A social democratic welfare state with a free-market economy. Is their any country practicing this system of governance in the face of continued Globalization? And the pressures that cme with it (Glob).

Salam Calayakum Sagal. Nice description. I would Just like to add That the world is Temporary, while the rewards of fulfilling your Islamic duties is permenant.

Salam Mr M Well my first and Most pressing Resolution is to Get my Degree over and done with. Then Inshallah i can start to live life. am also in a constant state of tring to improve myself as a muslim, so inshallah my Knowledge and Imaan will continue to grow this year. If anything else am gonna try and get back into Athelitcs again, am sure that their still is some magic left in me still. Besides being in active isnt that good for you wHAT ARE YOUR resolutions for this year saxiib. Peace Mr M.

Israel: Germs, gas and A-bombs Fingers on all the buttons The world's best-known and most efficient 'secret' manufacturer of weapons of mass destruction is not Iraq, not even North Korea, but Israel. Neil Sammonds looks at a nuclear, biological and chemical warfare programme that even the Israeli Knesset cannot get access to, let alone the United Nations. In September 1986, Mordechai Vanunu, a technician at Israel's Dimona nuclear site, revealed to the Sunday Times that the nuclear military programme based there had produced 'over 200' nuclear warheads. Days later he was tricked into flying to Rome where he was abducted by Mossad agents and secretly transported to Israel. In November 1986, he was tried in camera and sentenced to 18 years' imprisonment, 14 of which were spent in solitary confinement. In 1999, in response to a petition from Yediot Ahronot newspaper, the government released about 40 per cent of the trial documents. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists estimates that Israel has the world's fifth largest stockpile of nuclear warheads (more than Britain, which it believes has 185). In February 2000, Knesset member Issam Mahoul said Israel had '200 to 300' nuclear weapons; in August of that year, the Federation of American Scientists said that Israel could have produced 'at least 100 nuclear weapons, but probably not significantly more than 200'; the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute estimates 200. Other sources, including Jane's Intelligence Review, estimate between 400 and 500 thermonuclear and nuclear weapons. What Dimona is to Israel's nuclear programme, the Israeli Institute for Biological Research (IIBR) at Nes Ziona is to its chemical and biological warfare (CBW) programme. The high-security facility is absent from aerial survey photographs and maps, on which it has been replaced by orange groves. Except for token visits to Dimona by a Norwegian team in 1961 and a US team in 1969, there has been no international scrutiny. Even the Knesset is denied access. However, the 1993 report by the Office of Technology Assessment for the US Congress states that Israel has 'undeclared offensive chemical warfare capabilities' and is 'generally reported as having an undeclared offensive biological warfare programme'. Anthony Cordesman of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies states that Israel has conducted extensive research into gas warfare and is ready to produce biological weapons. According to an exhaustive study by Karel Knip, a Dutch journalist, the IIBR's work has included the synthesis of nerve gases such as tabun, sarin and VX. The October 1992 crash an of El Al cargo plane in Amsterdam that caused at least 47 deaths and caused hundreds of immediate and subsequent mysterious illnesses led to the disclosure in 1998 that flight LY1862 was carrying chemicals including 50 gallons of dimethyl methylphosphonate (DMMP) - enough to produce 594 pounds of sarin. The DMMP was supplied by Solkatronic Chemicals Inc of Morrisville, Pennsylvania, and was destined for the IIBR. Avner Cohen has catalogued reported uses of biological weapons by Jewish forces during the 1948 war in Palestine. The Israeli historian Uri Milstein alleged that 'in many conquered Arab villages, the water supply was poisoned to prevent the inhabitants from coming back.' Milstein states that one of the largest of such covert operations caused the typhoid outbreak in Acre in May 1948. The Palestinian Arab Higher Committee reported in July 1948 that there was some evidence that Jewish forces were responsible for a cholera outbreak in Egypt in November 1947 and in Syrian villages near the Palestinian-Syrian border in February 1948. In May 1948, the Egyptian ministry of defence stated that four 'zionists' had been captured while trying to contaminate artesian wells in Gaza with 'a liquid which was discovered to contain germs of dysentery and typhoid'. In 1954, it was widely reported that defence minister Pinchas Lavon had proposed using BW for special operations. Cohen says: 'Israel has presumably employed biological or toxin weapons for special operations.' In 1955, Prime Minister Ben Gurion ordered the weaponisation and stockpiling of chemical weapons in case of a war with Egypt. Former Mossad agent Victor Ostrovsky claims that lethal tests have been performed on Arab prisoners at the IIBR. There are allegations that Israel has used CBW on numerous occasions: Chemical defoliants used by the army against Palestinian lands, including Ain el-Beida in 1968, Araqba in 1972 and Mejdel Beni Fadil in 1978; Armed nuclear missiles in the 1967 and 1973 Arab-Israeli wars; Chemical weapons in the 1982 war on Lebanon, including hydrogen cyanide, nerve gas and phosphorus shells; In the 1980s lethal gases against Palestinian civilians and Palestinian, Lebanese and Israeli Jewish prisoners. Discussing delivery systems, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists states that Israel's F-16 squadrons based at Nevatim and Ramon are the most likely carriers of nuclear warheads and that a small group of pilots has been trained for nuclear strikes. According to the Sunday Times, F-16s crews are also 'trained to fit an active chemical or biological weapon within minutes of receiving the command to attack'. Israel's F-4s, F-15s and Jaguars are also nuclear-capable. Israel's Jericho I (with a range of 660km) and Jericho II (1,500km) missiles are nuclear-capable. The Shavit satellite launch vehicle is convertible into an intercontinental ballistic missile with a range of 7,800km. Israel also has three Dolphin-class submarines, the Dolphin, the Leviathan and the Tekuma, which are reportedly modified to carry nuclear-tipped cruise missiles. It is widely believed to possess a tactical nuclear capability, including small nuclear landmines, and strategic nuclear warheads that it can fire from cannons. The UN Security Council regularly calls on Israel 'urgently to place its nuclear facilities under the safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency.' Israel has signed but not ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention, but is one of only four countries in the world - with Cuba, India and Pakistan - not to have signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty . This article first appeared in issue 1/03 of Index on Censorship: Inside the Axis of Evil.

