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News Update September 16^th 2012

JNN NEWS, P.O. Box 7411, Jerusalem 91073, Israel

“How blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God.” Ps 146:5

A SWEET AND A GOOD YEAR TO FRIENDS NEAR AND FAR: Rosh Hashanah - the Jewish New Year also known as the Feast of Trumpets - begins at sunset Sunday, September 16, 2012, and ends Tuesday evening, September 18, 2012. The first of the Biblical autumn festivals, Rosh Hashanah celebrates the birth of the world and humanity. Symbolic foods such as apples and honey are central to the holiday, symbolizing the sweetness, health, success and good deeds which we hope the coming year will bring. In the midst of the troubled Middle East, marked with the riots and violence of this past week, we will pause in Israel to thank G-d for His sovereign goodness to us and to others throughout the exiting year. May His blessing be showered upon all of you who love Israel with such faithfulness and prayer. A sweet and a good year from your friends at Vision for Israel.

US EMBASSIES TARGETED IN PROTESTS SPANNING 20 COUNTRIES: Angry protests over an anti-Islam film spread across the Muslim world Friday, with demonstrators scaling the walls of US embassies in Tunisia and Sudan and torching part of a German embassy. Amid the turmoil, Islamsts waving black banners and shouting “God is great” stormed an international peacekeepers base in Egypt’s Sinai and battled troops, wounding four. Egypt’s new Islamist president went on national TV and appealed to Muslims to not attack embassies, denouncing the violence earlier this week in Libya that killed four Americans, including the US ambassador. Mohammed Morsi’s first public move to restrain protesters after days of near silence appeared aimed at repairing strains with the US over this week’s bloodshed. Throughout the region, security forces struggled to rein in protesters. The US ordered a Marine unit to Yemen in hopes of restoring order there. Police in Cairo prevented stone-throwing demonstrators from nearing the US Embassy, firing tear gas and deploying armored vehicles in a fourth day of clashes in the Egyptian capital. At least three protesters were killed around the region. The demonstrators came out after weekly Friday Muslim prayers, where many clerics in their mosque sermons urged congregations to defend their faith, denouncing the obscure movie produced in the US that denigrated the Prophet Muhammad. It was a dramatic expansion of protests that began earlier this week and saw assaults on the US embassies in Egypt and Yemen and the storming of the US Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. The heaviest violence came in Sudan, where a prominent sheik on state radio urged protesters to march on the German Embassy to protest alleged anti-Muslim graffiti on mosques in Berlin and then to the US Embassy to protest the film. “America has long been an enemy to Islam and to Sudan,” Sheik Mohammed Jizouly said. Soon after, several hundred Sudanese stormed into the German Embassy, setting part of an embassy building aflame along with trash bins and a parked car. Protesters danced and celebrated around the burning barrels as palls of black smoke billowed into the sky until police firing tear gas drove them out of the compound. Some then began to demonstrate outside the British Embassy, shouting slogans. (NewsMax)

SUDAN REFUSES TO ALLOW US MARINES TO PROTECT EMBASSY: Sudan won’t allow the US to send a platoon of Marines to protect its embassy from rioting Muslims. According to a report released the country’s government formally rejected the request Saturday. Sudan’s Foreign Minister was quoted as saying, “Sudan is able to protect the diplomatic missions in Khartoum and the state is committed to protecting its guests in the diplomatic corps.” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland confirmed Saturday in a terse statement that the Sudanese government had “recommitted itself both publicly and privately to continue to protect our Mission. We are continuing to monitor the situation closely to ensure we have what we need to protect our people and facility.” A Washington official said the Marines were already on their way to Khartoum when word was received the request was rejected. They were called back, pending further discussions. A mob of some 5,000 “protesters” swarmed towards the American compound – having first stormed the German embassy and attacked the British embassy – to express their rage over an obscure amateur video that mocked the life of the Prophet Mohammed, the founder of Islam. (Arutz-7)

