Anyone surprised they picked a real asshole as the new pope?

The sins of the Argentinian church

The Catholic church was complicit in dreadful crimes in Argentina. Now it has a chance to repent

Benedict XVI gave us words of great comfort and encouragement in the message he delivered on Christmas Eve.

“God anticipates us again and again in unexpected ways,” the pope said. “He does not cease to search for us, to raise us up as often as we might need. He does not abandon the lost sheep in the wilderness into which it had strayed. God does not allow himself to be confounded by our sin. Again and again he begins afresh with us”.

If these words comforted and encouraged me they will surely have done the same for leaders of the church in Argentina, among many others. To the judicious and fair-minded outsider it has been clear for years that the upper reaches of the Argentinian church contained many “lost sheep in the wilderness”, men who had communed and supported the unspeakably brutal western-supported military dictatorship that seized power in that country in 1976 and battened on it for years. Not only did the generals slaughter thousands unjustly, often dropping them out of aeroplanes over the River Plate and selling off their orphan children to the highest bidder, they also murdered at least two bishops and many priests. Yet even the execution of other men of the cloth did nothing to shake the support of senior clerics, including representatives of the Holy See, for the criminality of their leader General Jorge Rafael Videla and his minions.

As it happens, in the week before Christmas in the city of Córdoba Videla and some of his military and police cohorts were convicted by their country’s courts of the murder of 31 people between April and October 1976, a small fraction of the killings they were responsible for. The convictions brought life sentences for some of the military. These were not to be served, as has often been the case in Argentina and neighbouring Chile, in comfy armed forces retirement homes but in common prisons. Unsurprisingly there was dancing in the city’s streets when the judge announced the sentences.

What one did not hear from any senior member of the Argentinian hierarchy was any expression of regret for the church’s collaboration and in these crimes. The extent of the church’s complicity in the dark deeds was excellently set out by Horacio Verbitsky, one of Argentina’s most notable journalists, in his book El Silencio (Silence). He recounts how the Argentinian navy hid from a visiting delegation of the Inter-American Human Rights Commission the dictatorship’s political prisoners on an island linked to senior clerics.

One would have thought that the Argentinian bishops would have seized the opportunity to call for pardon for themselves and put on sackcloth and ashes as the sentences were announced in Córdoba but that has not so far happened.

But happily Their Eminences have just been given another chance to express contrition. Next month the convicted murderer Videla will be arraigned for his part in the killing of Enrique Angelelli, bishop of the Andean diocese of La Rioja and a supporter of the cause of poorer Argentinians. He was run off the highway by a hit squad of the Videla régime and killed on 4th August 1976 shortly after Videla’s putsch.

• This article was amended on 14 March 2013. The original article, published in 2011, wrongly suggested that Argentinian journalist Horacio Verbitsky claimed that Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio connived with the Argentinian navy to hide political prisoners on an island called El Silencio during an inspection by human rights monitors. Although Verbitsky makes other allegations about Bergoglio’s complicity in human right abuses, he does not make this claim. The original article also wrongly described El Silencio as Bergoglio’s “holiday home”. This has been corrected.

Would an innocent man with nothing to fear have to hide for the rest of his life? The Pope will not dare to leave the Vatican. He should be charged with human rights violations of the worst kind for accommodating child rapists and protecting child rapists. The true face of Evil!!!

Pope Immunity: Vatican Will Protect Benedict From Sexual Abuse Prosecution

 

(Reuters) – Pope Benedict’s decision to live in the Vatican after he resigns will provide him with security and privacy. It will also offer legal protection from any attempt to prosecute him in connection with sexual abuse cases around the world, Church sources and legal experts say.

“His continued presence in the Vatican is necessary, otherwise he might be defenseless. He wouldn’t have his immunity, his prerogatives, his security, if he is anywhere else,” said one Vatican official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“It is absolutely necessary” that he stays in the Vatican, said the source, adding that Benedict should have a “dignified existence” in his remaining years.

Vatican sources said officials had three main considerations in deciding that Benedict should live in a convent in the Vatican after he resigns on February 28.

Vatican police, who already know the pope and his habits, will be able to guarantee his privacy and security and not have to entrust it to a foreign police force, which would be necessary if he moved to another country.

“I see a big problem if he would go anywhere else. I’m thinking in terms of his personal security, his safety. We don’t have a secret service that can devote huge resources (like they do) to ex-presidents,” the official said.

Another consideration was that if the pope did move permanently to another country, living in seclusion in a monastery in his native Germany, for example, the location might become a place of pilgrimage.

POTENTIAL EXPOSURE

This could be complicated for the Church, particularly in the unlikely event that the next pope makes decisions that may displease conservatives, who could then go to Benedict’s place of residence to pay tribute to him.

“That would be very problematic,” another Vatican official said.

The final key consideration is the pope’s potential exposure to legal claims over the Catholic Church’s sexual abuse scandals.

In 2010, for example, Benedict was named as a defendant in a law suit alleging that he failed to take action as a cardinal in 1995 when he was allegedly told about a priest who had abused boys at a U.S. school for the deaf decades earlier. The lawyers withdrew the case last year and the Vatican said it was a major victory that proved the pope could not be held liable for the actions of abusive priests.

Benedict is currently not named specifically in any other case. The Vatican does not expect any more but is not ruling out the possibility.

“(If he lived anywhere else) then we might have those crazies who are filing lawsuits, or some magistrate might arrest him like other (former) heads of state have been for alleged acts while he was head of state,” one source said.

Another official said: “While this was not the main consideration, it certainly is a corollary, a natural result.”

After he resigns, Benedict will no longer be the sovereign monarch of the State of Vatican City, which is surrounded by Rome, but will retain Vatican citizenship and residency.

LATERAN PACTS

That would continue to provide him immunity under the provisions of the Lateran Pacts while he is in the Vatican and even if he makes jaunts into Italy as a Vatican citizen.

The 1929 Lateran Pacts between Italy and the Holy See, which established Vatican City as a sovereign state, said Vatican City would be “invariably and in every event considered as neutral and inviolable territory”.

There have been repeated calls for Benedict’s arrest over sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.

When Benedict went to Britain in 2010, British author and atheist campaigner Richard Dawkins asked authorities to arrest the pope to face questions over the Church’s child abuse scandal.

