, and helicopters fly very low so there is no way that they could have escaped the radar of Pakistan intelligence," said Kasuri."So this indicates that there was a degree of cooperation. Now what we do not know is the extent of the co-operation."Ayaz Amir, a Pakistan-based columnist, says it is highly unlikely that "the Pakistani intelligence agencies would have known where he was. They couldn't have played this high-risk game of knowing his whereabouts and pretending otherwise"."And it is surprising that it took place near a very busy road, it shows sheer audacity that on his part that he chose to seek refuge in a compound in that area."The US forces couldn’t have carried out the operation on their own so the question is who gave them the tip-off?"Many did believe he was already dead - including some CIA officials.And General Pervez Musharraf, during his time as the president of Pakistan, also said that the man was probably dead but speaking to Geo News on Monday, he said that, "If I had the intelligence report, then I could have confirmed his whereabouts."I used to get agitated if someone made a claim that they knew where he was – I have to say I was surprised to find out that he was found in Abbottabad.""When I held the presidential office, in terms of military operations, intelligence cooperation, human intelligence was always ours."We had zero technical expertise - no aerial surveillance so we started developing it. But we needed technical support from CIA and gradually we developed our own which was still not comparable to that of the US."The policy was clear that only Pakistani troops will operate, no foreign troops will operate. US forces were never allowed, Pakistani forces always operated independently."And like many others Musharraf acknowledged that "US had always said that in case of actionable intelligence, we will act. But it is a violation of our country, we have well-trained troops."

Worry for Pakistan?

The initial surprise and disbelief have already started to transform into worry for many Pakistanis."Pakistan has the most to fear in terms of the reaction, from wherever al-Qaeda has strength in the Islamic World, including Asia and Middle East," said Kasuri."In the short term, there will be many more incidents by terrorists, these will be acts to avenge Osama bin Laden’s death......and not just in Pakistan but across the globe."In the medium term, US public opinion has been swayed, they feel that justice has been done and it will help Obama finalise his exit strategy from the region."In the long term, there will be a quiet debate in the US quarters on how did the phenomenon (of al-Qaeda) come about, they will not acknowledge it but they will talk about it.Imran Khan, Chairman Movement for Justice, who staged a sit-in just over a week ago to stop NATO supplies to protest US drone strikes in Pakistan says that, "It will be very difficult for Pakistan now."If our leadership fails to handle it properly, there will be a backlash from Osama bin Laden’s followers who will hail him as a martyr and try to avenge his death."And on the other hand, the idea will be presented to the world and is already being presented by the US media that Pakistan is the hub of terrorism.

Just a symbol

Osama bin Laden, the man who indeed founded al-Qaeda although was no longer the chief operations commander of the outfit, will surely be missed by many of his followers.Raja Zafar-ul-Haq of Pakistan Muslim League says that "he had just been a symbol (of terrorism) for the last few years but we must remember that the network is still present."There will be anger, and the target will not just be US but also Pakistanis so the Pakistan government as well armed forces need to strategise."Musharraf reminded of a true threat that he believes is very much present still despite the death of the man."Al-Qaeda will not just crumble and disappear, whenever someone gefts eliminated from their leadership campaign then new people come and take charge, so we must all realise that it is a long drawn campaign.""Technical training of Pakistani Taliban such as preparing and using IEDs, suicide jackets, all this training has been given by al-Qaeda... so it is actually al-Qaeda not Osama, that is Pakistan’s main enemy."No foreigner has the right to spread terrorism on Pakistan' soil."Read the full story here.

'Zero transparency in Bin Laden killing - media needs to raise questions'

'Zero transparency in Bin Laden killing - media needs to raise questions'.AKA SHOW THE BODY !
White House : "We're not going in to details about the burial at sea!
Journalists are asking in choir : "WHY"?

MFS - The Other News

                      Afternoon Posting.

• Libya Live Blog - May 02. Here .(Al-Jazeera).

• Syria Live Blog - May 02. Here (Al-Jazeera). 

• Updated !Earthquakes in the last 24 hours in the world seismic activity in philippines  today  5.1! More info here.

• Japan - Latest official Situation Update No. 101.
  Source : Here .

• Japan  : For the most accurate info on the nuclear disaster go to : Paul Langley's Nuclear History Blog

• Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has denied the reports that Osama Bin Laden was killed, Geo News reported.Source.

• Chopper crashes, three blasts heard near PMA Kakul.(thenewspk).ABBOTTABAD: Three loud blasts were heard near the Pakistan Military Academy (PMA) Kakul Road late Sunday night and a military helicopter also crashed. Sources told Geo News that heavy firing was heard in the area before the chopper crashed.Windowpanes of the nearby buildings and houses were smashed due to the intensity of the blasts, the sources said. Eyewitnesses said first sound of heavy firing was heard and then there was a huge blast. Fire erupted at the scene of the occurrence and according to latest reports police and fire brigade teams were rushing towards the blast scene. Security forces cordoned off the entire area and military helicopters were also hovering over the area.Hmmmm......Very strange a Pakistani paper and...NOT A WORD ABOUT OSAMA BIN LADEN?Read the full story here.

• Raw Video: Inside Bin Laden Compound After Special Forces Raid.Via WeaselZippers here.

• Live blog: Osama bin Laden killed by US forces.(Al-Jazeera).1:57pm The death of bin Laden was greeted with near-silence on Monday from Gulf Arab states, including his birthplace Saudi Arabia.By mid-afternoon, the only official comment from the Arabian Peninsula came from Yemen, bin Laden's ancestral homeland, where an official speaking on condition of anonymity hoped the killing would "root out terrorism throughout the world".Saudi Arabia's official news agency merely noted that the United States and Pakistan had announced bin Laden had been killed in a US military operation in Pakistan but gave no clue to Riyadh's thinking.The foreign ministers of Bahrain, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, attending a meeting of Gulf foreign ministers in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi, all declined to comment on bin Laden's death.

10:22am Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood said that US soldiers should be withdrawn from Afghanistan and Iraq after the killing of Osama bin Laden. Essam al-Erian, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood's governing body, told Reuters:With Bin Laden's death, one of the reasons for which violence has been practised in the world has been removed. It is time for Obama to pull out of Afghanistan and Iraq and end the occupation of U.S. and Western forces around the world that have for so long harmed Muslim countries.For continious updates click here.

• Reactions on the Death of Osama Bin Laden.(Al-Jazeera).Ismail Haniyeh - head of Hamas in the Gaza strip.We condemn the assassination and the killing of an Arab holy warrior. We ask God to offer him mercy with the true believers and the martyrs.We regard this as a continuation of the American policy based on oppression and the shedding of Muslim and Arab blood.

P. Chidambaram - Indian home minister

We take note with grave concern that part of the statement in which (US) President Obama said that the firefight in which Osama bin Laden was killed took place in Abbottabad 'deep inside Pakistan'.This fact underlines our concern that terrorists belonging to different organisations find sanctuary in Pakistan.Read more reactions here.

• Iran - 'Bin Laden was killed years ago'.(PressTV).A 2007 Benazir Bhutto interview in which she says the al-Qaeda leader was 'murdered' years ago contributes to the uncertainty surrounding US claims about Osama bin Laden's death. On Monday, US President Barack Obama announced that the al-Qaeda leader was killed by US forces after he was found hiding in a compound in Pakistan. This is while in an interview following a failed assassination attempt on Pakistan's former premier in October 2007, Bhutto says bin Laden has already been killed. In the interview, she identifies the man who killed the notorious al-Qaeda leader as one Omar Sheikh , excerpts of which was sent to Press TV's UReport. In response to a question whether any of the assassins had links with the government, Bhutto said, "Yes but one of them is a very key figure in security, he is a former military officer … and had dealings with Omar Sheikh, the man who murdered Osama Bin Laden." Bhutto was assassinated on December 27, 2007 in a bomb attack as she was leaving an election rally in Rawalpindi when a gunman shot her in the neck and set off a bomb. The announcement of bin Laden's death comes almost ten years after the September 11 attacks on the United States. Meanwhile, a US official says bin Laden's body has been buried at sea, alleging that his hasty burial was in accordance with Islamic law, which requires burial within 24 hours of death. This is while burial at sea is not an Islamic practice and Islam does not determine a timeframe for burial. The official added that finding a country willing to accept the remains of the world's most wanted man was difficult, so the US decided to bury him at sea. Read and see the full story here.

