Religious Hatred Simmers In Terror Suspect's Homeland

(CNN) -- Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab wouldn't have to go to an al Qaeda training camp in Yemen to learn how to hate.

He had plenty of examples in his own country.

AbdulMutallab is the 23-year-old Nigerian being held for allegedly trying to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day. While much attention has focused on his privileged background, less has been said about the religious conflict in his homeland.

Christians and Muslims have been killing each other in Nigeria for much of AbdulMutallab's lifetime. At least 10,000 Nigerians have died during Christian-Muslim riots and ethnic violence during the past decade.

The most populous country in Africa, Nigeria is almost evenly divided between Muslims and Christians. It has become the focal point of Christian and Muslim groups -- in Nigeria and abroad, says Eliza Griswold, who has spent the last five years traveling to Nigeria to examine the causes of religious violence.

"Nigeria has become a battleground state for Christians and Muslims around the world who see themselves involved in a numbers game," says Griswold, author of "The Tenth Parallel," an upcoming book that explores the tension between Christians and Muslims just north of the equator in Africa and Asia.

"Any Christian or Muslim who has the point of view that numbers matter has a stake in Nigeria," she says.

The divisions between Christianity and Islam are more than symbolic in Nigeria. There's a geographic boundary: Nigerian Muslims tend to live in north, while Christians live in the south, Griswold says.

Many Nigerian Muslims see themselves as standing at the southern tip of the Islamic world, Griswold says. To the immediate south lie many African nations that tend to embrace Christianity.

"There is this attitude that Islam is under siege by the Christian West and, by proxy, Nigerian Christians," Griswold says. "There is this sense among some devoted Muslims in the north that we need to be part of the larger Islamic community, and we need to prove that we belong."

Nigeria's bloody religious history

That tension can cut both ways. Talk to some Nigerian Christians and one can hear the same concern as Nigerian Muslims: We are under attack; we have to preserve our autonomy.

Gbenga Akinbola, rector of the Mount Zion Anglican Church in Chicago, Illinois, has experienced religious tension in Nigeria. He led a congregation there only four years ago as a priest in the Nigerian Anglican Church.

He says Nigerian Muslims once tried to officially declare Nigeria a Muslim state and force some Christians in the north to adopt Islamic customs.

Both Christians and Muslims feel that they represent the one true God and are obligated to convert others, Akinbola says.

"They are doing what the leaders of both of these groups tell them to," he says. "Christians preach to Muslims, and Muslims try to do the same. For Christians, Jesus Christ has told us to go out and preach."

Sometimes, people don't want to be converted. And at a time when many young Nigerians are unemployed and looking for scapegoats, violence can easily follow, some Nigerians say.

In November 2008, at least 700 Nigerians died in Christian-Muslim riots that followed a disputed local election, Human Rights Watch reported. Two years earlier, the Nigerian army was mobilized to halt similar rioting after a Danish newspaper published a cartoon that depicted Mohammed, the founder of Islam, in a caricature, according to CNN reports.

The event that arguably attracted the most attention in the West took place in 2002 when the Miss World Pageant was relocated from Nigeria after Christian-Muslim riots killed 200 people.

Violence begets more violence, Akinbola says.

"When they kill Christians in the north, Christians in the south will retaliate against Muslims," he says.

He adds that the tensions between Christians and Muslims in Nigeria date back to British colonial rule. He says the British traditionally awarded political leadership positions to members of the Muslim majority in the north.

British colonial rule ended with Nigeria's independence in 1960. But some Nigerian Muslims still feel as if they are entitled to rule Nigeria, he says.

"If you see a license plate in one of the northern states, you'll often see an inscription that reads 'Born to rule,' '' Akinbola says.

Another side of Nigeria's religious story

The ferocity of religious disagreement is also fanned by unscrupulous political leaders, says Mohammed Ladan, a Nigerian Muslim who now works as a pharmacist in Atlanta, Georgia.

"Some of the politicians engineer this violence for their own political end," Ladan says. "If they can play Christians against Muslims, it can take attention away from the real problems of society."