Dawkins and the late British-American journalist Christopher Hitchens commissioned lawyers to explore ways of taking legal action against the pope. Their efforts came to nothing because the pope was a head of state and so enjoyed diplomatic immunity.

In 2011, victims of sexual abuse by the clergy asked the International Criminal Court to investigate the pope and three Vatican officials over sexual abuse.

The New York-based rights group Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) and another group, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), filed a complaint with the ICC alleging that Vatican officials committed crimes against humanity because they tolerated and enabled sex crimes.

The ICC has not taken up the case but has never said why. It generally does not comment on why it does not take up cases.

NOT LIKE A CEO

The Vatican has consistently said that a pope cannot be held accountable for cases of abuse committed by others because priests are employees of individual dioceses around the world and not direct employees of the Vatican. It says the head of the church cannot be compared to the CEO of a company.

Victims groups have said Benedict, particularly in his previous job at the head of the Vatican’s doctrinal department, turned a blind eye to the overall policies of local Churches, which moved abusers from parish to parish instead of defrocking them and handing them over to authorities.

The Vatican has denied this. The pope has apologized for abuse in the Church, has met with abuse victims on many of his trips, and ordered a major investigation into abuse in Ireland.

But groups representing some of the victims say the Pope will leave office with a stain on his legacy because he was in positions of power in the Vatican for more than three decades, first as a cardinal and then as pope, and should have done more.

The scandals began years before the then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected pope in 2005 but the issue has overshadowed his papacy from the beginning, as more and more cases came to light in dioceses across the world.

As recently as last month, the former archbishop of Los Angeles, Cardinal Roger Mahony, was stripped by his successor of all public and administrative duties after a thousands of pages of files detailing abuse in the 1980s were made public.

Mahony, who was archbishop of Los Angeles from 1985 until 2011, has apologized for “mistakes” he made as archbishop, saying he had not been equipped to deal with the problem of sexual misconduct involving children. The pope was not named in that case.

In 2007, the Los Angeles archdiocese, which serves 4 million Catholics, reached a $660 million civil settlement with more than 500 victims of child molestation, the biggest agreement of its kind in the United States.

Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said the pope “gave the fight against sexual abuse a new impulse, ensuring that new rules were put in place to prevent future abuse and to listen to victims. That was a great merit of his papacy and for that we will be grateful”.

(Reporting by Philip Pullella; Additional reporting by Robin Pomeroy; Edited by Simon Robinson and Giles Elgood)

The Poepol Of The Week Award goes to Professor Nico Koopman, theologian from the University of Stellenbosch.

Undoubtedly, the Poepol of the Weeks Award goes to Professor Nico Koopman, theologian from the University of Stellenbosch, for his comments on physician assisted suicide, from the article published in News24.

“Suffering is simply part and parcel of life on earth,” says Professor Nico Koopman, theologian from the University of Stellenbosch. “But God is with us in our suffering and we are not alone. The suffering person also has a right to life and through suffering we often grow spiritually. God gives knowledge and insight to medical personnel to relieve people’s suffering.”

Now this proves once again how religion rots the brain slowly over time. You have to be bat-shit crazy to believe this dribble. I have no doubt that  Professor Nico Koopman is firmly entrenched in his bronze age beliefs, and will do anything in his power to prevent laws that allow people to get help with ending their suffering with physician assisted suicide.

This is one of many basic human rights that organized religion opposes fiercely.

Professor Nico Koopman truly deserves the coveted Poepol of the Week Award. How the University of Stellenbosch put this moron in charge of theology their gods will only know. But then again, that whole department is built and based on whoo and bullshit, with no credibility in the real world where reason and logic applies.

Six polio workers shot dead in Pakistan. Another example of how religion rots the mind. If you blatantly ignore the well been of children to follow your primitive religion, that is a sure sign that you are not right in the head anymore.

Six polio workers shot dead in Pakistan

2012-12-18 14:45

Karachi – Gunmen in Pakistan have killed six health workers at the start of a nationwide polio vaccination drive, officials said on Tuesday, highlighting resistance to a campaign opposed by the Taliban.

Four women were killed in less than an hour in seemingly co-ordinated attacks in Karachi on Tuesday, a day after a man working on a local government-World Health Organisation (WHO) project was also shot dead in the city, police said.

A sixth worker, also a woman, was killed on Tuesday in the northwestern city of Peshawar, which lies close to the tribal areas, a haven for the Taliban and other militants who ordered a ban on polio vaccinations in June.

Pakistan is one of only three countries where polio remains endemic, along with Afghanistan and Nigeria, but efforts to tackle the highly infectious crippling disease have been hampered over the years by suspicion.

The Taliban banned immunisations in the tribal region of Waziristan, condemning the campaign as a cover for espionage after the jailing of a doctor who helped the CIA find Osama bin Laden using a hepatitis vaccination programme.

Sagheer Ahmed, the health minister for Sindh province, of which Karachi is capital, said he had ordered a halt to the anti-polio drive in the city in the wake of Tuesday’s shootings.

Senior police officer Shahid Hayat blamed “militants who issued a fatwa against polio vaccination in the past” for the Karachi killings.

He said one polio vaccination team was attacked in the eastern Karachi neighbourhood of Gulshan-e-Buner.

“They were fired upon by unidentified gunmen who rode away on motorcycles. Two women members suffered multiple gunshots and died on the spot,” he said.

Two women and a man were wounded in two separate incidents in the city’s west, Hayat said, adding that all of the victims were part of WHO-supervised polio vaccination teams.

240 000 children at risk

In a Peshawar suburb, two attackers on a motorbike fired on two sisters working on vaccination, killing one, senior police official Javed Khan told AFP.

In Waziristan, a hub for Islamist militants, the Taliban ban – to protest against US drone strikes and because they allege that the polio campaign is a cover for espionage – risks the health of 240 000 children, officials say.

Launching the polio drive on Monday, Pakistani authorities threatened to punish tribesmen who refuse to allow their children to be inoculated.

Siraj Ahmad Khan, the top official in North Waziristan tribal area, said the punishments would include a ban on monthly stipends to tribal elders, development work, civil service recruitment and issuing ID cards and passports.

Tuesday’s killings in Karachi took place in parts of the city dominated by Pashtuns, Hayat said. Pashtuns are the dominant ethnic group in northwest Pakistan and have a sizeable migrant population in Karachi.