• WHILE YOU ARE ALL DISTRACTED!Obamination: The Birth Certificate That Ain't.(BloggerBase).Both documents purported by the White House to certify that he was born in Hawaii have one indisputable fatal flaw: neither one bears the seal of the Hawaii Department of Health required to authenticate them. They lack probative value. Observe that I have annotated the image to point out three defects.

1.The Certificate # has been obliterated. Why would Obama obliterate it? It discloses nothing, it serves only as confirmation. A forgery could be discovered by revelation of a real certificate bearing the same number. Also, if the real certification of Obama's birth was revealed, and the numbers did not match, the forgery would be exposed.

2.The embossed seal of the State Health Department is not present. Only a few indecipherable characters, which appear to be inverted numbers, appear where it should be.

3.The document declares that it is invalidated by any alteration. That includes obliterating the serial number.Obama's purported certificates are defective: they lack the state seal with which the real certificates are embossed. Both have been altered, which would invalidate the genuine document. This is my third post on this subject, because one of my Muslim critics needs a good slapping down. This one's for you, Ema. Diversion, distraction, obfuscation & Tu-quoque do not cut the mustard. Try to come up with some relevant, verifiable facts to support your fantasy.Hmmmm.....Diversion, distraction, obfuscation...nobody even thinks about the birthcertificate anymore?Read the full story here.

• Display Bin Laden’s Body At Ground Zero. Then Destroy The Al Qaeda Legacy.(BigGovernment).Just as Islamist extremists sought to use Ground Zero as a triumphal place to build their mosque, the United States should use the site to display Osama bin Laden’s naked body for all Americans to see. We have a right to view our nation’s tormentor face to face, to make sure he is dead, and to spit on him if we choose.Then the U.S. should unceremoniously destroy the carcass, flush it into the Manhattan sewer, and start grinding up bin Laden’s legacy among his followers.Here are some immediate thoughts of what the U.S. must do.

1. Display the body. The free world, particularly the United States, has a right to make sure Osama bin Laden is really dead. Every American has a right to walk right up to bin Laden’s corpse and view it. We are entitled to know for a fact that the witch is dead. No shroud for dignity’s sake, please – bin Laden’s naked, bullet-riddled corpse should be put on display in lower Manhattan for all the world to see. The entire body should be digitally scanned, inside and out – and made available for everyone to take his or her own picture.This isn’t as morbid a thought as it might seem. Bodies are routinely scanned and photographed during autopsies, their digital images preserved. And across most of the world’s cultures they are placed on display prior to burial or cremation. For us Doubting Thomases out there – we need to see in order to believe.No future Elvis sightings, please. Leave no room for conspiracy theories that the CIA faked bin Laden’s death, that bin Laden is living in comfortable exile somewhere, or that 20 years from now he’ll still be out there, calling the shots. All of us is entitled to see that the beast has indeed been killed.

2. Make the body disappear. The US made mistakes in the past by returning the bodies of dead terrorists to their families or hometowns for burial. This is a nice and sentimental gesture, but it had the net effect of spawning more extremism and terrorism. The graves that contained the physical bodies became shrines for extremist pilgrims, educational tools to propagandize young people, and models to inspire future terrorists.Even though they were atheists, the Soviets understood the propagandistic importance of bodies. That’s why they mummified Lenin, put the remains in a mausoleum, and turned the corpse into the core of a personality cult. That’s why, too, the Soviets ordered the physical destruction of Adolf Hitler’s corpse, burning it and burying it and re-burying it before ultimately dumping the ashes in a river. There would be no pilgrimage point for future Nazis.And so, after a thorough public examination, bin Laden’s body should be burned, its ashes flushed into the New York City sewer system.

• 3. Describe how bin Laden spent his last days and died. In what type of luxury did the al Qaeda leader live as his fanatical devotees crawled around their rabbit holes and scratched out a miserable existence? What did he surround himself with in that mansion outside Islamabad? Was he Spartan-like? Or did he live, perhaps, like the Tunisian and Egyptian strong men overthrown by their own people?Was bin Laden, the puritanical Islamist, really just another religious phony? A total hypocrite whom it would prove shameful to follow? Did the CIA find the types of disgusting double lives that our military discovered among the many suicide bombers who murdered in his name – the liquor, the cyber porn, the pederasty? What about his body? Did the autopsy reveal symptoms of the anal gonorrhea so prevalent among his totally un-gay followers in rural Afghanistan?Did he go down fighting, or did he cower and plead for his life?No need to give bin Laden a clean bill of health here – we’re looking at destroying his legacy, not being fair and balanced. If there’s anything truthful that can be used to discredit him, let’s use it.If there isn’t, then it isn’t important to know. This is political warfare, not public relations.Bin Laden may be dead (I’ll believe it when I see it), but al Qaeda is still alive.I’m going to raise a mug of beer and munch a Hebrew National pork sausage to celebrate the brave CIA men who took bin Laden down.Then it’s back to work to destroy what the al Qaeda leader left behind. That means piling dirt on bin Laden’s legacy, destroying his appeal, and providing the world with all the necessary facts to heap humiliation on anyone who insists on continuing to follow his cause.Read the full story here.

• Sen. Graham questions decision to dispose of bin Laden's body.(TheHill).A leading Republican senator on Monday questioned the U.S. government's decision to dispose of Osama bin Laden's body within 24 hours. Bin Laden, the former al Qaeda leader killed by U.S. forces on Sunday, was buried at sea within 24 hours of his death in accordance with Islamic law. Sen. Lindsey Graham (S.C.), a top Republican on the Armed Services Committee, is skeptical of the decision."To me, that didn't make a lot of sense," Graham said during an interview with conservative radio talk show host Laura Ingraham.U.S. forces were able to capture bin Laden's body after killing him at a compound outside Pakistan's capital city of Islamabad, but he was buried at sea soon afterward, reportedly not to leave a shrine to him. The Obama administration is debating whether to release photos of bin Laden's body after some have expressed concern that the U.S. needs to do so to prove his death. But others in the administration have been hesitant due to the graphic nature of the photos. Michael Scheuer, a former CIA official, said Monday morning that the U.S. will likely release the photos to eliminate any doubt that he is dead.Hmmm....During the live White house briefing the question was asked if a recording was made of the burial at sea?NO ANSWER WAS GIVEN TO THE PRESS!Is it all a giant FAIRYTALE for election purposes?Read the full story here.

