Islamist extremists cut off thief's hand in northern Mali

Jihadists occupying northern Mali on Thursday said they had cut off the hand of a thief in accordance with strict Islamic law which they have imposed on the population. "Yes, I confirm it. We applied sharia in Ansongo yesterday (Wednesday). The hand of a thief was cut off. Sharia demands it," a leader of the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO), Mohamed Ould Abdine, told AFP. A local government official in the town south of Gao, one of the capitals of the vast desert region, said he witnessed the amputation. "I am in Gao now, but yesterday I was in Ansongo. There was a lot of blood when the hand was cut. It was the hand of a thief who stole a motorbike," he told AFP. He added that dozens of people had witnessed the public amputation. Abdine said the sentence was "the law of God."

Libyan woman provokes headscarf row in parliament

A woman not wearing a headscarf in the Libyan parliament provoked a row when she was asked to leave the stage during the handover ceremony.

Mustafa Abdul Jalil, a former Chairman of Libya's National Transitional Council told Sarah Elmesallati, hosting the handover ceremony, to leave the stage after one of the congressmen walked out because her head was not covered. Ms Elmesallati was asked to cover her head midway through her presentation. After she declined, Salah Baadi, an independent congressman from Misurata and prominent Islamist, walked out of the ceremony in protest. "After that, an assistant of Jalil came up to me and said 'please, I'm asking you as a daughter, can you please stop'. I begged him to let me continue, but when I walked back on stage, Jalil caught my eye, pointed at me, and signalled for me to go away, so I did", Ms Elmesallati told the Libya Herald. The remainder of the ceremony was hosted by a man. Later in his speech Mr Jalil highlighted the importance of freedom of expression in Libya whilst respecting its Muslim traditions. The spat provoked debate about the appropriate extent of freedom of expression in the new Libya amongst attendees of the event.

Libyan rebels force black Africans to eat flags in cage

A video that puportedly showing black Africans being forced to eat the former Libyan flag inside a cage by Libyan rebels has surfaced on the internet.

The video which was uploaded to the internet last week and has gained more prominence appearing on news websites shows around a dozen men are sat on the ground with their hands tied and small green flags in their mouths. A voice can be heard shouting in Arabic, "eat your flag, you dog. Patience you dog, patience. God is great." A number of people are shown standing outside the cage watching the torment unfold. After Muammar Gaddafi was killed, hundreds of migrant workers from neighboring states were imprisoned by fighters allied to the new interim authorities. They accuse the black Africans of having been mercenaries for the late ruler. Thousands of sub-Saharan Africans have been rounded up since Gaddafi fell in August.

Libyan moderate coalition wins election

A moderate coalition has beaten the Muslim Brotherhood in Libya's first post-Gaddafi election, bucking the trend of success for Islamist parties in Arab spring countries.

The National Forces Alliance, led by wartime prime minister Mahmud Jibril, gained 39 of 80 seats available to parties in the general national congress. The Justice and Construction Party, which was launched by Libya’s Muslim Brotherhood, took only 17 seats. The remainder of party seats went to a constellation of smaller parties. The results were welcomed in the West, with Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the head of Nato, whose forces were crucial in removing Col Gaddafi, hailing the elections as “an impressive step forward”. The success of the NFA did not however translate into a majority, because a further 120 seats were allotted to independent candidates whose allegiances are hard to pin down. The NFA is seen to be at the more progressive end of Libya’s political spectrum. It is led by technocrats who lived abroad and advocate a moderate Islam, economic liberalisation and openness to the West. Mr Jibril played a key role drumming up international support for the 2011 revolution that toppled Col Muammar Gaddafi’s brutal and corrupt 42-year regime,

A Libyan army general has been killed in a drive-by shooting in the eastern city of Benghazi.