WHO, a partner in government efforts to eradicate the disease, suspended vaccination activities in part of Pakistan’s largest city in July after a spate of shootings.

A UN doctor from Ghana working on polio eradication and his driver were shot in Karachi and three days later a local community worker who was part of the same campaign was shot dead in the same area.

 

– AFP

Poepol of the Week Award goes to the “science” teachers in South African schools that refuses to teach evolution. Well done you bunch of morons!!!

Religion forces science teacher to quit

2012-03-06 15:15

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Duncan Alfreds

Cape Town – A science teacher at an upmarket Cape Town school has found herself at odds with senior staff over a desire to teach evolution in science lessons.

“I explicitly put teaching natural selection on the syllabus for the year; I made a three week slot; I came with practical experiments they could do. What I discovered was, I was the only person teaching natural selection,” said a science teacher at a Cape Town high school who spoke to News24 on condition of anonymity.

The source said that the teachers in the school’s science department were mainly Christian and that staff issued a reprimand over teaching the scientific concept.

“We’re talking about the head of biology, we’re talking about the longest standing member [of staff] who’s been there for more than 25 years and we’re talking about the most recent member who was trained in a Biology area.

“What he actively does in class is he poo poos the idea [of evolution], he makes kids laugh at the idea of the age of the Earth as proposed by scientists currently. He poo poos the fossil record, he gives what he believes is counter evidence to carbon dating,” the teacher said.

Creationism

The theory of natural selection by evolution is accepted by science as the method by which species evolved to the ecosystem on the planet today, however, evangelical religious groups in the US have lobbied that creationism is should also be taught as a competing theory in science lessons.

“Sometimes the way science is reported and transmitted to the public may cause confusion. Another thing to bear in mind is that perhaps the world isn’t that simple.

“Sometimes the world is very complicated it is difficult to communicate science to the public and the result is that some people have a negative view of science and then science communicators then bend over backward to try and accommodate people while they on the other hand, they know it is E=mc², it’s not E=mc² plus baby Jesus,” psychohistorian Auke Slotegraaf told News24.

For the teacher, she worried that the lack of competent science education hampers the learning of school students.

“I met a Muslim Biology teacher who refused to teach evolution and I met a Christian Geography teacher who refused to teach plate tectonics.

“They [the children] have no understanding of evolution by natural selection,” said the teacher.

Parents who had been made aware of the teacher’s lesson plans had apparently also told their children to dismiss the teacher’s lessons.

“One kid told me that his dad had already told him that he was to ignore everything that I said about evolution because it was a load of nonsense. The parents are preparing them to reject it.”

Conservative attitudes have forced many in science into being on the defensive and the source said that since leaving the school, the teacher’s lot has not improved.

“So now I find myself out of the frying pan into the fire.”

– Follow Duncan on Twitter

– News24

Christians squirm over Noah novel

2012-03-05 09:56by Marlene Malan

Cape Town – A story about murder, violence and sex set aboard Noah’s Ark during the great flood may upset some Christian readers when it is published in Afrikaans shortly.

Die Arkvaarders (In The Shadow of the Ark), written by Belgian novelist Anne Provoost, was first published in 2001 and has already made international headlines.

The book, which portrays Noah and his sons as murderers and rapists, is part of the high school syllabus in the Netherlands.

American critics such as Harriet Klausner and Faith V Smith said that although the book is well written, “it’s not for everyone”.

“Provoost’s portrayal of these Biblical figures unsettles readers,” said Klausner.

The book has been translated into seven languages and has won many literary prizes.

“Bible readers will take offence to the sadistic deeds of murder and violence, as well as the sexual undertone, in the description of life on the Ark during the flood,” said Smith.

“It contains sexual detail which could have probably been left out.”

Loaded sexual atmosphere

A loaded sexual atmosphere is depicted between Noah’s son Ham and Re Jana, a teenager that Ham smuggled onto the Ark.

The story sees the 14-year-old girl bathing Ham and his brothers, Shem and Japhet.

Lesbian relationships and teenage pregnancy are also prevalent in the book.

According to Protea Boekhuis, the publisher of the Afrikaans version, it is possible that the book will be a prescribed reading in South African high schools.

Mr Nicol Stassen, Protea Boekhuis’s CEO, said Provoost is one of the most successful youth authors of the Netherlands.

“One of her other books, Vallen (Falling), has been translated into nine languages. A successful film was made of it.”

‘A literary gem’

According to Mr Izak de Vries, Protea’s marketing head, the novel is a literary gem.

“It’s for the old and young. I do target adults in my marketing, but look at works such as Die Uurwek Kantel and Toorberg. They aren’t books for teenagers, but both sold thousands in schools.

“In South Africa we have so-called “setworks” and then we have books that have been approved for libraries. We do indeed suggest books to the education departments. I will suggest Die Arkvaarders.”

Stassen said “There’s nothing in the book that young readers haven’t seen on TV or in movies. Someone who’s surprised by the themes or actions in the book hasn’t read a teen book, or any book for that matter, in the last 20 years.

“It’s perhaps a good thing if the some of the church elders read the book. In my experience, the people who would complain are those who don’t read other books and aren’t prepared to listen to others’ viewpoints.

“The Bible contains a lot of sex and violence. There’s nothing in Die Arkvaarders which isn’t in the Bible as well.”

‘Polluting the holy book’

In contrast, Dr Isak Burger, president of the AGS, complained that the book “pollutes the holy book of Christians.

“It’s irresponsible to prescribe such a book to scholars.

“It’s disgusting, even though it’s fiction. There are no references in the Bible or from any other source that justify this drivel.

“It was this kind of immorality and sexual abuse that led to God flooding the world.

“Because the faithful, just Noah and his family had not yet succumbed to this perverse lifestyle, that is why God chose them.”

(All photos: anneprovoost.be)

– Rapport

Malaysia deports Saudi blogger. Talk about a death sentence!

Malaysia deports Saudi blogger

2012-02-12 14:45

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Kuala Lumpur – Malaysia deported a Saudi Arabian blogger on Sunday, police said, despite fears voiced by human rights groups that he could face execution in his home country over Twitter comments he made that were deemed insulting to the Prophet Muhammad.

Hamza Kashgari, a 23-year-old columnist, sparked outrage in the oil-rich kingdom with comments posted on the Prophet’s birthday a week ago that led some Islamic clerics to call for him to face the death penalty.

