Bank Worker Jailed for 'Hollywood Style' Bomb Hoax...

A bank worker who strapped a fake bomb to his leg so accomplices could steal £161,000 from his branch of the Co-Op bank has been jailed for six years.

Muhammed Qasim Salam, 23, of Bracknell Close, Luton, caused a terrorist alert and a three-hour stand off with armed police in Watford on 2 June.

Imran Khalifa and Faizan Rehman, both 23 and of Luton, were jailed for five years each.

All three admitted conspiracy to steal and conspiracy to commit a bomb hoax.

'Inspired by Hollywood'

The court heard Rehman entered the bank as a customer and while a colleague was distracted by a bogus 18-minute complaint call from Khalifa, Salam led him to the bank's safe.

Salam had earlier ensured a male colleague was out of the bank by giving him a fake appointment in Rickmansworth, and had slashed the bank manager's car tyres so he was delayed in getting to work.

While Rehman made his getaway with Khalifa, Salam strapped the fake bomb to his leg and called 999 in a plan inspired by Hollywood films, the court heard.

He claimed the device had been attached by a man with a gun who threatened to detonate it if the theft was broadcast on radio.

Police sealed off the town centre and laid siege at the bank in Market Street while the bomb squad and trained negotiators were called up.

Money in bush

They became suspicious when he was seen walking around the bank, despite the "bomb" on his leg, the court heard.

He finally gave himself up and took police to Luton where a bag containing the money, a plastic gun and clothing was found in a bush.

Rehman, of Havelock Road, and Khalifa, of Maidenhead Road, both in Luton, were arrested later.

Timothy Clark, for Salam, said he was of previous good character but "obsessively viewed Hollywood films".

Mozammel Hossain, defending Rehman, said the university graduate had followed Salam's instructions, describing the crime as "an amateurish operation".

Matthew Sherratt, for Khalifa, said the graduate had wanted to use the proceeds to start his own business.

Judge Andrew Bright QC said: "The bomb hoax struck hearts and minds of bank employees and members of the public alike.

"Police numbers had to be mobilised to deal with the hoax. The cost has to have been many tens of thousands of pounds."

London Rape Defendant Claims 'Consensual Sex' with Lesbian...

A lesbian doctor was raped by a rickshaw driver after a night out in London, a court has heard.

The woman, in her 20s, was attacked after she was left alone with Turkish-born Murat Durmus, 23, during the early hours on February 5.

She had kept her sexuality a secret but was forced to come out to her family because of her ordeal, the Old Bailey was told.

The doctor and her gay friend had been drinking at bars in Soho and unsuccessfully tried to find a black cab home.

 

They walked around the road closures near Tottenham Court Road and decided to catch a pedal rickshaw, which ply for trade in the West End, to their homes near Tower Bridge.

Her friend got out of the rickshaw on the way to her house and the woman doesn't remember what happened next.

The woman said: 'Things got a bit hazy. I honestly don't remember how it all started.

'My next memory is simply buzzing the buzzer and going into my flatmate's bedroom.

 I was hysterical and crying. Because of my orientation, I was outraged. I was angry.'

A passer-by noticed Durmus arguing with the doctor, telling her to get back inside the rickshaw.

She was telling him to leave her alone, the court heard.

When the passer-by intervened, the doctor grabbed his arm and said she wanted to go with him. But Durmus insisted he was owed money.

The Good Samaritan accompanied the pair to a cashpoint. He left when the doctor walked away and Durmus rode off.

Lisa Matthews, prosecuting, said: 'The CCTV shows the defendant picking her up and putting her into the rickshaw and then driving around.'

The jury were shown CCTV footage of Durmus as he cycled through the deserted streets sometimes doubling back on himself.

Ms Matthews added: 'Her next memory was being raped by him. That happened she thought in the rickshaw. 

'Because she had been drinking she remembers something of standing up and then lying down.

'She said she was crying and saying 'no' and he put his hand over her mouth to stop her screaming.'

After raping her, Durmus then cycled off leaving the woman to make her way home, the court was told.

Ms Matthews said: 'She was very distressed by what had happened and told her flatmate that she had been raped.

'She then also told her brother who was staying with her. Her family at that stage did not know that she was gay and she found it very difficult to tell them what had happened.'

