Car drives into Virginia hiker parade, striking 50 and sending 18 to hospital

NEWS LIMITED NETWORK MAY
WALKERS desperately lifted a car off victims after it drove into a United States parade, striking some 50 people.

Witnesses say an elderly man drove his car into a group of hikers marching in a parade in the small Virginia mountain town of Damascus.

Washington County director of emergency management Pokey Harris said no fatalities had been reported.

The injuries ranged from critical to superficial, he said. Three of the victims were flown by helicopters to regional hospitals. Another 12 to 15 were taken by ambulance. The rest were treated at the scene.

The status of the driver wasn't released. Witnesses described him as an elderly man.

Authorities are still investigating, but Harris said they believe the man might have suffered a medical emergency before the accident.

It happened around 2:30pm during the Hikers Parade at the Trail Days festival, an annual celebration of the Appalachian Trail in Damascus, near the Tennessee state line about a half-hour drive east of Bristol.


At least nine have been taken to hospital after a car drove into a parade of hikers in Damascus, Virginia. Picture: WJHL / Twitter
What caused the car to drive into the crowd wasn't immediately known. It appeared to come from a side street, and a thud could be heard. People yelled stop, and at some point, the car finally stopped.

Witnesses said the car had a handicapped parking sticker and it went more than 30 metres before coming to a stop.

"He was hitting hikers," said Vickie Harmon, a witness from Damascus. "I saw hikers just go everywhere."

Damascus resident Amanda Puckett, who was watching the parade with her children, ran to the car, where she and others lifted the car off those pinned underneath.

"Everybody just threw our hands up on the car and we just lifted the car up," she said.

Keith Neumann, a hiker from South Carolina, said he was part of the group that scrambled around the car. They pushed the car backward to free a woman trapped underneath and lifted it off the ground to make sure no one else was trapped. Another person jumped inside to put the car in park.

DAMASCUS VIRGINIA

"There's no single heroes. We're talking about a group effort of everybody jumping in," he said.

There were ambulances in the parade ahead of the hikers and paramedics on board immediately responded to the crash.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/world/car-drives-into-virginia-hiker-parade/story-fni0xs61-1226646058903

Nigeria: Let's Have Common Citizenship in Africa - Thabo Mbeki

BY PROFESSOR TANDEKA NKIWANE, 20 MAY 2013


INTERVIEW

President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa will, this evening at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, receive the Daily Trust African of the Year Award 2012 for his work last year in bringing peace to Sudan and South Sudan. In this recent interview in South Africa with Professor Tandeka Nkiwane, Member, African of the Year Advisory Committee, he comments on his panels work, the challenges it faced, unfinished matters in Sudan as well as South Sudan, issues facing heterogeneous African states, and how his ANC background prepared him for a lot of the work he is doing today on the continent. Excerpts:

First of all Mr President on behalf of the advisory board of the Daily Trust African of the Year Award, I would like to congratulate you on being our 2012 award recipient. First of all for the purpose of an audience primarily external to South Africa, we will perhaps begin by telling the audience a little about yourself, perhaps something we won't find in Wikipedia.

You know many of us here grew up during the period of the struggle against Apartheid. So, I think that to understand people like myself, I think you have got to put us in that context, because the system of Apartheid was so pervasive, affecting all elements of life. It really was inevitable that we should grow, really into the struggle, and therefore that's what happened. I think what formed us is that involvement to end the system of Apartheid, which fortunately succeeded, and then, of course, came the task after that, which was what to do with this freedom. In other words, the task of reconstructing South Africa, as a non-racial democracy. So that's what I would say about myself, and that, really largely defines what people of my generation would be. We were born into an engaging struggle against Apartheid, and afterwards to help to rebuild South Africa.

Your leadership of the ANC, and your leadership of South Africa, to what extent did this background influence your work in terms of mediating in Sudan?

