Saudi Arabia: Just when you think ‘they can’t possibly get any worse’…

…they come up with this.

A Saudi Arabian imam, who is a very influential cleric in jihadist circles, has issued a fatwa (religious edict) that essentially allows all jihadists fighting in Syria to rape women.

Muhammed al-Arifi, a Wahhabi religious cleric,  officially calls this act an “intercourse marriage” that can last only a few hours – “in order to give each fighter a turn” — and restricts the men to Syrian females at least 14 years old, widowed or divorced.

Al-Arifi, expressed his annoyance at the “warriors of Islam” being denied sexual pleasures while fighting in Syria “alongside the armed opposition forces” for the past two years.  He said this fatwa “solves [their] sexual problems” and “boosts the determination of the mujahideen in Syria and is considered a duty to enter paradise for those females who enter such marriages.”

The Arabic language news site Tayyar.org reports that critics of Al-Arifi have expressed anger about the fatwa, saying that it permits the exploitation of Syrian women through rape.

www.radicalislam.org

Not to mention being vile, fatuous, bestial and moronic.

Syria: Factions agree — a ‘holy day’ is a great time to kill somebody

A car bomb, shelling and gun battles marred a tenuous truce that went into effect in Syria on Friday, calling into question whether a four-day holiday ceasefire brokered by the United Nations can endure.

The day started out more calmly than usual, suggesting that both the government and the rebels were making at least some effort to keep their promises to give Syrians a respite from the relentless violence engulfing the country for the duration of the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday….

…by nightfall, the reports of violence began piling up, casting doubt on whether either side was serious about observing a ceasefire that might have heralded hope for a political solution.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported 70 deaths, a figure lower than the typical daily average of 150 but nonetheless far from encouraging.

SMH

Update: Iraqis concur, with 13 dead.

Syria: Lest we forget…

…that theocracies massacre their citizens.

As the fighting continues, the humanitarian situation of those trapped in the 17-month-long conflict is worsening with severe food and water shortages, no electricity and a lack of basics such as blankets and mattresses for those forced from their homes.

The United Nations Food & Agriculture Organisation estimates Syrians in need of food assistance will number 1.5 million over the next three to six months, climbing to 3 million over the next 12 months.

SMH

Syria: Dozens killed, including children, as theocracy struggles to survive

SMH

Calls for Western military action against Syria intensified last night after grisly footage of the bodies of dozens of children killed in fresh violence laid bare the failure of the United Nations-brokered peace plan.

In one of the bloodiest incidents to date in the 15-month long uprising, 92 people were killed – including 32 children – after a 12-hour regime assault on Houla, in the central province of Homs.

Anti-government activists claimed that troops had first shelled several villages with tanks and then sent in gangs of pro-regime thugs to “massacre” local families in their houses.

Funny how ‘caring, enlightened’ religious states value the lives of their citizens so much less than ‘scientific, impersonal’ secular ones.

Update 2012-06-07: Another massacre.

Iraq: Religious differences more important than preventing mayhem and death

Co-operation? What’s that mean?

SMH

Sunni Muslim rulers have largely shunned an Arab League summit hosted by Shiite-led Iraq, illustrating how powerfully the sectarian split and the rivalry with Iran define Middle Eastern politics in the era of the Arab Spring.

The crisis in Syria is the epicentre of those divisions. Thursday’s one-day summit closed with a joint call on the Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad, to stop his bloody crackdown on an uprising seeking his ouster. But the final statement barely papered over the differences among the Arab nations over how to deal with the longest-running regional revolt….

In a snub to Iraq, only 10 heads of state from the Arab League’s 22 members attended, with the rest sending lower-level officials.

Especially notable were the absences of the rulers of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and most other Persian Gulf countries, as well Morocco and Jordan – all of them headed by Sunni monarchs who deeply distrust the close ties between Baghdad’s Shiite-dominated government and their top regional rival, Iran.

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Myself and my cousins against the world!
Myself and my brothers against my cousins!
Myself against my brothers!

— Bedouin Arab saying

Syria: 200 killed in shelling

SMH

 BEIRUT: In a barrage of shelling, Syrian forces killed 200 people and wounded hundreds early yesterday in an offensive that appears to be the bloodiest episode in the nearly 11-month-old uprising.
The offensive was reported in Homs, which has been one of the main flashpoints of opposition to the regime during the uprising against President Bashar Assad.

Syria: Theocracy goes on killing citizens

SMH

BEIRUT: An Arab League ultimatum to Syria to allow international observers into the country to monitor continuing violence or face economic sanctions expired yesterday. As the deadline approached activists reported new clashes between army troops and defectors that left 29 dead countrywide.

A senior Arab League diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Syria ignored the deadline. The announcement of the 24-hour deadline from the Arab League came after the European Union said on Thursday that safeguarding civilians against the government’s crackdown had become a priority. The United Nations said at least 3500 people had been killed since March.

 

Syria: 22 more protesters killed

SMH

The deaths, on the first day of the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha, brought to 69 the number of protesters killed since Damascus officially accepted an Arab League peace plan last week. Under the plan it undertook to pursue a peaceful resolution to Syria’s political crisis and pull the army out of restive cities.

Most of the deaths were in the city of Homs where an opposition district, Baba Amro, has been under daily tank bombardment.