The doctor was able to give police a description of her alleged attacker and his rickshaw and 13 days later he was tracked down and arrested.

The court heard Durmus' DNA was found inside his alleged victim.

Durmus, of Walthamstow, denies two counts of rape and claimed the sex was consensual.

He said he had cycled away but saw her 'standing in a dark corner'.

She approached him, took his hand and went back into the corner and kissed him.  

'They returned to the rickshaw and went to a garage area. He said she initiated the approach.'

The trial, expected to last two weeks, continues.

BBC apologizes for promoting pork dish for Muslim holiday

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has apologized through the Anadolu Agency (A.A) for promoting pork dish for the major Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr. 

BBC told the A.A that the dish "pork vindaloo" was included among Eid al-Fitr recipes posted on its web-site by mistake.

It said that the automatic suggestion system caused the mistake.

BBC apologized for the inconvenience it caused.

Earlier, Muslim people reacted harshly to BBC's mistake.

Hakan Camuz, chairman of the Independent Industrialists' & Businessmen's Association (MUSIAD) in the United Kingdom, told the A.A that BBC had the vision to be aware of importance of the Eid al-Fitr for Muslim people. "But it is unacceptable that BBC could ignore the fact that Muslim people do not eat pork. This is disrespectful," he said and called on BBC to apologize from Muslim people.

Ahmed Versi, editor of the Muslim News, said that BBC made a big mistake by promoting a pork dish for Eid al-Fitr.

Eid al-Fitr is the three-day Muslim holiday celebrating the end of Ramadan, the holy month when Muslim people fast from dawn to sunset.

Muslims demand Sharia student loans because paying interest goes against Islamic law

Muslim groups are calling for a separate student loan system because the interest due to be charged will conflict with rules of Sharia law.

The changes to tuition fees, which come into force next year, will see students charged higher rates of interest on the loans they take out to pay for university.

Until now they have paid the market rate of inflation but the reforms mean students who go on to earn more than £21,000 will have to pay interest of up to 3 per cent.

But in some interpretations of Sharia law, which is Islam's legal system and governs every aspect of Muslim life, loans are forbidden.

The National Union of Students has said it could be two years before an alternative system is worked out, leaving some Muslims fearing they cannot go on to further study.

The Federation of Student Islamic Societies told The Independent that the rate increase was a 'pressing issue'.

A spokesman said: 'Because the rate of interest is above the rate of inflation, it is quite blatant usury.'

Usury means the practice of lending money and charging the borrower interest, possibly at a very high rate. 

Mohammed Ahmed-Sheikh, 17, says the changes will discourage him from applying to university next year.

'The fees are the reason I'm having doubts. I'm Muslim and loans are against my religion,' he told The Independent.

Ahmad Mitoubsi, 21, who graduated this year, added: 'We've just had to adapt to the British system or else I couldn't have gone to uni.'

The Department of Business, Innovation and Skills says discussions are ongoing with student groups about a solution.

But it is thought an alternative, such as already happens with mortgages in which education could be 'rented' instead, may not be agreed until the 2013/14 academic year. 

Sharia law is Islam's legal system. It was derived from the Koran, as the word of God, the example of the life of the prophet Muhammad and fatwas - the rulings of Islamic scholars.

It is different to the legal traditions of the Western world because it governs - or informs - everything about how a Muslim lives.

Jobless refugees who SNUBBED a six-bed home in Coventry to be with friends in London (in a £2m home funded by the taxpayer)

They say beggars can’t be choosers.

But in the case of jobless Somali refugee Saeed Khaliif and his  family, it seems they can.

The Mail yesterday revealed how the Khaliifs have been given a £2million home in one of London’s most exclusive neighbourhoods, with taxpayers funding their £8,000-a-month rent.

The family had rejected a previous six-bedroom home in Coventry - where the bill for the public would have been a more reasonable £1,000 a month - simply because they wanted to live ‘closer to their friends’.

Yesterday the Daily Mail tracked down their old address in Coventry and found a beautiful semi-detached house in one of the city’s most  desirable districts.

The red-brick Victorian property is situated opposite a park known as Gosford Green which has survived since the 1300s, and there is also a parade of shops and restaurants nearby.

