And here’s another question for you: who kill more people, the arms producers or the pharmaceutical companies? Now I bet you’re saying that the arms producers are worse that drug makers as they make things specifically for the killing trade whereas the pharmaceuticals are sort of making medicines that help folks to stay alive. But you’d be wrong, because if you take into account that the pharmaceuticals wage a constant never ending war against the whole planet on a massive scale you’d be coming to the conclusion that the arms producers are pussycats compared to them.

Want to dip your grey matter into a bit of history? OK, here goes: who’s a bigger murderous shit, Adolf Hitler or Joseph Stalin? Now on the face of it Hitler comes top of the nasty bastards list and wins hands down. But if you consider that under Stalin around 100 million people were killed or died in labour camps, it sort makes the Soviet tyrant look much worse that Adolf. Especially as Hitler would have never dared to start WW2 in earnest if he didn’t have a secret pact with Stalin. Although if you dig deeper, you’ll probably end up with giving the top notch to Chinese communist dictator, Mao Dsedung, who, as some documents reveal, has managed to preside over the deaths of something like 120 million people. Which even for China with its massive population is not as simple as it sounds.

Do we continue, yes? OK, here is another teaser: what’s better, capitalism or communism? Now most of you, I suspect, will rush to say capitalism, with its free market and democracy and all that sort of rubbish. But let me ask you this: what did the free market and democracy give to the majority of ordinary people? Exactly, pretty much nothing. It’s the big boys who prosper under capitalism and get all the benefits, even when things go badly wrong, like the current economic crisis have shown. Socialism is much the same in this respect, with the majority of people, just like under capitalism, not really prospering that much. So the answer in this case is: both capitalism and socialism suck, if you’re not among the chosen few.

Here’s a quick one: what’s better, to be rich and healthy or poor and sickly? Tough one, eh? It’s a trick question actually and if you chose to answer that you prefer to be poor and sickly than you must have a screw loose and you might just as well drop this whole thing.

But on we go: what’s better, pop or classical music? On the face of it, you’d probably go for pop, as it’s easier to hum and sing along to. Not to mention that when you get drunk or stoned pop is just the right sort of thing to listen to and enjoy. But if you give it a bit of thought, you’d find out that actually classical music is not just better, but it makes you feel better and doesn’t encourage you to drink and get stoned. It even puts people off crime and makes tomatoes and other fruit and vegetables grow quicker when it’s played to them. So classical music is way, way above pop. The same way modern art is no match for classical art, especially as practically anyone can do modern art while very few people can produce anything even close to classical art. In sense it’s like comparing junk food with the home-made one that take a lot of effort.

And there’s more: is it better to be vain or just plain stupid? Well, most of you out there would probably say that vain is better than stupid. But you’d be wrong, because vanity is the ultimate in stupidity. Not to mention that vanity really causes you a lot of hassle and jealousy and suffering and other things whereas when you’re plain stupid you often don’t even know it and live a happy life.

And here’s another one: is it better to be Tony Blair or anybody else? You might say that it’s better to be Blair, as he is loaded and earns like a quarter of a million every time he opens his trap and says something. But again, if you think about it, the downside is that you really have to be a disgusting piece of shit and worry a lot about your security and lie all the time and pretend to be religious when you’re not. And all that makes your life hell and it sort of makes sense to be anybody else rather than Blair.

Is it better to be common but attractive or intelligent but not very handsome? Aha, that’s a tough one. Most people would probably choose the common/beautiful look, but if you think about it, looks tend to wane quickly while intelligence stays on forever and if you’re clever you can always bluff your way into anyone’s bed if you into sex a lot. So intelligence beats good looks all the time.

And here’s a last one: is it better o be Richard Dawkins, the atheist, or his image in the mirror? Considering what Dick’s image has to go through every time he gets himself in front of the mirror to worship himself we should conclude that it’s better to be none of the two.

– End –

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Breaking News: British aviation authorities admit the closed all the airports after the eruption of a volcano in Iceland because they felt it was great way to show off their power.

Breaking News: Al Qaeda reveals it’s new torture techniques includes forcing the prisoners to watch endless repeats of the Brown, Cameron and Clegg TV debate. It breaks them quickly, AL-Qaeda says.

Breaking News: Investment giant, Goldman Sachs, says charges of defrauding its customers really hurt. What has the world gotten to, GS says, when a bank is accused of wrongdoing?