I would imagine, not directly. At a certain point the regime understood that it could not defeat the ANC. It could not defeat the liberation movement, and that the Apartheid system itself was in deep crises, and therefore agreed with what ANC had been saying for many years, that it was possible to find a peaceful, negotiated resolution of the conflict. So, in the end the regime agreed with this, because it could see that it was being defeated in a sense, and therefore that meant we then had to engage in quite a long process of negotiation with people who were by definition, our enemies. But in order to make peace, to save lives, to create this possibility, for South Africa to transform itself into a non -racial democracy, it became necessary to engage in those negotiations.I suppose that that experience would have helped with regard to the work we were to later help to facilitate, that is, the resolution of various conflicts on the continent, including the conflict in Sudan. I imagine that that experience would have helped somewhat. But of course, you are dealing with different sets of circumstances, in terms even of the negotiations. Here in South Africa, we were negotiating among ourselves, but with regard to the rest of the world, and these other engagements on the continent, we were facilitating negotiations,not only between us and other people, but among the belligerent forces in each of these countries in which we had engaged.

Can you describe some of the challenges faced by the AU Panel as it worked, and how in your view these challenges were overcome?

The task that was given to the panel of ours, by the Peace and Security Council of the African Union, was that we had to follow up on the implementation of the various proposals that were made with regard to resolving the conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan. Secondly, we were to help in the negotiations between what was then the government of Sudan and the SPLM, which represented the South, and, of course, which became independent South Sudan, and subsequently therefore, the negotiations between the two governments of Sudan and South Sudan. I think the major challenge with regard to all of these negotiations, has been the level of mistrust among the negotiators, so that it becomes very difficult to get them to agree to anything, because each one is very suspicious of the other.So, you can find a situation where one side might say we agree with the proposal made by the panel,and the other side will say because the other side has agreed,we say no,we don't agree. They suspect that there must be some reason which is not a good reason, that there must be a trick up the sleeve of the other side,if they say we accept.I am saying that the matter of breaking down that mistrust between the two sides becomes an important issue. In reality, in the end that can only happen in the context of practice. You cannot cultivate that trust between two belligerent parties, mainly by discussion. Each has got to see the other acting in a way which says, well, we did agree on this, now both of them are acting to implement. I am saying that that in fact addresses this question of mistrust, because you can then show practical results that we negotiated, we agreed, that both of us are implementing.

I am saying it has been a major challenge, and it required a lot of patience on the part of the panel. We had to make sure that there might be one point that has been discussed, even if it takes ten meetings to resolve it, let it take ten meetings. You couldn't force these things down on people. I think essentially this is what has dragged out this process of negotiations, as handled by our panel, because of this mistrust between the two parties. But as I was saying, in the context of the implementation of the agreements that have been entered into, that helped to address this issue, for instance, with regard to the referendum in South Sudan at the beginning of 2011. There were many people who were very skeptical that the government of Sudan would allow that referendum to go through, but we worked with the referendum commission. We worked with the two sides, that is the government of Sudan and that of South Sudan, the SPLM.We kept engaging everybody, and making sure that there was no practical detail which got left out, that both sides understood very clearly what it is that was going to happen. In the end the referendum took place, and President Bashir indeed went down to Juba, even before the referendum, to say that the government of Sudan would accept whatever the outcome of the referendum is, and would cooperate with South Sudan, whether as an independent country, or as a part of Sudan, which gave a lot of assurance to the South Sudanese. As I said when the referendum took place,and it went according to plan, that would communicate to the south, that maybe the level of mistrust that they had of the government of Sudan, was not quite right, because how could they allow a thing like this to happen, that it means indeed there must be some seriousness behind what, for instance, President Bashir had said about the willingness to accept any outcome, and to work according to that outcome. So, I am saying that the principal challenge has been the degree of mistrust between the two sides.

Can you outline the significance of the September 27th 2012 agreements that were signed? How long did the panel work before arriving at these agreements, and can you describe a sitting of the panel in the lead up to the signing?