• After Osama: Extracts from Anwer Sher’s forthcoming book, Arabia Besieged: A Muslim Insider Looks at Islam’s Deepening Crisis.(Al-Arabia).Osama Bin Laden, like all mortals, was to eventually die, but as much as moderate Muslims would have hoped he would die of natural causes, the sensational nature of his demise—in a US Navy Seals raid on a house he occupied near Islamabad—afforded Osama the one way he wanted to die: under gunfire. While the form of his death would not erode his stature within the radical elements of the Muslim world, the fact he died, and how he did, will in a sense heighten his standing. However, Osama bin Laden, leaves behind an unaccomplished task, of establishing his form of rule in the Muslim Ummah, (community), a task for which violence, as a means of achieving the objective, was considered normal.The question now will be how the movement of change he inspired and often called Al Qaeda will transform in the post Osama bin Laden era. In the first instance the command and control structure of Al Qaeda was never strictly hierarchical and in the aftermath of the Taliban’s ouster from Afghanistan, where Osama headquartered his movement, an element of flexibility within the rank and file of the Al Qaeda appeared. Osama Bin Laden’s hiding place was not, after all, a cave in the mountains of Pakistan, but a large villa in an area near the military garrison in Abbottabad, less than 60 kilometers from Pakistan’s capital city of Islamabad. It is possible that his hiding place was well chosen as no one would suspect the world’s most wanted man would be so close to the very military that might be used to hunt him down. It is clear that such an operation to kill or capture Osama bin Laden could not have happened without the help and support of the Pakistan military, which was all the more visible in minutes after the US raid.Osama’s presence near Pakistani military establishments seems to suggest similarities with the modus operandi of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s preference for a safe house; Khalid was captured by Pakistani military intelligence near the military headquarters in Rawalpindi in 2003. It seems that being close to the military garrisons would afford less suspicion than being in the more obvious tribal areas of Pakistan.The question is more now centered, over the next few years, on the shape and direction of the leadership that will emerge in the aftermath of Osama bin Laden’s death.On the one hand Ayman Zawahiri will assert the spiritual leadership, and operational leadership will be of more interest. Currently the suspected operational leadership is in the hands of Adnan Gulshair al Shukrijummah, commonly known as Abu Arif, but it has always remain unclear as to how much control he has over the operational elements in different regions. It would seem more likely that Al Qaeda would offer more leadership to its commanders in the field, which would well be a dangerous development, as impulsive attacks will increase.Osama bin Laden’s failing health and the fact he was in hiding for almost decade did mean that his leadership was perhaps more symbolic and one could argue that in terms of leadership Al Qaeda’s will remain unaffected. It is also quite possible that Al Qaeda’s leadership will mould various militant closer, showing a greater sense of cohesiveness than before.Read the full story here.

• Letter from Cairo: Down goes the terrorist, hail to the martyr.(Al-Arabia).Osama bin Laden is dead. Since the crack of dawn, this has become Cairo’s new “good morning” and “how are you doing?” and “any plans for tonight?” All those I’ve met or talked to since the fate of the much-hyped militant was made known to the whole world seem to have been connected to Osama bin Laden in one way or another and his death suddenly seemed like the piece of news that is bound to change their lives. Which, really, is quite interesting since as far as I know, very few Egyptians cared about bin Laden if not because he does not have a direct impact on Egypt then maybe because his destructive powers were believed to have been blown out of proportion by the US administration to justify its war on terror. For several others, bin Laden is just this crazy man who every now and then makes a TV appearance threatening to wipe the United States off the map or blow up the whole world or, of course, he’s this cartoon character who gets highest viewer rates on YouTube.While average Egyptians may focus on bin Laden the man, intellectuals are preoccupied with bin Laden the tool. For them, bin Laden was just a pretext for a neo-colonial approach adopted by the United States under the pseudonym of “the war on terror.” Hunting down the reported perpetrator of the Twin Towers attack and several other terrorist operations, they argue, was the excuse the American Administration used to pose as the world’s promoter of democracy and the rescuer of “backward” nations from the quagmire of autocratic/ extremist regimes—the same rationale used in Iraq, only with Islamic fundamentalism replaced by weapons of mass destruction. Double standards are also not hard to detect here, for the same bin Laden of whom the United States made a hero owning to his ability to crush the Soviets had suddenly become the most menacing threat to the world’s security and wellbeing, and his elimination had become as necessary as destroying Nazi Germany… or may be even bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki!For both categories of folks, bin Laden’s death was definitely not good news. For the first, the United States has become the new “infidel” enemy of Islam—remember Bush’s remark about “crusades”—and Osama’s death signals an unmatched victory of a country whose influence on the Muslim world has so far been nothing but destructive. This sentiment is becoming more overtly highlighted with the increasing influence wielded by the Islamist trend in Egypt and with the way it portrays the United States as the promoter of Western ideals that violate the principles of Islam. Some of them might realize that bin Laden is no angel, yet they do not want to see America emerge victorious from what they perceived as its war on Islam, and they do not want to see the repercussions of this victory echoing in their homeland. “If Americans rule the Muslim world, they will ban the veil, allow gay marriages, and spread vice all over the place,” goes the most common answer to “Why don’t you like America?”While realizing that bin Laden is indeed a criminal, the other group is categorically opposed to the way his end was orchestrated—same reservations being voiced about the trial and execution of Saddam Hussein. The fact that the United States is now posing as the superhero that saved the world is absolutely unacceptable for Egyptian intellectuals who are very well aware of the “fine line” between imperialism and benevolence. Their realization of how the bin Laden card will be flashed for decades to come in the face of anyone who dares question America’s sincere wish to see justice prevail and might even serve as a pretext for more “wars on terror” in the futures makes them extremely apprehensive. The anticipated rise of US hegemony in the region following the “heroic” taking out of the “villain” is, according to them, a prelude to another occupation… not one with tanks and warplanes, but the more dangerous type—that which makes you fully and totally under the mercy of a Big Brother who for the sake of protecting you keeps threatening to kill you!Between this and that, there remains one fact: terrorist or martyr, dead or alive, bin Laden has indeed managed to baffle the world. How he managed to do that does not really matter. Who enabled him to do is what really matters… and that will be enough food for thought until we manage to solve the conundrum… if we ever do! Hmmmm......."The fact that the United States is now posing as the superhero that saved the world is absolutely unacceptable for Egyptian intellectuals".Read the full story here.

• Obama 'honors' Bin Laden while Islamic scholars criticize bin Laden's sea burial.(AP).CAIRO — Muslim clerics said Monday that Osama bin Laden's burial at sea was a violation of Islamic tradition that may further provoke militant calls for revenge attacks against American targets.Although there appears to be some room for debate over the burial — as with many issues within the faith — a wide range of senior Islamic scholars interpreted it as a humiliating disregard for the standard Muslim practice of placing the body in a grave with the head pointed toward the holy city of Mecca.Sea burials can be allowed, they said, but only in special cases where the death occurred aboard a ship.Bin Laden's burial at sea "runs contrary to the principles of Islamic laws, religious values and humanitarian customs," said Sheik Ahmed al-Tayeb, the grand Imam of Cairo's al-Azhar mosque, Sunni Islam's highest seat of learning.A radical cleric in Lebanon, Omar Bakri Mohammed, said, "The Americans want to humiliate Muslims through this burial, and I don't think this is in the interest of the U.S. administration."A U.S. official said the burial decision was made after concluding that it would have been difficult to find a country willing to accept the remains. There was also speculation about worry that a grave site could have become a rallying point for militants.The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive national security matters.President Barack Obama said the remains had been handled in accordance with Islamic custom, which requires speedy burial, and the Pentagon later said the body was placed into the waters of the northern Arabian Sea after adhering to traditional Islamic procedures — including washing the corpse — aboard the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson.According to Islamic teachings, the highest honor to be bestowed on the dead is giving the deceased a swift burial, preferably before sunset. Those who die while traveling at sea can have their bodies committed to the bottom of the ocean if they are far off the coast, according to Islamic tradition."They can say they buried him at sea, but they cannot say they did it according to Islam," Mohammed al-Qubaisi, Dubai's grand mufti, said about bin Laden's burial. "If the family does not want him, it's really simple in Islam: You dig up a grave anywhere, even on a remote island, you say the prayers and that's it.""Sea burials are permissible for Muslims in extraordinary circumstances," he added. "This is not one of them."But Mohammed Qudah, a professor of Islamic law at the University of Jordan, said burying the Saudi-born bin Laden at sea was not forbidden if there was nobody to receive the body and provide a Muslim burial."The land and the sea belong to God, who is able to protect and raise the dead at the end of times for Judgment Day," he said. "It's neither true nor correct to claim that there was nobody in the Muslim world ready to receive bin Laden's body."Clerics in Iraq, where an offshoot of al-Qaida is blamed for the death of thousands of people since 2003, also criticized the U.S. action. One said it only benefited fish."If a man dies on a ship that is a long distance from land, then the dead man should be buried at the sea," said Shiite cleric Ibrahim al-Jabari. "But if he dies on land, then he should be buried in the ground, not to be thrown into the sea. Otherwise, this would be only inviting fish to a banquet.""What was done by the Americans is forbidden by Islam and might provoke some Muslims," said another Islamic scholar from Iraq, Abdul-Sattar al-Janabi, who preaches at Baghdad's famous Abu Hanifa mosque. "It is not acceptable and it is almost a crime to throw the body of a Muslim man into the sea. The body of bin Laden should have been handed over to his family to look for a country or land to bury him."Prominent Egyptian Islamic analyst and lawyer Montasser el-Zayat said bin Laden's sea burial was designed to prevent his grave from becoming a shrine. But an option was an unmarked grave."They don't want to see him become a symbol, but he is already a symbol in people's hearts."Hmmmmm.......President Barack Obama said the remains had been handled in accordance with Islamic custom, which requires speedy burial,According to Islamic teachings, the highest honor to be bestowed on the dead is giving the deceased a swift burial, preferably before sunset.So once again he honors ISLAM.Read the full story here.