Salams all hope your all well. I would just like to Congratulate the Groom and Wish him the Best of Health and Inshallah Hapiness is His now. Secondly i would just Like to Conqour with my Esteemed Fellor My Sophist and admit that your Literal depiction of that Festive and Jovioul night left me somewhat speech less so i shall stop at that and hope that Jamaal con conclude on the events of the night with the same linguist claout. Indeed i must say i felt somehwat privilaged to have been @ the wedding ceremony surronded by my Closest nomads, Gr8 surrondings, and some Fine young Ladies no dout. That am Glaad to see you memory hasnt failed saxiib lol@ Barawaaqo (what happen to yacquub in this). London Lad i see that the Venue over roade you aswell. lol

No more Peeping toms (for all who are fami.liar with British slang) Now they will be Peeping Farah's. LOL I like to stress for the record that even if this privialge is accorded to me as Man, i dont think i will risk encuring the Rath of you women. Besides Like Muaad said " Duulka sirtooda lagama sal gaaro, they can show and hide at the same time ".

The Early Years He-Man Danger Mouse Scooby doo Danger Bay The Teen Years Simpson Fresh Prince (THats it in the mornings i was in school, in the evenings @ training) And Present Gazetta Football Italia Every Sat 10am alas no more . Question time Thursdays 10.45pm Panorama Despatches etc etc

LOL

WILLIAM CORDER Executed 11th of August, 1828, for the Murder of Maria Marten, in the Red Barn, the Crime being revealed to the Victim's Mother in Three Dreams About the year 1826 she formed a liaison, with the man who became her deliberate murderer, William Corder. And it was a Pistol that was deposited into her pelvis.SICK MAN??? Q who was the First man to Run under 10 sec for the 100m?

Why is it that u ladies tend to make an issue over things which males would often consider to be minor? :rolleyes: . Northerner dont try to understand women saxiib coz you wont be able too. Just do the ((logical)) thing and try to manage their unpredictability. Thats if she is off any worth to you as a friend. Otherwise throw a tantrum yourself and see what results , you never no it could be just the medicine.