Breaking News: Kremlin bans all adoptions of Russian children by American families on the grounds that soon there’ll be no f..king people left in Russia.

Breaking News: Chinese Communist party says the earthquake in Tibet has proven that the Dalai Lama can’t do magic and should stay away forever.

Breaking News: White House says President Obama’s dream of a world free of nuclear weapons should not be treated literally. It’s a dream, for God’s sake, White House says.

Breaking News: America’s First Lady Michelle Obama visits Haiti and Mexico and tells kids there of the financial advantages of being the wife of the US President.

Breaking News: Vice President Joe Biden reveals that his power dressing techniques allow him to shine when he stands behinds President Obama.

Breaking News: Sarah Palin’s speaking contracts reveal she demands to be asked by the audiences about her beauty and her many talents.

Breaking News: American space agency NASA says it would love to blow $1 trillion on researching things on Earth instead of the deep unknown in space.

Breaking News: New book ‘Shit Happens, 13 Years Of Labour’ comes out in hardback.

Breaking News: Prime Minister Gordon Brown reveals he is going to wear a sailor’s uniform during the next TV debate with other party leaders. To woo women voters.

Breaking News: Former PM Tony Blair denies that he has converted to paganism in a bid to please all religions.

Breaking News: Buckingham Palace says Prince William is dating common woman Kate Middleton under duress.

Breaking News: EU President Herman Van Rompuy releases a volume of his thought in poetic form that includes gems like, ‘I ain’t qualified to be president.’

Breaking News: Chancellor Angela Merkel announces tough austerity measures. To boost the living standards of her cabinet members.

Breaking News: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is spotted visiting a topless bar to raise awareness of the threat of terrorism among its regulars.

Breaking News: Caught masturbating while looking at the portrait of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin Venezuelan hardman of politics Hugo Chavez claims it were Putin’s policies that turned him on.

Breaking News: President Nicholas Sarkozy reveals he is ready to spend years trying to find out who spreads rumours about the state of his marriage.

Breaking news: The government of the Irish Republic uses more swear words at its cabinet meetings than any other government in the world.

Breaking News: Pop legend Mick Jagger admits that all that screaming during sex played havoc with his vocals. I will be cutting on the singing, he says.

Breaking News: At its annual award ceremony International Union of Child Molesters gives its Outstanding Contribution To Child Abuse prize to Hollywood.

Breaking News: Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, admits that learning to read one was of the biggest challenges of his first term as president.

Breaking News: Organisers of the World Cup in South Africa say that every ticket to the great event comes with a bullet-proof vest.

Breaking News: Football legend David Beckham reveals that his many tattoos are a fashion statement and have been all sponsored by big retail names.

Breaking News: As more celebs from the US descend on Haiti for promotional purposes victims of the earthquake plead with their government for protection.

Breaking News: Russian prostitutes voted best hustlers ever by readers of the magazine Discounted Sexual Pleasures.

Breaking News: A nation-wide poll in Mongolia reveals that most people engage in sex with goats and hedgehogs to distract themselves from the acute social problems that they face.

Breaking News: New book, Jewish Sporting Legends, contains only ten pages.

– End –

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I sometimes get a feeling that the Internet is one big con where nothing is what it seems. Just like Wall Street.

People often ask me: what can be fun for all the family? And I say: money laundering or tax evasion. Or running a protection racket.

Those who control the perception of the past rule in the present

Right-wing, left-wing, liberal, conservative, socialist: guys, if you don’t flush after you use the toilet I don’t care who you are.

If a bank makes billions on penalty charges then it’s not exactly a bank. It’s an extortion racket.

One day we’ll find out that Al Qaeda was a myth, invented by the CIA for getting more funding from Big Bro.

Conservatives in Britain: same old people, same old party, nothing new to offer. Can’t even kick out corrupt and incompetent Labour. Belgium anyone?

A politically correct film about the Iraq war, directed by a woman, wins an Oscar for best film. How very Hollywood.

In a perfect world makers of Avatar and other rubbish would have been prosecuted for peddling bad taste.

Every time I glance through new fiction politically correct messages jump at me from every page. Racism is bad, they say. Yeah, we know.

The end of the world has already happened. We just missed it.

Humour has become so left-wing biased that it’s not funny anymore. You can’t be biased and funny. That’s why all Hollywood’s comedies suck.