• Confirmed: Bin Laden Given Religious Funeral Prior to Sea Burial.(FOX).Osama bin Laden was given a religious funeral prior to his burial at sea, senior military officials told Fox News.Religious rites were conducted on the deck of the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier at about 1:10 a.m. Monday in the Persian Gulf. In accordance with Islamic practice, bin Laden was washed and wrapped in a white sheet before buried at sea at 2 a.m. local time, senior U.S. military and intelligence officials said.Bin Laden, who resisted capture, was “living rather comfortably” in the compound, an official told Fox News.Senior administration officials said the DNA testing alone offered near 100 percent certainty that bin Laden was among those shot dead. Photo analysis by the CIA, confirmation by a woman believed to be bin Laden’s wife on site, and matching physical features like bin Laden’s height all helped confirmed the identification.Still, it was unclear if the world would ever get visual proof.Senior U.S. officials said bin Laden was killed toward the end of the firefight, which took place in a building at a compound north of Islamabad, the Pakistani capital. An official familiar with the operation said bin Laden fired on U.S. forces and was hit by a barrage of carefully aimed return fire.The official spoke on condition of anonymity because aspects of the operation remain classified.The official says two dozen SEALs in night-vision goggles dropped into the high-walled compound in Pakistan by sliding down ropes from Chinook helicopters in the overnight raid.The SEALs retrieved bin Laden’s body and turned the remaining detainees over to Pakistani authorities.Hmmmm.....In other news Elvis was seen leaving the White House?Read the full story here.

• The FCC is Again Being ‘DC Disingenuous’ About the Internet.(BigGovernment).the looming annual broadband deployment report from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) (called the 706 Report).In which they are going to again give U.S. broadband deployment a failing grade – just as they did last year.Which is completely “DC Disingenuous.” In other words, the FCC is lying through its bureaucratic teeth.The FCC is doing this because of the desired ends – the complete eradication of all private sector broadband – so as to replace it with government monopoly broadband.Accordingly (to them), any spoken means are thusly justified.Think I may be overstating?Ever since the November elections – in which the American people in historic fashion exhibited a passionate desire for smaller, more accountable government – the FCC has been on a big government Internet regulatory rampage. Again and again going WAY outside its legal limits to ram through huge new Web power grabs.The Obama-era Commission has all along wanted to impose the terrible idea that is Network Neutrality, but didn’t (and still doesn’t) have any legal authority over broadband – as Julius Genachowski, the FCC’s Chairman, readily admits.But why let the law stop them? In fact, they didn’t – voting themselves wired Internet Overlords on December 21 so as to then impose Net Neutrality.Not having placed a sufficient stranglehold on the wireless Internet, the FCC went back and did so with their just-as-illegal April 7 data roaming power grab.These incessant government assaults on the broadband industry are intended, again, to effect an ideological outcome – the end of all private broadband providers, and the birth of the government broadband monopoly.But don’t take my word for it – take Robert McChesney’s. He’s the godfather of the Media “Reform” Movement – the Media Marxists who have been pushing this anti-free market agenda from the very beginning.“At the moment, the battle over network neutrality is not to completely eliminate the telephone and cable companies. We are not at that point yet. But the ultimate goal is to get rid of the media capitalists in the phone and cable companies and to divest them from control.” Any questions?McChesney co-founded the lead Media Marxist outfit – the very ridiculous Free Press. Whom the FCC very ridiculously cited fifty-three times in their illegal December Internet power grab order.In many, many ways, the Media Marxists are driving the FCC train.Which again brings us to the impending FCC broadband report.For the FCC to allegedly “justify” their ever-increasing, illegal encroachments on private sector broadband, they have to say that private sector broadband is failing. Which is a flat-out lie.Let us do what the FCC did not – consider some facts. Facts that in fact come from – the FCC.Last year, the FCC’s National Broadband Plan reported : 290 million Americans—95% of the U.S. population—live in housing units with access to terrestrial, fixed broadband infrastructure capable of supporting actual download speeds of at least 4 Mbps.Last year, remember, the FCC gave this impressive private sector effort – an F.When I was in school, 95% got you a slightly higher grade than that.I got Fs, and did so with numbers FAR lower than this.So let us move to this year. Where we find that the FCC’s most recent broadband report says that 98% of U.S. Census tracts have at least one broadband provider, and 85% of U.S. Census tracts have access to at least two (including wireless). The FCC gives this an F?Yes, because again the Commission wishes to “get rid of the media capitalists in the phone and cable companies and to divest them from control.”So they must pretend that what is undoubtedly the most successful portion of the private sector – possibly ever – is failing. To “warrant” their more illegal actions to come.Their desired ends justify ANY – even these most absurd – means.Please keep all of this in mind when the FCC issues this year’s broadband Internet report.And the Media Marxists – on cue – go nuts(er), demanding even more government action to rectify yet another completely and obviously non-existent “problem.”Hmmmm.......And no doubt the Government provider WILL BE GOOGLE?Hmmmm......Pcs without Harddiscs, everything stored on online server(s) .....cloud computing.Big Brother is really going in overdrive now!Read the full story here.

• US Government Begins Its Move To The Cloud.(Itproportal).The US government has decided that it will begin moving services to the cloud, some in the near future, intensifying competition in this growing field.Google, Microsoft and Amazon are working to establish themselves as major cloud service providers but analysts believe that the market for cloud computing will continue to expand, providing more room for all three companies, as well as currently unknown start-ups, to thrive.According to an article in the Washington Post, the US government’s recent decision to make cloud computing the first choice for new IT projects has sparked off a race amongst companies to be first to provide cloud computing services to the government. The US government has even mandated that some agencies migrate services to a cloud platform in the next 18 months.This competition is obvious in recent spats such as whether or not Google's cloud services meet a standard called FISMA.Microsoft and Google are looking to offer cloud based platforms and applications to public and private sector organisations while Amazon Web Services is thought to have an early advantage developing the infrastructure necessary for a cloud computing platform, despite its recent outages.Read the full story here.

• Secure applications to meet the needs of government Google Apps for Government, now with FISMA certification.(Google).With Google Apps for Government, agencies can benefit from the scale and redundancy of one of the most robust networks of distributed datacenters in the world. The protection of the data and intellectual property on these servers is our top priority, with extensive resources dedicated to maintaining data security. Google is committed to providing the best security in the industry on an ongoing basis.Obtaining Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) certification & accreditation for Google Apps is critical to our US federal government customers, who must comply with FISMA by law. All customers – both public and private sector – benefit from this governmental review and certification of our security controls.

•Google is the first in the industry to complete FISMA certification for a multi-tenant cloud application.