GUNMEN ATTACK PEACEKEEPERS BASE IN SINAI PENINSULA: An assault on the peacekeepers base in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula raised the dangerous prospect of armed Islamic terrorists exploiting the turmoil to carry out attacks on Western targets. The base near the border with Gaza and Israel houses some 1,500 members of the multinational force, including American troops. Gunmen waving the black Islamist banner and shouting “God is great” stormed into the base, firing automatic weapons. They set fire to vehicles and battled with peacekeepers inside, said a senior official with the force. Four Colombian peacekeepers were wounded and were evacuated to Israel. The official said the attack was connected to the wider protests in the region. Ahead of the expected wave of protests on Friday - a traditional day for rallies in the Islamic world - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton explicitly denounced the movie denigrating the Prophet Muhammad aiming to pre-empt further turmoil at its embassies and consulates. “The United States government had absolutely nothing to do with this video,” she said. “The video was “disgusting and reprehensible.” (Newsmax)

PRESIDENT OBAMA, STOP BLAMING THE VICTIM FOR MIDEAST VIOLENCE: “Disgusting and reprehensible.” said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. “Truly abhorrent,” an outraged White House official told an international conference. Were they talking about the murder of four Americans in Libya - or perhaps the hoisting of an Islamist flag over the US Embassy in Cairo? No. Issuing from the president, the harshest language was: “I strongly condemn the outrageous attack.” For Clinton it was that the US is heartbroken and she condemned “this senseless act of violence.” But “disgusting and reprehensible” and “truly abhorrent,” were reserved for an amateurish film by someone nobody has ever heard of. In fact, what is “disgusting and reprehensible” is that there are people in the world who think they are justified in attacking and killing people because someone offended their sensibilities. The US government should not be an enabler of this upside down worldview, which is exactly what the Obama administration has done repeatedly as they have responded to these abhorrent attacks against the United States. US leaders shouldn’t let our enemies know that when they kill our people and attack our embassies the US Government will act like a battered wife making excuses for her psychotic husband. Wake up: we weren’t attacked because of a movie made by an American. We were attacked because there are crazy religious fanatics who hate the United States. It’s time for the Obama administration to stop blaming the victim. (Fox News/Kirsten Powers) Someone needs to explain to President Obama, Hillary Clinton and the rest of his team in the White House that our Constitution protects freedom of religion from government interference. It doesn’t protect us from people who say critical or offensive things about one’s religion.

ISRAELI ARABS PROTEST ANTI-MUSLIM VIDEO: Hundreds of Arabs protested Saturday in Israel in solidarity with Muslims around the world against an amateur video produced in the US that satirized the life of the Prophet Mohammed. The rash of demonstrations was initiated by a call-out to the Israeli Arab public by the Islamic Movement. On Friday, hundreds of Arabs protested in eastern Jerusalem, where there were clashes with Israel Police. Israeli Arabs protested outside the US Embassy in Tel Aviv on Thursday as well. (Arutz-7) Intercede for the safety of all Israelis and visitors from abroad during the Jewish High Holidays starting Sunday night. This is a time of heightened security due to terrorist hits during times of celebration in the past. The recent string of riots and violence across the region arising from the controversial anti-Islam video increases the danger of murderous terrorist attacks during festivals occurring in September and October.

POLICE SEAL AREA NEAR US EMBASSY IN CAIRO AMID RIOTS: Over 250 people have been hurt since protests erupted in Cairo Tuesday. Hundreds of riot police sealed off the area near the US Embassy in Cairo on Saturday after four days of clashes between police and Egyptians incensed by a film denigrating the Prophet Mohammad. A 35-year-old protester was killed and dozens of people were injured in clashes overnight. The protesters said they wanted to expel the US ambassador to punish Washington over the film. (J.Post)

