| A rosy open thread Posted: 31 Jul 2011 03:26 PM PDT But he that dares not grasp the thorn Should never crave the rose. 
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| Saudi cleric rules that men can marry baby girls "in the cradle" Posted: 31 Jul 2011 01:05 PM PDT From the WSJ: A senior Saudi cleric issued a religious ruling to allow fathers to arrange marriages for their daughters "even if they are in the cradle," setting up a confrontation between government reformers and influential conservative clergy.
Sheik Saleh al-Fawzan, one of the country's most important clerics, issued the ruling after the Justice Ministry said this month it would act to regulate marriages between prepubescent girls and men in the Islamic kingdom.
"Those who are calling for a minimum age for marriage should fear God and not violate his laws or try to legislate things God did not permit" them to legislate, Sheik Fawzan wrote in a fatwa, or religious decree, which was published on his website.
It isn't clear what legal weight Sheik Fawzan's fatwa would have if the Saudi justice ministry proceeds with its plan to outlaw child marriages. Saudi Arabia's legal system isn't codified, but because it is based upon an interpretation of Sharia law, the rulings of senior clerics can be used by individual judges when deciding cases.
..."Scholars have agreed that it was permissible for fathers to marry off their young daughters, even if they are in the cradle," Sheik Fawzan wrote in his fatwa. "But it isn't permissible for their husbands to have sex with them unless they are capable of being placed beneath and bearing the weight of the men."
He cited the example of the prophet's wife Aisha, who he said was wed at the age of six, but didn't have sex until she was nine.
Saudi Arabia's Grand Mufti said in 2009 that it was acceptable for girls aged 10 and above to marry. How long will it be before some Saudi pervert asks the esteemed cleric whether he is allowed to copulate with his 4 year old bride if he finds a position that does not force the child to bear any weight? I wonder if they have lavish parties for the enslaved children to celebrate the consummation of these marriages. This utterly depraved and sick story came out in Arabic over two weeks ago. 
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| US DEA busts Hezbollah weapons smuggling ring Posted: 31 Jul 2011 11:30 AM PDT From Now Lebanon: It was just an undercover operation meant to lead to the arrest of an Iranian drug dealer in Bucharest, Romania. But it developed into one of the largest operations the American Drug Enforcement Agency initiated in the last decade. It ended with the arrest of a Lebanese weapons dealer who claimed he was buying weapons, including surface-to-air missiles, worth $9.5 million for Hezbollah.
The American Drug Enforcement Agency announced last Tuesday that it had arrested Lebanese citizen Bashar Wehbeh in the Republic of Maldives for trying to purchase weapons from two undercover agents who were posing as dealers. As a result of the same operation, Cetin Aksu and Siavosh Henareh, Turkish and Iranian citizens, respectively, were arrested in Romania.
An international network of security institutions from Interpol to the Maldivian, Romanian Turkish, Greek and Malaysian police kept the suspects under surveillance, recorded conversations, intercepted phone calls and e-mails, and, on Monday, arrested the suspects.
...The agents recorded phone calls and conversations, filmed the meetings and kept e-mails in which they negotiated selling to [Hezbollah's] Wehbeh 48 American-made Stinger SAMs, 100 Igla SAMs, 5,000 AK 47 assault rifles, 1,000 M4 rifles and 1,000 Glock handguns for a total price of approximately $9.5 million.
Aksu and Wehbeh signed a written contract in June 2011 in Malaysia.
"During a meeting on June 12, 2011, Wehbeh stated that he was purchasing the weapons on instructions from Hezbollah," the indictment reads. "On June 28, 2011, in Beirut, Lebanon, Wehbeh and co-conspirators not named as defendants herein caused approximately $50,000 as a down payment for the weapons purchase… to be sent to the [DEA agents]." The case also shows links between Hezbollah weapons dealers and the drug trade. The full indictment is here. 
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| Chabad members strike deal to enlist in IDF Posted: 31 Jul 2011 10:00 AM PDT From Israel HaYom: Leaders of the Chabad-Lubavitch ultra-Orthodox movement have brokered an agreement with the Israel Defense Forces to draft male members for full military service. The agreement is to be signed soon, both sides report. The move marks the first time an entire Orthodox Hasidic movement will commit itself to sending its members to the Israeli military.