•Google Apps has received an authority to operate at the FISMA-Moderate level; an independent auditor assessed the level of operational risk as Low.

•Google's FISMA documentation is available for review by interested agencies.This enables agencies to compare the security of Google Apps to that of existing systems.Hmmmm.......The only thing is when you go to the FISMA website you get "FISMA IS TEMPORARILY UNAVAILABLE"?What is going on here?Read the full story here.

• Google's FISMA certification: A technicality, misunderstanding or outright lie?(ZDNet).Google has suddenly found itself in hot water, exposed - by Microsoft, no less - for being a “liar, liar” when it comes to the security certification it has been touting for its Google Apps for Government offering.After all, the revelation that Google’s product, in fact, was not certified to be compliant under the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) is pretty major. In part, that’s because it’s the Apps suite that was tailor-made for government agencies and security - extra security, actually - was one of its biggest selling points.Now, before anyone gets into some panic over government data no longer being secure, there’s little concern that Apps for Government isn’t secure or that it won’t eventually get its FISMA certification. Apps for Government, as Google explains it, is a more secure subset of Google Apps Premier, a product that obtained FISMA certification well before Government was announced last summer. With that rationale, it’s no wonder that Google thought it was OK to go around and start touting Apps for Government as being FISMA-certified.Unfortunately, the truth got in the way.Google might have been naive about the way the government’s FISMA certification process works and just assumed that since Premier was already certified, then Government must be certified, as well. But as we now know - thanks to Microsoft’s discovery of a court document that tells otherwise - that’s not how the certification process works.Google says it has not applied for FISMA certification for Apps for Government, but instead is “updating the existing authorization.” At a hearing in Washington earlier today, an official with the General Services Administration said that a product has to be re-certified if it changes - and, in essence, Government is a altered version of Premier. That official said Google’s products are going through a re-certification based on the changes, according to a report on the Business Insider blog.Google can spin this any way it wants but, at the end of the day, it has been deceptive in marketing Google Apps for Government as being FISMA-certified. Ignorance of the process is no excuse.Simply said, Google - a company that has spent millions of dollars and countless hours developing this suite of applications specifically for government agencies - shouldn’t be making assumptions about something as significant as FISMA-certification, especially when that’s one of the biggest selling points over the competition. (Microsoft is currently awaiting FISMA-certification for its cloud apps offering, as well.) The only thing Google had to do was ask. Plain and simple.Instead, Google has done itself a world of harm by making assumptions about government process. It’s not only created a feeling of uncertainty around the security of its product but also created a perception of itself as a company that flirts with the truth for the sake of scoring a government contract. Does it really need to give its critics even more reason to argue that its motives are evil?Sure, when all is said and done, Google will likely be granted FISMA certification for Apps for Government - but the damage will have already been done. Google says its product is FISMA-certified - but how do we really know? Google needs government agencies to take them on their word - but, for the moment, there’s not much value behind that word.Maybe we’re splitting hairs here. Maybe this was just a technicality. Maybe it was all a misunderstanding. But as long as Google continues to stick by that lame argument about a certification for Premier also applying to Government, the company won’t be able to shake the “Liar, Liar” image that it now has.And the longer it waits to take its lumps, the harder it will be to shake that image.Hmmmm......Meanwhile FISMA is not 'reachable'?Why do i feel The Obama regime is behind this?Read the full story here.

• Bin Laden killing prompts Arab - Palestinian anger, relief.(Reuters).Some Arabs mourned him as a holy warrior and martyr, while others saw him as a "pillar of evil" whose deadly attacks on the United States unleashed a backlash against Muslims across the world.The U.S.-backed Palestinian Authority welcomed bin Laden's killing as "good for the cause of peace." Its rival and prospective power-sharing partner, Islamist Hamas, deplored his death."We condemn the assassination and the killing of an Arab holy warrior," said Ismail Haniyeh, head of the Hamas administration in Gaza, which faces a challenge from al Qaeda-inspired groups that consider it too moderate."We regard this as a continuation of the American policy based on oppression and the shedding of Muslim and Arab blood."Those who revered bin Laden were still in denial about his death but many in the Arab world felt it was long overdue.Some said the killing of bin Laden in a raid by U.S. forces in Pakistan was scarcely relevant in an Arab world fired by popular revolt against oppressive leaders who had resisted violent Islamist efforts to weaken their grip on power.Some see bin Laden as the only Muslim leader to take the fight against Western dominance to the heart of the enemy -- in the form of the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington in 2001."Bin Laden defended the dignity of Muslims and now the U.S. and the West will answer for their occupation," said Egyptian Abdullah Ali, a Salafist taxi driver in his 60s.Abdel-Qader Abu Shaaban, a 53-year-old Palestinian from Gaza, described bin Laden's killing as "a very criminal act."Tareq al-Zumar of Egypt's Islamist group al-Gama'a al-Islamiya, which took up arms against the state in the 1990s said: "Bin Laden will become a symbol of resistance to occupation... The U.S. killing of bin Laden will undoubtedly galvanize reaction and retaliation attempts."But there was disbelief and sorrow among many Saudis."He would be a loss to all Muslims because he had good qualities. He portrayed Muslims in a good and strong way... He is the person that left the worldly riches for jihad," said one man taking a cigarette break outside his office in Riyadh."Omar Bakri, a Lebanese Sunni cleric, mourned bin Laden as a martyr: "His martyrdom will give momentum to a large generation of believers and jihadists. Al Qaeda is not a political party, it is a jihadist movement. Al Qaeda does not end with the death of a leader."Egypt's influential Muslim Brotherhood said U.S. troops should now quit Iraq and Afghanistan."With bin Laden's death, one of the reasons for which violence has been practiced in the world has been removed," said Essam al-Erian, a senior member of the Brotherhood which renounced violence to achieve change in Egypt decades ago.Other Islamists in Egypt, whose thinkers have inspired Islamic movements and activists around the world, said bin Laden's followers should review their methods because their actions had only made the "enemy" more aggressive.Hmmmmm.......Overall opinion"We still hate the infidels and hope they are all killed"?Read the full story here.

• Iran says no excuse for US in region after bin Laden death.AFP - Iran said on Monday the death of Osama bin Laden has removed "any excuse" for the United States and its allies to deploy forces in the Middle East under the pretext of fighting terrorism."US and their allies have no more excuse to deploy forces in the Middle East under pretext of fighting terrorism," foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast was quoted as saying on the website of Iran's English-language Press TV channel.He said Iran hopes this development will help to "establish peace and security in the region," adding that it is Iran's policy to "strongly condemn terrorism all over the world."Shiite Iran has always considered Al-Qaeda as a Sunni ultra-radical and anti-Shiite threat to its security.Tehran even cooperated with Western forces when they invaded Afghanistan after the September 11, 2001 attacks to hunt bin Laden and the Taliban religious regime which had given him refuge.But Iran quickly criticised the presence of the Western forces in Afghanistan, saying it prevented any negotiated settlement of the Afghan conflict.Several senior Al-Qaeda members had taken refuge in Iran during the international intervention in Afghanistan, and some were detained, according to media reports which Iranian authorities never confirmed.But the British daily The Times reported in December that several of them were released by Tehran in order to rebuild the extremist Islamic organisation in Afghanistan, where it supports the Taliban in their fight against the Western military presence.Some bin Laden family members continue to live under house arrest in Tehran, according to several members who managed to escape in 2010.Read the full story here.

• Israeli Jets Prepare For Imminent Strike Against Iran.(PressTV).Israeli jet fighters have reportedly conducted drills at a military base in Iraq in order to strike targets inside Iran. A considerable number of Israeli warplanes were seen at al-Asad base in Iraq, reported a source close to prominent Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sader's group.