Kashgari fled the country, but was arrested by police in majority-Muslim Malaysia on Thursday as he transited through Kuala Lumpur international airport.

“The Saudi writer was repatriated to his home country this Sunday morning,” a police spokesperson said. “This is an internal Saudi matter that we cannot comment on.”

Malaysia has a close affinity with many Middle Eastern nations through their shared religion. The Southeast Asian nation is also a US ally and a leading global voice for moderate Islam, meaning that the decision to extradite Kashgari is certain to be controversial.

Execution

“Saudi clerics have already made up their mind that Kashgari is an apostate who must face punishment,” Christoph Wilcke, senior Middle East researcher at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement on Friday.

“The Malaysian government should not be complicit in sealing Kashgari’s fate by sending him back.”

Kashgari’s lawyer in Malaysia, Mohammad Noor, said that he had obtained a court order to prevent the deportation, but had not been allowed to see his client.

“If the government of Malaysia deports him to Saudi Arabia, disrespecting the court order, this is clearly contempt of court, unlawful and unacceptable,” he said.

The Star newspaper quoted Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein as saying that Kashgari had been repatriated and that the charges against him would be decided by Saudi authorities.

“Malaysia has a longstanding arrangement by which individuals wanted by one country are extradited when detained by the other,” he was quoted as saying.

Blasphemy is a crime punishable by execution under Saudi Arabia’s strict interpretation of Islamic sharia law. It is not a capital crime in Malaysia.

Reuters could not verify Kashgari’s comments because he later deleted them, but media reported that one of them reflected his contradictory views of the Prophet – that he both loved and hated him.

Kashgari later said in an interview that he was being made a “scapegoat for a larger conflict” over his comments.

– Reuters

Poepol of the Week Angus Buchan

Angus with a hard-on for god

Angus Buchan is hard at work fighting evil for South Africa in the name of his ghosts, jesus, the lord and the other mighty spirit up there in the sky, against the evil devil that lurks behind every stone waiting for a chance to fuck us all over. These little titbits comes from his website:

Potato seed for the day

ARISE FEARLESS GENERATION

Dear Friends,I greet you in Jesus name. Early this morning when I was going out for a jog, I felt the Holy Spirit impress upon me very severely that at this moment our nation is caught in a spirit of uncertainty and fear. We know exactly where it comes from, it comes from the devil himself. I believe, like never before, that there is an urgency not only in this nation but indeed all over the world. On television at the moment, every secular program that we see is speaking about spiritual things. People are seeking the truth.

by Angus Buchan

Read more

MIGHTY MEN WILL NEVER DIE!

Mighty Men will never die because the Holy Spirit lives in the hearts of His men.  This is not an organisation, it is a move of God.  It does not belong to any individual – God orchestrated it and God will see it through. Unfortunately we have had to register the names ‘MMC’, ‘Mighty Men’ and ‘Angus Buchan’, the reason being to protect the integrity of what it stands for.  We have been very concerned over the past while with well-meaning people taking the true meaning of MMC out of context.  We have encouraged all men, and continue to do so, to preach the gospel, but also to get involved in their local churches and minister to the local men themselves. In two months time the release of the feature film ‘Ordinary People’ will take place in this nation.  It is all about Mighty Men and we firmly believe it will touch the world.  We are also in consultation with GOD TV at this moment with regard to Mighty Men (and their families) possibly going to Israel next year for a tour of the Holy Land. There are MMCs taking place in South Africa this year, viz. MMC Bosveld, MMC Karoo and MMC Vaal Dam, not to mention MMC Yorkshire, England where I will be speaking.  There will also be conferences…

sent to Shalom Ministries

Read more

I see Angus has taken my sound financial advise from years ago and started his own tv network, and has made many more dvd’s and trademarked his products. Ker-ching!!!!!!!!!! The lord loves $$$$$$$$, the lord needs $$$$$$$$$, the devil has nothing to do with $$$$$$$$$$$.

Retarted Fuckwit of the Week Award – Korean Faith Healer that let his own children die.

Another tragic example how dumb and dangerous the religious are, to their own children.

Faith healer’s kids die

2012-02-11 14:09

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Seoul – Three children were found dead in South Korea on Saturday after their faith-healing father, a Christian pastor, attempted to treat their illnesses only with prayers, police said.

The bodies of the children, aged 10, eight and five years old, were found by their relatives at their home next to the pastor’s church in the southern county of Boseong, a detective at Boseong Police Station told AFP.

“They were apparently suffering from infections that went untreated for a long time as the father was only praying for them instead of seeking medical treatment,” he said.

The 43-year-old pastor’s fourth child, a year-old baby, was taken in protective custody by police, the detective said, adding the father was under questioning.

– AFP

Rape victim jailed for adultery pardoned. Wow, this really leaves no hope for Afghanistan if this is the way they treat their women under their laws. Religion truly poisons everything. They will “pardon” the young rape victim if she agrees to marry her attacker and rapist, who will then have the “right” by law to do it to her over and over again for the rest of her life. God is great!!!!!

Rape victim jailed for adultery pardoned

An Afghan girl looks at US army soldiers in Muhammad Aghah district of Logar province, eastern Afghanistan. Photograph: Umit Bektas/Reuters

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Afghanistan has pardoned a woman who was raped by a family member but then jailed for adultery, a statement from the presidential palace has said, in a case that highlights deep concerns about women’s rights in the country.

The 21-year-old, known as Gulnaz, had earlier been offered release from prison if she married her attacker and eventually agreed to this condition, but her lawyer said the release granted this week did not depend on her going through with the wedding.

It was not clear whether she still intended to marry the man who raped her, her cousin’s husband, who is serving a seven-year prison term for the crime, her lawyer Kimberley Motley added.

Afghan president Hamid Karzai’s palace issued the statement pardoning Gulnaz late on Thursday, a rare pardon in such a case in staunchly conservative Muslim Afghanistan.

Her case attracted international attention after she took part in a documentary film commissioned by the European Union but later withheld.

Ms Motley said she hoped her client would be released shortly, and that there was a place for her in a women’s shelter.

The palace statement said justice minister Habibullah Ghalib asked a panel of top legal officials to order her release. Gulnaz sought a pardon from Mr Karzai earlier this week.

“After assessing Gulnaz’s case, (they) decided that her remaining sentence in jail should be pardoned under the current rules and regulations of the country and she should be released,” the palace statement said.

