Category: Bin Ladenism

reports and articles on those with extremist views that mirror those of Osama Bin Laden

Philippines: Elderly Irish Priest Kidnapped ‘By Muslim Gunmen’ — Father Michael Sinnott — Missionary Group Calls for Your Action

Missionary Society of St. Columban report: “Fr. Michael Sinnott Kidnapped in the Philippines”

Missionary Society – Microsoft Word Report on Fr. Sinnott Kidnapping

Photo of Fr. Michael Sinnott from Missionary Society of St. Columban
Photo of Fr. Michael Sinnott from Missionary Society of St. Columban

Missionary Society of St. Columban Action Alert: Fr. Sinnott Kidnapping
— Missionary Society of St. Columban states:

“Dear Friends,
“As some of you may already know, Columban Fr. Mick Sinnott was kidnapped in the Philippines on Sunday. We ask for your prayers and your action. We have attached two letters, one to send to the Philippine Ambassador and one for Secretary of State Hilary Clinton requesting that peaceful measures be taken to negotiate for his release. We ask that you respond in all due haste, as Fr. Sinnott has a heart condition and is, as far as we know, without his medication.”
“We have received word that actions are being taken in the Philippines. Bishop Manny Cabajar has attended a crisis meeting of various provincial/ government/police personnel and was informed that an intensive search is underway. ”

sinnot_action_alert_letter_clinton

sinnot_action_alert_letter_gaa
“Columban Center for Advocacy and Outreach”
“Missionary Society of St. Columban”
“1320 Fenwick Lane, Suite 405”
“Silver Spring, MD 20910”
“301-565-4547”

Recommended Action Alert Faxes to Secretary of State Clinton and Ambassador Gaa

October 12, 2009
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
Fax: 202-647-8947

Dear Secretary Clinton:

It is with deep concern that I write to inform you of the recent abduction of an Irish missionary priest, Columban Fr. Michael Sinnott in Pagadian, Philippines.  According to reports, he was kidnapped from his home on October 11, 2009 at approximately 7:20 p.m. local time.  Fr. Sinnott was taken away in a vehicle by 4-6 men. The vehicle was later abandoned and burned.  It is believed that the abductors took Fr. Sinnott to a speed boat and fled across Pagadian Bay.

I am writing as a person deeply concerned for Fr. Sinnott’s safety.  Columban missionaries are deeply committed to the well-being of the people of the Philippines. Fr. Sinnott has lived for 40 years in the Philippines, and one of his most recent ministries has been in a school for children and young adults with special needs in Pagadian City.

We ask that all peaceful measures be taken to locate Fr. Sinnott and negotiate his release.

Thank you in advance for your attention to this most urgent request.

Yours sincerely,

October 12, 2009
Ambassador Willy C. Gaa
Fax: 202-467-9417

Dear Mr. Ambassador Gaa,

It is with deep concern that I write to inform you of the recent abduction of an Irish missionary priest, Columban Fr. Michael Sinnott in Pagadian, Philippines.  According to reports, he was kidnapped from his home on October 11, 2009 at approximately 7:20 p.m. local time.  Fr. Sinnott was taken away in a vehicle by 4-6 men. The vehicle was later abandoned and burned.  It is believed that the abductors then took Fr. Sinnott to a speed boat and fled across Pagadian Bay.

I am writing as a person deeply concerned for Fr. Sinnott’s safety.  Columban missionaries are deeply committed to the well-being of the people of the Philippines. Fr. Sinnott has lived for 40 years in the Philippines, and one of his most recent ministries has been in a school for children and young adults with special needs in Pagadian City.

We ask that all peaceful measures be taken to locate Fr. Sinnott and negotiate his release.

Thank you in advance for your attention to this most urgent request.

