Asian Network Reports, Special Reports-SHARIA BRITAIN

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Use of Sharia law in Britain is soaring, but a women’s group wants it banned.

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Last broadcast on Monday, 18:00 on BBC Asian Network.

Synopsis

The use of Sharia law is rapidly spreading across Britain with a growing number of Muslims and Non-Muslims using Sharia councils to settle disputes – claiming its quicker and cheaper. A BBC Asian Network investigation has learnt that thousands of people, mainly women, are now turning to Sharia councils and tribunals every year. The largest council in the UK – the Islamic Sharia Council has seen cases more than triple in the last 5 years – now dealing with hundreds of cases every month.

When Saba‘s marriage broke down again it was the Sharia council who helped her – although legally granted a divorce through the British courts she still needed her Islamic marriage annulled – without it she says she couldn’t move on. As soon as her ex-husband found out she’d gone to her local Sharia council he felt a sense of duty and shame in not divorcing her as people in the community would find out – he did the ‘honourable’ thing.

However, for women like Zee, trying to get her Islamic divorce has been a nightmare. She claims the Sharia council is simply not recognising her rights and is taking her ex-husband’s version of events – something which those who are opposed to Sharia say is the danger. A leading women’s group wants Sharia banned in Britain claiming it not only discriminates against women but in some cases of domestic violence puts their lives at risk. And now it has the backing of Lady Cox who’s putting a bill before the House of Lords to regulate and control the growth of Sharia in Britain. Will Sharia councils be blocked or become even more engrained in British life and ‘unavoidable’ as the Archbishop of Canterbury said in 2008?

Presenter: Divya Talwar. Producer: Anne-Marie Bullock.

Islamic Sharia Council

A hearing at the Islamic Sharia Council

Sheikh Haitham al-Haddad hears a case.

Sheikh Abu Sayeed

Outside the Islamic Sharia Council

Growing use of Sharia by UK Muslims

By Divya Talwar BBC Asian Network

Divya Talwar explores why the use of Sharia law is increasing in the UK

The use of Sharia, or Islamic religious law, is growing in Britain, with thousands of Muslims using it to settle disputes each year, but women’s groups and some others are objecting.

”You must speak the truth, sister. Because Allah is listening to your every word, you can lie to us but not to Him.”

The bearded sheikh is instructing his first client of the day to explain why she is unhappy in her marriage.

Sitting behind a small desk in the back room of a converted terrace house, Sheikh Haitham al-Haddad is a representative of the Islamic Sharia Council, the largest Sharia body in the UK, based in Leyton, east London.

The woman has come to the council for an Islamic divorce because her husband refuses to grant her one.

”I’m not happy. He’s never at home and I’ve seen messages from other women on his phone. He doesn’t even give money to help support the kids,” the woman tells the sheikh.

Pakistani Intelligence Officials Say Local Taliban Leader May Be Dead

Associated Press

ISLAMABAD—Intercepted militant radio communications indicate the leader of the Pakistani Taliban was killed in a recent U.S. drone strike, Pakistani intelligence officials said on Sunday, but a Taliban official denied the report.

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Associated Press

In this Oct. 4, 2009 file photo, Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud arrives to meet with media in Sararogha of Pakistani tribal area of South Waziristan along the Afghanistan border.

The report coincided with sectarian violence—a bomb blast in eastern Pakistan that killed 14 people in a Shiite religious procession.

The claim that the Pakistani Taliban chief was killed came from officials who said they intercepted a number of Taliban radio conversations. In about a half a dozen intercepts, the militants discussed whether their chief, Hakimullah Mehsud, was killed Jan. 12 in the North Waziristan tribal area. Some militants confirmed Mr. Mehsud was dead, and one criticized others for talking about the issue over the radio.

Al-Qaida raises flag over Yemen town, pledges allegiance to terrorist leader

Khaled Abdullah / Reuters

The historical Radda castle, above, was overtaken by al-Qaida militants on Sunday.

By msnbc.com news services

SANAA, Yemen — Islamist militants have seized full control of a town southeast of Yemen’s capital, raising their flag over the citadel, overrunning army positions, storming the local prison and pledging allegiance to al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri, residents said Monday.

The capture of Radda in Bayda province, some 100 miles south of capital Sanaa, underscores the growing strength of al-Qaida in Yemen as it continues to take advantage of the weakness of a central government struggling to contain nearly a year of massive political unrest.

Twitter users are being tricked into joining in cyber attacks on U.S. government – and could be jailed

• Links turn any PC into an unwitting part of attack
• Part of ‘hacktivist’ group Anonymous‘s cyber attacks
• Retaliation for U.S. strike at file-sharing site

Last updated at 3:17 PM on 20th January 2012

Links being forwarded via Twitter actually make people’s PCs part of Anonymous’s ‘denial of service’ attacks against U.S. government sites and anti-piracy organisations

Hacker group Anonymous have become a cult hit on Twitter, with 249,000 followers – but security experts Sophos warn that fans, are being tricked into taking part in its attacks.

Links being forwarded via Twitter actually make people’s PCs part of Anonymous’s ‘denial of service’ attacks against U.S. government sites and anti-piracy organisations.

The links are being forwarded as part of Anonymous’s recent ‘Operation Megaupload’ – a retaliation for the U.S. government ‘taking down’ a file-sharing site.

They look like ordinary web links, but launch cyber attacks from whatever PC you access them on.

People who click the links unwittingly become part of Anonymous’s attacks – and hit any website that the ‘hacktivist’ group chooses.

It’s a change of tactics for Anonymous – and security experts warn that claiming you clicked on a link by accident may not be a defense.

The attacks, a ‘denial of service’ attack, rely on thousands of PCs sending information to sites at once to crash them.

Karzai says he’s met with Afghan insurgent faction

Jan 21, 4:16 PM EST

By KAY JOHNSON
Associated Press

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghan President Hamid Karzaisaid Saturday that he personally held peace talks recently with the insurgent faction Hizb-i-Islami, appearing to assert his own role in a U.S.-led bid for negotiations to end the country’s decade-long war.

AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq

Karzai made the announcement hours before he met with American special representative Marc Grossman to discuss progress and plans for bringing the Taliban insurgency into formal talks for the first time.

“Recently, we met with a delegation from Hizb-i-Islami … and had negotiations,” Karzai told a meeting of the Afghan parliament. “We are hopeful that these negotiations for peace continue and we will have good results,” he added.

Karzai’s statement was a reminder that any negotiations to end Afghanistan’s war will be more complex than just talking to the Taliban’s Pakistan-based leadership, headed by Mullah Mohammed Omar. The two other main insurgent factions in the country have their own leaders and agendas.

Belgium: Muslim executive ‘under control of foreign countries’

Belgium: Muslim executive ‘under control of foreign countries’Via HLN (Dutch):

“Belgian Muslim bodies are definitively under the control of foreign countries. The Muslim Executive will now be led only by people who will prioritze the interests of their land of origin over those of Belgian Muslims,” says the AMDB (Democaratic Alternative of Belgian Muslims), who say they unite ‘all components of the Muslim community’ in Belgium.