Gulnaz was initially sentenced to two years in jail for “adultery by force”, which was later increased to 12 years on appeal. She was given the choice of marriage or serving a jail sentence.

Her sentence was then cut to three years after a third appeal, and the requirement for her to marry was dropped.

Gulnaz became pregnant as a result of the attack and gave birth to a daughter in the Badam Bagh women’s prison in Kabul almost a year ago.

Ms Motley also welcomed what she said was a decision to review the cases of other women in the same jail.

“The judiciary has effectively supported the Elimination of Violence Against Women Act by allowing for her to be released, for allowing for her to be pardoned,” Ms Motley said.

“Precedent definitely has been set. As I understand it, the judiciary today was also reviewing the files of other women in Badam Bagh,” she said.

The presidential palace declined to comment on whether other cases were under review.

The film in which Gulnaz featured, a documentary on women in prison, was blocked from release by the EU mission in Afghanistan over fears it might compromise the safety of the women involved because it showed their identity.

The film-makers have been pushing for the film to be released, and say Gulnaz wanted her story to be told.

“I made a promise to these women that I would get their stories out. I am glad that I’ve been able to honour that promise to Gulnaz,” said the film’s director Clementine Malpas.

Christian Democrats uphold sex change sterilization demand – Surprise surprise, christians upholding draconian laws that are totally against basic human rights, and they stand strong by it. Sounds a bit like the NAZI’s to me.

Christian Democrats uphold sex change sterilization demand

Published: 1 Jul 11 11:08 CET | Double click on a word to get a translation

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The Christian Democrats on Thursday voted to retain the demand for sterilization for those choosing to undergo a sex change, arguing that if “a woman becomes a man, she should not be able to become pregnant as a woman”.

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At the party conference on Thursday in Umeå in the north of Sweden, the party rejected an earlier suggestion from the National Board of Health and Welfare (Socialstyrelsen) to remove the sterilization requirement.

“A sex-change means that you willingly subject yourself to treatment in order to change your gender, and if you do that it is also reasonable that you give up some gender-specific properties of your old sex,” Maria Larsson, minister for children and the elderly, said in a speech at the party conference on Thursday evening.

Larsson also said that Sweden is by no means unique in implementing this rule and added that it is also a question of children having the right to “define who is their mother and who is their father”.

According to legislation passed in 1972, to undergo a sex change operation a person must be over 18-years-old, a Swedish citizen, be sterilized and unmarried.

This has long been defended by the Christian Democrats but lately critical voices have risen from within the rank and file that the position is old-fashioned, and on Thursday Larsson met criticism from party members.

“This is state-imposed surgery that is mandatory in a certain situation, a mutilating surgery, and you should have very strong reasons to force that on people,” said party member Olle Sandahl in a speech.

Another party member, Caroline Szyber, said that the Christian Democrats should safeguard the sanctity of all individuals and protect their rights.

“Many, myself included, will associate forced sterilisations with the policies of the post-war era. As long as it is state-sanctioned it is coercion,” said Szyber in her speech.

Between 1934 and 1976, when there was a change in legislation, it is estimated that 63,000 mentally disabled people, epileptics and people with alleged social problems, were coerced to undergo sterilization in Sweden against their will, or pressured into agreeing to the operation in order to be allowed to marry or be released from mental institutions.

In 1999, Sweden agreed to compensate some of the victims of forced sterilization, offering each individual up to 175,000 kronor ($28,000).

Larsson was not amused by the comparison to the state imposed sterilizations in Sweden’s past.

“I feel slightly concerned when people compare this rule to the forced sterilizations from history – there is no comparison, let me be clear on that. This is about how someone willingly has chosen to change their sex,” Larsson said.

According to news agency TT, the government is divided on the issue. And at a party leader debate held during last year’s Pride festival, prime minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said he was keen to modernize the law.

“It’s a dark chapter in Swedish history,” he told news agency TT at the time.

But Larsson told Sveriges Radio (SR) on Thursday that, as it is only this point they don’t see eye-to-eye on, she is confident that they will be able to reach an agreement.

The Christian Democrats did however vote in favour of scrapping the demand that a married person who chooses to have a sex change must get a divorce, and the requirement that you have to be a Swedish citizen to have the procedure done.

Priest held after girl’s exorcism death

2011-11-17 11:38

Port Elizabeth – A priest and members of his congregation have been arrested for killing a child in Humansdorp, Eastern Cape police said on Thursday.

Lieutenant Colonel Priscilla Naidu said the 22-year-old priest and four of his congregants were arrested on Wednesday.

Naidu said they killed the 7-year-old girl while conducting a violent exorcism a week ago.

“The parents and the church members felt that the child was demonised [possessed] and needed prayer,” said Naidu.

Internal injuries

During the exorcism, they realised the girl needed medical attention and tried to take her to hospital, but she died on the way there.

A post-mortem revealed that she had sustained internal injuries.

Naidu said that on the night of the girl’s death, police found bruises on her body and had noted that her eyes were swollen.

“It is suspected that for that hour or two, the girl must have been pushed back and forth while she was being prayed for,” she said.

The five men arrested were expected to appear in the Humansdorp Magistrate’s Court on Thursday.

– Were you there?

Women’s rights activist strips in Vatican

An activist of the Ukrainian women movement Femen is taken away by Italian policemenin front of St Peter’s basilica after holding a placard asking for ‘Freedom for women’ following Pope Benedict XVI’s Angelus prayer – AFP

A young Ukrainian women’s rights activist sneaked past security and partially stripped in front the Vatican’s Saint-Peter Basilica just after the Pope’s Sunday Angelus.

The blonde activist, initially wearing tight jeans and a see-through black tulle top, struck provocative poses against the dramatic backdrop of the basilica and the papal apartments, where Benedict XVI had given his traditional blessing moments earlier.

Legs splayed, she brandished a black placard demanding ‘Freedom for Women’ and then took her top off, according to a photographer on the scene.

Italian police labouriously subdued the topless activist, who was still kicking and screaming as they dragged her away from the papal enclave under the bewildered gaze of faithful and tourists.

She belongs to a Ukrainian women’s rights group called Femen, which campaigns against sexism and whose topless tactics have attracted increasing public attention in recent years.

The group was founded in Kiev in 2008 to combat sex tourism, prostitution and sexual harassment targeting female university students in Ukarine.

