Headlines
• French Prison Ordered to Provide Halal Food to Muslims
• Egypt's Sisi to Run for President, Vows to Tackle Militancy
• Obama Demands West Stand Firm Against 'Brute Force'
• $7b US Military Aid to Pakistan Angers Afghanistan
Details
French Prison Ordered to Provide Halal Food to Muslims
A French prison has been ordered to provide halal meals for Muslim prisoners pending a definitive ruling on the latest issue to pit the country's secular tradition against Islamic practice. Justice Minister Christiane Taubira is contesting a November ruling by an administrative tribunal in Grenoble that the local Saint-Quentin-Fallavier prison should provide halal meals on the basis that failing to do so would violate Muslim prisoners' right to practice their religion. Pending a ruling on the principle involved, the justice ministry sought a suspension of the tribunal's decision on the grounds that it was impractical for the prison to completely change its catering arrangements. That argument was rejected last week by an appeals court which ruled that the prison could easily organise a tender for an outside caterer to supply halal meals. "It is a new setback for the justice minister," Alexandre Ciaudo, the lawyer for the prisoner who brought the case, said Tuesday. "The prison now has to implement the ruling." The French government is arguing that the prison was doing enough to ensure the respect of religious freedom by ensuring that prisoners always have the option of either vegetarian meals or ones without pork, which is proscribed for Muslims. The debate has been mirrored by similar controversies over whether schools and holiday camps should be required to provide halal food for Muslim children and by higher-profile disputes over the wearing of veils in France, which has one of the largest Muslim populations in Europe. Any form of clothing linked to religious observance is banned from French state schools and since 2011 the wearing of full-face veils in public has been outlawed. [Source: AFP]
For the past decade or so, the French government has been involved in a series of measures curbing the role of Islam in French society to protect secular values. The ruling only serves to expose the bitter hatred of French officials towards Muslims, and reminds us that French freedom is only accorded to Muslims after judicial intervention as opposed to a guaranteed right enjoyed by all French citizens.
Egypt's Sisi to Run for President, Vows to Tackle Militancy
Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the general who ousted Egypt's first freely elected leader, declared his candidacy on Wednesday for a presidential election he is expected to easily win. Sisi toppled Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood last July after mass protests against his rule and has emerged as the most influential figure in an interim administration that has governed since then. "I am here before you humbly stating my intention to run for the presidency of the Arab Republic of Egypt," Sisi said in a televised address to the nation. "Only your support will grant me this great honour. True, today is my last day in military uniform, but I will continue to fight every day for an Egypt free of fear and terrorism," said Sisi, 59, who had to resign his posts of army chief and minister of defence so he could run in the election. [Source: Reuters].
Humility is not one of Sisi's attributes. He is a ruthless dictator that is determined to destroy any Islamic threat to his rule, to the security of the Jewish State and to American interests in Egypt. Under the guise of fighting terrorism Sisi's agenda during office is to crush the Islamic opposition and to prevent Egypt from returning to the path of re-establishing the Caliphate.
Obama Demands West Stand Firm Against 'Brute Force'
US President Barack Obama says he believes democracy and the rule of law will triumph in Ukraine. Mr. Obama spoke late Wednesday to an enthusiastic audience at Brussels's Palais des Beaux Arts, after meetings with European Union and NATO officials. He said Western powers do not have any plans to try to dislodge Russia from Crimea by force. But he said over time, if the West remains united, Russia will recognize that it cannot use brute force to achieve its goals. Earlier Wednesday, Mr. Obama said after meeting with EU leaders that the international community is united in its determination to isolate Russia because of its annexation of Crimea, and that the issue highlights the need for Europe to find other sources for its energy supplies. Mr. Obama told reporters in Brussels that NATO needs a regular presence in countries that feel vulnerable to Russia. He said the situation in Ukraine is a reminder that "freedom isn't free" and added that collective defence means "everybody's got to chip in" to maintain a deterrent force. US Secretary of Defence Chuck Hagel said Wednesday that Russia has continued to build up military forces along its border with Ukraine, despite assurances it has no intention to invade. Russia, meanwhile, is showing no signs of pulling its forces from Crimea, and Ukrainian troops have withdrawn from installations there. On Tuesday, Ukrainian marines began leaving Crimea by the busload as Russian forces took control of the last remaining military base under Ukrainian control. President Obama says Washington is still concerned about "further encroachment" into Ukraine by Russia. [Source: Voice of America]
Russia's annexation of Crimea is forcing America's allies and foes alike to question America's ability to preside over the international order and maintain stability in different parts of the world. Lingering questions over the commitment of some NATO member states is fracturing NATO's ability to mount an effective challenge while Russia builds up its forces near Ukraine's border.
$7b US Military Aid to Pakistan Angers Afghanistan
A report in the Washington Post claiming that US military authorities have been in discussions with their Pakistani counterparts to hand over approximately $7 billion worth of military hardware to Afghanistan's neighbour has stunned and enraged much of the Afghan media, reigniting old Durand Line wounds. Despite Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) and NATO troops fighting insurgencies in Afghanistan side-by-side in the last decade, a source in the report claims Pakistan is close to securing nearly 1,600 mine-resistant ambush-protected (MRAP) vehicles and other modern military hardware which Afghan forces were hoping to receive. "No final decision has been made on the handover of the equipment and it is still being discussed," said Sedid Sediqi, spokesman for the Afghan Ministry of Interior Affairs. "We hope that this decision will not be made and the equipment is not handed over to Pakistan".Sediqi said that Afghan forces have become accustomed to handling and using MRAP vehicles. "We really need them. We desperately need modern equipment," added Sediqi. "Afghanistan Betrayed" Afghanistan Times ran with the headline: ‘Afghanistan Betrayed', asking why such valuable military equipment should go to Afghanistan's neighbour and not Afghan forces themselves.
"The US has deliberately preferred Pakistan over Afghanistan. The latter has been fighting terrorism sincerely and bleeding profusely, but the US largesse has always showered on Pakistan," wrote Afghanistan Times on the morning of March 24.
As America chooses between its agents to handle the security of both countries after the departure of some of her forces in late 2014, its agents in Afghanistan are upset. Instead of the Pakistani and Afghani leadership uniting for the sake of Islam and working to expel all crusader forces, both are vying with each other to please their American masters.
