.
At least 10 people have been killed and several injured in Libya in clashes during a protest outside an Italian consulate, according to police.
Police confronted protesters who had set fire to the building in the port city of Benghazi, in the latest protests over the Muhammad cartoons.
The consulate is the first Italian
interest to be targeted.
They were said to be angry at Italian minister Roberto Calderoli, who had worn a T-shirt displaying the drawings.
- Calderoli, a member of the anti-immigrant Northern League party, told Ansa news agency on Tuesday that the West had to stand up against Islamist extremists and offered to hand out T-shirts to anyone who wanted them.
“I have had T-shirts made with the cartoons that have upset Islam and I will start wearing them today,” Ansa quoted Calderoli as saying.
He said the T-shirts were not meant to be a provocation but added that he saw no point trying to appease extremists.
“We have to put an end to this story that we can talk to these people. They only want to humiliate people. Full stop. And what are we becoming? The civilization of melted butter?” Calderoli said.
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AP) Feb 18, 2006 — Nigerian Muslims protesting caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad attacked Christians and burned churches on Saturday, killing at least 15 people in the deadliest confrontation yet in the whirlwind of Muslim anger over the drawings.
It was the first major protest to erupt over the issue in Africa’s most populous nation. An Associated Press reporter saw mobs of Muslim protesters swarm through the city center with machetes, sticks and iron rods. One group threw a tire around a man, poured gas on him and setting him ablaze.
Thousands of rioters burned 15 churches in Maiduguri in a three-hour rampage before troops and police reinforcements restored order, Nigerian police spokesman Haz Iwendi said.
Chima Ezeoke, a Christian Maiduguri resident, said protesters attacked and looted shops owned by minority Christians, most of them with origins in the country’s south.
“Most of the dead were Christians beaten to death on the streets by the rioters,” Ezeoke said. Witnesses said three children and a priest were among those killed.
KARACHI (Daily Times Pakistan) Feb. 19 — Thousands of women and students took part in rallies in the city of Karachi to protest the publication of sacrilegious cartoons of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) by some European newspapers.
Thousands of women, most of them veiled, gathered at the Gurumandir Roundabout and the Quaid’s mausoleum well before the scheduled time and moved towards the Old Numaish roundabout reciting the Durood Sharif along the way.
Placards read as 'Muhammad' at a rally to condemn the blasphemy of Islamic Prophet Muhammad, in Karachi, Pakistan. Thousands of Pakistani women staged a peaceful rally and called for those who drew them to be hanged. AP Photo/Shakil Adil
A number of women were carrying their infants with them. A five-month baby named Fayez had a black band around his forehead. The band said, “I am here to sacrifice for your sanctity Ya Rasool Allah (PBUH).” Another child was carrying a down-with-Bush effigy.
A large number of female students also participated in the rally. They were carrying banners and placards inscribed with slogans against Denmark, the United States and Pakistani rulers. The participants burnt flags chanting: “Listen you Americans! We are no longer your slaves!”
Jamaat-e-Islami’s deputy chief Professor Ghafoor Ahmed, the NWFP’s senior minister Sirajul Haq, the JI’s Karachi chief Dr Mairajul Huda Siddiqui and leaders of the JI’s women’s wing, Dr Kausar Firdous, Ayesha Munawwar and Samia Raheel Qazi, and others spoke to the participants.
Prof Ghafoor Ahmed said the Pakistani government had bowed down to “its masters” in Washington and Europe. He asked them to do more to show that Pakistan was the land of a people who could never tolerate blasphemy against the last Messenger (PBUH) of Allah. “Our government has shamelessly failed to show the Islamic character of Pakistan to the world,” said Ahmed.
Dr Mairajul Huda Siddiqui said the women’s rally had “once again” proved the ideological character of Karachi. “The women of Karachi, by attending this rally in large numbers, have destroyed the myth of so-called enlightened moderation,” he said.
Sirajul Haq said the MMA could never compromise on the sanctity of the Prophet (PBUH). “I don’t mind if our government is dislodged. We are willing to sacrifice thousands of such governments for the sanctity of our Prophet (PBUH),” he said.
A Brief History of Iranian Jews
By: Massoume Price, September 2001
Iranian Jews are amongst the oldest inhabitants of the country. The origin of Jewish Diaspora in Persia is closely connected with various events in Israel’s ancient history. At the time of the Assyrian king, Tiglath-pileser III (727 BC) thousands of Jews were deported from Israel and forced to settle in Media.
According to the annals of another Assyrian king, Sargon II, in 721 BC, Jewish inhabitants of Ashdod and Samaria in present day Israel were resettled in Media after their failed attempt against Assyrian dominance. The records indicate that 27,290 Jews were forced to settle in Ecbatana (Hamadan) and Susa in South West Persia. These settlers are referred to as one of the ‘Ten Lost Tribes of Israel’ in biblical records …
Jews In A Contemporary, Tolerant Iran
Molla Neissan Synagogue, Isfahan
BBC World Radio :: Jews in a tolerant Iranian Society
Never a Jewish grave has been desecrated in Iran!
“But I will not let myself be reduced to silence.”
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