The Daily Telegraph played a shameful role in paralysing the British parliament at a time when bankers were ripping the country apart.

Butler Tom says he’s very controversial on his twitter blog. Says he mentions his bowel movement meticulously.

After 2000 years of Christianity that has turned Europe into the cradle of culture we now have idiots who want to return to paganism.

One of the worst inventions has to be the mobile phone. Now we are forced to hear lowlifes talk about their pathetic routines.

If you think about it, Social Media is just like porn. Only for the mind, or what’s left of it.

By relaxing rules on assisted suicide Britain is moving closer to becoming an unruly pagan state. Sodom and Gomorrah, here we come.

Tony Blair says he’s so popular outside Britain that during baby kissing sessions it the babies who kiss him.

Slick talking shifty eyed blokes calling themselves New Labour seize power in Britain. Populace still can’t get it.

Pop singer Mariah Carey looks like a waitress. And sings like one.

If you have a small dick and can’t get it up – you need an Austen Martin.

If you’re over 40 and you’re left-wing – you might want to seek medical help.

A word of advice to Dames Helen Mirren, Judy Dench and Maggie Smith: time to pack it in, girls. You look silly on screen.

Some writers and hacks are so vain that they have been known to masturbate watching themselves in the mirror.

In the latest issue of Born Brain Dead: Is Social Media Good For You? Yes, Yes, Yes!!! Plus: No Need To Wash Hands After Shitting.

I sometimes look at those ugly broads, pop stars, and realise they started singing because they couldn’t get laid.

So, all of you guys and girls who’ve had unprotected sex with strangers yesterday? Has the itching started already?

Lady Gaga would have been fun if she dressed weird but could sing and had a couple of good songs. But she can’t and she doesn’t.

– End –

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Breaking News: White House says that former inmates of Guantanamo who have joined Al Qaeda in Yemen have seriously let President Barack Obama down.

Breaking News: Hillary Clinton admits that she finds President Obama’s extensive experience as community organiser in Chicago unnerving.

Breaking News: Bill Clinton is finishing his explosive new book, Norwegian Babes Are Easy. Or Why I Didn’t Get The Nobel Peace Prize.

Breaking News: Al Gore denies that the freezing winter somehow contradicts his views on global warming. It’s warm where I’m sitting, he says.

Breaking News: Al Qaeda reveals it has secretly funded Barack Obama’s election campaign in 2009. We needed a Muslim brother in the White House, Al-Qaeda explains.

Breaking News: A Muslim terrorist attempted to use his erect penis as a weapon to bring down a passenger plane over the Atlantic.

Breaking News: Tony Blair goes into hiding as his partner in war crimes, Alistair Campbell, is summoned before the Iraqi war inquiry.

Breaking News: Conspirators within the British Labour party decide to oust unelected Prime Minister Gordon Brown by staging a leadership election.

Breaking News: Unelected Russian President Dmitry Medvedev sends a cable of support to unelected British PM Brown. I so know how you feel, it says.

Breaking News: Chancellor Angela Merkel announces tough austerity measures to boost the living standards of her cabinet members.

Breaking News: As passenger profiling is introduced at London Heathrow several cabinet ministers are detained for weird pre-flight behaviour. And smoking dope in the toilets.

Breaking News: Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero admits that he is related to actor Rowan Atkinson. ‘We are twin sisters,’ he says. ‘Born out of wedlock, to two different mothers.’

Breaking News: Greek socialist government reveals that the country is f..ked. We have no idea what the hell to do, it says. Most people have left anyway.

Breaking News: Irish police foil an attempt by the Slovakian government to stage a spectacular friendly terrorist attack and blow up a passenger plane on route to Dublin .

Breaking News: South African populace greatly reassured by the mating dance of President Zuma during his wedding to fifth wife.

Breaking News: Screen legend Warren Beatty is revealed to have slept with 12,500 women. And to have had sex with double that number.

Breaking News: Yemeni government is making big plans in the light of the forthcoming increase in American aid. We’re all going to be rich, one minister says.

Breaking News: Iceland tells Britain and Holland to f..k off and forget any money it owes them. We ain’t paying, Iceland’s President says. They can go suck dick someplace else.

Breaking News: Cuban regime reveals that its ailing leader, Fidel Castro, was violated by accident by a visiting foreign dignitary.