The aircraft reportedly included F-15, F-16, F-18, F-22, and KC-10 jet fighters. The warplanes carried out their week-long exercises at nights, the same source added. The drills were reportedly aimed at preparing to strike Iran's air defense systems, disrupt Iran's radars and attack targets deep inside Iran. Iraqi officials had not been notified of the exercises, which were conducted in collaboration with the US military. The United States maintains numerous bases in Iraq, and the Baghdad government is not involved in any of the military deployments taking place there.Read the full story here.

MFS - The Other News

                      Morning Posting.

• Libya Live Blog - May 02. Here .(Al-Jazeera).

• Syria Live Blog - May 02. Here (Al-Jazeera). 

• Updated !Earthquakes in the last 24 hours in the world seismic activity in philippines  today  5.1! More info here.

• Japan - Latest official Situation Update No. 101.
  Source : Here .

• Japan  : For the most accurate info on the nuclear disaster go to : Paul Langley's Nuclear History Blog

• Live blog: Osama bin Laden killed by US forces.(Al-Jazeera).1:57pm The death of bin Laden was greeted with near-silence on Monday from Gulf Arab states, including his birthplace Saudi Arabia.By mid-afternoon, the only official comment from the Arabian Peninsula came from Yemen, bin Laden's ancestral homeland, where an official speaking on condition of anonymity hoped the killing would "root out terrorism throughout the world".Saudi Arabia's official news agency merely noted that the United States and Pakistan had announced bin Laden had been killed in a US military operation in Pakistan but gave no clue to Riyadh's thinking.The foreign ministers of Bahrain, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, attending a meeting of Gulf foreign ministers in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi, all declined to comment on bin Laden's death.

10:22am Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood said that US soldiers should be withdrawn from Afghanistan and Iraq after the killing of Osama bin Laden. Essam al-Erian, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood's governing body, told Reuters:With Bin Laden's death, one of the reasons for which violence has been practised in the world has been removed. It is time for Obama to pull out of Afghanistan and Iraq and end the occupation of U.S. and Western forces around the world that have for so long harmed Muslim countries.For continious updates click here.

• Reactions on the Death of Osama Bin Laden.(Al-Jazeera).Ismail Haniyeh - head of Hamas in the Gaza strip.We condemn the assassination and the killing of an Arab holy warrior. We ask God to offer him mercy with the true believers and the martyrs.We regard this as a continuation of the American policy based on oppression and the shedding of Muslim and Arab blood.

P. Chidambaram - Indian home minister

We take note with grave concern that part of the statement in which (US) President Obama said that the firefight in which Osama bin Laden was killed took place in Abbottabad 'deep inside Pakistan'.This fact underlines our concern that terrorists belonging to different organisations find sanctuary in Pakistan.Read more reactions here.

• The Greatest Story ever told?(DailyMail).Shootout, no surrender and carried away on foot after U.S. chopper broke down: Dramatic reconstruction of how hit squad finally took out Bin Laden.Almost ten years after the horror of 9/11, Osama bin Laden must have thought he was safe.He had moved from the remote, barren mountains on Afghanistan’s inhospitable border to a comfortable $1million mansion in one of Pakistan’s most picturesque and affluent cities.Abbottabad - named after James Abbott, the British major who founded the town in 1853 - has such a pleasant climate that it is a major hub for tourists visiting the region.And the former home of the Gurkhas is still a major military base so locals have no reason to feel threatened.Behind the walls of his sprawling compound about 60 miles north of the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, Bin Laden had every reason to believe he was way beyond the searching eyes of the Americans he had taunted for so long.

His family was with him and a parade of couriers would bring him everything he needed from the city outside of more than a million people.So confident was he that the huge three-storey house he was living in was eight times larger than most other homes in the area, hardly a low-profile hideaway for the most wanted man in the world.After several run-throughs and the diplomatic blessing of the Pakistani government, a small special forces team of U.S. Navy Seals landed in the compound grounds yesterday with the explicit instruction - get Osama bin Laden, dead or alive.The raid on the compound, which was just 100 yards from a Pakistani military academy, was launched at about 1.15am in the morning, according to witnesses. Four U.S. helicopters took off from the Ghazi air base in northwest Pakistan.

Bin Laden's guards opened fire from the roof and one of the helicopters crashed.During an operation that took just 40 minutes from start to finish, Bin Laden was shot in the head in a firefight as he tried to evade capture. Three of his men were also killed along with a woman they tried to use as a human shield. One of Bin Laden's eleven sons was said to be among the dead.By February, U.S. intelligence officials were confident that Bin Laden and his family were living there and by March, Mr Obama was convening top secret meeting with his senior security staff.The CIA believe that for many years before settling in Abbottabad, Bin Laden moved from village to village in Waziristan. He communicated only about once a month and never used a telephone.

When he reached a village with his bodyguards he would request a meeting with the local tribal leader and a substantial bribe would be paid.Bin Laden would then be the guest of the village, where under Pashtun custom, he must be protected.The main obstacle in finding him was that even if someone wanted to betray him and collect the $25 million reward - there was no one to turn to. The local police would know Bin Laden was there and if anyone tried to report his presence they would quite likely be killed.One local mullah from Waziristan agreed to send information about Bin Laden’s movements and his beheaded body was found several weeks later with a message that his was the fate of spies.Read the full story here.

• Usama Bin Laden Killed in Firefight With U.S. Special Ops Team in Pakistan.(FOX).Declaring “justice has been done,” President Obama announced late Sunday that Usama bin Laden was killed by U.S. forces in Pakistan, marking the end of the worldwide manhunt that began nearly a decade ago on Sept. 11, 2001.The president made the stunning announcement within hours of informing congressional leaders. He said bin Laden was killed Sunday, the culmination of years of intelligence gathering. The news drew a large crowd to the front of the White House, as well as in Times Square, as people chanted “USA. USA.”The president traced the death of bin Laden to a tip received last August. He said he was briefed at the time on the “possible lead,” and that after months of intelligence work it was determined bin Laden was hiding in a compound “deep” inside Pakistan. Obama said, after determining the intelligence was sound, he authorized the operation to bring him to justice last week.At 3:30 p.m. EST, a 40-man Navy Seals squadron raided a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, killing the Al Qaeda leader with a bullet to the head.Four Chinook and Blackhawk helicopters dropped 24 men on the compound. One helicopter suffered a "hard landing" inside the compound after an experiencing a mechanical failure and had to be destroyed on the site, according to one defense official.There was a large shootout. The residents at the compound resisted. The total raid took 40 minutes.No Americans were killed in the mission Sunday. Officials said three adult men other than bin Laden were killed – one was believed to be bin Laden’s son, the others couriers. Two women were also injured, the officials said.Obama said Americans must continue to be “vigilant.” But he said the death of the architect of the deadliest terror attack on U.S. soil should be welcomed around the world.“Bin Laden was not a Muslim leader. He was a mass murderer of Muslims,” Obama said. “So his demise should be welcomed by all who believe in peace and human dignity.”Sources said the vice president informed congressional leaders late Sunday night that the world’s most wanted man had been killed.Officials said bin Laden’s body, which was in U.S. custody, was given a sea burial.Hmmmm.......Great story,but any visual proof of this story would be very welcome.And Bin Laden was a Mass Murder of OTHER people not only Muslims!Great for ratings couldn't have come at a better time?Read the full story here.

• US officials do not want Mr. bin Laden’s burial place to become a terrorist shrine.(Al-Arabia).Jake Tapper of the same network quoted a senior administrator official as saying: “We are ensuring it is handled in accordance with Islamic practice and tradition. It’s something we take seriously and therefore it’s being handled in an appropriate manner. ‬”Islamic law mandates a body be washed and buried as soon as possible, usually by the next prayer, in a simple white sheet. However, how Muslims will react to bin Laden’s burial at sea is not known, as there seems to be no provision for burials at sea.Read the full story here.

