Israeli troops have raided a prison in Jericho in the West Bank, demolishing buildings and killing at least one Palestinian guard. They are trying to seize a jailed militant leader blamed for killing an Israeli minister in 2001. The leader, Ahmed Saadat, is refusing to surrender. Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has condemned UK and US prison monitors for withdrawing shortly before the raid. The raid sparked protests and revenge abductions across Palestinian areas. A BBC correspondent at the prison says there has been Israeli tank and helicopter fire on the jail. An Israeli bulldozer could be seen demolishing walls outside the prison where a number of Palestinian guards and prisoners including Mr Saadat, leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, are still holed up. An Israeli army spokesman said 182 people had been taken from the prison and were being questioned, including 26 wounded. It is not known how many of those were prisoners or guards, or how many people are left in the compound. Reports range from between 30 to 80 people. In the wave of Palestinian unrest that followed the Israeli raid in Jericho: The director of International Red Cross in Gaza was kidnapped by gunmen Two French members of the Medecins du Monde charity in Gaza were also seized Two Australian teachers were abducted by militants from a school in northern Gaza A British Council cultural centre in Gaza was set ablaze and an EU compound stormed Palestinian militants from the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades in Gaza City warned US and UK nationals to leave the Palestinian territories immediately Hundreds of Palestinians demonstrated against the Israeli raid and the alleged complicity of western governments throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Mr Saadat remained defiant, saying in telephone interviews to the media that he would rather die than surrender to Israeli forces. "The occupation are planning a massacre in the Jericho complex. There is shelling from all angles and destroying the prison from all sides," he told the BBC Arabic Service. He said two of his colleagues had been killed, although this cannot be confirmed independently. Under a 2002 deal with Israel, Mr Saadat was guarded by British and US prison monitors, in addition to Palestinian jailers, but the foreigners were withdrawn shortly before the raid for what they described as "security reasons". Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has condemned the raid and said the US and UK monitors were responsible for the prisoners' safety, calling their withdrawal a grave violation of agreements with the Palestinians. British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the PA had ignored repeated British requests for guarantees regarding the security of the prison guards. The UK Foreign Office warned against travel to the Palestinian territories and urged all British nationals without proper security to leave. Threat Israeli troops are reported to have threatened to kill the prisoners if they do not surrender. Reports from the scene said 50 jeeps, three tanks, and an armoured bulldozer pushed into the oasis town in the Jordan valley, as two helicopters hovered overhead. Surrendering guards and prisoners were strip-searched by the Israeli troops outside the compound, where they were filmed by TV crews. Mr Saadat was arrested in connection with the killing of right-wing Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi by PFLP gunmen in 2001, an attack which itself was to avenge the assassination of Mr Saadat's predecessor by Israel. Mr Saadat has been in Palestinian custody since early in 2002 - and was moved to Jericho under international supervision in a deal to lift Israel's siege of Yasser Arafat's Muqataa compound in May of that year. The following month the Palestinian High Court ordered his release, saying there was no evidence to link him to the Zeevi assassination. Israeli officials said Mr Saadat would be killed if he was freed, and the Palestinian cabinet blocked the release. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4804424.stm

^^^yup, now every player has a squad number when Names on the back of a player's shirt was introduced in the late 90s. So a new player who plays in the number 10 position may find that a player already has that shirt so will settle for number 14!

Alonso sent off and a Gerrard howler. We would have won the game (undeservedly) but we would have won that game if it didnt crash down. well done to the Arsenal. But please remeber Anfield a few eeks ago. At least we made a fight of it!