Breaking News: Russian mob says it’s drinking man’s weather in Britain. Drink, people, drink, mob says.

Breaking News: Overwhelmed with desire a Hollywood screen legend manages the unthinkable and performs a blow-job on himself.

– End –

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According to Al Qaeda, it was responsible for all kinds of treachery in the past ten years, but did not claim responsibility for most of it, out of tactical reasons. For example, the group says it was behind such disasters as the Great Tsunami in the Indian Ocean and the flood that had practically wiped out New Orleans. As the man in the video broadcast, who wears a brown paper bag over his head to protect his identity and tease his viewers, Al Qaeda has the power to influence the weather and can inflict deadly damage on anyone whom it considers to be its enemies. That is why the group caused all those floods, mudslides, tornados and even earthquakes. ‘You can ask any scientists whether natural disasters are man-made,’ the guy in the brown bag over his head says in the broadcast, ‘and they will confirm to you that this is the case. And it was us all the time. Ha-ha-ha!’

The broadcast reveals some absolutely astonishing facts. It appears that Al Qaeda was behind the financial crisis of 2007, cunningly putting the blame of the subprime mortgage market in the US for the meltdown. It appears that its operatives have been taking out loans and mortgages, on false pretences, knowing perfectly well that they will not be repaying them. The banks and mortgage lenders were trapped into a false feeling of security by Al Qaeda that came up with very convincing stories of how all the loans would be repaid on time, due to the so-called ‘never ending feel good factor’. ‘Bankers in the West,’ says the man in the paper bag over his head in the broadcast, ‘have fallen for our trick and lent generously, right, left and centre. They had no idea that we were behind this operation and enriched ourselves beyond all belief. And unlike bankers we’ve used the money wisely, investing it into organising natural disasters, floods and, of course, global warming.’

The most sensational revelation in the broadcast concerns the role that Al Qaeda played in helping the then Senator Barack Obama win the presidential election in 2009. ‘We needed a Muslim brother in the White House,’ the man in the brown bag over his head says, ‘and we donated hundreds of millions of dollars to Obama’s campaign through the Internet, posing as American voters who fell for that clever Yes, We Can slogan.’

It appears from the broadcast that Al Qaeda was banking on the US President to close down the Guantanamo prison and release most of its inmates, who would then re-join the organisation and start carrying out more evil deeds.

In its broadcast Al Qaeda threatens to stage dozens of natural disasters and spectacular accidents – in the air, on the ground and at sea in 2010. It was at this point that the man in the paper bag over his head revealed that the current cold spell in Europe, the worst for the last 30 years, was organised by the group. It smuggled a dozen witch doctors from Africa into Brussels, who then banged their drums and danced their dance at a secret location, calling on the gods of winter to punish the infidels. Which the gods did.

‘We are the most powerful force of evil in the world,’ the broadcast ends. ‘Ask the American and British governments and they will vouch for that.’

StirringTroubleInternationally decided not to ask the US and British authorities to confirm this, as the governments of both countries have been accusing Al Qaeda of being behind every calamity in the world anyway.

So it must be true. A chilling prospect, as I have already said. Especially this winter.

– End –

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Breaking News: Al-Qaeda says it has been gatecrashing official functions at the White House since time immemorial. What’s the big deal, spokesman says. Even a child can do it.

Breaking News: After the gatecrashing scandal White House admits that President Obama often mingles with people who should not be there in the first place.

Breaking News: International Federation of Gatecrashers hails two of its members for fooling the security at the White House by disguising themselves as a man and woman.

Breaking News: Living sports legend Tiger Woods admits his dream of becoming a racing driver has not worked out.

Breaking News: Sarah Palin reveals that she is writing a second volume of her memoirs devoted to her beauty and huge intellect.

Breaking News: Chinese President Hu Jintao laughs hysterically when asked whether China is serious about its commitment to cutting carbon emissions.

Breaking News: Dubai proves it is a magical kingdom by disappearing. Along with all the money.

Breaking News: Tony Blair says he is not at all worried by the possible findings of the inquiry into the war in Iraq as he goes under the cosmetic surgeon’s knife.

Breaking News: Former hooker turned writer, Brooke Magnanti, says she is thinking of running for parliament. I think I’ll fit easily into the environment, she says

Breaking News: Mongolian government says that moving its border with Russia back and forth is a fun thing to do.