These agreements, the ones that were signed in September last year, all of them seek to define the relationship between two independent states. Now that South Sudan is an independent country, what should its relations be with its neighbour, Sudan. So that agenda was set quite early even before the cession of South Sudan, as a provisional thing, that in the event that the people of South Sudan vote for independence, what are the issues that would have to be negotiated. So, I am saying that the negotiations about the agreements which finally were signed in September last year went back some time, perhaps up to 2010,and continued after the independence of South Sudan, on the basis of an agenda that had been set by the two sides.So,they are a comprehensive set of agreements. It might probably be true that there are very few neighbouring states on the African continent that have an extensive set of agreements about how to govern relations between the two of them.This became necessary in this case because of the cession of the South,which then obliged them to have to address everything, relating to the relations between the two of them, something which would not normally happen between two neighbouring African countries.So,what were the matters that needed to be negotiated between the parties ? We must negotiate borders, we must negotiate security arrangements between the two countries.We must negotiate matters of citizens. Citizens of South Sudan in the north. Citizens of the Sudan in the South. All of these things needed to be discussed, including oil arrangements, banking arrangements, travel arrangements, management of water resources, and all of these things.They set up different panels, in different clusters. A particular group focused on the borders, another group focused on something else, maybe on citizenship. What you do in the event that South Sudan secedes. What happens to the rights of people across the border? So each side would have a team dedicated to that. We would then sit with the panel to go through whatever decisions that were reached. So, that's what had to happen with regard to all of the agreements. Some of them required convening the presidents of both countries, which was done as became necessary. So, the presidents would meet and approve and so on. It was in this sense a kind of normal process.

Given the recent April negotiations in Addis Ababa, clearly there remains significant ongoing challenges, in your view where are we on the road to a lasting peace?

There are two main issues that remain. Let me say that there is one issue that remains in terms of the relations between Sudan and South Sudan, and that is the question of Abyei. That is a matter that is still under discussion. President Bashir was in Juba last month, for bilateral discussions with President Salva Kiir of South Sudan. They started discussing this matter, but could not resolve the issues that need to be resolved. President Salva Kiir is visiting Sudan this May, to continue the discussion about Abyei, and the big question really, is the discussion between the two presidents as has been agreed, that they have to address the matter of the final status of Abyei. The final status of Abyei was agreed a long time ago, that this would be decided by a referendum, that the people would hold a referendum and take a decision. The referendum will ask a simple question whether the population of Abyei want to be part of South Sudan, or want to remain as part of Sudan. Now, the stumbling block is to determine who are the voters. Who is going to participate in the referendum that is the difficulty? In terms of the arbitration ruling that was requested by both sides, the government of Sudan,and the SPLM, then, before the independence of South Sudan. The permanent court of arbitration said that the Abyei area belongs to the Ngok Dinka, and other Sudanese residing in Abyei, and that's the problem now. It's not so much a court of arbitration. This was an earlier decision taken by the Sudanese themselves. Now, the question becomes who are these other Sudanese residing in Abyei, and the debate is really centred around another section of the Sudanese population, the Miseri(y) a, who are a cattle tending people.They are pastoralists. They are nomadic. They spend a certain part of the year in Abyei, and move with the cattle, pass through Abyei to go South for water pasture and come back through Abyei. Now the question really is are these people residing in Abyei? So that matter is still going to be discussed by the two presidents. This is one issue which relates to the two countries.