STOP SENDING TAXPAYERS DOLLARS TO EGYPT, LYBIA: The Obama administration should stop sending US taxpayer dollars to Middle Eastern countries that permit and support terrorism by Islamists bent on destroying America. That’s the sentiment from more than 5,500 Americans who contacted the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) in less than 24 hours. Recent bombings in Libya and Egypt have killed four American workers, including US Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens. In an effort to protect US taxpayer dollars, the ACLJ is calling on the Obama Administration to ends it foreign policy of appeasement and apologies. Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of the ACLJ said “At a time when President Obama refuses to meet face-to-face with the prime minister of Israel, our most important ally in the region, the Obama administration continues to send billions of taxpayer dollars to countries that support the terrorism of radical Islamists bent on destroying America. It’s time to bring an end to a foreign policy of appeasement and apologies. We’re calling on the Obama administration to cut off funding to Libya and Egypt until stable governments are put in place.” (Charisma)

CHRISTIAN PERSECUTION IN THE MIDDLE EAST LIKELY TO INTENSIFY: Christian organizations whose humanitarian presence extends into Muslim-majority countries such as Pakistan and Bangladesh, are warning the persecution already experienced by thousands of Middle Eastern Christians as a result of the Arab Spring revolution will continue to intensify in the wake of the US embassy attacks in Libya and Egypt. Such groups are voicing concern for the safety of Christians in the region and the potential for more violent conflict due to the tendency by Muslim fundamentalists to link the United States with Christianity. (Charisma)

(Source: jnnnews.com)

Posted September 17, 2012 at 3:30pm in israel middle east obama arab riots egypt libya sudan u.s. embassy | 1 note

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Revenge Is A Dish Best Served Deep Fried! Muslims Burn KFC!

Is Nothing Sacred?

German & British Embassy’s enjoy a fabulous sense of security and the warmth of Muslim hospitality in Sudan.

Posted September 14, 2012 at 2:01pm in islam muslims muslim riots sudan KFC lunacy | 6 notes

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Obama Administration Supports Islamists In Syria, But Stops Revolution Against The Hitler of Sudan

By Theodore Shoebat

The support of the rebels in Syria, and the condemnation of Assad, by the Obama administration can only make one question as to why he is against this particular regimen, but not that of Omar al-Bashir, the tyrant who has been responsible for the deaths of millions through the Jihad that he has commenced against Christians and the non-Arab Muslims of Darfur.

In fact, Obama had at one point in time prevented Salva Kiir, president of South Sudan, from aiding rebels who wanted to topple al-Bashir’s regimen, and replace it with a secular government. According to former U.S. envoy to Sudan, Andrew Natsios:

“On November 12, Agar, Hilu, and the three major rebel leaders in Darfur formally announced a new alliance to depose Bashir’s Islamist autocracy (the Sudanese affiliate of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood) and install a secular democratic pluralist state. Khartoum has accused the South Sudanese government of supplying the rebel alliance with weapons. The Obama administration repeated the charge. That led to an acrimonious meeting between U.S. President Barack Obama and South Sudanese President Salva Kiir late last year. The South has since stopped weapons transfers.”

The atrocities orchestrated by Bashir, alongside with his uncle Eltayeb Mustafa, has resulted in the deaths of over three-million people; what is occurring in Syria, on the other hand, is a completely different situation. The former is an Islamic fundamentalist government, ran by the Muslim Brotherhood, massacring Christians, and others, for the sake of advancing Islam and its code of jurisprudence, Sharia. While the latter is a regimen protecting its power from being toppled by fundamentalist Sunni Muslims, who are fighting to cleanse Syria from those who differ with them religiously: the Christians, the Shia, the Druze, and the Alawites.

Many will object to this by saying that not all of the rebels are Islamists, and while this must be acknowledged, the fact is that the moderates in Syria are not of the preponderating factor, and have quite a minuscule influence compared to the Islamic fundamentalists. Case in point, The leaders of the moderate Syrian National Council (SNC), who were funding the major rebel group in Syria, the Islamic fundamentalist Free Syrian Army, have now went into exile.