Ladan says he never felt persecuted by Christians while growing up in northern Nigeria. Like several other Nigerians interviewed, he says it would be simplistic to say most Nigerian Christians and Muslims are engaged in a permanent civil war.

Several Nigerians told stories of having friends and even siblings of another faith.

"My wife is a Christian. Some of my best friends are Christians," he says. "I can sing Christian hymns because I've been to church with my wife and friends, and they come to my Muslim celebrations."

Other Muslims say the religious violence is a symptom of a deeper problem in Nigeria: widespread poverty and corruption.

Saratu Abiola is a Nigerian who shares some of the same background with AbdulMutallab, the suspected terrorist. She is also 23 and a Muslim who left Nigeria to attend an international boarding school.

Abiola, a recent graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, says many Nigerians turn to religion because they don't think they can rely on the state. Though the country is rich with oil wealth, the cities are full of beggars and prostitutes -- it's common to see police officers brazenly demanding money at checkpoints, she says.

"People here get shocked by scandal," Abiola says of America. In Nigeria, "we just shrug our shoulders and drink our coffee. We expect the worst conduct from our high officials."

The corruption and poverty are so embedded that it even disturbs those few Nigerians who can avoid the problems, Abiola says.

"There's a real sense of despair, even among the ones who are better off," Abiola says. "They see what is going on, and they wonder: What on earth can you do to fix this?"

Faith becomes the fix for many Nigerians, she says.

"They feel wronged," says Abiola, who now lives in Washington. "They feel like the country has passed them by. When people don't have much, religion becomes more important."

Despite the country's history of religious violence, Abiola says she's still surprised that a young Nigerian Muslim would be accused of trying to commit mass murder against American citizens.

Many Nigerian youths love pop culture in America and adopt Western ways and watch Western movies, she says.

"We have MTV in Africa," she says. "Every year, we get at least five to 15 U.S. pop stars who come to Nigeria."

She says many young Nigerians learn to blend their Nigerian identity and their religious values with their love of pop culture in the West.

"For a lot of us, it doesn't present a burden -- we don't feel as if we have to choose between the West and the East," she says.

Griswold, the author who just spent five years in Nigeria, says events in Nigeria prove how small the world has become.

"When we, a thousand miles away, debate over whether we should be in Afghanistan or draw a cartoon, the people in Nigeria take up arms and fight it out," she says.

"They end up bearing the brunt of our religious debates in a very visceral way."

Death Toll Rises In Karachi Suicide Attack

Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- The death toll from the suicide bombing in Pakistan's financial capital, Karachi, rose to 40, authorities said Tuesday.

The blast on Monday targeted a Shiite procession on M.A. Jinnah Road.

The victims were among thousands of devotees commemorating Ashura, a major religious observance for the Shiites, one of two main Muslim denominations.

Ashura marks the death anniversary of Imam Hussein, grandson of Prophet Mohammed. Hussein, who was killed in battle in Karbala in 680 A.D., is regarded as a martyr -- and the battle is one of the events that helped create the schism between Sunnis and Shiites, the two main Muslim religious movements.

Religious mourning during Ashura is characterized by people chanting, beating their breasts in penance, cutting themselves with daggers or swords and whipping themselves in synchronized moves.

Shias are a minority in Pakistan.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. But the government is in the midst of an intense army offensive to rout militants from their haven along the country's border with Afghanistan. In retaliations, the militants have launched a series of deadly attacks in Pakistan.

Priest: Thou Shalt Not Steal (Unless It's From Big Business)

London, England (CNN) -- A UK priest has defended his comments that it is acceptable to steal from large companies.

Tim Jones, parish priest of St Lawrence and St Hilda, told his congregation in York, northern England: "My advice, as a Christian priest, is to shoplift."

Jones, who according to the church Web site previously worked in Corinth, Mississippi, made his comments about what he regarded as acceptable behavior by those in need when they were desperate.

In a transcript of his sermon published in the local newspaper, "The Press," Jones said: "I do not offer such advice because I think that stealing is a good thing, or because I think it is harmless, for it is neither.

"I would ask that they do not steal from small family businesses, but from large national businesses, knowing that the costs are ultimately passed on to the rest of us in the form of higher prices."