Salams Yacquub. Hope all is wel with you and that your revising hard. To be honest with you, so far i havent managed to enjoyed the fruits of my labour. I have managed to go through Primary, Secondary education then College, and now i find myself in my Last year (Inshallah) @ uni. All this years spent studying certainly has put me in good enviroments, where i have met people from diverse backgrounds so from that point of view i have browndern my mind through the various interactions i have had over the years, and the friendships that have been made. I certainlly dont think i would have been able to have developed my level of awarness and thinking in the same way had i stoped studying let say directly after finishing secondary school. But the real purpose of enduring so many years of studying, along wthi the stress's of exams is so that you will perhaps enjoy a better future. So although i havent managed achieve anything tangiable so to speak YET, hopefully i will, very soon Inshalllah

Not so much confussed But Very Much relived Pheeeeewwww i thought that you where adressing somethin of a more freakish nature :rolleyes: . I disagree with you on this Hibo. I dont particularly think that men do get hung up on thngs general speaking, like women do. Of course we may hurt and dispare when disgarded like an unwanted piece of clothing. But we certainly dont let it brun inside or let it get teh best of us as much women do.

Salams Ppl, here is also another article which i thought i would post, its another worthwhile read, depressing as it is. Again i think it more than ties in with my original assertion. We are all am sure in no doubt what the Hawkish USA Administration and the various instruemnets it uses desire out of the cuming war with Iraq. And if your read the following article you can quite clearly see that the us has been up to this form a long time ago. Published on Saturday, January 4, 2003 by the Independent/UK The Double Standards, Dubious Morality and Duplicity of This Fight Against Terror Meanwhile, we are ploughing on to war in Iraq, which has oil, but avoiding war in Korea, which does not have oil by Robert Fisk I think I'm getting the picture. North Korea breaks all its nuclear agreements with the United States, throws out UN inspectors and sets off to make a bomb a year, and President Bush says it's "a diplomatic issue". Iraq hands over a 12,000-page account of its weapons production and allows UN inspectors to roam all over the country, and – after they've found not a jam-jar of dangerous chemicals in 230 raids – President Bush announces that Iraq is a threat to America, has not disarmed and may have to be invaded. So that's it, then. How, readers keep asking me in the most eloquent of letters, does he get away with it? Indeed, how does Tony Blair get away with it? Not long ago in the House of Commons, our dear Prime Minister was announcing in his usual schoolmasterly tones – the ones used on particularly inattentive or dim boys in class – that Saddam's factories of mass destruction were "up [pause] and running [pause] now." But the Dear Leader in Pyongyang does have factories that are "up [pause] and running [pause] now". And Tony Blair is silent. Why do we tolerate this? Why do Americans? Over the past few days, there has been just the smallest of hints that the American media – the biggest and most culpable backer of the White House's campaign of mendacity – has been, ever so timidly, asking a few questions. Months after The Independent first began to draw its readers' attention to Donald Rumsfeld's chummy personal visits to Saddam in Baghdad at the height of Iraq's use of poison gas against Iran in 1983, The Washington Post has at last decided to tell its own readers a bit of what was going on. The reporter Michael Dobbs includes the usual weasel clauses ("opinions differ among Middle East experts... whether Washington could have done more to stop the flow to Baghdad of technology for building weapons of mass destruction"), but the thrust is there: we created the monster and Mr Rumsfeld played his part in doing so. But no American – or British – newspaper has dared to investigate another, almost equally dangerous, relationship that the present US administration is forging behind our backs: with the military-supported regime in Algeria. For 10 years now, one of the world's dirtiest wars has been fought out in this country, supposedly between "Islamists" and "security forces", in which almost 200,000 people – mostly civilians – have been killed. But over the past five years there has been growing evidence that elements of those same security forces were involved in some of the bloodiest massacres, including the throat-cutting of babies. The Independent has published the most detailed reports of Algerian police torture and of the extrajudicial executions of women as well as men. Yet the US, as part of its obscene "war on