Breaking News: International Federation of Idiots says it is sending the biggest delegation of all to the Copenhagen climate conference. Climate change is close to our hearts, IFI says.

Breaking News: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown denies he’s a pussyfooter. I bankrupted Britain all by myself, he says. That’s no mean feat.

Breaking News: NATO says that the war in Afghanistan gives it a buzz.

Breaking News: President of Europe, Herman van Rompuy, reveals that as a child he was just as revolting as he is now. I couldn’t get laid till I was 40, he says.

Breaking News: German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, says she does not wear earrings to avoid looking like a lesbian.

Breaking News: French President Nicholas Sarkozy reveals that he has no problems with his wife playing conniving bitches in films.

Breaking News: During a visit to Caracas Iranian President Ahmadinejad is caught pinching cutlery at a state banquet.

Breaking News: Russian hackers penetrate NASA’s files and find out that the International Space Stations was gatecrashed by people posing as astronauts.

Breaking News: Russian mobsters get together to compare tattoos and swap new sweat words and obscene gestures.

Breaking News: Indian government reveals that the economic boom in the country was never intended to benefit many people. It is a discreet, private affair, New Delhi says.

Breaking News: Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi reveals that being a bloodthirsty psychopath helps him in his political career.

Breaking News: Iraqi government is voted the richest government in the world.

Breaking News: North Korean leader Kim Jong il dances the night away with other politburo members at an army base.

Breaking news: Italian government voices its concern about growing illiteracy in the country as more and more offensive signs in public toilets contain grammar mistakes.

Breaking News: Poll conducted across the world proves that most people think that the word ‘analyst’ means someone who likes it up his arse.

Breaking News: A two CD set comes out in Sudan: Screams From The Torture Chamber. The Best Of

– End –

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Every time I hear about these terror alerts a nagging question comes back to haunt me: why is it that no one seems to make a connection between the illegal war in Iraq that Tony Blair and his government had started six years ago and the heightened activity of Muslim extremists on British soil? As Mr Blair himself used to say in his days at 10 Downing Street, let us be tough on crime and on the causes of crime. So why should we not be tough on the current wave of terrorism and on the causes of terrorism?

Let me ask you this: how many Al Qaeda attacks did we have here in Britain before the war in Iraq? Please, feel free to take your time and recall the years leading to that fateful decision to invade Iraq. No matter how long you will burden your memory you will not recall a single terrorist incident connected to Muslim extremists in Britain. Not one. So the conclusion we would have to make would be that there was no Muslim terrorist activity on British soil before 2003. That is not to say that there were no Islamic extremists living in Britain. But they kept their heads low and targeted their anger primarily at the Big Satan, the U.S. Britain was not high on their list of targets. But it all changed in April 2003.

Now, let allow me to move you a bit further in time, to the London suicide bombings in July 2005. In the videos that have been since released the suicide bombers quite clearly stated that the reason why they were going to blow up innocent British civilians was in response to their brothers dying in Iraq. You can say, just like Blair did on many occasions, that it was just a cunning ploy to provide a reason for staging terrorist attacks. But why would several young people blow themselves up on false pretences? And why would other Muslim extremists plot new attacks in Britain and state quite categorically that they were bringing the war to the British cities in response for the role Britain played in Iraq? You can’t just simply ignore these things and claim that Muslim terrorists would have struck in Britain even if there was no war in Iraq. And there is no point in drawing any parallels with the attacks of 9/11 in New York and Washington. These were targeted specifically at the U.S. for their support of Israel. They had nothing to do with an all-out war against the West.

It is strange how Blair and his chums managed to stifle the debate about Islamic terrorism in Britain by claiming that it had nothing to do with the war in Iraq. The British media had allowed him to get away with it. No one really stood up and asked inconvenient questions about the origins of Al Qaeda terrorism in Britain. In a sense, Blair’s assertion about the Iraqi war having nothing to do with terrorists attacks on British people sounded like if he would have said that the IRA terror on the mainland had absolutely nothing to do with the troubles in Northern Ireland. Nothing at all.

It would have sounded bizarre if he would have said that. He would have been ridiculed for that. And yet, when he said that his illegal war in Iraq had nothing to do with Al Qaeda getting active in Britain, he was allowed to get away with it.