There is a matter which is internal to Sudan, which is a conflict which is still taking place in two areas of Sudan. These are Southern Kordofan and the Blue Nile states. Now, there is a conflict that's going on there, and both sides, both the government and the rebellion, in the two states, have agreed that the best way to resolve this conflict is through political negotiation. So, we had a session with them, with the two sides on this towards the end of April, to get them to negotiate. It became clear that the delegation still needed to go back to their principals to consult. So, we said look, let's adjourn this meeting, so we will give you a chance to go and consult with your principals, and we would reconvene then. But that is a conflict that is in Sudan. So, these are the two outstanding issues of negotiations that remain. Of course, implementation of the existing agreements are matters that we are keeping an eye on, generally to encourage them to implement what they have agreed to do. We are not in that sense, an implementation agency, but because we are engaged with the matter, obviously, we are interested to help the two sides to solve any problems that might arise in the course of the implementation of the agreement. The last thing I must mention is, of course, the situation in Darfur. As I indicated to you, earlier on in 2009 when an implementation panel was set up, by the peace and Security Council of the AU, one of our responsibilities was to attend to the matter of Darfur. But what happened in that case was that the UN and the AU had appointed a mediator to facilitate negotiations between the government of Sudan and the rebel groups that were fighting in Darfur. So, there was an AU, UN mediator. Then the Arab league and the AU also agreed that Qatar should assist. The consequence of that was that in fact the responsibility to negotiate an agreement on Darfur fell on that mediation process. So, we said its ok, if that's going to produce the outcomes that are required, that's fine. Indeed, in the end, a document was agreed, to resolve the conflict in Darfur which is being implemented. But the challenge there is that some of the rebel groups in Darfur have refused to accept that document, and therefore have continued fighting. It's something that needs efforts to follow up, because that document that was negotiated and agreed in Doha as a result of the mediation of the AU, UN supported by Qatar, that has in fact not ended the conflict in Darfur. So, it remains a challenge in that sense.

How did you feel when you were informed of your selection as African of the Year 2012?

It took me by surprise, but I must say we have been talking here about the African Union High Level Panel for Sudan and South Sudan, that's our official title. We are a panel which included President Pierre Buyoya of Burundi, and Abdulsalami Abubakar of Nigeria.The panel had a very good staff, and I have been assisted, supported very well, very actively by Ethiopia.We also received support from the Norwegians, the British, the Americans and the Chinese. Everybody, I must say has been very, very supportive of the panel. When I heard the news it took me by surprise. I think we need to recognise the fact that this was not a one-man job. It really requires involvement of quite a lot of people, members of the panel in the first instance, and as I said we had very good support all around.

I want to engage you on what I would call a Pandora's Box question. Can heterogeneous, multi cultural, multi ethnic, multi religious countries stay together? Is it always an option that they have to break in order to progress?

No, they can, and on the continent, I should say, they must. Even if you take the matter of Sudan and South Sudan, what was agreed was that the two sides, the government of Sudan, and the SPLM, would use the period from 2005 to 2011, a period of 6 years, to make unity attractive, that was the phrase that was officially used. We commit ourselves to use this period to make unity attractive, because both sides understood that it would be in the interest of everybody to keep Sudan united. They understood that they should make unity attractive, in the context of what was called a new Sudan.The fact that the South seceded means that they actually failed in this context. They failed to achieve this objective of making unity attractive. Hence, the population of South Sudan said we will vote for independence. But I am saying that I think it is imperative in this continent that we must really respect this idea and notion of the inviolability of the borders which we inherited from the colonial powers, because if we don't, then the danger is that Africa can break apart into lots and lots of little pieces, which is not going to help us. So, the basic challenge really is to build what some African academics are calling a common citizenship, to do the things in our countries which will make people feel that sense of common citizenship, that I have the same rights as any other person in the country, regardless of ethnicity, colour, religion, culture or anything. We are common citizens of this particular country. It is very rare, very important to do that, because if you don't then it encourages the tendency towards the balkanization, fragmentation of our countries, which ,as I said is not going to help anybody. It will lead to more conflicts. It will lead to the emergence of states that will not be viable. It will pose many challenges to all the things we are talking about. When we are talking about regional integration, for instance, we need larger economic entities; too many countries in Africa are too small. So let's integrate in regions in the first instance. Now, if you then take a step backwards and say lets break up even more. I am saying we will produce a whole series of negative consequences which are undesirable. Therefore, to address the matter, I am saying we should address this thing about a common citizenship that nobody in the country should feel marginalised, discriminated against, left behind, excluded on whatever basis.So this becomes a big challenge on our continent.