SB, I’m trying very hard to understand your points so be patient with me here. Will you make up your mind? You just said above that YOU'RE empathizing with is Bosnians for their faith. Which is it that elicits your empathy? Human suffering or the faith of the victims. You can't have it both ways! If you can't see HOW you can't believe both at the same time, I'll be happy to show you. But first make up your mind. Why can I not feel sorrow for both Muslims and non-Muslims who have been through or going through an ordeal? This is not a one dimensional debate. Go ahead and please highlight how both are not possible. But please do not contradict something you have said earlier as this only makes it easier for me to refute. No, I'm not white. But predominantly white society DID take me in and gave me a new chance in life. Why? Many reasons. They're far less tribalistic, more idealistic. Value life and human dignity more than the developing world. Have human rights not only constitutionally ingrained but socially inoculated. And many more, what's your point? My point was, if you are asking me not to feel sorry for a population who are white and Muslim then why are you appreciative of a people of the same colour who happen to be non-Muslim? Now before you make the assumption that I do not like non-Muslim white people (some exceptions), I’m simply highlighting the short-comings in your argument here. Would you say the same if it had happened to the Canadians? Ie why bother with them? Or is that ‘different’? The what did they (Bosnians) do for me argument will not suffice. Also, your opinion of the west being less tribalistic, more idealistic and value human life more than the people in the 3rd world is another dicussion. Please start the appropriate thread. I disagree. The Kafir way of thinking is, evidently, more sympathetic to human suffering then the Ummah/Somali way of thinking. Me, and many other somalis living in the diaspora are living and breathing prove of this assertion. Again I disagree. Like I said start the appropriate thread. You asked me to prove that Bosnians aren't my brothers/sisters. I don't have to: one can't prove what doesn't exist. You made the claim of existance what doesn't exist, the onus is on YOU to prove/support your claim. If I’m not mistaken you said Bosnian (Muslim Bosnians) are not our brothers and sisters. I asked you to prove it, if you cant then concede. My proof is the simple fact that they Muslims. Give me something to think about SB!

SB The Bosnians and Arabs my not be BLACK AFRICANS but they are Muslims. This is the reason why you should feel sorrow for them. End of, full stop. It is only natural as Rahima described in the Hadith (yes a hadith). It is also natural to feel sorrow for the millions of Ruwandans who suffered the Genocide (not officially a Genocide) in 1994 (i think) this is because they simply suffered with many mosques taking in people to protect them against the Hutus. Many a convert in Rwanda today gives thanks to the people in those mosques. SB, are you not in Canada? Why did they take you in, protect your human right (fleeing a war), make you a citizen (as you do not have a country), give you free education etc etc when you are obviously not white??? Or are you? You insinuated that I didn't know the history of milosevic or that I blithely dismissed his atrocities, it is only fair I ask you to prove that insinuation. Go ask anyone if you don't believe me. From the start of this topic that how it looked. If i'm wrong then i apologise. As testimony to this fact, tell me what did your Bosnian brothers and sisters do for you or other somalis since the civil war broke out? Nothing, but does that mean we should'nt be sympathetic to their cause? This is the kafir's way of thinking. Bosnians are NOT my sisters and brothers neither are they yours Prove it This reminds me of a brother who used to drive his van all the way down from the north of England to take clothes to the people of Bosnia, and now we have this, subxanallah. I do not remember seeing him after his second journey.

^^lol, i acknowledge my mistake, i was actually thinkig about on the drive home from the local take away joint (was it a thousand million or a million million??mmm) But in america its still a hundred million!

Ahh the inevitable,,,, Only credulous somalis like you believe that balderdash. Bosnian women don't give a damn about you and your people; in fact to them you don't even exist. It is enigmatic that you somehow feel the need to pour out your heart for a people that wouldn't even notice your support and can do without it. Whether they give a damn about you or not doesnt matter, its a brotherly thing. Seeing those stricken people on TV, hearing the stories of rapes and god knows how many other things doesnt make you feel for your brothers and sisters irespective of their view towards you? Are you that selfish? Or is that the only angle you could muster up this time?? As usuall, you my posts with blinkered view. I suggest you re-read my posts, ALL of them but this time find me where I said Milosovic shouldn't be tried for war crimes. Nor did you say he should. But why do you care? what did he do to you??? You dare to ask why we care for the Bosnian people then you try to defend yourself by asking me to find where you said he should'nt be tried for war crimes??? Are we at debating 101? Make your stand and stick to it without contradictions saxib, it makes for a better discussion.

