EU-DIGEST

Labels: Denmark, EU, Radical Muslims, Somalia, terrorists

Women's Rights - Raped Saudi Arabian woman faces 100 lashes and a year in prison - by Sonia Randhwa

In November last year, a 13-year-old Somalian girl was stoned to death, after her father reported that she had been gang-raped. In Saudi Arabia, a woman who was gang-raped and became pregnant after her ordeal faces 100 lashes and a year in prison. The problem is that these women, or girls, are viewed as having given their consent to the rape by being in a situation where men could force themselves upon them. Rape becomes adultery – though neither woman was married – and the women punished for crimes committed against them.

Note EU-Digest: Amazing that this seems to be going on with little or no protest from anyone.

Labels: Muslims, Saudi Arabia, Sharia law, Somalia, Women's Rights

EU Forces Foil Pirate Attacks Near Somalia

European Union naval forces have foiled attacks by Somali pirates on two merchant ships in the Gulf of Aden over the past two days. Greek officials said pirates tried to attack a Greek oil tanker early Friday but fled when an EU fighter plane, a helicopter and a frigate were sent to the area. Meanwhile, French military officials said one of their warships intervened to stop an attack on a Panamanian-registered vessel Thursday.French forces arrested eight men and seized guns and a rocket launcher. The navy Friday handed the eight men over to authorities in Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland region.

Labels: EU, Somalia

Somalia Pirates Flourish in a Lawless Nation - by Jeffrey Gettleman

This may be one of the most dangerous towns in Somalia, a place where you can get kidnapped faster than you can wipe the sweat off your brow. But it is also one of the most prosperous.Money changers walk around with thick wads of hundred-dollar bills. Palatial new houses are rising up next to tin-roofed shanties. Men in jail reminisce, with a twinkle in their eyes, about their days living like kings. This is the story of Somalia’s booming, not-so-underground pirate economy. The country is in chaos, countless children are starving and people are killing one another in the streets of Mogadishu, the capital, for a handful of grain. But one particular line of work — piracy — seems to be benefiting quite openly from all this lawlessness and desperation. This year, Somali officials say, pirate profits are on track to reach a record $50 million, all of it tax free. More than 75 vessels have been attacked this year, far more than any other year in recent memory. About a dozen have been set upon in the past month alone, including a Ukrainian freighter packed with tanks, antiaircraft guns and other heavy weaponry, which was brazenly seized in September. People in Garoowe, a town south of Boosaaso, describe a certain high-rolling pirate swagger. Flush with cash, the pirates drive the biggest cars, run many of the town’s businesses — like hotels — and throw the best parties, residents say. Fatuma Abdul Kadir said she went to a pirate wedding in July that lasted two days, with nonstop dancing and goat meat, and a band flown in from neighboring Djibouti. “It was wonderful,” said Ms. Fatuma, 21. “I’m now dating a pirate.”

Note EU-Digest: "Its is incredible that with all the world's powerful navies, no one has been able to get rid of these pirate punks."

Labels: Pirates, Somalia