Kapil Komireddi, writing for the New York Times, had interviewed Christians and Muslims in Syria who are witnessing the coming of Islamism in their nation:

A churchgoing Syrian told me that he used to see himself primarily as “Syrian” and that religious identity, in political terms, was an idea that never occurred to him — until an opposition gang attacked his family earlier this year in Homs. “It’s a label they pinned on us,” he said. “If their revolution is for everyone, as they keep insisting it is, why are Christians being targeted? It is because what they are waging is not a struggle for freedom, and it’s certainly not for everyone.”

In March, 80,0000 Syrian Christians have been forced to flee their homes in Hamidiya and Bustan al-Diwan in Homs Province, on account of the terrorism from the Free Syrian Army.

Mother Agnes Mariam, Superior of the Melkite Greek Catholic monastery of St James the Mutilated in Qara, in Syria’s diocese of Homs, said that the reporting of the media on the violence of Assad is “a fake”, and “partial and untrue”. According to her, the toppling of the Assad regime would lead to “a religious sectarian state where all minorities would feel threatened and discriminated against”. She had also made her warning against Western support of the rebels:

“The West and Gulf states must not give finance to armed insurrectionists who are sectarian terrorists, most of whom are from al-Qaeda, according to a report presented to the German parliament”.

In fact, only a few Syrians, according to Agnes Mariam, are even a part of the revolution:

“We don’t want to be invaded, as in Aleppo, by mercenaries, some of whom think they are fighting Israel. They bring terror, destruction, fear and nobody protects the civilians,” she said. There were “very few Syrians among the rebels”, she said. “Mercenaries should go home,” she said.

Set Zaynab, another interviewee, and a Sunni shopkeeper, has attributed the killings of Shiite Muslims in Syria to Saudi Arabian Wahhabi influence. “I wanted Assad to go because he is corrupt,” he said. “But what happened here, what they did, it scared me. It made me angry. I cannot support the murder of my neighbors in the name of change. You cannot bring democracy by killing innocent people or by burning the shrines of Shiites. Syrians don’t do that. This is the work of the Wahhabis in Saudi Arabia”.

Both Christians and Alawites are bearing arms to fight on the side of Assad against the Islamic fundamentalists who have been ravaging their nation.

The opposition toward Assad by the Obama administration should only make us question his sentiments; for when rebels in Darfur had wished to topple the great holocauster Omar al-Bashir, who is responsible for the slaughter of more than half the number of the Jews whom Hitler had butchered, Obama had objected, and even had a meeting with the South Sudanese president to preclude his support for the attempted ousting of the tyrant.

So before we let the media arouse our idealism of bringing freedom and democracy for the whole world, we must observe the facts, that while Obama is calling for the downfall of Bashar al-Assad, he has prevented a revolt against a tyrant who is truly against some of the great ideals of America: freedom and justice for all.

Theodore Shoebat is the author of For God or For Tyranny

Posted August 14, 2012 at 11:23am in blog sudan syria islam terrorism middle east obama | 7 notes

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Sudan's Leader Promises 100% Islamic Constitution

Reuters reports that in Sudan today President Omar Hassan al-Bashir in a speech to Sufi Islamic leaders promised that Sudan’s next constitution will be 100% Islamic. He said in part:

We want to present a constitution that serves as a template to those around us. And our template is clear, a 100 percent Islamic constitution, without communism or secularism or Western (influences).And we tell non-Muslims, nothing will preserve your rights except for Islamic sharia because it is just.

Al-Bashir, who has been in power for 23 years and is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes in Darfur, gave no date for the new constitution. Sudan’s opposition parties have called for strikes and protests to topple al-Bashir’s government.

Posted July 9, 2012 at 11:09am in Sudan Islam Constitution news headlines Africa

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Photos: What Muslims do to Christians of Sudan

Theodore Shoebat

There is a current holocaust happening right now, as we speak. We always hear the term “Never again,” when the Holocaust – committed by Hitler – is in the discussion but “never again” as Ed Lyons told me, is happening again.