Their previous stunt was just a few blocks away on Saturday, when naked activists with their busts painted in the red, white and green colours of the Italian flag joined a mass protest against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

The 75-year-old leader, a self-confessed womaniser, is battling teenage prostitution allegations and in the eyes of many symbolises Italian machismo.

The pope, who has been accused of holding intolerant views on women’s rights, is another favourite target of Femen’s activists.

In a European tour kicked off a week ago, the brazen blondes also staged a protest – complete with mops, buckets and hotel maid uniforms – in front of disgraced former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s Paris home.

 

Pope met by protesters in Germany – Should anyone be surprised?

Pope met by protesters in Germany

2011-09-22 20:01

Read more stories about

Pope Benedict XVI

• Pope met by protesters in Germany – 22 Sep
• Pope never fell in love – brother – 21 Sep
• Abused man wants justice from pope – 20 Sep
• Pope sued for crimes against humanity – 13 Sep
• Pope marks 9/11, says no violence – 10 Sep
• Pope tells youngsters to spread gospel – 21 Aug
• Weather fouls up pope’s plans – 20 Aug
• Party vibe as pope arrives in Spain – 18 Aug
• Anti-Pope protesters, pilgrims face-off – 18 Aug

 Berlin – A few thousand protesters, some dressed as condoms and nuns, marched against Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday, attacking his views on issues ranging from gay rights to the paedophile priest scandals.

However, the rally drew fewer people than organisers hoped, with police saying only around 2 500 had gathered in Berlin’s Potsdamer Platz while the pope was delivering a speech at the Reichstag parliament building.

In the run-up to Benedict’s visit, organisers had spoken of a protest numbering as many as 20 000.

One demonstrator was dressed as a giant nun clutching a crucifix and a wooden stick with “never again” emblazoned across her robe, a reference to the high-profile abuse scandal that rocked the Church in Germany last year.

Another wielded a banner proclaiming: “Pope Go Home,” as he began his first state visit to his native Germany.

Other demonstrators were protesting against the pope’s ban on artificial contraception, with signs reading: “Free choice between Aids and condoms.”

Several dozen leftist deputies also boycotted the pontiff’s speech in parliament, amid concerns over the separation of Church and state.

Berlin’s large gay community was also out in force to protest what it says are Benedict’s outdated views on sexuality, some carrying banners saying, “Homophobia kills.”

Protests in Spain last month against the pope’s visit turned violent, with clashes between riot police and demonstrators. Thousands turned out to protest against the cost of the pope’s visit amid an economic crisis in the country.

– SAPA

Massachusetts USA – ‘Death With Dignity’ Measure Proposes Physician-Assisted Suicide. Of course, guess who steps into the ring to piss all over the basic human rights of others, even people who do not believe in their dogma? Well, the Roman Catholic Church of course!!!!!!

MA ‘Death With Dignity’ Measure Proposes Physician-Assisted Suicide

Opposed by

Massachusetts Catholic Bishops Oppose “Death with Dignity” Initiative Petition

This is a basic human right the Roman Catholic Church is trying hard to deny any and all people who live in the state of Massachusetts. Typical of these evil monsters. It is laughable how they go about their business to prolong suffering by denying people the choice to end their lives with dignity. Whether you are Catholic or not, they want to deny everyone that basic human right. They have gotten away with this for way too long. I hope this ballot passes at the next elections. I bet they, the RCC, will spend millions on a campaign to “educate” voters into voting no. Bunch of evil hypocrites.

This is typical of the Roman Catholic Church. “THE VATICAN’S response to the Cloyne report, ….. would have us believe that the clerical child sex abuse scandals in Ireland are an Irish problem, where Rome’s only involvement has been in helping with a solution.” Now that is the biggest bunch of crap ever. They were raping children all over the world in their seminaries and churches and rectories.

It takes 25 pages and 11,000 words to say – ‘nothing to do with us’

Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin at a press conference in Drumcondra, Dublin, yesterday.Photograph: Aidan Crawley

In this section »

• Holy See response to report aimed at ‘future co-operation’
• Kenny has no regrets over critical Dáil speech
• Archbishop calls on Taoiseach to explain claim
• Victims disappointed with response
• A detailed and uncompromising defence of the Holy See
• Response a ‘stage’ towards repairing relations

ANALYSIS: The Holy See reaction to the Irish report is marked by a failure to address core concerns, writes PATSY McGARRY

THE VATICAN’S response to the Cloyne report, as well as to comments by Taoiseach Enda Kenny, Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore and motions passed by Dáil and Seanad, would have us believe that the clerical child sex abuse scandals in Ireland are an Irish problem, where Rome’s only involvement has been in helping with a solution.

For this, it believes, it has received little or no acknowledgement in Ireland. For instance, Saturday’s response noted that nowhere in his Dáil speech of July 20th last did Kenny recognise any of its efforts to improve matters in this context, and that Pope Benedict’s Letter to the Catholics of Ireland in March last year didn’t even merit a mention in the Cloyne report.

What happened in Ireland was because of local factors, the response indicates – helpfully quoting from the pope’s letter of March last year to underline this.

There, addressing the Irish bishops directly, he said: “Some of you and your predecessors failed, at times grievously, to apply the long-established norms of canon law to the crime of child abuse.”

That may well be so, but it is not the entire picture.

Selectively choosing what it wished to address, the Vatican response ignored completely its own treatment of the Murphy commission. It was set up by this State, yet it did not merit an acknowledgement from the Vatican when in September 2006 it wrote to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith requesting information. Two further requests for information received no reply.

Nowhere in its response, which runs to 25 pages and almost 11,000 words, is any of this addressed by the Vatican. Rather it takes issue with certain findings of the Cloyne report which might have been clarified had it co-operated with the commission, whose remit was extended from the Dublin diocese to cover Cloyne in 2009. It can hardly complain if its non-cooperation backfired.

The response largely focused on the 1996 framework document on child protection, prepared for the Irish bishops, but shot down in a letter circulated to them by the Vatican in January 1997.

The response rejected, robustly, a finding of the Cloyne report that: “There can be no doubt that this letter greatly strengthened the position of those in the church in Ireland who did not approve of the framework document as it effectively cautioned them against its implementation.”