The deal is unique and significant as most Israeli ultra-Orthodox men do not perform military service, preferring instead to focus on their religious studies. The issue is a serious cause of tension between the religious and secular sectors of Israeli society.
The agreement between Chabad and the IDF, which comes after several months of negotiations, allows Chabad yeshiva students to leave the country for one year at the completion of their religious studies. After their year abroad, the students will be required to return to Israel for regular military service of three years.
The agreement stipulates that the men will be drafted and will have to serve a full three-year term even if they were married before beginning their service.
Chabad is concerned about fallout from other ultra-Orthodox groups because of the agreement, said a source with knowledge of the agreement. The IDF, on the other hand, is satisfied, considering the agreement a significant achievement after years of trying to integrate ultra-Orthodox communities into greater Israeli society, and is looking forward to the official support of some of Israel's most highly respected rabbis and Haredi community leaders. "This sets a precedent in the Haredi world," the source said of the agreement. "For the first time, rabbis will support an agreement that will significantly increase the numbers in the IDF's ranks." This is very good news. It can help diffuse the anger that Israelis have towards the Haredim and it can help Chabad members integrate better into Israeli society. I would be surprised if other chassidic groups follow very soon, though. Chabad is known for being able to live in secular of environments and encourages its members to live in the most remote places on the planet; other haredi groups are quite the opposite. 
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| Death toll in Syria up to 136 today, rumors about who is in control (update) Posted: 31 Jul 2011 08:30 AM PDT From Al Arabiya: Syrian forces killed at least 136 civilians and wounded hundreds in major tank assaults on Hama and other cities that began at dawn on Sunday to crush pro-democracy demonstrations, activists said.
"The army and security forces launched an attack on Hama and opened fire on civilians, killing 95 people," Ammar Qorabi, who heads the National Organization for Human Rights, told AFP earlier.
He said that elsewhere, "19 people were killed in Deir Ezzor in the east, six more died in Harak in the south and one in Al Bukamal," also in the east.
Several observers wondered if Mr. Assad was truly in charge of the situation. Some suggested that his brother, Maher, may be leading the assault against pro-democracy protesters. Maher Assad is known for his personal brutality and intolerance of dissent.
Reports have suggested that President Assad's immediate family is in London, including his wife Asma. Mrs. Assad is particularly popular throughout Syria and internationally because of her humanitarian concerns, social work – and her great beauty.
While speculation increased Sunday afternoon about her husband's whereabouts and whether he was still in control of Syria, world condemnation of the Syrian brutality slowly started.
The Obama Administration did not directly issue a condemnation from Washington. But a US embassy official in Damascus said on Sunday Syrian authorities had launched a war against their own people by attacking the city of Hama to try to crush pro-democracy demonstrations.
"It is desperate. The authorities think that somehow they can prolong their existence by engaging in full armed warfare on their own citizens," Press Attache J. J. Harder told Reuters by phone. He described the official Syrian account of the violence as "nonsense." If the Assad family knows anything, it is how to hold onto power. I would not bet against Bashir yet. Germany issued a real condemnation of the Syrian regime. UPDATE: President Obama said he is " appalled" at the brutality. 
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| More trouble for the PA: Workers plan to strike Posted: 31 Jul 2011 06:35 AM PDT This was predictable: The union of civil servants in the West Bank on Sunday called for an open strike to begin Tuesday in protest over the late payment of salaries.
Union chief Bassam Zakarna dismissed the Palestinian Authority's claims that it could not pay employees' wages on time because of a financial crisis.
"This financial crisis is made up, and the government adopts a policy of blackout to frustrate employees and citizens while the treasury has enough money to pay full salaries," Zakarna said in a statement.
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister and Finance Minister Salam Fayyad said Tuesday that the government needed $300 million "urgently" to help ease a cash crisis.
Speaking at an extraordinary meeting of Arab League representatives, Fayyad said the crisis stemmed from the fact that pledged aid had not materialized.
Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Malki told AFP that President Mahmoud Abbas had requested the meeting as the PA faced the possibility of being unable to pay the salaries of its employees for July or August.
Zakarna said Fayyad was "trying tactics" as shops were forced to close and the country's economy was "collapsing."
The union leader said government employees were not able to buy goods for the holy month of Ramadan, which begins Monday, and could not pay for their children's university applications. If the PA starts to see strikes and anti-government demonstrations in August - which Hamas may very well help organize and encourage - it would make the statehood bid at the UN look like a joke. And Ramadan protests, with hungry people in the heat of the summer demanding their money, seem likely to flare up into violence, which would be even more embarrassing before any UN bid. The PA is by far the largest employer in the West Bank, so if the government workers aren't paid the entire economy very possibly would collapse. Interestingly, although Fayyad managed to get the Arab League to meet about the PA's financial troubles, I have not seen any indication that any money was actually forthcoming. Is it possible that Arab leaders are not really keen on this whole unilateral statehood stunt and are trying to undermine it by withholding promised funds? I haven't seen much enthusiasm for the idea in the mainstream Arabic press. This sounds like the type of passive-aggressive move that Arab leaders have used in the past, as they mouth words of support for "Palestine" but do little to help. 
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| Islamists fighting Egyptians in Sinai - 4 civilians killed Posted: 31 Jul 2011 04:30 AM PDT From Ma'an: Five Egyptians were killed on Friday in clashes between Egyptian forces and reported Islamists.
Over 100 masked men wearing black uniforms rallied in the streets of El-Arish, Sheikh Zweid and Rafah, a town on the Gaza border, waving black banners reading "There is no God but Allah."
In El-Arish, the armed men headed to Rifai Square and fired at a statue of the late Egyptian president Anwar Sadat, who was assassinated by Islamists in 1981.
Egyptian soldiers tried to confront the protesters, who then headed to a police station and fired at the building. Police officers returned fire and clashes continued until midnight.
An Egyptian officer and four civilians were killed, including a child. Eighteen others were injured. Police could not control the gunmen, and military back-up was sent to El-Arish.
The army managed to stop the gunmen from breaking into the police station but the masked men moved to the coastline where they continued to clash with the army.
When army reinforcements arrived the gunmen withdrew in groups.
Egyptian security sources told a Ma'an correspondent that the gunmen belonged to a "dangerous extremist group who were responsible for the attacks on the gas pipelines from Egypt to Jordan and Israel, and attacks on police stations after the revolution in Egypt.
"They plan to expel the Egyptian security and establish a tribal regime in northern Sinai." It appears that these Islamists were behind the latest RPG attack on the Egyptian gas pipeline to Israel and Jordan on Saturday. Because the clashes had spread to Rafah, Egypt closed the border from Gaza and 450 were stranded at the Rafah checkpoint. It can hardly be a coincidence that the Islamists are trying to create a regime adjacent to Hamastan in Gaza. In the past few days there have been a number of apparent Islamist attacks in Gaza as well, including against UNRWA and a firebomb outside a store on Saturday. Looks like the Arab spring is turning into a very hot Arab summer. Israel HaYom has more. 
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| Syria attacks Hama with tanks, 100 killed so far (updated) Posted: 31 Jul 2011 02:26 AM PDT From Radio New Zealand: Syrian tanks have stormed the city of Hama killing at least 45 civilians, a leading rights group says.
Earlier, a doctor confirmed that 24 people had been killed and residents reported "intense gunfire" as Syrian forces moved in from several sides.
The doctor also said there are scores of wounded people and a shortage of blood for transfusions.
Speaking in London, Rami Abdel Rahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the latest toll, based on his contacts with Syrian activists, was 45 dead and several more wounded. Al Arabiya has the death toll at 62. ( UPDATE: Its headline now says over a hundred killed.) Ramadan starts tonight and this offensive is apparently Syria's attempt to stem even bigger protests during that month. Hundreds of thousands had rallied against the Assad regime in Hama last Friday. UPDATE: Reports say that Syrian forces are shooting and killing anyone who ventures outside. (h/t Dan for first update) 
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