I just had the privilege of interview with Ed Lyons today on the Roth Show. He is with the Persecution Project Foundation which also has another site called Save The Nuba. I encourage all of you to visit each of these sites, and support this organization as much as you can. They have been fighting against the tyrannical regime of Omar al-Bashir, and assisting those who have been victim under this modern-day Hitler.

Ed Lyons was kind enough to send a group of heartbreaking photos of the current carnage which this Islamic regime of North Sudan has committed.

Posted June 29, 2012 at 3:46pm in Islam Sudan Nuba Christianity Islamic persecution news genocide

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70 Holocaust Experts to US: No Aid to Hosts of Sudan’s President

The atrocities in Darfur committed by al-Bashir make it unacceptable for countries to host him.

Sudanese rebel.

Seventy leading Holocaust and genocide scholars have signed a letter urging the Obama administration to cut aid to countries that host visits by Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, who has been indicted by the International Criminal Court for his role in the Darfur genocide.

The House Appropriations Committee recently adopted an amendment by Virginia congressman Frank Wolf to suspend non-humanitarian U.S. aid to countries that welcome al-Bashir. But there have been reports that the State Department is trying to block the bill before it becomes law.

The 70 scholars directed their letter of protest to Obama adviser Dr. Samantha Power, who heads the recently-established Atrocities Prevention Board. The letter was organized by the David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies, in Washington, D.C.

“It is important for the United States to send a clear message to the international community that Bashir, the world’s most notorious perpetrator of genocide, deserves to be treated as a pariah,” the scholars wrote.

They pointed out that Dr. Power, in her Pulitzer Prize winning book, ‘A Problem from Hell’: America and the Age of Genocide, urged the U.S. government to use “economic sanctions” and pressure on its allies to combat genocide. The Wolf Amendment “does exactly that,” the scholars argued. They urged Power and the Board “to do everything possible to ensure that the Wolf Amendment is not diluted or undermined during the upcoming House-Senate negotiations over the final wording of the foreign aid appropriations legislation.”

Dr. Rafael Medoff, director of the Wyman Institute, said: “Halting aid to those who host Bashir would be the first concrete step the U.S. has taken to isolate the Butcher of Darfur and pave the way for his arrest. If the Obama administration is serious about punishing perpetrators of genocide, it should support the Wolf Amendment.”

The signatories include Rabbi Dr. Irving ‘Yitz’ Greenberg, former chairman of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum; award-winning author Dr. Daniel Goldhagen; Prof. Rev. John Pawlikowski, who chairs the U.S. Holocaust Museum’s Subcommittee on Church Relations; Prof. Deborah Dwork of Clark University, founder of the first graduate program in Holocaust and genocide studies in the United States; and Prof. David S. Wyman, author of The Abandonment of the Jews.

The text of the letter follows below:

The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies, June 14, 2012

Dr. Samantha Power, Chair

Atrocities Prevention Board, Washington, DC

Dear Dr. Power,

As scholars who have written or taught about the Holocaust or other genocides, we applaud the adoption by the House Appropriations Committee of Rep. Frank Wolf’s amendment to suspend non-humanitarian U.S. aid to countries that host visits by Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, who has been indicted by the International Criminal Court for his central role in the Darfur genocide.

It is important for the United States to send a clear message to the international community that Bashir, the world’s most notorious perpetrator of genocide, deserves to be treated as a pariah.

In your Pulitzer Prize winning book, ‘A Problem from Hell’: America and the Age of Genocide, you wrote that in the fight against genocide, America’s choice is not “doing nothing or unilaterally sending in the marines.” You argued that there are many steps short of war that should be taken, such as “economic sanctions” and “encouraging U.S. allies…to step up their commitments and capacities.” (pp. 513-514)

The Wolf Amendment does exactly that—it uses economic sanctions to encourage America’s allies to step up their commitments to fight against perpetrators of genocide.

We urge the Atrocities Prevention Board to do everything possible to ensure that the Wolf Amendment is not diluted or undermined during the upcoming House-Senate negotiations over the final wording of the foreign aid appropriations legislation.