Somalis fleeing from war end up as illegal residents By Diaa Hadid, Staff Reporter Dubai: Hundreds of Somali children are not going to school, their parents work illegally and young men fret over the increasing price of bed space, but they stay in the UAE because they cannot go home. Community members estimate there are about 50,000 Somalis in the UAE. Most live in Ajman and Ras Al Khaimah. Many fled from their country's prolonged civil war, which peaked in the 1990s, leaving one of the world's poorest countries without a government. Mariam Sharif, a Somali businesswoman and social activist, said thousands of families came here years ago, and had not renewed their residency permits because they did not have jobs at the time and feared returning. "They have become illegal residents and so they can't work legally because if they register with immigration, they'll be deported but there is no state to return to," Sharif said. Somalis have asked immigration authorities provide an amnesty to renew expired residency visas, and legalise their status. They say they will remain an impoverished underclass if they cannot rectify their status. Lieutenant Colonel Rashid Al Jumeiri, a senior DRND official, said while there are no bans on Somalis entering the country, it could take longer for their visas to be processed because of concerns their passports may be forged. He could not comment on an amnesty. The illegal status of many Somali families has meant their children cannot go to school. Children are not allowed to attend school in the UAE if their parents do not have legal documents. A Somali man, who has seven children said he tried to teach his children at home. "I don't have a residency visa, so my children don't go to school. I'm a teacher so this is very sad for me. When I'm at home I try teach the children but I don't have the materials a blackboard, text books." He said he knew of dozens of families in the same situation. An official from the Ministry of Education earlier told Gulf News there were no plans to change government policy on the matter. The Somali man said his own children often went to bed hungry, "they are used to it", because he earned about Dh1,000-Dh2,000 a month as a freelance middleman for Somali businessmen. Other Somalis said even compatriots on legal residency visas could not afford to send their children to school. While this is the plight of many children from other countries as well, Somalis said their situation was unique because they could not return home and were not given special refugee status. Mohammad Khudur, a senior official at Human Appeal International, said the community was a target group for the organisation. http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/06/03/11/10024587.html

^^i dont think SB knows the guy or what he and his army did between 1992 and 1995. Even if he does, he will make an issue of it as its his thing to be 'controversial'. Come on SB lets hear it,,,,,,Duh :confused: ps brace yourselves for a tirade of nonesense!

