A Marine reservist was charged with attacking a Greek Orthodox priest he said he thought was a terrorist. The reservist, Lance Cpl. Jasen D. Bruce, is accused of hitting the Rev. Alexios Marakis over the head with a tire iron and chasing him for three blocks on Monday evening before Tampa police officers intervened. Father Marakis, a Greek Orthodox priest visiting from Crete, told the police he had stopped to ask for help after getting lost. Mr. Bruce told the police he heard Father Marakis yell, “Allahu akbar!” — Arabic for “God is great,” said a police spokeswoman, Laura McElroy. Father Marakis, however, does not speak Arabic, Ms. McElroy said; he speaks Greek. Lance Corporal Bruce’s lawyer said his client was the one attacked.
The claim comes as officials in different branches of law enforcement and the military squabble over who knew what when about Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan's leanings toward faith-inspired violence, and as charges fly that 'political correctness' prevented officials from taking action and is still being used as a crutch in explaining the rampage after the fact. Investigators would have been "crucified" over First Amendment rights if they had launched a full-scale probe into e-mails Fort Hood massacre suspect Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan allegedly sent to a radical imam, a government investigator told Fox News. The claim comes as the squabble grows among officials in different branches of law enforcement and the military over who knew what, and when, about Hasan's leanings toward faith-inspired violence, and amid charges that "political correctness" prevented officials from taking pre-emptive action. "Had we launched an investigation of Hasan we'd have been crucified," the investigator said, adding that the communications were shared with the "appropriate chains." But even after the attacks, some have been reluctant to cite religion as a factor, as evidence has mounted that the alleged gunman's Muslim faith was at least a partial factor in the decision to mount the attack. Witnesses report hearing Hasan yell "Allahu Akbar" -- "God is Great" -- during the rampage. Hasan once gave a presentation justifying homicide bombings, according to witnesses. In one presentation, he also urged the military to let Muslim members leave the service to avoid "adverse" effects. But "political correctness" has been cited as a reason why warning signs from Hasan were potentially overlooked by the military in the first place. Some see Hasan being treated the same way in the wake of the shooting. Bernard Goldberg, a former CBS News correspondent, took the media to task for its coverage. "What's the story line they run with? Religion? Of course not. Can't do that. He's a Muslim," he said Friday on Fox News' "The O'Reilly Factor." Fox News contributor Monica Crowley called that assessment "incredible." "I think he's knee-deep in political correctness, as so many people are, including now, as we know, the United States military. Political correctness is turning out to be the death of this country," she said.
Suspected Somali pirates hijacked a Greek-owned bulk carrier Wednesday with 22 crew members aboard. MV Filitsa was seized in the early morning about 460 miles (740 kilometers) northeast of the Seychelles as it headed toward Durban, South Africa. There have been more than 100 pirate attacks and at least 39 hijackings off the east Africa this year. In late October, Somali pirates seized a private yacht in the Indian Ocean, taking Paul and Rachel Chandler hostage. They have demanded a $7 million ransom for the British couple's release, but the government has refused to pay as a matter of long-standing policy. Two vessels were attacked the day after the Chandlers set sail. One of them -- a cargo ship -- was successfully boarded and seized off the Seychelles, while the other fought off its attackers near the Kenyan coast. Pirates are still holding a Spanish fishing boat, the Alakrana, which they seized on October 2 off Somalia's coast. Days later, they transferred three of the fishing boat's 36 crew members to land.
Serbian President Boris Tadić conferred Tuesday in Athens with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou. Tadić thanked him for his initiative for the Western Balkan countries' integration in the European Union by 2014, his office said. Tadić and Papandreou also spoke about Serbia's EU integration, visa liberalization, fighting organized crime and regional situation. Tadić's visit to Greece precedes his visit to Rome where he will confer with Italian President Giorgio Napolitano on November 12, the release says. One day later, Tadić will head a Serbian government delegation to the Serbian-Italian summit. From Rome, he will travel to Berlin to confer with Chancellor Angela Merkel on November 16. That meeting will be "one of the first" Merkel will have with foreign statesmen since her re-election, it was announced. The top-level talks in Athens, Rome and Berlin are part of Tadić's endeavors for securing EU countries' support to the forthcoming EU decisions on visa liberalization and Serbia's integration process, the statement concluded.