• Taliban threaten US, Pakistan over Osama.(TheNews).PESHAWAR: Pakistan's main Taliban faction on Monday threatened to attack Pakistan and the United States after the US confirmed that Osama bin Laden had been killed near the Pakistani capital."If he has been martyred, we will avenge his death and launch attacks against American and Pakistani governments and their security forces," spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan said by telephone from an undisclosed location."These people are in fact the enemies of Islam," he added.The Taliban spokesman said the militia had not itself managed to confirm bin Laden's death, which was announced by US President Barack Obama."If he has become a martyr, it is a great victory for us because martyrdom is the aim of all of us." Read the full story here.

• 'The American people did not choose this fight': Obama's speech in full.Number of times the President used the word  "I" : 10 times.Number of times he mentioned the brave men who actually did the 'job' ...twice..Hmmm.... he was being humble i guess?Read the full text here.

• Senior ISI official confirms bin Laden killed.“Yes, I can confirm that,” one senior intelligence official told Reuters, but declined to give further details.(Dawn).Another security official in Peshawar confirmed it was a joint operation between CIA and Pakistani security forces.“It was carried out on a very precise info that some high-value target is there,” he said.A Pakistani military helicopter crashed near Abbottabad on Sunday night, killing one and wounding two, according to Pakistani media. It was unclear if the crash was related to bin Laden’s death, but witnesses reported gunshots and heavy firing before one of two low-flying helicopters crashed near the Pakistani Military Academy.The police blocked the road leading to Pakistan’s military academy, a Reuters photographer on the scene reported.“I have seen tail and two wings of the chopper,” a labourer told Reuters. The fact bin Laden was apparently living in relative luxury not far from Islamabad could pose awkward questions for Pakistan.“For some time there will be a lot of tension between Washington and Islamabad because Bin Laden seems to have been living here close to Islamabad,” said Imtiaz Gul, a security analyst.“If the ISI had known then somebody within the ISI must have leaked this information. Pakistan will have to do a lot of damage control because the Americans have been reporting he is in Pakistan. This is a serious blow to the credibility of Pakistan.But defence analyst and former general Talat Masood said the fact bin Laden was killed in a joint operation would limit the damage to Pakistan’s image. “There should be a sigh of relief because this will take some pressure off of Pakistan,” said defence analyst and former general Talat Masood. “Pakistan most probably has contributed to this, and Pakistan can take some credit for this – being such an iconic figure, it’s a great achievement.”Read the full story here.

• Jihadists: Bin Laden death will not mute Jihad call.(ArabNews).DUBAI: Members of Jihadist forums said they prayed the news of Osama Bin Laden’s death was not true, and hinted at retaliation if it was, in some of the first Islamist reaction to the Al-Qaeda leader’s death.“Oh God, please make this news not true...God curse you Obama,” said one message on an Arabic language forum. “Oh Americans ... it is still legal for us to cut your necks.”“Osama may be killed but his message of Jihad will never die. Brothers and sisters, wait and see, his death will be a blessing in disguise,” said a poster on another Islamist forum.Hmmmm......well it seems Islam is still at war with us Mr President?Read the full story here.

• Hamas And Palestine mourns bin Laden's death.Gaza government condemns US slaying of 'Arab holy warrior', ask 'God to offer him mercy with true believers, martyrs'. Hamas on Monday condemned the killing by US forces of Osama bin Laden and mourned him as an "Arab holy warrior" while Iran condemned "Zionist terror" and US sources said Saudi Arabia had refused to bury the arch-terrorist's body."We regard this as a continuation of the American policy based on oppression and the shedding of Muslim and Arab blood," Ismail Haniyeh, head of the Hamas administration in the Gaza Strip, told reporters. Though he noted doctrinal differences between bin Laden's al Qaeda and Hamas, Haniyeh said: "We condemn the assassination and the killing of an Arab holy warrior. We ask God to offer him mercy with the true believers and the martyrs."Iran responded to the killing by saying that the US and its allies had now "lost the excuse to continue their presence in the region with the aim of fighting terror".In a statement Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said, "This incident proves that there is no need for a huge war in order to deal with one person." He said Iran, which sees itself as a victim of terror, "condemns all acts of terrorism in the world, including the organized terror of the Zionist regime".Meanwhile the Pakistani Taliban threatened attacks against government leaders, including President Asif Ali Zardari, the Pakistan army and the United States. "Now Pakistani rulers, President Zardari and the army will be our first targets. America will be our second target," Ehsanullah Ehsan, a spokesman for Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), or Taliban Movement of Pakistan, told Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location.US officials said Monday that bin Laden's country of birth, Saudi Arabia, had refused to accept the body of the arch-terrorist for burial so the country was forced to bury him at sea, CBS reported. Earlier sources in Washington reported that bin Laden's body had been transferred to Afghanistan and then buried at sea for fear that Islamist extremists would turn any gravesite into a holy place. Saudi Arabia refused to comment on the death of bin Laden, saying that it was "too early". Saudi public opinion is divided on the slaying, with some pleased that the organizers of a number of attacks in the country pleased but others, especially on Arab forums, calling him a hero. Saudi Arabia revoked his citizenship in 1994.Issam al-Aryan of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood responded to bin Laden's death by calling on the US to withdraw from Afghanistan and Iraq. "With bin Laden's death one of the main reasons for violence in the world is gone," he said."It's time for Obama to withdraw from Afghanistan and Iraq and terminate the occupation of the US and Western forces throughout the world, which harms Muslim states deeply."Al-Aryan added that "the uprisings in the Middle East are proof that democracy has its place in the region and it does not require foreign occupation". He also predicted that various terror groups would retaliate for the killing.Hmmmm........How about Hamas and the 'New Palestine" Mr President?Read the full story here.

• Group of 6 senators hones plan to cut US deficits.(Breitbart).WASHINGTON (AP) - A bipartisan group of six senators is closing in on what could represent the best chance for tackling a deficit crisis that has forced the government to borrow more than 40 cents of every dollar it spends. Their plan, still a work in progress, would reduce borrowing by up to $4 trillion over the next decade by putting the two parties' sacred cows on the chopping block. Republicans would have to agree to higher taxes while Democrats would have to accept cuts in popular benefit programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and maybe even Social Security. There is urgency to their work.

Most Republicans and some Democrats in Congress have said they will not vote to increase the government's ability to borrow without some action addressing the nation's long-term debt. The government is expected to reach its borrowing limit of $14.3 trillion by mid-May. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner says steps are being taken to delay until July what would be an unprecedented default on the debt. Geithner and a growing number of business leaders say a U.S. default would plunge the U.S., and perhaps the world, into a second economic crisis. Despite opposition from top leaders in both parties, the Senate's Gang of Six is banking on support from many of the 64 senators who wrote President Barack Obama in March urging him to support a comprehensive deficit reduction effort. "There's a huge appetite for a starting point that's bipartisan," said Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., one of the six senators, three from each party. "I think the conventional wisdom that says, `We can punt all of this until after the next presidential election.' I think there's a growing consensus we may not have that long."

The group includes four members of Obama's deficit commission, and its recommendations are expected to closely track the commission's plan for $3 in spending cuts for every $1 in tax revenue increases over the coming decade. Its other two Democrats are Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the second-ranking Democratic leader, and Sen. Kent Conrad of North Dakota, the Budget Committee chairman. The Republicans are Sens. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, Mike Crapo of Idaho and Saxby Chambliss of Georgia. The six have met in private for several months, even as House Republicans and Obama developed more partisan plans that have little chance of being enacted into law because of Washington's divided government.Obama has shied away from tackling Social Security's problems and top Democrats in Congress, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California, have ruled out cuts in benefits, including changes that would only affect future retirees, such as raising the retirement age.