After three years of the AU High Level Implementation Panel's existence, do you have any particular fond memories of the panel, or conversely, any particular difficult moments, when you thought it was a thankless job?

Of course, it's always been very encouraging, pleasing and it helps to motivate even us. When in the end you sit there with the two parties to sign an agreement which they have concluded, and as you will see, the agreements themselves are very detailed. You have to sit and go through every line, every sentence, even words, until the two sides agree. This, of course, will be a high point in terms of the work of the panel. When we were negotiating, finalizing the September agreements, the last one we concluded, related to the question about what to do with the oil, particularly, what charges South Sudan should pay for the facilities to transit the oil through Sudan to Port Sudan. This was the last agreement.The others were held up because of this. So, you can imagine the relief. Even, never mind us, the relief among the negotiating parties, that at last they have signed this document. As you remember South Sudan had shut down oil production at the beginning of the year, and it was having a bad impact on South Sudan, in terms of its revenues, and so on, but also an impact on the government of Sudan too. That they could agree on this, and were ready to sign, and indeed they did sign, indeed boosted everybody's morale.So,I would say the high point in all of the negotiations could have been when you arrive at this moment when the two sides have now concluded an agreement. Normally, your discouraging moments would be when you can see that there is no willingness on both sides to reach an agreement, because as a facilitator you can tell. We have worked with these people for a long time. We know what the issues are; we know who the people are. You can even read their body language after some time, even if they haven't said anything. I am saying that some of those discouraging moments would be when people are sitting down at the negotiating table, but they have absolutely no desire to reach an agreement. That is not bright, and many times we have said to them as a panel, we really urged them to be sensitive to the fact that they represent people, that these negotiations are about the lives of people.That their people are dying,starving,and the sooner we do these things the better, so that we can attend to other things. At a point I had a long discussion with the two parties, and they admitted that they have been involved in tactical battles. Rather than seeking solutions, each side was trying to out maneuver the other. Those depressing moments when you can see that you have convened these people, and they have come, but there is absolutely no wish to reach an agreement on either side. But those moments were not that many. Fortunately, most of that is behind us now.

Lastly, when we selected you as 2012 African of the Year, it was both in recognition of your leadership in 2012 in bringing both Sudan and South Sudan back from the brink of war, but I think it was also a matter of encouragement, to encourage you and the panel to soldier on. Do you have any final words or concluding thoughts for us?

I would say that members of the panel and other people, did send messages of congratulations and all of that, but virtually all of them said what you have just said, that they hoped that this gives encouragement to the panel to persist in what it is doing, because the problems of Sudan, both in the North and South, are not yet solved, and this matter has arisen now, because our mandate should, in principle, end at the close of July this year, because everybody thought that by this time, all of the outstanding matters would have been negotiated and finalized. So, indeed we have reminded the presidents of the two countries, that in terms of the decisions of the peace and security council,we terminate our work at the end of July, and the response from both sides has been no, you can't, because even if you have negotiated everything else that is outstanding, the work is not yet done. You people know us, you understand the crises, and therefore you have to stay with us for some time. Both North and South are saying this. I am saying that indeed the response by everybody was that this decision by yourselves and Daily Trust, indeed would serve as an encouragement to the panel to persist in what we are doing, and I think that's how we received it.

http://allafrica.com/stories/201305200508.html?viewall=1

Africa - Islamists' next battle ground. But no, they're not after world domination at all.

There's no grand master muslim plotting to take over the world. Don't be daft. The reason Islamic extremism is increasing in Africa is because of hundreds of years of political instability, aggression and a reputation for crazed populace.

Big difference between "Muslim" and "Islamist". Your local kebab shop owner isn't trying to take over anything.

What exactly do you think "islamist" means?

Afro, I'm not playing that game. Look it up.

Islamist - a scholar who knowledgeable in Islamic studies.