The point is that the British government knows perfectly well that it had been wrong in starting a war on false pretences. Otherwise, why would it be trying so hard to appease the extreme elements in the Muslim community in Britain? In a sense, it represents a confession of guilt already: the war was dodgy and now we have to backtrack and sweet-talk the Muslims into forgiving us.

The only way to stop the Islamic preachers of hate continuing to use the Iraqi war as a pretext to brainwash young followers is to allow the current independent inquiry into the way it was started to reveal and main culprits. And then the courts should punish them severely. That would deny the preachers of hate one powerful argument.

Then it would be wise to deny them the other one by pulling out of Afghanistan.

– End –

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Martin McCauley writes

It appears to have increased the possibility of al Qaeda attacks against Jewish targets in Turkey. In the light of this El Al, the Israeli airline, has suspended flight to and from Antalya. A Turkish newspaper reported that the CIA had informed Israeli and Turkish authorities that al Qaeda members had entered Turkey to carry out attacks on Israeli tourists. The report also mentioned that al Qaeda may also be trying to attack airports at Istanbul, Izmir and Antalya.

Originally the reason given for suspending El Al flights to Antalya was that Turkish authorities would not permit armed Israeli guards on board. Another Israeli airline, Sun D’Or, has announced it is suspending flight until March 1 for ‘commercial reasons’. The real reason for the cancellation of these flights appears to be threat of an al Qaeda attack.

The Turkish police have been active in arresting al Qaeda members. In December last year 38 were arrested and of these 22 were imprisoned. It turned out that they were planning to hit the Israeli, US and British consulates in Istanbul. On 29 January four al Qaeda members attempted to rob a post office in Istanbul but were thwarted by Turkish police who had been shadowing them. One was killed in the shootout and another wounded. The other two escaped. The police stated that the group had been planning an attack on a rabbi in Bursa.

Turkish police revealed that al Qaeda groups had been stealing, cars, lorries, gold and cash. Stealing cars and trucks was to be expected but holding up post offices and jewellers is something quite novel in Turkey. There is also the point that Turkish jewellers sell a lot of gold.

A jeweller’s was robbed in Istanbul in July 2008 by four men carrying Kalashnikovs. On 27 January another jeweller’s was attacked by four masked men near Istanbul. On 5 February a post office was robbed. Police surmise that the robbers all belonged to al Qaeda units because of the similarities of the attacks.

Attacks on jewellers’ and post offices now occur on a regular basis. One theory is that al Qaeda units are now obliged to secure their own funding for an operation which can cost thousands of dollars. This would mean that central funding is being partially or completely cut.

Are the funds from the robberies being put into one pot? If so, this presumably means that a major operation is being planned. The fact that the thefts are continuing means that the target amount has not been reached. If the attacks suddenly stop, the police will regard it as a warning that something is about to happen.

These are tense times in Turkey.

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These Islamists have already established a foothold in the Gaza Strip. They are linking up with Israeli Arabs to launch attacks on Israel. The Jaysh al-Islam (Army of Islam) has already conducted anti-Israeli operations from Gaza. They are more radical than Hamas and the Islamic Jihad.

The Salafists do not conceal their affinity to Al Qaeda. They regard Palestine as an ‘Arab dowry’ and proclaim that ‘every Muslim has the right to engage in a jihad there’. Jordan, Syria and Lebanon have always prevented non-Palestinians using their territory as a base to attack Israel. The Salafists have now found a way round this problem. Washington, inadvertently, has opened up a route through Iraq to the West Bank and Gaza.

Militant Islam appears to have had little success in the West Bank with the Palestinian Authority, dominated by Fatah, being able to maintain control. Gaza is quite different. Salafist groups train there and boast publicly that they are going to move against Jews.

They have attacked Israeli army units when they penetrated Gaza and also Christian and American targets there. Salafist groups maintain that they receive funding from within Gaza and only ideological support from their brothers in Al Qaeda.

There have been reports of gun fights between Salafist groups and Hamas. However, there seems to be an implicit agreement that they can train fighters to engage the Israelis and to preach their version of Islam. They must not be seen as becoming embroiled in domestic politics in Gaza or try to impose their beliefs by force.

This appears a fragile understanding at best. The Salafists have already made clear that they do not believe that Hamas is implementing the Sharia or Islamic law. Hamas has raided Salafist mosques and, on one occasion, killed nine members of the Army of Islam. The latter have sworn revenge.

