Rifqa Bary

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A runaway teenage girl from Ohio who converted from Islam to Christianity has reached a court settlement that allows her to remain free of her Muslim parents.
The agreement Tuesday says that 17-year-old Rifqa Bary will stay in a foster home under state custody in Columbus until she turns 18 in August. After that, she’ll be an adult and free to live where she chooses.

Bary’s attorney read a statement in Franklin County Juvenile Court, saying that the girl and her parents love and respect each other and will try to resolve their differences through counseling.

Bary ran away to Florida last summer, saying she feared her father would harm or kill her for leaving Islam.

Her father denied the claim, and a law enforcement investigation found no credible threats to the girl.

-From The Columbus Dispatch, //www.dispatch.com

Obama lifts Bush-era ban on two Muslim scholars

WASHINGTON — The U.S. government said Wednesday it has lifted a Bush-era ban on two prominent Muslim scholars, saying neither is deemed a security threat to the United States.

Adam Habib and Tareq Ramadan

State Department spokesman Philip Crowley framed the move as part of President Barack Obama’s campaign to improve U.S. ties with Muslim countries by promoting global debate, including those who criticize Washington.
Crowley said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton signed exemptions under the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act allowing scholars Adam Habib and Tariq Ramadan to apply for U.S. visas like other prospective visitors.

Habib is at the University of Johannesburg, in South Africa and Ramadan at Saint Antony’s College, Oxford University, in England.

“The next time professor Ramadan or Professor Habib applies for a visa, he will not be found inadmissible on the basis of the facts that led to denial when they last applied,” Crowley told reporters.

“We do not think that either one of them represents a threat to the United States,” said Crowley, the assistant secretary of state for public affairs.

The pair “will still be subject to the other standards” that apply to anyone seeking a visa for the United States.

“Consistent with President Obama’s outreach to Muslims around the world, we want to encourage global debate,” Crowley said.

“We want to have the opportunity potentially to have Islamic scholars come to the United States and have dialogue with other faith communities and people here in our country,” he said.

The move was hailed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which said it had filed lawsuits challenging the denial of visas to Habib and Ramadan by the previous administration of president George W. Bush.

Dutch MP on trial for ‘hate speech’

AMSTERDAM — Geert Wilders, a right-wing Dutch MP, has appeared in an Amsterdam court on charges of inciting hatred against Muslims.

The Freedom Party leader is standing trial after a court overruled a decision by the public prosecutor, who had argued Wilders was protected by the right to free speech.

Wilders is being charged over his 2008 film “Fitna,” which urged Muslims to tear out “hate-filled” passages from the Qur’an and juxtaposes images of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the U.S. with quotations from the text.

Writing on his website before the trial on Wednesday, the MP said he would “remain combative and still convinced that this political process will only lead to an acquittal.”

His supporters have staged demonstrations outside the court, holding banners saying “Freedom Yes,” arguing that his prosecution would be an assault on freedom of speech.

An anti-racism group has also responded to the trial by placing 100 comments from Wilders online to back up its allegations that the MP is guilty of inciting immigrant hate and discrimination.

Fitna is an Arabic word which has numerous meanings including “sedition” and “temptation” and appears in the Qur’an.

Its release prompted protests in Pakistan, Iran, Indonesia and Afghanistan, while Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations secretary-general, described the film as “offensively anti-Islamic.”

Wilders has previously sparked outrage over other anti-Islamic comments in the media, including calling for a ban on the Qur’an and comparing the book to Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf.

Wilders has become one of the Netherland’s leading politicians, with his party emerging last year as the country’s second-largest party in the European Parliament.

Recent polls have also indicated the Freedom Party stands a chance to become the largest in the Dutch Parliament in national elections due in May 2011.

If convicted, Wilders would face a maximum sentence of 15 months.

Iran: world powers showing ‘realism’ on nuclear

TEHRAN — Iran said on Tuesday that world powers involved in U.N.-backed talks on Tehran’s nuclear program were showing “traces of realism” after they failed to decide on new sanctions.

“Speaking of sanctions is repetitive and it is not constructive,” foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told reporters.

“Some Western countries … should correct their approach and be realistic about our (nuclear) rights. And we feel there are traces of realism to be seen,” he added.

Mehmanparast was echoing comments on Monday by the republic’s Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki.

“We are ready to help with the realistic approach and at the same time we will wait for public and back-stage developments on Iran’s nuclear case,” Mottaki told reporters.

Six world powers made up of the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany met in New York on Saturday but failed to reach an agreement about new sanctions against Tehran.

The six discussed Tehran’s rejection of a U.N.-brokered deal under which most of Iran’s low enriched uranium (LEU) stockpile would be shipped abroad to be further enriched into reactor fuel.

Iran has come up with its own counter-proposal of a staged and simultaneous swap of LEU with nuclear reactor fuel. This has been largely rejected by world powers.

The New York meeting brought together senior officials from Britain, France, Germany, Russia and the United States.

But China, signaling its reluctance to back tougher sanctions, sent a lower-level diplomat.

Some claim that Iran is secretly developing fissile material for nuclear weapons under the cover of its uranium enrichment programme.

Tehran, which vehemently denies the charge, says nuclear energy is much needed for it growing population.

Britain suspends direct flights with Yemen

LONDON — Britain has ordered the suspension of direct flights from Yemen until further security measures are agreed, following the Detroit bombing scare, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Wednesday.

A Yemeni security officer searches a passenger in the departure lounge at Sanaa International Airport January 19, 2010. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah

“We have agreed with Yemenia airlines — pending enhanced security — that they suspend their direct flights to the UK from Yemen with immediate effect,” he said in a statement on counter-terrorism to zthe House of Commons.
But he added: “We are working closely with the Yemeni government to agree what security measures need to be put in place before flights are resumed. Aviation security officials are in Sanaa at present looking at this.

“I hope that flights can be resumed soon — but the security of our citizens must be our priority.”

Yemen’s government says it is winning the battle against Al-Qaeda, pointing to two air strikes in December which it said killed in all more than 60 suspected group’s members.

In other new counter-terrorism measures, the British premier announced the extension of watch-lists to include a no-fly list for the first time.

The Nigerian who allegedly attempted to blow up the Detroit flight, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, was on a British watch-list and Britain’s Home Office said it shared information on him with U.S. authorities. But he was not on a U.S. no-fly list, allowing him to board the Christmas Day flight.