Their fellow refugees in the area said the ‘very lucky’ family should have counted their blessings to have been given such a property.

Abdi Ibrahim, chairman of the Coventry Somali Community Network, a charity which works to integrate Somalis into the wider community, said: ‘In all my time in Coventry I have not even seen a six-bedroom house advertised for rent. 

From yesterday's Mail

'My family have been stuck in three or four-bedroom accommodation - a six-bedroom house is exceptional. This family should really have stayed in the area because it is much cheaper than in London.’

Mr Khaliif, 49, moved to the seven-bedroom property in West Hampstead, North-West London, with his wife Sayida and their children after deciding their previous accommodation was too far from their friends, even though Coventry is barely more than an hour away by train.

Leafy West Hampstead is one of the most sought-after areas in London, and well beyond the reach of many well-heeled house-hunters in the capital.

On top of their free accommodation, the family is also thought to be eligible for a raft of benefits including incapacity benefit, income support and child benefit, which could potentially add many thousands of pounds to their monthly haul from the taxpayer.

The Khaliifs and their brood of children - eight youngsters have been seen at the property - fled war-torn Somalia and arrived in Britain about three years ago as asylum-seekers.

Since then, they are believed to have been granted refugee status, allowing them to claim benefits. Speaking via his children, who act as translators, Mr Khaliif said he had not worked since arriving in the UK and admitted he was on benefits.

Their new home has a 90ft garden and has been recently refurbished, with a large living room, sprawling kitchen, six double bedrooms - two with walk-in dressing rooms - and five shower rooms, four of which are en-suite. Another living room has been converted into a seventh bedroom.

Councillor Jonny Bucknell, who is on Camden council’s housing committee, said: ‘There are big families living locally who need more space, and I’ve never managed to get anyone rehoused.

‘It is shocking that these people can just turn up from out of town and get such a magnificent property. The whole country is rightly outraged.'

Arabic mehndi designs

Arabic mehndi designs are not so different form Indian and Pakistani mehndi designs. Arabic mehndi designs are not so rigid but their rigidity depends on the occasion.

Eid India Mehndi Designs

Eid India Mehndi Designs a lot of cultural significance in Indian traditions. Be it weddings, Karva Chauth or other occasions, mehndi plays an important role in all the ceremonies and festivals of India.

Eid Pakistani Mehndi Designs

Eid Pakistani Mehndi Designs since the identify suggests are a lot more frequent for the individuals while in the Pakistan. Nevertheless their popularity is throughout the world and they may be acknowledged for being extremely reputed mehndi styles.

The majority of the Eid Pakistani Mehndi Designs are recognized to possess really complex styles at the same time as designs.

Eid Mehndi Designs Collection

Naturally made makeup product is henna that is termed as mehndi

Eid Mubarak wallpapers

Eid Mubarak  is the most precious and biggest Islamic Holiday, anxiously awaited by Muslims after the fasting month of Ramadan. On this holy festival of Eid Mubarak

Lets Celebrate Humanity in a Form of Eid Ul Fitr 2011

30 August 2011 is to celebrate the Muslim Holiday. We call Hari Raya Aidilfitri Holiday or Eid Holiday. In Hijriah (Islamic Date) calendar, it falls on 1 Syawal 1431.

It is a Muslim holiday that marks the end of Ramadan 2011 / Ramadhan 2011, the Islamic holy month of “Puasa” (fasting). The holiday symbolizes the breaking of the fasting period. It is celebrated starting on the first day of the Islamic month of Shawwal / Syawal.

Heroin haul too Hot to Handle for Father and Son Drug smugglers

A FATHER and son from Birmingham found their drugs haul to hot to handle after being caught smuggling almost 80kg of the drug into the UK in a container of chilli powder.

Gulab Mohammed, 51, and his 29-year-old son Khalid Mohammed had attempted to bypass stringent security checks at Felixtowe by disguising the drugs amongst 600 sacks of red chilli powder in a container shipped from Pakistan in November 2010.

But the elaborate plan was fumbled when officers from UK Border Agency officers noticed more than 18 packages of heroin hidden amongst the chilli powder.

Gulab Mohammed was jailed for 21 years for his part in the smuggling plot, while his son Khalid Mohammed was sentenced to 19 years.

