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24 January 2013
The World News Headlines This Week US inaugurates Obama
YouTube videos allegedly show Muslim vigilante groups harrassing people who they think are either gay or drunk around the area of East London Mosque
Police launch investigation into Muslim vigilante groups
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olice have launched an investigation after footage showing selfstyled vigilante Muslims patrolling the streets of Whitechapel emerged online. The video shows a self-styled ‘Muslim patrol’ approaching people in Fieldgate Street, close to the East London Mosque. Members of the patrol announce themselves to passersby as “vigilantes implementing Islam against your own necks”. “We are Muslims who patrol the area, forbidding evil”, they can be heard saying. One passer-by is told to “remove yourself away from the Mosque”. They tell others: “Go away now. Don’t come back. Keep your mouths closed.” Responding to a woman
who condemns their actions, the vigilantes can be heard saying: “We don’t care if you’re appalled at all. It’s not so Great Britain.” The footage is thought to have been taken late on
Saturday night, and shows the Muslims pouring alcoholic drinks down drains. A police spokesman confirmed an investigation was being launched after several complaints were received, but
no arrests have yet been made. “Patrols in the areas affected have also been increased in an effort to catch those carrying this out and to reassure the local community”, he added. “We have also been speak-
Local imam condemns ‘tiny minority’ for ‘misrepresentation’ The East London Mosque was quick to issue a statement distancing itself from the actions of what it describes as a “tiny minority” who filmed themselves harassing passers-by under cover of darkness. Local Imams have also used sermons to condemn the actions of the patrol, which has been filmed pouring away people’s alcoholic drinks and hurling homophobic abuse. Imam Shyakh Shams Ad-
Duha, a principle at Islamic education centre Ebrahim College in Whitechapel, used a sermon last week – which was later uploaded to Youtube – to tackle the issue. “I want to address very specifically and directly something we’ve all seen on social media”, he said. “What these brothers need to understand is they will be accountable before Allah for doing these things, for damaging the image of Islam, and for
misrepresenting the Sharia. “These people must have thought ‘what in the world is going on here’. Some bloke comes up and goes ‘this is a Muslim area, you can’t drink’. I can’t even imagine – the guy’s completely stunned. “What are the chances that this guy is gonna want to have anything to do with Islam in the future? That’s his chances of ever being interested in Islam, gone.”
ing to local community leaders and influential people, local businesses and the local authority about the issue and what is being done, and can be done, to address it.” The East London Mosque was quick to distance itself from the actions of the ‘patrol’. A statement read: “These actions are utterly unacceptable and clearly designed to stoke tensions and sow discord. We wholly condemn them. “The East London Mosque is committed to building co-operation and harmony between all communities in this borough. “The actions of this tiny minority have no place in our faith nor on our streets. “We’ll monitor the situation and our Imams will be speaking out against such actions.”
Algeria hostage seige ends with bloody battle and high body count
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t least 37 hostages died in the terrorist seizure of a natural gas facility in eastern Algeria and the subsequent special forces assaults on it, the country’s prime minister said Monday. Five other hostages are missing from the In Amenas complex and could be dead, Prime Minister Abdul Malek Sallal said. Before Sallal’s statement, officials from other countries and companies that employed foreign workers at the sprawling plant had
confirmed 29 hostage deaths. Seven of the 37 confirmed dead haven’t been identified yet, according to the prime minister. Those who have been identified include seven Japanese, six Filipinos, three Americans, three Britons and one Algerian, officials from those countries said. Some 29 militants also died, while three were captured, Sallal said, according to the state-run Algerian Press Service. The standoff ended Saturday, after four days, when Al-
Algerian PM Abdul Malek Sallal gerian special forces stormed the complex for the second time. The government said it did so because the militants were planning to blow up the installation and flee to neigh-
boring Mali with hostages. “If it exploded, it could have killed and destroyed anything within 5 kilometers or further,” Sallal said. Read more: Bloody Algeria hostage crisis ends after ‘final’ assault, officials say Militant says Mali unrest spurred assault; others say it followed ample planning The crisis began Wednesday when Islamist extremists in pickup trucks struck the natural gas complex some 50 kilometers (30 miles) west of the Libyan bor-
der, gathered the Westerners who worked there into a group and tied them up. After taking over, the wellarmed militants planted explosives throughout the complex, Sallal said. They came from eight countries: Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Mali, Niger, Canada and Mauritania. Algeria’s military talked with the militants, but their demands that prisoners in the North African nation be released were deemed unreasonable, according to the prime minister.
An estimated 800,000 people have gathered in Washington, DC, to attend US President Barack Obama’s inauguration speech after he took the public oath of office.Addressing the flag-waving crowd on the National Mall on Monday, Obama asserted his determination to keep in place the social safety net for the poor, the ailing and the elderly. “My fellow Americans, we are made for this moment, and we will seize it, so long as we seize it together,’’ he said, moments after taking the oath of office.
Blasts kill 17 Iraqis
A series of blasts in Iraq, including one by a suicide bomber have killed at least 17 people and dozens more wounded. Tuesday’s attacks struck an Iraqi army checkpoint south of Baghdad, a military base north of the capital and a mostly Shiite neighbourhood in north Baghdad, according to police officials.
French repel Mali rebels
French and Malian troops have entered the key central Malian towns of Diabaly and Doutenza, both of which have been in the hands of al-Qaeda-linked rebels for weeks. A convoy of about 30 armoured vehicles carrying about 200 French and Malian soldiers moved into the town on Monday at about 09:00 GMT, without meeting resistance.
Voting begins in Israel
Voting has begun in Israel’s general elections, which are expected to return Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to a third term with a smaller majority in a coalition government of rightwing and religious parties. Security has been tightened across the country for Tuesday’s polls, which began at 7am (5:00GMT), and more than 20,000 police officers have been deployed to secure the vote.
Canadian kills two in court
A Canadian man facing charges of illegal possession of firearms shot dead two people and injured one after opening fire at Philippine court before turning the gun onto himself. John H Pope, the suspect, was facing charges at a court in the central city of Cebu, when he opened fire and fatally shot a lawyer and physician who filed the case against him.