A different approach By James Brandon, Christian Science Monitor To fight Al Qaida, US troops in East Africa build schools instead. Pointing to his computer screen, Major General Timothy Ghormley sounds more like a Peace Corps volunteer showing off holiday photos than the shaven-headed US Marine entrusted with defeating Al Qaida in East Africa. "That's what it's about right there," he says, stabbing his eyeglasses at the pictures of African children celebrating as water gushes from a new well. "Look at those kids. They're gonna remember this. In 25 years they'll say, ?I remember the West - they were good'". In 2002, more than 1,500 US troops were sent to the former French colony of Djibouti in East Africa to hunt followers of Al Qaida throughout the region. Now, under Ghormley, their mission has evolved to pre-empt the broader growth of militancy among the area's largely Muslim population. "We are trying to dry up the recruiting pool for Al Qaida by showing people the way ahead. We are doing this one village, one person at a time," says Ghormley, commander of the joint task force based in Djibouti. "There aren't actually that many groups or individuals involved," says Matt Bryden, director of the Horn of Africa project for International Crisis Watch. "But there's a danger that if these groups are not contained it is just a matter of time before they strike at Western targets in Somalia or start reaching out to the region again." "Some of them did have links with Al Qaida but for the most part there doesn't seem to be an active Al Qaida or even an Al Qaida franchise," says Bryden. "But the US has discovered that there are actually much fewer targets than they expected." Unable to find or strike at any visible Al Qaida members, US forces based here in Camp Lemonier - Djibouti's former French Foreign Legion base - have instead begun to work to tackle the factors that might contribute to the growth of extremism in the future. Ghormley's men have so far built more than 30 schools and 25 clinics, as well as new wells and bridges. They are focusing particularly on the mainly Muslim areas close to the porous Somali border where poverty and dissatisfaction with pro-Western central governments might make many receptive to extremist teachings. The military is taking time to adapt to its new humanitarian mission too - and this means that there have been some mistakes made along the way. For example, the task force's military budget only covers the cost of constructing and renovating school buildings. Before the schools can open, soldiers have to pester nongovernmental organisations, charities, and friends back home for donated textbooks. In other cases there has been poor communication between the US and local people. Some villages, thinking that the Americans could only build schools, requested a new school when they needed wells and bridges instead. The mistake was realised too late. Meanwhile, the US increasingly depends on local governments to use their cultural and linguistic knowledge to track and tackle Islamic extremists. "The information sharing is not ideal; not up to the point that we would like," admits Nabeel Khoury, deputy chief of mission at the US embassy in Sanaa, Yemen. And although there are handfuls of up- armoured Humvees parked alongside rusting French artillery pieces throughout Camp Lemonier, the US increasingly seeks to delegate its military operations. Blind spot "We're doing military-to-military training with five countries in the region," says Colonel Doug Carroll, director of operations for the Horn of Africa task force. The US has trained Yemeni special forces in counter-terrorism while officers from Mauritius and the Comoros Islands in the Indian Ocean have been taught how to train their own soldiers once they return home. "In Ethiopia we've taught border security, we've taught basic counter-terrorism, what they call advanced map reading and also defensive operations," says Carroll, who denies that the training will upset the region's delicate balance of power. But although the lack of recent Al Qaida attacks in the region points to the mission's success so far, there remains a clear blind spot at the heart of the US deployment. "It's a bit of a paradox," says Bryden. "The threat that the US perceives in the region comes from Somalia, but that is the only place where they can't operate." Senior officers in Djibouti refuse to even discuss Somalia, although one officer privately admitted having contact with high-level members of the government of Somaliland - a breakaway republic in the north of the war-torn country that recently arrested one Al Qaida team linked to extremist groups in Mogadishu. "The US has had to develop a much more nuanced approach and it shows that they are dealing with the problem," says Bryden. "They've had to discover the difference between terrorism and a domestic insurgency." As the US gradually increases its understanding of the region there is no sign of the mission winding down. Instead, as more British troops also prepare to deploy to the region, the operation seems to have become entirely open-ended. Standing in his office, Ghormley, surrounded by maps where arrow-straight borders drawn by European colonialists cut across mountains, deserts and complex ethnic groups, provides more than an echo of a Victorian soldier-missionary. But with Camp Lemonier boasting less than 1 per cent of the troops currently deployed in Iraq and responsible for an area five times larger, Ghormley is aware that there is a limit to what the US can achieve in the region. "I could use more money, more people, but I've got the resources I need to carry on," he says, taking a last look at the pictures on his computer screen. "They're good people and it breaks your heart that you can't do more for them." Gulf News

So where is Crystals? East End?

allahu akbar

You have to be careful here. A billionaire in america is someone who has $100,000,000 (one hundred million). A billionaire in the UK is someone who has 1,000,000,000,000 (one million, million). Therefore you can have one hundred million pounds, go to america and you will be a billionaire all of a sudden. When you come back to the UK you a worthless multi-millionaire :rolleyes: Dumb americans could'nt count anymore!

Look at pictures 1,3 & 5. Brothers in the distance. Pic 2 is probably a support group from other parts of Africa as we all in the same boat!