An investigation by the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) showed that the Mohammeds had used a shipping agency to transport the heroin from Pakistan to the UK in November 2010.

On its arrival at Felixtowe on 3 November 2010, the container was scanned by UK Border Agency officers and found to contain 600 20kg sacks of red chilli powder. Twelve beige coloured packages were found in one of the sacks near the rear of the container, and when tested, the contents of these were found to be heroin. Six further sacks in the final row of the container also contained quantities of the drug.

SOCA officers substituted the heroin with a safe substance and then sent the consignment, driven by an undercover SOCA officer, to the delivery address, Sewon Enterprise UK Ltd, Bristol Road South in Birmingham. On his arrival he was met by the Mohammeds who asked him to take the container on to an industrial unit in Whitchurch, Shropshire. After arriving at the unit, the container was subsequently unloaded and the father and son arrested by SOCA officers.

SOCA’s Trevor Symes said: “Career criminals like Gulab and Khalid Mohammad look for ingenious ways to traffic drugs. They are determined, but so are we. SOCA’s together with our international and national partners will ensure criminals who traffic drugs will face justice.”

Brian Hill, UK Border Agency Assistant Director at Felixstowe, said: “This was the biggest single seizure of heroin made in the UK last year. It was attempted drug smuggling on an industrial scale. The men involved stood to make huge profits from their criminal enterprise, but thanks to the efforts of our officers at Felixstowe and our partners at SOCA they are instead facing a long stay behind bars.

 “Drug smuggling is a vile business that exploits the misery of others.

 Heroin destroys lives and it is right that there are heavy penalties for those involved in the trade. The message is clear – if you try to smuggle drugs into the UK we will catch you and bring you to justice.”

Families of suicide bombers given £5m in British aid cash

British aid cash is being given to the families of suicide bombers, it was claimed last night.

The Palestinian Authority, which gets £86million of British aid a year, has authorised payments of almost £5million to the families of ‘martyrs’.

Another £3million has been given to 5,500 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. The payments, using taxpayers’ cash donated from Britain and the European Union, have been described as ‘ludicrous’ by one Tory MP.

Hamas militants: The families of so-called 'martyrs' are given millions by the Palestinian Authority

The Palestinian Authority, which oversees the West Bank, has introduced a new law which pays the families of suicide bombers out of its civil service budget.

According to the official Palestinian daily newspaper, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, payments to the families of ‘martyrs’ – those killed fighting Israel, including suicide bombers – totalled 3.5 per cent of the budget.

‘Every terrorist in prison, including those whose acts led to the deaths of Israeli civilians, are on the PA payroll,’ said Itamar Marcus, of Palestinian Media Watch.

‘The salary goes directly to the terrorist or the terrorist’s family, and prisoners receive their salaries from the day of arrest.’

Philip Davies: The Tory has hit out at British aid to Palestine

Tory MP Philip Davies said the payments were ‘ludicrous’. He added: ‘People think overseas aid is to try to alleviate terrible poverty in places where they can’t afford to look after themselves. But it’s being put to these kind of purposes. 

‘It would be bad enough at the best of times, but at a time when we have got no money, it is utterly inexcusable.’

Last month, Britain committed to giving £86million a year in aid to the Palestinian Authority until 2015.

The payments to families and prisoners are on a sliding scale, from £250 a month for prisoners sentenced to less than three years, to a maximum of £2,140 a month for anyone serving more than 30 years.

The payments compare with salaries of £515 for a regular Palestinian civil servant and £480 for officers in the Palestinian security forces.

Minister of State Alan Duncan said in February: ‘We are very careful how we spend our money in the occupied Palestinian territories. We would abhor any money falling into the hands of extremists.’ 

The Government is under pressure for the amount of aid it is handing out at a time of austerity. It plans to increase foreign aid payments by 35 per cent to £11.4billion by 2015.

This comes despite several scandals involving aid. Last week, it was revealed that money to Ethiopia was being used as a political tool and those who oppose the government do not receive handouts. 

David Cameron has admitted that the controversial pledge to spend billions more on international aid was a ‘difficult commitment’ at a time when spending programmes were being slashed at home.