The letter pointed out how the then prefect of that congregation, Cardinal Darío Castrillón Hoyos, had, at a meeting in November 1998 with the Irish bishops at Rosses Point in Sligo, “unequivocally stated” that the church “should not in any way put an obstacle in the legitimate path of civil justice” when it came to issues of clerical child abuse.

Nowhere does it quote from that 1997 letter, which said that, where the Congregation for Clergy was concerned, a framework document direction on mandatory reporting “gives rise to serious reservations of both a moral and a canonical nature”.

The congregation also warned that procedures in the document appeared “contrary to canonical discipline”. It also referred to it as “merely a study document”.

This latter observation, it said at the weekend, was a reflection of the document’s standing among the Irish bishops. The weekend response also emphasised that none of this meant the framework document guidelines could not be implemented in Irish dioceses and that “each individual bishop was free to adopt it . . . provided these were not contrary to canon law”. The Vatican appears to be trying to have its cake and eat it, repeating what was said in the 1997 letter.

All of which is to ignore the frustration felt by the Irish bishops in dealing with Cardinal Hoyos over the abuse issue. In a comment to this newspaper last December, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin said that in the past “most of the Irish bishops felt that dealing with the Congregation for Clergy was disastrous”. It was understood he was referring to the period between 1996 and 2006, when Cardinal Hoyos was prefect at that congregation.

An Irish bishop confirmed, on condition of anonymity, that he made a note at the time of his receipt of that 1997 letter in which he described it as “a mandate to conceal the crimes of a priest”.

At the same Rosses Point meeting in 1998, the then archbishop of Dublin Desmond Connell thumped a table in frustration as Cardinal Hoyos insisted it was Vatican policy to defend the rights of an accused priest above all.

In 2001 Cardinal Hoyos wrote a letter to French bishop Pierre Pican praising him for not passing information about an abuser priest to police. Bishop Pican received a suspended sentence for failing to report the priest who was sentenced to 18 years for the repeated sexual assault of boys over 20 years, and the rape of one of them.

Cardinal Hoyos wrote to Bishop Pican: “I am pleased to have a colleague in the episcopate who, in the eyes of history and of all other bishops in the world, preferred prison to denouncing his son and priest.”

In the Murphy report chancellor of the Dublin archdiocese Msgr John Dolan is reported as having said that the 1997 letter “placed the [Irish] bishops in an invidious position”. It meant any priest against whom they took action “had a right of appeal to Rome and was most likely to succeed.”

None of this is addressed in Rome’s weekend response.

This shows how evil the Roman Catholic Church is today. Still protecting the identities of child rapists. It took them years and years to release these names alone. Still, some believe this is the tip of the iceberg.

Boston Church Releases List Of Accused Priests

by The Associated Press

BOSTON August 25, 2011, 05:26 pm ET

Cardinal Sean O’Malley on Thursday released a long-awaited list of priests accused of child sex abuse in Boston in the last 60 years, but he opted not to include certain priests, including ones who died without being publicly charged.

In a letter, O’Malley said 248 of Boston’s priests and two deacons have been accused of child sex abuse since 1950. But he said he decided against releasing 91 of the names, including the deceased priests who weren’t publicly accused; those working in Boston under religious orders or other dioceses; and priests named in unsubstantiated accusations that never went public.

Each of the 159 names published Thursday has been made public previously, though not necessarily by the archdiocese. They include still-active priests who were cleared of abuse after being publicly accused.

O’Malley acknowledged that some people may have wanted him to “go further” and release more names. But he cited concerns about due process and the damage to the reputations of priests — alive and dead — when accused of decades-old crimes that are difficult to verify.

“In the present environment, a priest who is accused of sexually abusing a minor may never be able to fully restore his reputation, even if cleared after civil or canonical proceedings,” O’Malley said. “Reputational concerns also become acute in cases concerning deceased priests, who are often accused years after their death with no opportunity to address the accusations against them.”

O’Malley said the archdiocese’s effort to compile a single list of accused clerics was a step toward taking responsibility for clergy sex abuse. A national scandal broke in Boston in 2002 which revealed church leaders had shifted pedophile priests between parishes while hiding their crimes.

“I carry with me every day the pain of the church’s failures,” O’Malley said.

Stephen Clifford, who says he was abused by a priest while growing up in Wellesley, said he was pleased the archdiocese was “letting some more daylight in” but disappointed his abuser, who is dead, wasn’t listed. Clifford never went public with his accusation, which the archdiocese found credible enough to agree to pay for Clifford’s therapy, he said.

“I know that they know what this priest did to me,” Clifford said. “And the fact that he’s not on this list really makes me wonder, `Gosh, how many more are there like him that should be on the list, who aren’t?'”

Boston has been pressured to publish a list — as other dioceses have — since O’Malley said in a 2009 letter that the archdiocese was considering improving its policy on releasing information about accused clergy.

In recent months, prominent victims’ attorney Mitchell Garabedian, and the watchdog group BishopAccountability.org have independently released new names of accused priests, while expressing doubts the archdiocese ever intended to be truly forthcoming. BishopAccountability.org has estimated at least 350 religious workers in Boston have a substantive abuse accusations against them, based on the percentages from other dioceses that have disclosed their number of accused.

Advocates for abuse victims say such public lists ensure that credibly accused priests don’t remain active and also provide victims with validation, which is a crucial step toward healing. They accused O’Malley of inflicting more suffering on victims as months passed with no list.

The Rev. Richard Erikson, outgoing vicar general at the Boston Archdiocese, said the time it took to release the list reflects exhaustive efforts to ensure it was complete, fair and accurate.

David Clohessy of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests said the list is woefully inadequate, but “every scintilla of disclosure” matters, because people will know to beware of the men listed.

“If one kid is kept away from one these priests because of this belated, begrudging and incomplete list, that’s still very significant,” he said.

In his letter, O’Malley said of the 91 names he didn’t release, 62 were deceased clergy. Twenty-two were priests — nine of them now in active ministry — who faced an abuse accusation that was never substantiated or made public. Four were priests or ex-priests under preliminary investigation. Three were defrocked or dismissed by the time they faced accusations that haven’t been made public.

O’Malley said he didn’t release names of accused religious order priests or priests from other dioceses “because the Boston Archdiocese does not determine the outcome in such cases; that is the responsibility of the priest’s order or diocese.”

But BishopAccountability has said religious orders are secretive, and called it a matter of “common decency” for O’Malley to release the names, since no one else will.