Syria: A theocracy continues to kill its citizens

SMH

The Syrian army has met armed resistance in two towns, with activists reporting 19 killed in clashes, as the EU decided on a new set of sanctions on President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

Israel: Hezbollah attack kills eight

SMH

The attack by gunmen on bus 392, crowded with holiday-makers and Israeli soldiers going home for the weekend, has pulled the bloodshed in Syria and political instability elsewhere in the region into sharp focus.

Eight Israelis – six civilians and two soldiers – died and at least 31 were injured in the attacks near the southern city of Eilat, near the Israel-Egypt border after gunmen opened fire on two buses, two cars carrying civilians and a military unit that responded to the attacks. Several gunmen were killed in the security response that followed.

And this will achieve a better life for Iranian and Syrian citizens … how, exactly?

Syria: A theocracy murders its citizens

SMH

Syrian forces killed nearly 140 people on Sunday including 100 when the army stormed the flashpoint protest city of Hama to crush dissent on the eve of Ramadan, activists say.

Activists said it was one of deadliest days in Syria since demonstrators first took to the streets on March 15 demanding democratic reforms before turning their wrath on the regime and calling for its ouster.

As reports of the brutal military crackdown on Hama unfurled, Britain, Germany, France and Italy condemned the violence while a US diplomat said it was “full-on warfare”.

Syria: Up to nine deaths in sectarian violence

SMH

Witnesses on both sides of the divide and a medical worker who tracked the violence and collected the bodies said the tensions soared after a crowd of Alawites armed with sticks surrounded a mosque in a Sunni neighbourhood shortly before the midday prayers on Friday and began chanting anti-Sunni slogans.

Sunnis responded by abducting three Alawites and their bullet-ridden bodies were found dumped in a Sunni neighbourhood of the city on Saturday. Alawites went on a rampage, looting and burning Sunni shops.

In the melee, at least three Sunnis were killed, including a 27-year-old woman who was shot when she stepped outside her home in a majority Alawite neighbourhood.

 

Syria: More protesters killed

SMH.

Syrian security forces fired on protesters, with reports of at least nine deaths, as thousands surged onto the streets across the nation after Friday prayers to demand the fall of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

Demonstrations rocked many Syrian cities, including the oil hub of Deir Ezzor where 30,000 protesters filled the streets, according to unconfirmed reports.

The official SANA news agency reported that ”several members of the security forces were hit by gunfire in Kiswah”.

Syria: Savagery continues

SMH.

Syrian forces moved swiftly through the country’s restive north, killing at least 32 people in the latest nationwide protests against President Bashar al-Assad as his regime comes under mounting international pressure.

 

Syria: Murders to protect privilege go on

SMH.

Syrian pro-democracy activists continued on Sunday to defy increasingly bloody attempts by security forces loyal to the regime of the President, Bashar al-Assad, to crush a nationwide uprising that has now claimed up to 1100 lives.

In early morning raids on Sunday, Syrian army troops arrested hundreds of residents in the cities of Hama and Homs, where protesters were preparing to gather for a third consecutive day of protests against the regime.

On Saturday, three demonstrators were shot dead when 100,000 mourners turned out to attend the funerals for the more than 50 people who were killed in clashes with security forces on Friday.

Syria: Theocracy takes its revenge — on 13-year-old boy

SMH.

His head was swollen, purple and disfigured. His body was a mess of welts, cigarette burns and wounds from bullets fired to injure, not kill. His kneecaps had been smashed, his neck broken, his jaw shattered and his penis cut off.

What finally killed him was not clear, but it appeared painfully, shockingly clear that he had suffered terribly during the month he spent in Syrian custody.

 

Syria: Child among 34 protesters shot dead

SMH.

Security forces shot dead at least 34 people including a child as pro-democracy protests swept Syria. Demonstrators have pressed on with calls for more freedom in defiance of a fierce crackdown, activists said yesterday.

Syria: mourners shot at funerals

SMH.

DAMASCUS: Security forces raided homes across Syria and arrested opponents of the regime yesterday, activists said, as more funerals were planned for people killed in a bloody crackdown on protests.
Meanwhile, students called for action and two MPs resigned after at least 13 mourners were shot dead on Saturday during funerals of demonstrators killed in massive protests the previous day.

Kill some of your citizens, then kill some more when they come out to mourn them! It’s kind of like a two-for-one..

Syria: 72 protesters killed as theocracy fights back

SMH.

Syrian forces shot dead at least 72 people as they tried to disperse thousands on the streets for Good Friday protests to test long-sought freedoms, activists said.

A day after President Bashar al-Assad scrapped decades of emergency rule, his forces used live ammunition against demonstrators in several towns and cities nationwide…

Syria: another theocracy reacts to protests by murder

BBC News

At least four people have died after security forces fired on protesters outside a mosque in the Syrian city of Deraa, human rights activists say.

Hundreds of people had earlier gathered in the streets outside the Omari mosque to prevent troops from storming it.

Syria: full-face veils banned from universities

SMH.

Duaa, a 19-year-old university student in Damascus, said she hoped to continue wearing her niqab to classes when the next term began, despite the ban.

Otherwise, she said, she would not be able to study.

”The niqab is a religious obligation,” said Duaa, who asked that her surname not be used.

”I cannot go without it.”

Well, if you believe that then your chances of gaining anything from a university education are pretty much zero anyway.