The Prime Minister admitted that some aid had been ‘wasted’, but continued to dismiss ‘aid sceptics’.

MEMRI: London Islamist Abu Waleed: We Will Make David Cameron Get on His Hands and Knees and Pay Us the Jizya Tax; Queen Elizabeth and the "Whore" Kate Middleton Will Wear the Niqab

MEMRI: London Islamist Abu Waleed: We Will Make David Cameron Get on His Hands and Knees and Pay Us the Jizya Tax; Queen Elizabeth and the "Whore" Kate Middleton Will Wear the Niqab

'There ARE too many immigrants in the UK', say seven in 10 Britons

Nearly three quarters of Britons think there are too many immigrants in the country, a survey revealed yesterday.

The international poll, by IPSOS Mori, put the UK third highest in a league table of 23 countries according to concerns about migrant numbers.

And it showed Britain topped the table of countries according to concerns over the impact of migrants on public services.

Some 76 per cent of those questioned said immigration had put too much pressure on hospitals, transport services and schools.

The poll exposes the huge on-going scale of public worry over migration levels in recent years.

Under Labour’s open door immigration policy, the population was boosted by more than 3.2million arrivals from overseas.

Home Secretary Theresa May has made clear her determination to reduce net migration to the ‘tens of thousands’.

But the task of the coalition government in trying to get migrant numbers down to manageable levels has been made harder by a recent spike in new arrivals.

Sir Andrew Green, chairman of the MigrationWatch think tank said: ‘Concern in Britain is almost the highest in the world.  

‘This is a measure of the chaotic legacy of three million immigrants admitted by the previous government.  

‘The poll is a timely reminder that the present government must keep its pledge to get immigration down to tens of thousands or pay a very heavy price with public opinion.’

Last year net immigration - the difference between those arriving and those leaving - rose to near record levels.

In the year to September 2010 it hit 242,000, the third highest on record and the fastest rate since Eastern European countries joined the EU seven years ago and were allowed to come and work in the UK.

QUESTIONS ON IMMIGRANTS IN BRITAIN

TOO MANY IN THIS COUNTRY?

YES (strongly/tend to agree) 71 %

PLACE TOO MUCH PRESSURE ON PUBLIC SERVICES? 

YES 76%

MAKE GETTING A JOB MORE DIFFICULT?

YES 62%

MAKE BRITAIN MORE INTERESTING TO LIVE IN?

YES 33%

GOOD FOR THE ECONOMY?

YES 27%

The Global @dvisor survey compared attitudes to immigration in 23 countries including the USA, India and Brazil.

Some 71 per cent of Britons agreed there are ‘too many immigrants in our country’. Only Russians (77 per cent) and Belgians (72 per cent) were more concerned about migrant numbers.

Bottom of the list was Japan where just 15 per cent agreed.

A total of 76 per cent of Britons agreed immigration had put too much pressure on public services, putting this country top of the table ahead of Spain (70 per cent), Belgium (68 per cent) and the US (66 per cent).

Britain was third in the table of attitudes to migrant workers and jobs. Sixty-two per cent said migrants meant it was more difficult to find jobs in Britain.

In Russia the figure was 75 per cent and South Africa 64 per cent.

Just one in four (27 per cent) said immigration was good for the economy. One third (33 per cent) of Britons agreed that migrants made the country a more interesting place to live. 


In Brazil the figure was 49 per cent and Australia 46 per cent. 

Ipsos MORI spokesman Ashish Prashar said: ‘Clearly people in Britain are concerned how immigration is affecting their employment opportunities;

A survey by the department for Communities and Local Government this year found more than half the population want to see numbers coming from abroad to live in Britain reduced by ‘a lot’.

A Home Office cap on the number of migrant workers allowed in from outside the EU came into force in April.

Ministers have also pledged to crackdown on bogus students and colleges, and tighten rules on who can settle in the UK.

Immigration Minister Damian Green said: ‘For too long immigration was allowed to get out of control and we are taking action to reduce net migration back to the tens of thousands.

‘In the past year we have introduced an annual limit on the number of non-European workers able to come to the UK and overhauled student visas.

‘We are currently consulting on restricting settlement rights and the family route.’

:: Ipsos Mori polled up to 1000 people in an online survey covering 24 countries.