But now days;

Islamist - those who want a theocracy based on sharia law.

-PB

I know I'd much rather a Christian warlord like Kony to any evil Islamists.

Lolz

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-03-08/who-is-joseph-kony/3877490



Sounds pretty Christian to me, or are you going to pull the olde "no true Scotsman" thing?

Two shot by police after soldier hacked to death on street near Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich
CHARLES MIRANDA IN LONDON NEWS LIMITED NETWORK MAY 23, 2013 7:28AM

A SERVING British soldier was hacked to death in south east London metres away from his barracks by two machete-wielding men ranting "we swear by almighty Allah we will never stop fighting you”.

In extraordinary broad daylight scenes in Woolwich, the men allegedly ran the man down in a car then tried to hack the man’s head off and have their own crime filmed then waited 20 minutes for police to turn up before charging at them with meat cleavers, knives and a hand gun.

Both men, shouting "Allah Akbar" or "God is great" in Arabic, were shot by police snipers, including a female officer, and were this morning (AEST) in hospital under guard in a serious but stable condition.

The British government last night convened the “Cobra” committee, including emergency services leaders, to coordinate a response to the unprecedented attack which is being described as a terrorist attack.

Prime Minister David Cameron, who was in Paris meeting his counterpart and had to rush back to London last night, described the crime as “sickening” and an appalling murder as he summonsed his emergency Cobra ministers.

He said it was a “terrorist incident”.


ITV footage of a man at the scene with bloody hands.
"We have suffered these attacks before, we have always beaten them back," Mr Cameron said. "We will not be cowed, we will never buckle."

The Opposition leader Ed Miliband was also cutting short a trip to Germany.

Police were last night declining to formally identify the victim as a soldier but numerous of sources have he had exited Woolwich barracks, which is home to the of the 2nd Battalion Princess of Wales Royal Regiment, and was wearing a "Help for Heroes" T-Shirt, a charity helping the injured and veterans of the armed services.

Dozens of people witness attack

Witnesses have given terrifying accounts of what they saw on the main street in the suburb at 2.20pm (London time), describing two black men as they chopped at the victim, a young soldier, “like a piece of meat”.


This Twitter photo shows the aftermath following the Woolwich shooting.
“They were hacking at this poor guy, literally,” said one witness, identified only as James as he fought back tears.

“They were hacking at him, chopping him, cutting him. These two guys were crazed.”

The men, described as "animals", then apparently stood around the body and demanded shocked witnesses take photographs of them.

TV network ITV News aired footage of one of the men walking away carrying a knife with blood on his hands and ranting.

Other news sites ran video of one of the attackers - with a bloodied machete in his hand - saying: "You people will never be safe. Remove your government, they don't care about you. You think David Cameron is going to get caught in the street when we start bussin' our guns? You think politicians are going to die?

"No it's going to be the average guy, like you, and your children.

"So get rid of them. Tell them to bring our troops back so you can all live in peace."

With his hands bloodied and carrying a cleaver, he told the bystander with a camera: "I apologise that women had to witness this today but in our lands our women have to see the same.

"You people will never be safe. Remove your governments – they don’t care about you."

He also added: “We must fight them as they fight us. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.”


A tent is erected near the scene of an attack in Woolwich southeast London.
The man, who spoke English without a foreign accent, then sauntered back across the road to his victim lying in the street to join his accomplice.

The two men made no attempt to escape and then charged a police car carrying an armed police team when it arrived at the scene about 15 minutes after the killing, according to a witness.

'They were using meat cleavers to hack him up'

"The black guy ran at them with a meat cleaver before it stopped and he was right by the car when they shot him,” Julia Wilders, 51, who lives nearby, was quoted as saying British media

"There were two black guys that looked like they were trying to resuscitate a white guy on the floor.


"I thought there'd been an accident but then I saw they were using meat cleavers to hack him up.