terror", has cozied up to the Algerian regime. It is helping to re-arm Algeria's army and promised more assistance. William Burns, the US Assistant Secretary of State for the Middle East, announced that Washington "has much to learn from Algeria on ways to fight terrorism". And of course, he's right. The Algerian security forces can instruct the Americans on how to make a male or female prisoner believe that they are going to suffocate. The method – US personnel can find the experts in this particular torture technique working in the basement of the Château Neuf police station in central Algiers – is to cover the trussed-up victim's mouth with a rag and then soak it with cleaning fluid. The prisoner slowly suffocates. There's also, of course, the usual nail-pulling and the usual wires attached to penises and vaginas and – I'll always remember the eye-witness description – the rape of an old woman in a police station, from which she emerged, covered in blood, urging other prisoners to resist. Some of the witnesses to these abominations were Algerian police officers who had sought sanctuary in London. But rest assured, Mr Burns is right, America has much to learn from the Algerians. Already, for example – don't ask why this never reached the newspapers – the Algerian army chief of staff has been warmly welcomed at Nato's southern command headquarters at Naples. And the Americans are learning. A national security official attached to the CIA divulged last month that when it came to prisoners, "our guys may kick them around a little in the adrenaline of the immediate aftermath (sic)." Another US "national security" official announced that "pain control in wounded patients is a very subjective thing". But let's be fair. The Americans may have learnt this wickedness from the Algerians. They could just as well have learned it from the Taliban. Meanwhile, inside the US, the profiling of Muslims goes on apace. On 17 November, thousands of Iranians, Iraqis, Syrians, Libyans, Afghans, Bahrainis, Eritreans, Lebanese, Moroccans, Omanis, Qataris, Somalis, Tunisians, Yemenis and Emiratis turned up at federal offices to be finger-printed. The New York Times – the most chicken of all the American papers in covering the post-9/11 story – revealed (only in paragraph five of its report, of course) that "over the past week, agency officials... have handcuffed and detained hundreds of men who showed up to be finger-printed. In some cases the men had expired student or work visas; in other cases, the men could not provide adequate documentation of their immigration status." In Los Angeles, the cops ran out of plastic handcuffs as they herded men off to the lockup. Of the 1,000 men arrested without trial or charges after 11 September, many were native-born Americans. Indeed, many Americans don't even know what the chilling acronym of the "US Patriot Act" even stands for. "Patriot" is not a reference to patriotism. The name stands for the "United and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act". America's $200m (£125m) "Total Awareness Program" will permit the US government to monitor citizens' e-mail and internet activity and collect data on the movement of all Americans. And although we have not been told about this by our journalists, the US administration is now pestering European governments for the contents of their own citizens' data files. The most recent – and most preposterous – of these claims came in a US demand for access to the computer records of the French national airline, Air France, so that it could "profile" thousands of its passengers. All this is beyond the wildest dreams of Saddam and the Dear Leader Kim. The new rules even worm their way into academia. Take the friendly little university of Purdue in Indiana, where I lectured a few weeks ago. With federal funds, it's now setting up an "Institute for Homeland Security", whose 18 "experts" will include executives from Boeing and Hewlett-Packard and US Defense and State Department officials, to organize"research programs" around "critical mission areas". What, I wonder, are these areas to be? Surely nothing to do with injustice in the Middle East, the Arab-Israeli conflict or the presence of thousands of US troops on Arab lands. After all, it was Richard Perle, the most sinister of George Bush's pro-Israeli advisers, who stated last year that "terrorism must be decontextualized". Meanwhile, we are – on that very basis – ploughing on to war in Iraq, which has oil, but avoiding war in Korea, which does not have oil. And our leaders are getting away with it. In doing so, we are threatening the innocent, torturing our prisoners and "learning" from men who should be in the dock for war crimes. This, then, is our true memorial to the men and women so cruelly murdered in the crimes against humanity of 11 September 2001. © 2003 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd

Hi 'Qa'Qa' (wots with the nick?) . Anyway saxiib just wanted to tell you that am an ardend football fan = Calcio Ventilatore and i support the best team in the world AS ROMAAAAA Forzaaa Capelloo. Anway I use to follow Basketball, but since they stoped showing it on Tv here i lost interest. Hey i will provide you with a link to an identical topic which i started , thats if you wanna see the thoughts of the older nomads http://www.somaliaonline.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=000034

Salams My dear nomads. Although no one has yet managed to come around to read the first article, i still thought i would add an additional artice to the topic because it also links into the original question, or assertion i should say. That is "The quest for a clash of 'civilizations'", and all that entails such a clash. well anyway here is the article. UN inspectors fear Bush will ignore them Peter Beaumont, and Ed Vulliamy in New York Sunday January 5, 2003 The Observer UN weapons inspectors in Iraq fear their work - which has failed to turn up any evidence thus far of weapons of mass destruction - will still be used as an excuse to trigger a US-led invasion of Iraq. Leaks from the inspections teams - and the two agencies in charge of them, Unmovic and the International Atomic Energy Agency - have fuelled an increasingly frenetic diplomatic effort among opponents of the war. The weapons inspection teams in Iraq have visited breweries and former nuclear plants, and raided missile factories and pharmaceutical production lines. They have examined former weapons factories and interviewed scientists and university technicians. As of yesterday they had checked 230 sites in all. If one is to believe the few inspectors who have been prepared to be interviewed anonymously, they have found absolutely nothing. Nuclear weapons sites that the British and the Americans claimed as late as last September had been reactivated have been revealed as rusting, disabled shambles. It may be that Iraq has squirrelled away its most portable weapons and components. But as one inspector complained to the LA Times last week, they had found 'zilch'. He is not alone in his assessment. Another inspector in Baghdad complained to Newsday : 'If our goal is to catch them with their pants down, we are definitely losing. We haven't found an iota of concealed material yet.' Other reports have suggested that there have been just two violations uncovered in Iraq - neither of them involving weapons of mass destruction. And as UN officials in New York prepared to order a final massive blitz to find Iraq's alleged stock of hidden weapons, they told The Observer their conclusion is that either they do not exist or they 'have been outfoxed'. With barely three weeks to go before the inspectors must produce their report to the UN Security Council on 27 January - and with President George Bush pouring new troops and materiel into the region - America and its closest ally, the UK, appear to be losing the propaganda war to Iraq. Iraqi officials have taken to announcing on a daily basis, as each round of inspections finishes, what the inspectors know - that they have found nothing. Neither the vast nuclear and chemical laboratories alleged by the Iraqi opposition and hawks in the US administration, nor the mobile biological laboratories said to be travelling the wastelands of Iraq, have been traced. And as time runs out before the UN deadline, even British Cabinet sources have started to trim their more bellicose statements of last year, admitting in private briefings that the prospect of war was now '60-40 against'. Although Downing Street has refused to comment on reports that Ministers believe a war on Iraq can be avoided, both Tony Blair and the Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, are still hopeful that military conflict can be avoided by diplomatic means, putting them at odds with Bush, who told cheering US servicemen that Saddam had chosen the path of 'defiance' and that they could be called on to 'liberate Iraq'. The new British assessment comes in the face of ever increasing opposition to an invasion of Iraq in the region, as even Turkey - America's strongest ally and main beneficiary of military aid in the area after Israel - has embarked on a round of energetic diplomacy to avoid a war. Turkish Prime Minister Abdullah Gul arrived in Syria yesterday for a brief visit to reinforce Turkey's relations with the Arab world in view of a prospective war. Turkey says it is opposed to military action in Iraq, its southeastern neighbour. But it also depends on Washington's support for massive IMF loans and has not ruled out allowing American forces to use Turkish bases to launch attacks on Iraq. The Turkish diplomatic effort has come amid increasing evidence of efforts by Iraq's neighbours to formulate a proposal to persuade America and Britain to allow them to persuade Saddam Hussein to step down and - perhaps - seek exile, thus averting war. 'It has been the private view for some time of a number of Iraq's neighbours that there should be a clean regime change without war against Iraq,' said one European diplomat last week. 'There have been suggestions in the last couple of weeks that this is a serious effort and that they would like the opportunity to persuade Saddam to go.' Yesterday, as they set up a new base near Mosul in northern Iraq, UN inspectors were more aware than ever that it was their work that would be likely to trigger a war. Some of the inspectors are understood to be convinced that their mission has become a 'set-up job' and America will attack Iraq regardless of what they find. Hans Blix is due to report to the UN ahead of the deadline, say officials - perhaps as early as a week from now. In the meantime, the inspectors intend to embark on one final round of spot inspections, using a fleet of US and Russian helicopters to swoop on sites identified by new intelligence material finally submitted to them from Washington.

"U'll see somali homosexuals who r being encouraged for their posts by the moderators (not deleting their posts is another way of encourging it)...!!! And the most discusting, those who come in there to put Islam down....!!! I honestly dont blame anyone but the owners of the site, they give the privilage to pple to post in there when they dont even deserve to breath the air we r breathing, and they give Somalis the worst name on the internet....!!!" Exactly me feelings too. I recently tried a new somali website (i will not mention the site) thinking that it wasnt to disimilar to S.O.L. It wasnt somalinet.com, but subxanallah it wasnt to different. I mean who are the Owners of these sites anyway somalis? Muslims? coz am seriously doubting if the either of the 2. Although probably the reality is they are somali. Such a shame. I just hope and pray that this site which has been such a breath of fresh air continues in its present fomatt, and doesnt allow it's self to be breached by some of the disgusting, flithy aminals that have plauged other somali sites.