SDWO (Hargeisa) Munaasibada 8-da March awgeed, waxa lagu qabtay xarunta agoomaha ee Hargeisa Orphanage Centre, xaflad lagu gudoonsiiyay laba miis oo kubadda miiska lagu ciyaaro iyo qalabkoodii, oo ay ka mid yihiin (Rackets) kubaddaha iyo hal dirays oo kubadda cagta ah. waxana deeqdan guddoonsiiyay xarunta agoomaha Mr. Xasan Waraabe-cade oo marar badan deeqo kala duwan soo gaadhsiiyay natiijada kala duwan ee dalka, una heelan taakulaynta ciyaaraha dalka Waxa xafladaa goob-joog ahayd Marwada koowaad ee Jamhuuriyadda Somaliland, Marwo Huda Barkhad Aadan, oo khudbad muhiimad leh ka jeedisay Xasan Waraabe-cade ayaa isna halkaa khudbad ka jeediyay, waxaana ka mid ahaa hadaladiisa “Sharaf gaara ayay ii tahay inaan la wadaago Marwo Huda Barkhad oo maanta goob-joog ka ah inaan xarunta guddoonsiiyo qalabkan Isboortiga oo ah runtii taageero aanu ka helay dhalinyarada ku jirta xidhiidhka kubadda Miiska ee adduunka (ITTF) iyo kan dalka Norwayba. Waxaan leeyahay cid wax la gashado waxa ugu wanaagsan, oo ugu qiimo badan Agoomaha.

^^Ireland is the new UK saxib

"We, writers, journalists, intellectuals, call for resistance to religious totalitarianism and for the promotion of freedom, equal opportunity and secular values for all." lol@intellectuals

women and sports do not get along I see, but who cares ey?

Somali Asylum Seekers Protest outside Dáil A protest of Somali Asylum Seekers took place today outside the Dáil. It was supported by Residents Against Racism. The asylum seekers are faced with deportation from the state despite the fact that Somalia is an unsafe corrupt country. Human rights abuses are widespread and women and children are subjected to Female Genital Mutilation(FGM). Somalia has been without central government since 1990. There is factional fighting with different warlords supported by heavily armed militia who control most parts of the country. One million innocent people have lost their lives caught in the middle of this faction fighting. tries hard to spot Nuune in the crowd Source

You live in village mate! 4 million people travelling to work at the same time on the oldest transit system in the world is just frightening at times! I even made the cliched mistake of offering my seat to a couple of women, thinking they were pregnant, but they were just fat. It happens, I guess. loool