"We live just behind where it happened and once we got back we walked back to have a look and that's when I saw one of the black guys pull out a handgun.

"My husband screamed at me to get back. I was petrified.

"As I was running back I saw the police pull up and the black guy was running towards the police car and they shot him."

Another witness, Shane Webb, 48, an electrician who lives in a tower block overlooking the scene, says he looked out of the window of his flat after hearing a loud bang.

"There was a white man lying in the middle of the street. He was definitely dead. He was wearing a bomber jacket," he told Britain's Daily Mail.
"As I was watching a police car pulled up and two cops got out.

"They both just raised their guns and fired. There were about five or six shots very fast and one of the black guys just went down. I don't know if he was dead or not, but he just collapsed, just went down.

"They were firing at both of them and I think the other was hit as well, but I couldn't see that very well."

Local rapper Boya Dee described the events on Twitter.


“The first guy goes for the female fed [police officer] with the machete and she not even ramping she took man out like robocop never seen nutn like it,” he wrote.

“Then the next breda try buss off the rusty 45 [gun] and it just backfires and blows mans finger clean off... Feds didnt pet to just take him out!!”

He went on: “Mate ive seen alot of s*** im my time but that has to rank sumwhere in the top 3. I couldnt believe my eyes. That was some movie s***.”

Another witness, Luke Huseyin, who lives on the street, said he heard a bang and looked out his window to see a blue car had crashed, apparently into the soldier.

'People were screaming and running away'

He then described how two black men got out of the car dragging the white man, aged in his 20s, across the road before stabbing and slashing him with a machete and a knife.

“I don’t think it took long before he was dead,” he said.

“There were people passing by who were screaming and running away. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

The 32-year-old described how they then dragged their dead victim back into the middle of the road then waited for police and charged at them when they arrived.

As the men hacked their victim, who had just left the barracks, they allegedly shouted “ We swear by almighty Allah we will never stop fighting you”.

One attacker asked people on the street to take his photo.

Big police presence after attack

More than 40 police officers were still at the scene at Woolwichas darkness fell, piecing together events to establish whether the attack was premeditated or opportunistic.

Markers were strewn across the street and pavement, plastic covers were pasted to the road over what is believed to be the significant number of weapons used in the attack.

Floodlights were being set up with the cordon to remain overnight . Officers also moved door-to-door seeking statements and more mobile phone footage or images.

Military personnel were also holding meetings at the local police station last night.

The military has always had a high presence in the area, with the barracks having existed there for centuries.

Local police have also called for calmed in the mixed-race area. One witness has said they allegedly recognised one of the attackers as having been preaching in the town centre the previous week in a "political" rant.


Buckingham Palace last night issued a statement describing the Queen's dismay at events. It vowed a scheduled meeting she was to make to Woolwich barracks next week would go ahead.

A number of politicians have described the resilience of the British people in the face of the extraordinary scene in a combined bid to call for calm.

There are some fears there could be reprisal attacks over what is being described as a politically motivated attack in the name of Allah.

The Muslim Council in Britain said it would no doubt raise tensions on the streets in the UK.

"This is a truly barbaric act that has no basis in Islam and we condemn this unreservedly. Our thoughts are with the victim and his family.

"We understand the victim is a serving member of the Armed Forces. Muslims have long served in this country's Armed Forces, proudly and with honour.

"This attack on a member of the Armed Forces is dishonourable, and no cause justifies this murder."

Home Secretary Theresa May said the attack was an attack on all of Britain and would not be tolerated. She would not comment on whether the men were known to intelligence agencies or whether the attack was targeted.



The nation, somewhat accustomed to terrorist attacks on home soil during the IRA era, has been stunned by the unprecedented scenes on a public street in the British capital.

Commentators described the brutal slaying as a watershed in polical-social history in Britain with far reaching repurcussions.

Mayor Boris Johnson last night revealed security at Woolwich Barracks but also all other British military bases would be stepped up in light of the attack.