Posted June 18, 2012 at 1:03pm in Al Bashir Sudan Darfur Sudanese President news headlines Israel | 2 notes

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Sudan continues Bombing South Sudan; Kiir cuts China trip short

South Sudan’s president Salva Kiir has been in China, in part, to solicit that country’s help in financing an oil pipeline to Kenya. Kiir is cutting his visit short, apparently, because the country to his north – Sudan – appears to be stepping up its bombing campaigns.

Via Sudan Tribune:

Sudan resumed its bombing of South Sudan’s Unity State on Tuesday, the military claimed, a day after two people were killed when bombs landed near the state’s capital Bentiu.

In statements indicative of the current tensions and military build up on either side of the border, a South Sudanese intelligence officer has expressed fears that the Sudanese army may try and attack Bentiu.

Bentiu, where some of the bombs landed on Monday, lies at least 60 kilometres (40 kilometres) from the border with North Sudan.

During his current visit to China – a large investor in the oil industries of both nations – South Sudanese president Salva Kiir said that the latest fighting amounted to a declaration of a war by the Sudanese government.

Fears are growing that the two sides could return to a full-scale international conflict over their disputed oil-rich border that was not demarcated before South Sudan seceded last year.

South Sudan’s army (SPLA) spokesperson, Philip Aguer, told Reuters that Sudanese Antonov aircraft had dropped bombs 40 km (25 miles) inside his country in the areas of Teschween, Panakuach and Roliaq on Tuesday…

…Despite being condemned for the bombing by the United Nations Mission in South Sudan and the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, Khartoum continues to deny responsibility for any air attacks over South Sudan. A UN report covering April 13-19 said that “clashes and/or bombardments were reported in all five border states between South Sudan and Sudan, as hostilities continued between the two countries.”

South Sudan is at a severe disadvantage against the Muslim north in at least one respect; it does not have an air force.

Posted April 26, 2012 at 3:44pm in sudan terrorism christians muslims news headlines africa

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Muslims torch Catholic Church in Khartoum, Sudan

With the Christian South and the Muslim North already on the brink of war, a Catholic church in Khartoum was torched by Muslims.

Via the AP:

A Muslim mob has set ablaze a Catholic church frequented by Southern Sudanese in the capital Khartoum, witnesses and media reports said on Sunday.

The church in Khartoum’s Al-Jiraif district was built on a disputed plot of land but the Saturday night incident appeared to be part of the fallout from ongoing hostilities between Sudan and South Sudan over control of an oil town on their ill-defined border.

Last week, South Sudanese troops seized Heglig, which the southerners call Panthou, sending Sudanese troops fleeing. The Khartoum government later claimed to have regained the town.

The witnesses and several newspapers said a mob of several hundreds shouting insults at southerners torched the church. Fire engines could not put out the fire, they added.

The Sudan Tribune offers further details:

An Islamic fundamentalist group in Sudan made an attempt to bring down a church in the capital Khartoum and eventually managed to set it on fire.

The group’s supporters led by hard-line figure Muhammad Abdel-Kareem gathered at 60th Street, a main road of Khartoum, and marched towards the Anglican Church located in the Sawafi area.

They were met by Sudanese security forces which surrounded the church and prevented the group from entering it by imposing a cordon.

However, some individuals from the group managed to sneak through the barrier and set the church on fire.

The church contains a home for the elderly, clinic, educational classrooms and houses students as well as monks.

The left will no doubt point to Timothy McVeigh to provide much-needed balance.

Posted April 23, 2012 at 11:30am in islam terrorism catholic church muslims sudan religion news headlines | 2 notes

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Sudan’s Omar al-Bashir declaring War against South Sudan

We have been monitoring the situation in the Sudan closely for the last couple of months and war continues to look increasingly likely. In July of 2011, South Sudan officially seceded when devout Christian president Salva Kiir was inaugurated.