Mohammed Hadiya Al-Feitouri Mohammed Hadiya Al-Feitouri was leaving a mosque after Friday prayers when he was hit by bullets fired from a car, according to the Reuters news agency. Mr Feitouri, who defected from Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's regime during last year's revolt, was in charge of armaments for the new post-Gaddafi Libyan army. The motive for his killing is not yet known, although it is one of a number of attacks to have taken place recently in Benghazi, which was the first city to overthrow Colonel Gaddafi's rule last year. Last Sunday, former military intelligence Colonel Suleiman Bouzrida was shot in the head twice while walking to a mosque for early morning prayers. He too had joined the rebels in the early stages of the revolution. A strong explosion also rocked the Libyan military intelligence building in Benghazi last week but caused no casualties. In June, the British ambassador to Libya, Dominic Asquith, escaped uninjured after his diplomatic convoy was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade fired around 300 yards from his consulate's offices. Two of his close protection officers were injured in the attack. Benghazi residents have previously staged protests demanding more powers for eastern Libya and objecting to what they say is long-term neglect of the region by authorities in the capital, Tripoli.

Saudis attempt to block Vatican plan for .catholic web addresses

The Vatican wants to create .catholic web addresses The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has attempted to block a Vatican bid to create new web addresses ending in .catholic, arguing that it “cannot demonstrate that it possesses a monopoly over the term ‘Catholic’”. The objection is one of more than 160 sent by the Saudis to ICANN, the body in charge of web addresses, over its plan to allow hundreds of new “top-level domains” to supplement .com, .co.uk and other existing suffixes. “Many other Christians use the term 'Catholic' to refer more broadly to the whole Christian Church regardless of denominational affiliation,” the Saudi Communication and Information Technology Commission said in its complaint. “Other Christian communions lay claim to the term "Catholic" such as the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Oriental Orthodox Church.” "Therefore, we respectfully request that ICANN not award this." The Vatican's Pontifical Council for Social Communication, which already controls .va, paid the $185,000 fee to bid to create .catholic earlier this year, saying it was "a recognition of how important the digital space is for the church". The Saudi government, under the control of the royal family, added that it objected to any group being put in charge of web addresses based on religious terms. It complained about bids to create top-level domains for .islam, .halal and .ummah on similar grounds. The Kingdom also made moral complaints about an array of planned new suffixes. It said .baby, which three bidders including the baby powder maker Johnson & Johnson have applied to create, could be used to host and promote pornography. “Pornography undermines gender equality and threatens public morals by objectifying and exploiting women,” the Saudi government said. “The values expressed in pornography clash with the family concept and they undermine the traditional values that promote marriage, family, and children.” It objected to .gay because it “will be offensive” to societies where homosexuality is “contrary to their culture, morality or religion”, to .tattoo as tattooing is prohibited in Islam and Judaism and to .bar on grounds that because of its association with alcohol the term “promotes activities that can be detrimental to public order and morals”. A similar plan to create a .pub top-level domain aimed primarily at British landlords also raised Saudi hackles. Sir Richard Branson will have to fight objections from the Gulf power if he is to create .virgin, too. The Saudis also objected to gambling-related applications in moral terms. The barrage of complaints has highlighted the difficulties ICANN faces in pressing through its reforms of the web’s addressing system, the most radical in its history. There are currently only 364 top-level domains, most referring to countries, but the United States-based quango is now considering applications to create almost 2,000 more. Observers fear that the process will be bogged down with complaints from trademark holders seeking to protect their brands online, but ICANN must also balance cultural sensitivities. The organisation is already battling criticism that it is dominated by Western interests, and especially those of the United States. The first of the new top-level domains are nevertheless due to go live next year.

British convert to Islam vows to fight to the death on Syrian rebel front line?!!

British convert to Islam vows to fight to the death on Syrian rebel front line A British Muslim convert from east London is fighting on the front line of the battle for Aleppo after joining rebels in their struggle against Bashar al-Assad’s regime. The jihadist, who lived in Walthamstow, has joined an Islamist brigade as it fights for control of Syria’s second city. While he refused to give his real name, he agreed to speak to The Daily Telegraph in a field hospital behind the front line in the contested Aleppo suburb of Salaheddin. The Londoner, who called himself “Abu Yacoub” — father of Jacob — is the first proven case of a Briton being where the fighting is fiercest in Syria. He was with an Iraqi friend, Hassan, who had received a minor bullet wound in the leg, and was taking him to the field hospital for treatment. He disclosed that he had converted to Islam five years ago and had arrived in Syria earlier this year to join the revolutionary forces seeking to overthrow President Assad. “I will stay here until I die,” he said. “I want to die in Syria. We must all taste paradise, and when that happens is decided already.”