“O’Malley chose the safe course today,” the group said in a statement Thursday. “He chose to err today on the side of protecting priests, not children.”

In his letter, O’Malley also gave statistics he said showed the archdiocese’s efforts to protect children are working. He said of the 198 clergy sex abuse allegations reported to the archdiocese in the last six years, 4 percent involve incidents that allegedly happened since 1990. The percentage is consistent with prior analysis that showed the most of the abuse occurred between 1965 and 1982, he said.

O’Malley said he wasn’t trying to downplay the “heinous” abuse or the church’s mistakes, but rather “give the faithful some confidence that the policies adopted by the church to protect its children starting in the early 1990s have been effective.”

Bishop apologises over Cloyne – Why this guy isn’t in jail for helping his employees rape children is beyond me.

Bishop apologises over Cloyne.

If this arsehole wasn’t wearing a collar and he wasn’t working for the RCC, he would be in jail with all the priests he protected and faccilitated in raping children at their churches. It makes one sick. Now he is really sorry and wants to meet his victims. Holy shit!!!!!!!! If only there was a hell. Or even better, a justice system in Ireland that would procecute him for his crimes. One can only dream……

Poepol of the Week: Carolyn from The Bubbling Well

Nominated by Malherbe: here is how he lays it out:

Another example of someone ripping off the weak and simple-minded. This woman is educated and got a business degree at UCT – she is now coining in by parasiting on others using (I suppose) business principles. Below, an excerpt from the add forwarded to me – makes one sick. The RSA Consumer Act prevents me from making false claims on a product. How come these arseholes get away with it? Check out her website if in need of a good laugh. (http://bubblingwell.co.za/) I would like to propose Carolyne as Poepol of the Week.

Carolyn The BUBBLINGWELL presents

MEDIUMSHIP, SPIRIT AND OPENING TO CHANNEL

-EXPERIENCE SPIRIT-
-SEE INTO THE HIGHER DIMENSIONS-
-LISTEN DEEPER-
-CONNECT-
-DEEPEN TRUST-
-OPEN YOUR MIND-
-HEAR THE VOICE OF SPIRIT-
SATURDAY 27 AUGUST 2011

10h00 – 14h00

R700 Per person

CAROLYN will present a combination of theory, video and channeled curriculum to enable you to connect with your Higher Self and Spirit World.

Spirit theory:

Spiritism and the nature of Spirit
Theory of manifestations
The means of communicating with the invisible world
The development of Mediumship
Create an evolutionary leap and learn to channel. Raise your vibration , sense, see or hear into the Higher realms and consciously bring through messages.

Practical tools and exercises demonstrated and taught

From her website:

”

ABSENT HEALING

Absent healing is prayer plus direct intercession through attunement with the Spirit Healing Guides who administer the healing directives. Absent healing is spirit science involving processes. It is a powerful and effective method of healing the sick, in spite of its intangibility. Absent healing is very real and just as effective as contact healing. Studies of the results of absent healing prove this to be the case. Absent healing can, in fact be the more effective method.

Absent healing is a thought process and Spiritualists acknowledge that all spiritual healing is Divine, and he/she prays to God and believes that there are intermediaries in Spirit Life who act as healing agents, and with whom the healer can establish a state of ATTUNEMENT. This involves the ability of a medium to be receptive to Spirit thoughts, and for the Spirit personality to be able to receive thoughts from the medium.”

Holy fucking sheep shit. This chick is bat-shit crazy! But she must also be raking in the money from the helpless and desperate and gullible. Ker-ching $$$$$$$$$$$. Bat-shit crazy delusional none the less.

Congratulations Carolyn. You deserve your award. I would love to know where you read about all these studies you talk about on your website that “proves” your voodoo magic works. Please enlighten us and send us the reports or links to them.

Taliban use girl, 8, as bomb mule in attack on Afghanistan police post

Taliban fighters used an eight-year-old girl to carry bombs to a police checkpost in central Afghanistan, according to the interior ministry. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

Taliban insurgents used an eight-year-old girl carrying a bag of explosives to attack a police checkpost in central Afghanistan, the Afghan government said on Sunday, making her one of the youngest child bombers of the decade-old conflict.

The incident took place in Char Chino district of central Uruzgan province, the interior ministry said. “The insurgents handed over a bag with a homemade bomb to an eight-year-old girl and asked her to take it to police forces,” it added.

“As the girl was getting close to the police, it exploded and killed the girl.”

It was the latest in a string of unusual attacks on both sides of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

On Saturday a Taliban car bomber attacked a hospital in a remote district of eastern Logar province, damaging the maternity ward and killing between 20 and 35 people, according to reports.

Around the same time in north-western Pakistan, the Pakistani Taliban deployed a married couple who attacked a police station by blowing themselves up. Two burqa-clad figures made their way into a police station in Kolachi, near the Taliban hub of South Waziristan, pretending to want to lodge a complaint, police said.

Once inside they opened fire with guns and grenades, capturing hostages and triggering a five-hour siege that left 10 people dead. “This shows how much we hate Pakistani security institutions,” Pakistani Taliban spokesman Ahsanullah Ahsan told Associated Press by telephone.

Both the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban have frequently used men disguised under burqas to mount suicide attacks but the use of women is rare.

The first genuine instance in Pakistan is believed to have occurred in Bajaur tribal agency late last year, when a female suicide bomber wearing a burqa attacked a UN food distribution centre, killing 45 people.

Last week in Dir district in north-western Pakistan, police defused a bomb strapped to a nine-year-old girl who said she had been kidnapped in Peshawar then set off walking towards a checkpost.

“They told me: ‘You keep on reciting Qu’ranic verses till you push the button’,” she said afterwards.

In Afghanistan, the Taliban have denied using child bombers, suggesting increased sensitivity to public opinion as peace talks with the US government loom.

The insurgency’s conventional attacks are proving deadlier than ever. Four Nato soldiers were killed at the weekend, including two from Spain, while civilian casualties reached a decade-long high last May.

The violence comes days after Barack Obama announced plans to withdraw 33,000 American troops by September 2012, and undermines his claims to have militants “on the run”.

The relentless Taliban assaults are fraying nerves among ordinary Afghans as

Nato prepares to transfer control of five urban centres, including most of Kabul, and two provinces next month.

• guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2011