Cyprus reacted coolly Wednesday to an offer made by Britain to cede about half of its sovereign territory on the island to facilitate a peace agreement between Greek and Turkish Cypriots. Foreign Minister Marcos Kyprianou said the Greek Cypriots want a solution and the reunification of the former British colony does not need any other motive. "Presently we should concentrate on the talks and if Britain wishes to effectively assist the process for a solution to the problem it should exert pressure and influence on Turkey, so that it becomes more constructive in the talks for a settlement," Kyprianou said. A Cyprus government spokesman said President Demetris Christofias expected to discuss the offer with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown later Wednesday in London. "A similar offer was included in the Annan Plan but we must wait for further information," the spokesman said. Britain has maintained two separate "sovereign bases" on its former colony even after Cyprus gained independence in 1960. The offer to cede half the territory of the military bases was made Tuesday by the British High Commissioner to Alexander Downer, the advisor of the U.N. Secretary General on Cyprus. The solution proposed by the United Nations in 2002, known as the Annan Plan, was accepted by the Turkish Cypriot community but was rejected by the Greek side by a 76 percent majority in 2004. Talks between the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities restarted in September 2008 with the aim of reaching a solution and reunifying Cyprus, which was partitioned in 1974 when Turkey sent troops and occupied the northern third of the island.
Russia and the South Ossetia are set to raise the issue of a possible Georgian attack on its former territories during the Geneva talks on situation in the Caucasus to begin on Wednesday. The Geneva talks are backed by the UN, the EU and the OSCE and involve Georgia, Russia, South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The previous, seventh round of talks took place in September.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin said Russia had "alarming facts" that show that Tbilisi was still counting on using force to regain control over its former republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. He also said that Russia would again raise the question of concluding treaties on the non-use of force between Georgia and its former republics. South Ossetia said it would also present "conclusive evidence" that a new Georgian aggression against the former republic is being prepared. The Georgian delegation plans to raise the issue of four Georgian teenagers, detained in South Ossetia reportedly while in possession of grenades and explosive substances. In a similar move, South Ossetia will urge the release of three of its nationals apparently abducted from its territory by Georgian special services on October 13, 2008. Russia recognized the independence of the former Georgian republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia last August after a five-day war with Georgia over the latter, which was attacked by Tbilisi in an attempt to bring it back under central control.
A Coptic Christian blogger in Egypt held in prison for more than a year without charge said today he will go on a hunger strike unless authorities grant his next application for release. Hani Nazeer, a 28-year-old high school social worker from Qena, Egypt and author of the blog “Karz El Hob,” received word today that his latest application for release, sent to the Ministry of the Interior a week ago, was denied. His attorneys said they would re-apply for his release tomorrow. The interior ministry did not “supply the grounds for refusal” according to Rawda Ahamad, Nazeer’s lead defense attorney. “He has no charges against him,” Ahamad said. “He is not a criminal. He must be released immediately. He’s an innocent man – anyone exposed to this severe injustice would do the same.” On Oct. 3, 2008, Nazeer was arrested by Egypt’s State Security Investigations (SSI) and sent to Burj Al-Arab prison. Although police never charged him with any crime, Nazeer has been detained for more than a year under Egypt’s administrative imprisonment law. Nazeer ran afoul of SSI officers a few days before his arrest when a group of local teenagers visited his website and clicked on a link to an online copy of “Azazil’s Goat in Mecca,” a novel written under the pseudonym “Father Utah.” The book is a response to “Azazil,” a novel by Yusuf Zidane, critical of Christianity. Insulting religion is illegal in Egypt, but the law is enforced unequally. Zidane’s critique of Christianity garnered him fame and awards throughout the Arab world. Nazeer’s website link cost him his freedom, despite the fact that police have never publicly produced any evidence linking Nazeer to Utah’s work. After Nazeer was arrested, posts continued on Utah’s website. This week’s application will be sent to a court within the Ministry of the Interior. But under the emergency law, police officials have the power to ignore court orders. When local police execute a court order to release prisoners held under Egypt’s emergency law, security police commonly re-arrest them minutes later. The law, enacted after the 1981 assassination of President Anwar Sadat, allows authorities to hold people without charge. Eid estimated that there are approximately 14,000 people imprisoned under this law. In 2005, while running for re-election, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak promised to replace the contested law. But in May of 2008, the Egyptian government extended the law for two more years. Mamdouh Nakhla, an attorney and civil rights activist in Egypt, said oppression of Coptic Christians is common and that many police officers in Egypt are the “agents of persecution.” At best, he said, they are complicit in acts of persecution. At worst, he added, police collude with others hostile to Christianity.