The Salafists oppose Hamas’s decision to begin informal talks with Israeli representatives. They have even appealed to Al Qaeda to condemn the Hamas leadership for engaging in negotiations with the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. The continued inflow of Salafists from Iraq is augmenting their numbers but they appear to be having limited success in convincing Hamas fighters to join them.

One unintended consequence of the Israeli blockade of Gaza has been the growing attractiveness of the views of radical Islamists there.

Israeli media has reported claims by ‘Al Qaeda affiliates’ that they have fired 21 rockets and 18 mortar rounds into Israel since June 2008. They have also placed explosive charges along the security fence. Israeli officials have confirmed Al Qaeda related terrorist activities inside Israel in 2008.

In July, Israeli security forces arrested two Israeli Arabs and six Palestinians from east Jerusalem and accused them of trying to set up an Al Qaeda cell in Israel.

The stability of Jordan, Syria and Lebanon is critically important to the security of Israel. However, Salafist groups are spreading throughout Levant and Al Qaeda’s appeals to attack Israel and Jews are finding fertile ground.

When Britain and the United states leave Iraq, the Shia dominated Iraqi government will have little incentive to restrict the movement of Sunni radicals into other parts of the Levant.

The threat from the Salafists is set to grow.

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Who is Muhammad Uyghuri and who is Abdul Haq Turkistani? They are, presumably, pseudonyms of Al Qaeda operatives. Muhammad Uyghuri can be translated as Mohammad the Uyghur (a Muslim Turkic minority in Xinjiang and Kazakhstan). Abdul Haq Turkistani is Abdul Haq from Turkestan (Xinjiang makes up part of East Turkestan and Central Asia includes West Turkestan). Hence the names can be taken as symbolic.

Al Qaeda and the Taliban have some time ago moved their operational headquarters out of Afghanistan into the North West Frontier Province in Pakistan. This has prompted a myriad of new groups claiming affiliation to these two organisations.

Uyghuri added that Abdul Haq Turkistani was appointed personally by Osama bin Laden and that he was already active in Xinjiang. A new group, Hizb-e Islami Turkistan (The Islamic Party of Turkestan, IPT), is also to be led by him.

There are suggestions that the IPT is another name for the East Turkestan Islamic Movement. It has been active for some years and aims at establishing an independent Islamic Republic in Xinjiang. The US State Department has added its name to the list of terrorist organisations in 2002. This was in response to diplomatic pressure from China.

The IPT first came to prominence in July 2008 when it made public a videotape claiming responsibility for several deadly bus explosions in Shanghai and Yunnan. Chinese authorities rejected these claims and insisted that no such organisation existed. The IPT threatened to carry out chemical and biological attacks during the Olympic Games but none were reported.

Media reports suggest that Abdul Haq Turkistani, who is about 42 years old, may not be actually based in Xinjiang but in the North West Frontier Province, together with hundreds of Uyghur fighters.

There are also claims that about 250 Chinese Muslims are active under the command of Osama bin Laden in Nangarhar and Kunduz provinces in Pakistan.

Uyghuri announced that around 300 Chinese Uyghur fighters belonging to the IPT were training in camps in the North West Frontier Province. He claimed that some of these men have already returned to China.

To widen its appeal, the IPT has launched an Arabic language publication, Turkistan al-Islamia. It is similar to other jihadi publications. The fact that it is in Arabic suggests that the target audience is outside the Uyghur community since few of them speak or read Arabic.

It is not surprising that there is no independent verification of the existence of the IPT. By its very nature, it has to be secretive. Chinese authorities normally downplay Muslim resistance in Xinjiang. However, in the past Beijing has conceded that the struggle with separatists is going to be long and arduous. The downturn in the Chinese economy will fuel resistance to Han Chinese rule.

There is a risk that the turmoil in Afghanistan and Pakistan will spill over into China. Finding solutions to the many problems there becomes even more urgent.

There is another threat to Beijing: China occupies 19 per cent of Kashmir and if war breaks out between India and Pakistan, Kashmir will be drawn into it. These are worrying times for the Middle Kingdom.

Related posts:

1. Are Uyghurs Running A Terrorist Network In Turkey And China?
2. Why Are Muslim Countries Reluctant To Criticise China’s Crackdown In Xinjiang?
3. The Relentless March Of The Taliban: Can It Be Stopped?