Kluivert dreaming of Juve Sunday 5 January, 2003 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Patrick Kluivert has publicly admitted he would accept a move to Juventus next season, potentially in a swap with Marcelo Salas (pictured). “I am happy at Barcelona,” noted the Dutchman, “but in life you cannot rule anything out – especially if Juve are calling you.” “The Turin side is one of the great clubs, and I would be linking up with my old friend Edgar Davids as well.” Kluivert has recently been linked with the Bianconeri as part of Barca’s swoop for David Trezeguet, but that move is increasingly unlikely to materialise. Instead, Juve could take the striker in partial exchange for unsettled Chilean international Marcelo Salas. It would be a return to the Peninsula for Kluivert as he had one unsuccessful season at Milan before finding his form again with Barca. "Although it is fun to play in the Spanish Liga," continued the hitman, “I think that to make your mark in Serie A is always the benchmark for a player.” Take Note premiership Luvin, Dis-illusioned nomads. He is saying SERIA A is the best.

lol Muraad. Saxiib dont blow our cover

Salams Everyone. Mahadi am glad you enjoyed reading the article, am sure both you and Saanjo are more Familir with Edward Said than i myself am.

Salams hibo Thx for sharing that article with us. It rings a bell which am sure for many of us chimes a fimilar sound. Although my journey did not start @ the same point as yours, my Heart also yearns to some day return back to the place that i would be able to call home " my country ". Through various encounters here where i reside i have come to know that this certainly isnt where the heart is, and this is certainly not where i would like to grow old.So what to do? But like you said " Although Somalia is in ruins, and savagism still prevails everywhere,home is where the heart is. And my heart is in Somalia, my beloved Somalia. " Time doesnt stands still For no man. And the situation in somalia am sure cannot continue indeffinately so perhaps our Journey of Patriotism may end some day, in the not too distant future Inshallah.

Yeah i suppose so, but the mood shift that was all to see in the population i think will change to an expection, indeed a demand for a real change to corruption. I dont think these ex KANU minsters will be able to continue to play the old game. Well i hope they wont be. Kenya has a gr8 deal of potential, i certainly enjoyed living there and would realish returning there if the is real changes in the country.

Beautiful Peom abayo

Everton

Salam Calayakum Fellow Nomads So far we have been debating about the Possible Approaches that can be takin to Making an Islamic state, which has Islamic Governance, Islamic Jurisprudency and that which would forgoe the trading in Interest. But the debate has been somehwat limited to a more Idealistc one. This i suppose is quite natural given the nature of the intial question and article. However the new article and more relevant article that could aid a particular section of this debate follows below this. That is the expamle of a country moving towards implementing an Islamic regime. So hopefuly the article below will add more Fuel to this debate in this respect. Enjoy nomads The article is on Mayaysia. PAS 'will not force Islam on Malaysia if it runs the govt' IPOH - PAS will not rush to turn the country into an Islamic state should it be given the power to run the government, said its acting president Abdul Hadi Awang. He added that 'Malay heartland' states such as Kelantan, Terengganu, Kedah and Perlis would serve as 'role models' before the other states were asked to decide. Advertisement The party would consider the multi-racial composition of the country before taking any drastic action such as turning the country into an Islamic state, he said. Mr Abdul Hadi, who is Terengganu Mentri Besar, said: 'We will discuss with all the other states whether they want to follow the other four.' He made the comments after a dialogue session with non-Muslims here on Sunday. He acknowledged that PAS must ensure the successful implementation of an Islamic framework before persuading other states with a multi-racial population to adopt the laws. He assured non-Muslims they would not be subjected to hudud laws, pointing out that they would be free to decide on the different criminal laws - hudud or the Penal Code. 'If those from other faiths want to implement their religious criminal laws, they will be allowed to do so because Islam does not force its rules on people from other religions,' he explained. Among the six offences listed under hudud law are illicit sex, for which offenders can be stoned to death, and theft, which is punishable by the amputation of a hand. Robbery and apostasy are both punishable by death while those who consume liquor or other intoxicating drinks may be given at least 40 lashes of the cane. Hudud law was passed at the Terengganu state assembly in July. Kelantan passed similar laws in 1993 but they have yet to be enforced. Both sets of law have been widely criticised, especially by women's groups which say they discriminate against women. Umno has promised to block their enforcement. On Dec 12, Mr Abdul Hadi said Terengganu had no immediate plans to enforce the hudud law and would instead send a delegation to some west Asian countries, including Saudi Arabia, to study the implementation of such laws. Mr Abdul Hadi said any decision by PAS would also depend on its joint manifesto with opposition partners Keadilan and Parti Rakyat Malaysia before the next general election. He said PAS was willing to work with Chinese-based parties and welcomed discussions with the DAP, Gerakan and the MCA on changes they would like to see in the running of the country. He said PAS' priority would be to eradicate poverty, adding that elected representatives and state executive councillors from PAS-ruled states agreed to forgo two years' pay increment for the purpose. --The Star/Asia News Network,New Straits Times