Yours sincerely,

October 13 News Media Reports:

Navy tries to seal off Irish priest’s kidnappers
— AFP: “Philippine navy gunboats were deployed and road blocks set up Tuesday to block the escape route of suspected Islamic militants who abducted an elderly Irish priest, authorities said.”
— Inquirer.net: “Military reports indicating the priest, who is two months short of his 80th birthday, was alive came amid concerns from his colleagues that Sinnott, who had a quadruple heart bypass several years ago, may not survive the ordeal.”
— London Times: “An Irish priest who was kidnapped in the southern Philippines earlier this week has been seen alive in an area known to be a stronghold of Muslim militants, a military official said.  ‘The victim and his kidnappers were sighted in Lanao del Sur,’ General Dolorfino told reporters, but he declined to give specific details so as not to jeopardise a rescue attempt.”
— London Telegraph: “Father Michael Sinnott, an elderly Irish priest kidnapped in the southern Philippines, has been seen alive in an area known to be a stronghold of Muslim militants, a military official has said”
— Chronology of Abu Sayyaf kidnappings
— Manila Bulletin: “MILF denies involvement in Irish priest’s abduction”

October 12 News Media Reports:

Daily Mail: Irish priest, 78, taken hostage ‘by Muslim gunmen’ in Philippines — Father Michael Sinnott
— Daily Mail reports: “Six gunmen dragged the Rev. Michael Sinnott into a van in front of his horrified aides at his compound in Pagadian City on Mindano island in the south of the country”

— Daily Telegraph report

— Search operations for abducted Irish priest underway in Mindanao

— London Times: “Irish missionary Michael Sinnott kidnapped from convent in Philippines”

Pakistan Christians Call for Justice while Extremists Oppose Changes in “Blasphemy Law”

Pakistani Christians reject US aid, demand justice
— Christianity Today reports: “Gojra Christians in Pakistan, the victims of the recent attacks by Islamic militants have rejected U.S. aid, and instead demanded that case registered against 129 of them be withdrawn first and justice restored.

Karachi: Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan (JUP) stages rally to oppose changes in blasphemy law

Jordan: Jail for Jordan ‘honour killing’

Jordan: Jail for Jordan ‘honour killing’
— BBC: “A 21-year-old Jordanian man has been sentenced to 15 years in jail for killing his married sister over an alleged affair, court officials said”
— “He was charged with premeditated murder for stabbing his 18-year-old sister 26 times with a kitchen knife last year.”
— “He claimed he wanted to restore his family’s honour.”

Egypt: “Forced Islamization of Christian Conscripts in the Egyptian Army”

Egypt: “Forced Islamization of Christian Conscripts in the Egyptian Army”
— AINA reports: “Mistreatment of Christian conscripts in the Egyptian army, including beatings, psychological harassment and torture, at the hands of radical Muslim officers to force them to convert to Islam is widespread, but is rarely reported by conscripts for fear of reprisals.”

Egypt: “Coptic Family Forced to Surrender Woman Rescued in Egypt”