^^good luck

SB, I will highlight your short comings to put a stop to your nonsensical arguments and limitless contradictions. The rest of the nomads have gotten bored with it but I will put a final nail in your argumentative coffin! In the Quran we are instructed to perform many acts of worship without details of how those acts of worship should be carried out. This is in-turn obtained from the Sunnah of the prophet scws through the narrations of the his sahabah and his wives radyallahu anhum. Therefore, for you to say you reject the ‘alleged sayings/actions’ reported in the ahadiths and only rely upon the Quran, but at the same worship in the way of the prophet scws (as mentioned in one of your previous posts) through ‘hear say’ (which was obtained from the ways of the prophet scws whether written or not) is ridiculous. Do you realize those people who you learned how to perform prayers from taught you in the way of the prophet scws through the same ‘alleged’ sayings & actions you are rejecting? They also perform other acts of worship through the reporting of the sunnah. Do you see where you are going wrong here? You didn't learn how to perform Salaat from the Sunnah... you learned it from someone who knew it who learned from someone else who knew how, that someone in turn learned from someone before him and so on... going all the way back to the first few Muslims. Did they all obtain their knowledge of how to perform prayers through the same ‘alleged’ (your term) sayings and actions?? Or can they see back in time through a crystal ball? Do you remember the other topic regarding rejecting gaining knowledge from the Ulama? If I remember correctly, you wished to teach yourself rather than gain knowledge from the Ulama. You had a good point in that topic regarding how one should be careful whom and what he believes but thats just commonsense. Now, refusing to gain knowledge from those with more knowledge than yourself but at the same relying upon others (who are less knowledgeable than the Ulama you rejected to hear) on how to perform your acts of worship (as many ‘ways’ of worshipping are not mentioned in the Quran) is another contradiction. You are relying upon someone else yet you have stated that you have chosen to be alone in your learning? Plus that person(s) is following the Sunnah (all aspects of it) but you are rejecting the same hadiths that this person(s) is following! Therefore unless you pray a different way and have your own style of worshipping, You are in fact not rejecting the recorded Sunnah (reported sayings/actions of the prophet scws) but actually embracing it without realizing. I don't reject the the Sunnah, I reject the source purported to host the Sunnah. That is just one reason. Another is Allah said everything he revealed is found IN the Quran and no where else. In the Quran where it mentions to follow the prophet, it's telling us muslims to follow the MESSAGE -- ie what Allah revealed in the Quran. So my decision to strictly rely on the Quran is sensible one. As you or someone else have said the Sunnah is the 'living quran' or the Quran at practice. The prophet's (scw) source and guidance was the Quran. I'm simply relying on HIS source, one whose authenticity and reliability I have complete trust and confidence. So what do you know about the prophet Mohammed scws, his sayings and actions?? Now, I think the misunderstanding here is your impression that I reject THE Sunnah of the prophet (scw), the way he lived and what he exhorted... if that was the case I wouldn't be a muslim as I would be reneging the Shahada. Reason being to reject what the prophet did and said is to reject what God enjoined in Quran. Nothing could be further from the truth! As you have rejected the reported sayings & actions of the prophet, now you are saying that you cant reject the sayings of the prophet as this will nullify your islam. So what actions and sayings of the prophet scws are available to you if you have rejected the hadiths? If there are any in the Quran, please share. I think it is obvious to everyone here that most of your rabblings are baseless and are infact aimed at causing nuisance rather than contributing anything positive in the way of discussion. Whats worse, the amount of contradictions, ill judgements and ‘lapses’ in knowledge in the fundamental of ones deen I find somewhat concerning for one living in a place with more resources for gaining knowledge than many places in the world including where I am right now in an Islamic country. Many people are striving to become mumins and you are bordering on disbelief (in my eyes). Oh Canada, what have you produced? What have your ‘free thinking’ ways done to our brother? Ps Barcelooooonaaaaaaaa!

Thanks Saxib, so you guys have a league team or just an occassional game (usually in the summer)? I look forwarc to it. LFC!

SB Again you are contradicting your previous comments,,, I know what the Sunnah is... its not much different from Hadiiths. Both are purported sayings and acts of the prophet scw (the way he lived and practiced what is revealed in the Quran, no?). You can split hair all you like, at the end of the day the Sunnah is subordinate to the Quran -- my source 1) The Sunnah is/are the way(s) of the Prophet Mohammed SCWS. 2) The compiling of the his sayings/actions are in the Hadiths ie a record of his Sunnah 3) The Hadiths are 'recordings' of the prophet's (SCWS) Sunnah and not the actual Sunnah 4) The Hadiths are NOT 'the' Sunnah but a record of the Prophet's (SCWS) Sunnah As you mentioned before, you learnt how to pray etc from someone who learnt from someone else all the way back to the original source (the Prophet scws and the sahaba radyallau-canum. Thus making YOU a follower of the Sunnah! You reject the recordings of the Sunnah and not the actual Sunnah (the way of the prophet). Please seperate the two. What was the reason for the recoding of the Prophet's (SCWS) Sunnah?

Arsenal should throw away the sponsor of Emirates Airlines as some arab hijacked a plane,,, A lot of over sensitivity arond these days,,,,