Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Muslim radicals plan royal wedding demo
LONDON (Reuters Life!) – London police said on Tuesday they had banned a radical Muslim group from holding a protest outside the church where Britain's Prince William will marry Kate Middleton next week.
However, talks are ongoing about allowing Muslims Against Crusades (MAC), whose members include some of Britain's best-known Muslim extremists, to stage some form of demonstration in the capital.
Meanwhile the English Defense League (EDL), a right-wing anti-Islamist group, whose past protests have been marred by violence, has also applied to stage a demonstration should MAC get the go-ahead.
"So far we've had two request from groups wishing to protest and we're currently engaging with them to decide whether we think that's appropriate," London Assistant Commissioner Lynne Owens told Sky News.
"It's a celebration and we want the day to be focused on that celebration."
MAC said on its website its aim was to disrupt the April 29 wedding.
"We find that one of the biggest advocates of British imperialism, Flight Lieutenant Prince William, wishes to enjoy an extravagant wedding ceremony, ironically at the expense of the tax-payer," the website says.
"We promise that should they refuse, then the day which the nation has been dreaming of for so long will become a nightmare."
Last month, Emdadur Choudhury, 26, a member of MAC, was fined 50 pounds for burning a poppy on Armistice Day and shouting "British soldiers burn in hell" during rival protests by MAC and the EDL outside London's Royal Albert Hall.
The EDL on its Facebook website page has warned protesters it would "be there in our 1,000s waiting for you to slip up."
ATTACK "HIGHLY LIKELY"
The protest is one of a number of security issues facing police in the run-up to the royal wedding with Britain currently at its second highest threat level of "severe," meaning an attack by militants is considered highly likely.
Hundreds of thousands of people are expected in London, and with many dignitaries and royals from Britain and abroad attending, the event is considered to be an obvious target.
About 5,000 officers will be on duty and there will be covert operations taking place.
Search teams and sniffer dogs have already been scouring drains, bins, peering inside lamp posts and even hunting inside traffic lights for any hidden bombs or weapons on the short route the couple will take between Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey.
The couple will travel in separate cars to the abbey, but return along the procession route together in an open-topped horse-drawn carriage, waving to the crowds, and then appear on the balcony of the palace with the rest of the royals.
"Officers are trained to be vigilant and check areas where items may have been hidden," said Inspector Ian Fairman who is in charge of the search teams.
"Officers will be checking vulnerable areas all along the route of the procession."
There is also concern that anarchists will target the event after riots last month. In December, a car carrying William's father Prince Charles and his wife Camilla was attacked during student protests in the British capital.
Police confirmed that 60 people, who have been charged with committing public order offences, were banned from central London on the day as part of their bail conditions. •
#####################################################
Wildfires Rage Across Texas, Scorch Over 1 Million Acres
The fire started Friday near Possum Kingdom Lake, 70 miles west of Fort Worth, and linked up with several smaller blazes. By Tuesday, it had burned nearly 150,000 acres, destroyed about 150 homes and a church in several communities and forced hundreds of residents to flee the area, Texas Forest Service spokesman Marq Webb said. White ash was falling from the sky Tuesday in several towns.
Webb said crews would be able to use firefighting tactics to keep the blaze from Fort Worth, one of Texas' largest cities with nearly 750,000 residents.
"It's still a long way out there. God help us if it goes that far," Webb told The Associated Press. "Stranger things have happened, but we're not even thinking that at this point." •
#############################################
Brutal Mexican drug gang crosses into U.S.
Homeland Security NTARC News
WAR-WEARY: The escalation of violence has led to protests like this one in Mexico City this month that drew thousands of participants. (Associated Press)The signature crimes of the most violent drug cartel in Mexico are its beheading and dismemberment of rival gang members, military personnel, law enforcement officers and public officials, and the random kidnappings and killings of civilians who get caught in its butchery and bloodletting.
But this disparate band of criminals known as Los Zetas is no longer just a concern in Mexico. It has expanded its deadly operations across the southwestern border, establishing footholds and alliances in states from New York to California. Just last year, federal agents tied a cocaine operation in Baltimore to the Zetas.
“Those of us who live and work along the border know they’re already here,” said Zapata County Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez Jr., whose Texas county lies on the Rio Grande 50 miles southeast of the Zetas’ stronghold of Nuevo Laredo. “There’s already been killings and many residents here are living in fear.”Sheriff Gonzalez, whose Texas Border Sheriff’s Coalition sought help from the federal government to control growing violence along the border, said the rising brutality of Mexican drug gangs, particularly the Zetas, “never stops shocking me.”
Trained as an elite band of Mexican anti-drug commandos, the Zetas evolved into mercenaries for the infamous Gulf Cartel, bringing a new wave of brutality to Mexico’s escalating drug wars. Bolstered by an influx of assassins, bandits, thieves, thugs and corrupt federal, state and local police officers, the Zetas have since evolved into a well-financed and heavily armed drug smuggling force of their own.
Known for mounting the severed heads of their rivals on poles or hanging their dismembered bodies from bridges in cities throughout Mexico, the Zetas have easily become the most feared criminal gang in Mexico — where 35,000 people have been killed in a continuing drug war. Everyone is a potential victim: men, women and children.“The Zetas are determined to gain the reputation of being the most sadistic, cruel and beastly organization that ever existed,” said George W. Grayson, professor of government at the College of William & Mary and an expert on Mexican drug gangs. “Many of Mexico’s existing drug cartels will kill their enemies, but not go out of their way to do it. The Zetas look forward to inflicting fear on their targets.
“They won’t just cut off your ear, they’ll cut off your head and think nothing of it.” •
Blessings to you and yours in these difficult and frightening times.
Trust in the Lord Jesus. -Missygirl *
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]