Egypt: “Coptic Family Forced to Surrender Woman Rescued in Egypt”
— COMPASS news reports:
— ”  State Security Investigations (SSI) forces in Egypt arrested, abused and then extorted money from a Coptic Christian for rescuing his daughter from her Muslim husband, who was holding her against her will in Alexandria, according to sources in Egypt.”
— “Security forces also arrested 10 people in Alexandria and tortured them in an attempt to find those involved in the rescue. Authorities are preparing to make a new wave of arrests, the sources said.”
— “On Sept. 30, they said, the only daughter of Gamal Labib Hanna called home and asked her family to save her from her Muslim husband. How Hanna’s daughter, Myrna Gamal Hanna, came to marry Mohamad Osama Hefnawy is disputed, but sources said the now-20-year-old woman was 19 and under the age of marital consent when she and Hefnawy were wed 10 months ago.”
— “According to Egyptian civil law, a woman under the age of 21 has to have approval of her father or another male member of her family if the father is deceased. In Myrna Gamal Hanna’s case, no such approval was given.  Moreover, sources said, the woman’s future father-in-law was inexplicably allowed to stand in place of her father in approving the marriage, in violation of Egyptian law.”
— “Later, sources said, Hefnawy and his father converted the young woman to Islam. The sources said that the elder Hanna went to Hefnawy’s apartment on Oct. 1 to get his daughter. En route he passed a cafe where he enlisted the help of Rafaat Girges Habib and at least four other men.”
— “At the apartment, Hefnawy attacked the Copts with a metal pole but Hanna was able to retrieve his daughter, who was six months pregnant. He and his wife hid her at an undisclosed location. After the rescue, Hefnawy and his neighbors filed a report with local police and the SSI, a powerful Interior Ministry agency accused of various human rights violations. Soon after, Hanna’s brothers, one brother-in-law and his mother-in-law were rounded up, charged with abduction and detained.”
— “According to sources in Egypt, at least one of the family members was tortured until Hanna turned himself in. Authorities also ransacked his apartment.”
— “The sources said security forces pressured Hanna until he agreed not only to hand his daughter back to Hefnawy but also to give him several thousand dollars.”
— “‘Cases like this are very common, they happen every day,’ said Rasha Noor, an Egyptian human rights activist and journalist living outside of Egypt. ‘That’s usually what happens when families try to rescue daughters from their kidnappers in most of these kinds of cases.'”
— “As part of terms forced upon Hanna, he is not allowed to see his daughter unless he meets her in a police station and is accompanied by SSI officer Essam Shawky. Additionally, phone calls to his daughter will be monitored.  ‘Once [a woman] becomes a Muslim, you can– “t get her back,’ Noor said.”
— “Hanna and the members of his family were released on Oct. 2, but soon after authorities began seeking Habib. Police broke into Habib’s plumbing shop and demolished it.”
— “On Saturday (Oct. 3) they rounded up at least 10 people, most members of Habib’s immediate family. Security forces tortured the men, but sources said Habib’s brother, Romany, bore the brunt of the brutality. When he was released the next day, they said, his clothes and those of the others were smeared with blood.”
— “Habib and at least four other people remain in hiding in Egypt. Sources said authorities will make a third round of arrests in an attempt to flush him out.”

Pakistan — SAP-PK: Pak Government Hostage to the Extremists Will Not Abolish the Blasphemy Law

(Pakistan) SAP-PK: government hostage to the extremists will not abolish the blasphemy law
— Asia News reports that “Irfan Mufti, director of South Asian Partnership-Pakistan (SAP-PK), who tells AsiaNews that the country lacks the ‘political will’ to reject the ‘controversial law'”
— April 16, 2008 – Rehman and Gilani at Pakistan National Assembly mtg where it passes resolution calling for U.N. to impose death penalty internationally for blasphemy
—- “Karim’s resolution condemned the reprinting of the controversial cartoons in Danish newspapers and demanded that the UN make a law suggesting capital punishment for blasphemy”

Somalia: Islamists Order Women in Bardere Town to Take Veils Quickly

Somalia: Islamists Order Women in Bardere Town to Take Veils Quickly
— Shabelle Media Network reports:
— “The Islamic administration officials in Bardere town in Gedo region have Thursday ordered the women there in south Somalia to take a veil or else will be taken legal step by the Islamist fighters in the town.”
— “The Islamist administration had ordered all the women in the town to take coverings once again since their announcement which was 15 days ago saying that they will take a right step the women who refuse to take the order of the administration adding that they will also be sentenced with the Sharia law.”
— “Mo’allin Mohumed Osma’il, head of the advice and education for the Islamic administration in Bardere town told Shabelle radio that Thursday was the last day of their ultimatum order with in the 15 days which stated all the women in the town to have veils through the town.
— “The official lastly said that the Islamist forces will conduct operations against the women who have not the coverings through in the town adding that they were completely ordered to arrest the women in the jails of Bardere town in Gedo region in southern Somalia.