Islam in U.S. Cross Hairs 12/26/2002 - Political Religious Social - Article Ref: IC0212-1813 By: Siraj Islam Mufti, Ph.D IslamiCity* - Although President Bush has characterized "Islam, as practiced by the vast majority of people, a peaceful religion, a religion that respects others", increasingly a large number of foreign policy hawks have joined the religious conservatives in taking issue with this characterization. Increasingly, they are engaged in advocating a civilization clash that targets Muslims in conflict with the West, led by the United States. Thus, with the current war cries against Iraq growing louder, the stage is being set for campaigns against Iran, Sudan, Yemen, Syria, Libya followed by other Muslim countries in their turn. Kenneth Adelman, who serves on the Pentagon's Defense Policy Board, said this about Islam: "The more you examine the religion, the more militaristic it seems. After all, its founder, Mohammed, was a warrior, not a peace advocate like Jesus." Another member of this board, Eliot Cohen writing in a Wall Street Journal editorial argued that the enemy of the U.S. is not terrorism "but militant Islam." Paul Weyrich, who has influence in the White House, recently wrote that he is concerned about President Bush's "constant promotion of Islam as a religion of peace and tolerance just like Judaism or Christianity. It is neither." These comments follow those of conservative Christian leaders such as Jerry Vines, a former Southern Baptist president and evangelist Franklin Graham, who early on stigmatized Islam. Then, although he later apologized, Jerry Falwell appearing on CBS "60 Minutes" reviled the Prophet of Islam as a "Terrorist." And the unapologetic televangelist Pat Robertson continues to cast aspersions on Islam, Muslims and the Prophet of Islam. Thus Ibrahim Hooper, a representative of the Council on American and Islamic Relations, an American Muslim advocacy group, commented, "These right wingers are trying to set up a civilization conflict with all their might in the same way as Osama bin Laden. We're trying our darnedest to prevent it, but every day it's looking more and more like it's heading in that direction." First, it is important not to confuse a religion with the actions of certain persons. Otherwise, one could equate genocide committed by Hitler and the Nazis, or Slobodan Milosevic and the Serbs, with Christianity. Islam espouses the same principles of peace, love and tolerance as Christianity. To garner respect for the Prophet, I would refer them to the recent PBS documentary, "Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet", co-produced by Michel Wolfe and Alexander Kronemer. Second, any talk of violence without due attention to its underlying causes, is counterproductive. Among others, Jean Chretien, Prime Minister of Canada linked the September 11 terrorist attacks to the attitude of the West Ð particularly, the way the U.S. "flexes its muscle" and imposes its "values" around the globe. And the former U.S. President, Jimmy Carter is troubled by this new belligerent "face of America." The current growth of anti-Americanism is not restricted to the Muslim countries, but is also widespread in Europe because it considers the U.S. as arrogant and unilateralist as a superpower. Most European governments are opposed to war on Iraq, and large street protests are common occurrence in their countries. A British field marshal commented that an attack on Iraq is likely to "add petrol to the fire." The FBI and CIA reports also indicate that this attack will further inflame the Middle East and the Muslim world. The neo-conservatives are pursuing a unidirectional monologue, basing the U.S. foreign policy on their imperialist designs. This is dangerous, because it is coercive and thus bound to create more conflicts. They must acknowledge that this world is composed of diverse entities, each with its own distinct tradition, values, needs and interests. Therefore, the prevalent neocolonialist attitude towards the world's Muslims must be replaced with equity and fairness. And, through cross-cultural dialog and open, free exchange of ideas, it must create an environment conducive to the peaceful coexistence and betterment of humankind as a whole.