In the months since, the issue of oil, the majority of which is in South Sudan has been a major bone of contention between the Islamic north and the Christian south. The most immediate region that has escalated tensions is the Heglig region, just on the northern side of the border between the two countries. Kiir’s forces took control of Heglig after charging that Sudan was launching attacks from there.

The Sudan’s Muslim Brotherhood leader – Omar al-Bashir – pointed to the situation in Heglig to bang the war drums. Here is a news report from al-Jazeera via BNI:

Rather than push the issue, Kiir has decided to withdraw his troops from Heglig.

Via BBC:

South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir has ordered the withdrawal of his troops from the Heglig oil field in Sudan.

But Sudan’s leader Omar al-Bashir later said his forces had retaken Heglig town.

South Sudanese forces captured the area last week, accusing Khartoum of using it as a base to launch attacks.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon had described the occupation as illegal and also called on Sudan to stop bombing the South.

Mr Bashir on Friday told supporters at a victory rally in Khartoum: “We thank God that he made successful your sons; and the security forces and the police force and the defence forces – he has made them victorious on this Friday.”

On state TV, his defence minister said Sudan’s armed forces had entered Heglig 11:20 GMT.

South Sudan has so far made no public comments on Khartoum’s claim.

The escalating fighting and rhetoric between the two sides over the past week has led to fears of all-out war.

Interestingly, this situation seems to share some parallels with Israel and the Palestinians. Hamas fires rockets indiscriminately into Israel and when Israel strikes back, international bodies ask both sides to use restraint, despite the fact that one side never will.

Kiir likely saw this as a matter of discretion being the better part of valor but Bashir is already exploiting it as a military victory.

Posted April 20, 2012 at 2:51pm in sudan omar al-bashir south sudan islam news headlines politics africa

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Sudan’s National Assembly designates South Sudan “an Enemy”

Well, that didn’t take long. South Sudan declared its independence when an overwhelming majority of its citizens voted for Salva Kiir to be the president of their new nation last January. Last July, Kiir was inaugurated.

Now, Muslim Sudan is declaring South Sudan (Christian) an enemy.

Via the Sudan Tribune:

The Sudanese national assembly on Monday adopted a resolution designating the country’s southern neighbour as an enemy state in the latest sign of escalation between the two sides.

“We consider the government of South Sudan an enemy and Sudanese state institutions must treat it as such,” according to the text read by Kamal Obeid who chairs the defense and security committee in parliament.

The legislative body’s speaker Ahmed Ibrahim al-Taher also announced that his country wants the ruling party in South Sudan toppled by any means necessary.

“We declare that we will confront the [Sudan People Liberation Movement] SPLM until we end its rule of the South, and will work to gather our resources to realize this aim,” al-Taher said.

It looks like Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir is on the hotseat, put there by the national assembly:

It remains unclear what implications the decision will carry as the power to declare war lies with the president according to the constitution. Only then can the parliament endorse it according to the 2005 constitution.

The two countries are now engaged in what some observers now classify as a full blown war since last Tuesday when South Sudan’s army occupied the oil-rich region of Heglig in South Kordofan State.

The surprise occupation reignited claims made by South Sudanese officials that Heglig is part of their country and specifically Unity State.

The oilfield is vital to Sudan’s economy, producing about half of the 115,000 barrel-per-day output that remained in its control after South Sudan’s secession.

Juba’s move drew wide international condemnation but has yet to convince Juba to initiate a withdrawal. South Sudan laid out a set of conditions for that including stopping aerial bombardments, withdrawing Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) from Abyei and Khartoum pledging not to use Heglig as a base to attack South Sudan.

Al-Bashir is the Muslim Brotherhood’s guy and if he faces increased pressure from such forces, he could take Sudan to war against the south whether he wants to or not.

The Khartoum home of South Sudan’s president was raided and pillaged this past weekend by Al-Bashir’s forces.

South Sudan’s president and vice president are both Christians.

Keep an eye on the Sudan.

Posted April 17, 2012 at 1:04pm in islam sudan jihad christian persecution terrorism | 3 notes