The plan by Obama's deficit commission, which the president did not endorse, would have nearly frozen the Pentagon's budget and cut spending at most domestic agencies. It called for gradually raising the retirement age for full Social Security benefits to 69 and curbing future cost-of-living increases. The full retirement age is currently 66, and is gradually increasing to 67 for people born in 1960 or later. Income tax rates would fall, paid for by scaling back dozens of popular tax breaks, including deductions for mortgage interest and charitable contributions. Premiums for employer provided health insurance, which are now tax exempt, would be taxed eventually.The Gang of Six supports changing the tax law, though senators have not decided whether they will offer a detailed plan or a series of targets for Congress to meet, with automatic spending cuts or tax increases if lawmakers fail, said a Senate aide familiar with the negotiations. Reid endorsed such a mechanism this past week. The senators are discussing similar spending targets for defense and domestic agency budgets, Medicare and Medicaid. "We want to make sure there's not an ability to punt," Warner said.Hmmmm....There's no plan to stop Obama's spending?Because the more he spend the more the US taxpayer is going to bleed!Read the full story here.

• Trump: I’ve Decided “In My Mind” to Run For President.(Bloomberg).New York real estate developer Donald Trump says he has decided “in my mind” to run for president, yet won’t make an official announcement before the season finale of his reality television show later this month.“In my mind, I have already decided,” Trump, 64, said in a telephone interview today. “I am going to announce. But I can’t do anything until the show ends.”Trump said he will focus on “making our country rich and respected,” by creating jobs, boosting the economy and stopping China and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries from taking advantage of the U.S.“The OPEC nations will be acting much differently, and fuel prices will go down and the economy will become strong again,” Trump said. “They may like me or not like me, but nobody will be ripping us off.”Some recent polls have shown Trump at or near the top of a large field of potential Republican candidates. In an April 26 Rasmussen Reports poll, Trump led with support from 19 percent of 1,000 likely Republican primary voters nationwide. The poll’s margin of error was plus or minus three percentage points.Read the full story here.

• Imam's Call to Add Crescent Moon Symbol to Russian Emblem Met With Alarm.(Fox).Was it a call to bring the revolts and violence of the “Arab Spring” now sweeping the Middle East to Russia? That is the question that swirled throughout Moscow when a top imam called for the addition of the Islamic crescent moon symbol to the Russian emblem. The surprise call by Talgat Tadzhuddin during an interview with a leading Russian newspaper was met with alarm because the imam heads the Central Spiritual Association of Muslims of Russia, a major regional Islamic association. As quickly as the word of the proposal became public it ignited a wave of condemnation. “According to this logic,” Georgiy Vilinbakhov, head of Russia’s Heraldry Service argued, “we must change the name of Russia, put a green stripe on or flag and move the capital city from Moscow to somewhere on the border between Europe and Asia.” In his interview, Tadzhuddin said, “We are asking for one of the heads (of the Russian state emblem, a double-headed eagle) to be topped with a crescent moon and the other to be topped with a Russian Orthodox cross. All the crowns on the coat of arms -- two on the heads of eagles and one above the middle -- are topped by crosses. But Russia has 20 million Muslims. That is 18 percent of the population.” Tadzhuddin also said that he had presented a sketch of the proposed change to both Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. The Kremlin has not commented on the issue.Hmmmm.....Do they really think Russia forgot Beslan?Read the full story here.

• New insights on the 'Palestine Papers' (also known as Palileaks).(IsraelMatzav).The attached is an interesting new study of the Palestine Papers. It shows conclusively that the 'Palestinians' never responded to Olmert's offer, and that they never agreed to surrender the "right of return" -- running counter to the spin that's been all over the media. It's an interesting document that's worth perusing. Read and see the full story here.

• Indonesia: Extremist group recruits students to target Christians and introduce shariah.Jakarta (AsiaNews) - An emerging Islamic terrorist group recruits followers among university students and, through brainwashing, prepares them for suicide bombings or bomb attacks against sensitive targets, including Christian churches. It has been confirmed by the Indonesian police that the former separatist movement "NII or Negara Islam Indonesia" - the Islamic state Indonesia - has now turned into an extremist group in the network of terror. It recently orchestrated an attack on a Protestant church that only by accident, did not result in a bloodbath.The acronym NII in the decades has become the symbol of the Muslim separatist struggle, which aims to impose Islamic law - Shariah - in Indonesia and introduce a full range of behaviors, lifestyles and patterns derived from the Arabic culture such as the beard, jilbab or the burqa. Today it has changed the face, becoming involved in the fundamentalist terror network, its leaders have adopted techniques like brainwashing to recruit young people in universities and train them to carry out attacks or bombings.Police spokesman Amar Boy Rafly reports that the NII terrorist group arose five years ago and promotes the recruitment in schools, propagating an extremist vision of Islam. Among the objectives of the recent attack on the Christ Church Cathedral - a modern, luxurious building - at Gading Serpong, in the city of Tangerang, Banten province, about 20 km west of Jakarta. The mastermind of the massacre is 31 year old Fernando Pepi, a former student of the Islamic State University (Uin) and originally from West Java. The police stopped him on April 27 last, with his wife and seven other members of the NII.The attackers wanted to place explosive charges in the property that is located not far from a state-owned pipeline. In recent days, a small charge exploded, but the real objective was a larger explosion capable of causing hundreds of casualties in the celebration of Easter. The material for the assassination plot was bought on the black market - at least 120 km of explosives - and, according to the terrorists, would have led to a massacre.President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has alerted the Indonesian civil society as a whole, noting that the terrorist group constitutes a real threat for the country. However, the majority of citizens are skeptical of the claims of the Head of State regarding extremist movements: empty words without any decisive action.Read the full story here.

• Iran sends 14th fleet of warships to Gulf of Aden.(Tehrantimes).TEHRAN - Iran has dispatched the 14th fleet of the its warships to the Gulf of Aden in order to protect vessels sailing in the area, Kamran Farhang of the Navy said on Sunday. The dispatching took place following the return of the previous fleet of warships to the country, Farhang stated. The 14th fleet includes a submarine and a destroyer, which will patrol the areas with the message of peace and friendship, he explained. The 13th fleet of Navy warships was dispatched to the Gulf of Aden and international waters in March in order to protect the trade vessels and oil tankers sailing in the region.Read the full story here.

• Castrate serial rapists, says Indian judge.(NDTV).New Delhi: Serial or child rapists should be castrated - this is what Additional Sessions Judge Kamini Lau recommended as she heard a case where a 15-year-old girl was allegedly raped by her stepfather for four years."The Indian legislatures are yet to take notice of this alarming situation and address the issue with all seriousness by exploring the possibility of alternative sentences of surgical castration or chemical castration, particularly in cases of minors, serial offenders and child molesters," she said.Now that the issue is back in the headlines, women's rights activists are divided."I think it's an option worth exploring...and this comes from a woman judge, who is obviously passionate and feels the case. I am not from the legal community am only a citizen so I can react as one and say, yes, we need some stern action," said Sadia Dehlvi, a women's rights activist and an author.The judge has sent a copy of the order to the ministry of law and also to the national commission for women for their opinion. Read the full story here.

• Israeli targeting pod leading bombings in Libya.(JPost).Technology developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems is assisting NATO launch accurate missile strikes against Gaddafi forces in Libya. While Israel is not actively participating in NATO military operations against Libya, technology developed by Israeli defense giant Rafael Advanced Defense Systems is assisting the Western military alliance in launching accurate missile strikes against the embattled Col. Muammar Gaddafi.The British and Swedish air forces have been using Rafael’s Litening targeting pod on their Typhoon and Grippen fighter jets, which is fitted under the fuselage of an aircraft, and provides air crews with precision strike capabilities.The Israel Air Force uses the Litening on its F-15 and F-16 fighter jets, and the pod has been credited with improving the force’s level of accuracy in recent years.Last October, government-owned RADS announced that it sold its 1,000th targeting pod. The pod is used by more than 20 countries, and is also manufactured in the US by Northrop Grumman.The pod integrates a high-resolution infrared sensor that displays images of a target for the pilot and navigator, as well as a CCD camera. The pod also comes equipped with a laser designator for precise delivery of laser-guided bombs.Read the full story here.