Five years ago, a Birmingham man was jailed for life for plotting to kidnap and kill a British Muslim soldier and film his beheading. He is currently serving 14 years in jail.


http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/world/two-shot-by-police-after-soldiers-hacking-death-near-royal-artillery-barracks-in-woolwich/story-fni0xs61-1226648801254

Brave women tried to shield body from attackers
NEWS.COM.AU MAY 23, 2013 6:55AM


Women try to shield soldier's body

WITNESSES to the horrific attack on a soldier in London have told of the 'brave' women who confronted the attackers and tried to shield the body.

According to witnesses the attackers waited at the scene after attacking the soldier with machetes and knives until police arrived, asking for people to take pictures and film them.

One of the men was filmed ranting: “I apologise that women had to witness this today, but in our land, women have to see the same. (...) “We swear by almighty Allah we will never stop fighting you”.

The man then walks away from the camera back towards the body.

In this picture published by Live leak from a the Twitter account of a witness, a woman is seen confronting the alleged attacker even as he brandishes a knife.

One witness James, told LBC radio that a number of "brave women" tried to shield the victim at the scene.

He told the station: "We saw clearly two knives, meat cleavers. They were big kitchen knives like you would use in a butcher's. They were hacking at this poor guy. We thought they were trying to remove organs from him.

"These two guys were crazed, they were not there, they were just animals. They then dragged him from the pavement and dumped his body in the middle of the road.

"They took 20 minutes to arrive, the police - the armed response.

"There was only a few people at first, then traffic began to build up because people were getting out of their cars to shout at them. They were taking no notice, they were standing there, I think they were proud of what they were doing.

"When they dumped the body in the road, these two black guys had the opportunity to hurt other people if they wanted to because there were brave women with the dead guy on the floor.

"They were shielding and covering him. The attackers with the knives were standing over these women."


http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/brave-women-tried-to-shield-body-from-attackers/story-fni0fiyv-1226648832990

Just saw that pop up too.

UK heading for a Civil War.

-PB

Horrible stuff. RIP.

Oh Islam, you so peaceful and tolerant.

It's very hard to make the case that this is not a religion-driven attack when these terrorists keep telling us they're doing it in the name of Islam.

The whole of Muslim appearance thing pissed me off. Islam is one of the most multicultural religions in the world ffs.

That's what pissed you off?

Please link me to the video of where he says that. The only one i have seen has it cut off where he says something about the government then walks away.

Also, he cant claim anything our his land, his got a thick british accent and is definitely born and bred british, i doubt he knows anything of the other lands.

Anyone who acts in violence, hatred or ill temper claiming they are acting under Islam, should know that they are in fact not acting under Islam.

Unfortunately muslims keeps blaming the media when these happen saying its always blamed on muslims, but if people keep doing things in the name of islam, whilst we as muslims know that they are not acting under islam, we need to show the world that too. Time we started showing the religion for what we claim it to be rather than defending these silly people.

Another unfortunate incident where a sociopath uses Islam to justify their actions.

[youtube]LKsC9Otxwck[/youtube]

Something that kind of matches your views in regards to the Oxford sex ring.



Written by an Imam(y)

Writing about stuff like this.

[youtube]tssBq4jCWtw[/youtube]

Edited by iridium1010: 23/5/2013 03:34:25 PM

Islam will tear Europe apart. The lefties reap what they sow, *grabs popcorn* Japan will never have these problems they're smart people and have limited immigration

Surely it's ultimately the righties fault for destabilising certain parts of the world...

Nah... Just a matter of a few days before numerous left-wing commentators blame 'Islamaphobia' for the attack and make Britons feel guilty for being angry.

I'm not sure how you can blame 'islamophobia' for this.

You can't.

That won't stop some people though.

I just find it funny that the same people decrying all of Islam for the actions of a small minority are fine to make excuses for the Catholic Church when their priests ritually rape children, and then hide the evidence from police for decades.

Don't bring the catholic church into this. It's got nothing to do with it.