Jones told CNN affiliate ITN Monday that his advice was directed at those with nothing and who had exhausted all other legal avenues to survive, such as state benefits.

While it was never right to shoplift, Jones said, it was the most acceptable alternative for those in desperate need compared with prostitution, burglary or other criminal offenses.

The Web site for St Hilda's states that Jones has served as a prison chaplain and that his interests include international justice and fair trade issues.

"I would say to those people that are outraged: Compare how much you are spending on yourself this Christmas compared to how much you have given to people in desperate situations," Jones told ITN.

In his sermon Sunday Jones called on anyone planning to steal not to take more than they need for longer than they need, saying that he offered his advice with a heavy heart. He added that his advocacy of shoplifting was a "grim indictment" of society and a plea for help for the most vulnerable.

But Jones' church bosses failed to back his call. In a statement on the Web site for the Diocese of York Tuesday, Richard Seed, Archdeacon of York said: "The Church of England does not advise anyone to shoplift, or break the law in any way.

"Fr Tim Jones is raising important issues about the difficulties people face when benefits are not forthcoming, but shoplifting is not the way to overcome these difficulties.

"There are many organizations and charities working with people in need, and the Citizens' Advice Bureau is a good first place to call."

Evangelist Alamo Sentenced To 175 Years On Sex Charges

(CNN) -- Evangelist Tony Alamo is likely to spend the rest of his life in prison after an Arkansas judge sentenced him to 175 years Friday on charges that included taking minors across state lines for sex, according to prosecutors.

A jury convicted Alamo in July on 10 federal counts covering offenses that spanned 11 years and dated back to 1994, according to documents from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas.

Alamo, the 75-year-old founder and leader of Tony Alamo Christian Ministries, will serve the sentences on each count consecutively, for a total of 175 years in prison, prosecutors said.

In addition to his sentence, Alamo was fined $250,000, court documents showed.

His lawyer filed an appeal Friday.

Christopher Plumlee, assistant U.S. attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, welcomed the sentence.

"Given the number of victims and the difficult type of testimony they had to provide in order to get to trial, it's gratifying for them to see him get this sentence," he said. "Not only did they entrust their lives to him, he did it in the name of God. And he betrayed their trust."

Authorities in September 2008 arrested Alamo, whose real name is Bernie Hoffman, and raided his 15-acre compound near Texarkana, Arkansas.

An indictment released in November 2008 accused Alamo of transporting five girls across state lines for sex. The criminal complaint included accounts from three girls, two of whom were 17 when the complaint was released last year, and one who was 14.

All three said Alamo sexually abused them.

In a phone interview last year with CNN, Alamo called the accusations a hoax.

"They're just trying to make our church look evil ... by saying I'm a pornographer. Saying that I rape little children. ... I love children. I don't abuse them. Never have. Never will."

French Court Convicts Church of Scientology of Fraud

Paris, France (CNN) -- A French court's verdict against the Church of Scientology amounts to a "modern Inquisition" and threatens freedom of religion in France, a senior Scientologist said Tuesday.

Eric Roux, a spokesman for the group and an official representative of the organization's Celebrity Center, also said the church would appeal Tuesday's verdict.

A three-judge panel at the Correctional Court in Paris convicted the church and six of its members of organized fraud, but stopped short of banning the church, as prosecutors had asked.

The court also fined the members as much as 400,000 euros ($595,000) each and sentenced them to as much as two years in prison, though the sentences were suspended.

The decision follows a three-week trial in May and June, during which two plaintiffs said they were defrauded by the organization, which is classified as a sect in France.

Scientology has about 45,000 followers in France, and some of them were in court Tuesday.

"We think that this is really a modern Inquisition and that this is really dangerous for the freedom of religion in our country, and for sure we do not agree with that and we will go to appeal," Roux told CNN.

One of the judges on the panel said the church may continue its activities in France, but she said those activities must remain "on the correct side of the law."

As part of the penalties, the church was ordered to publish the results of the verdict in several national and international magazines to warn people, the judge said, about what Scientology offers and what was discovered at trial.

"It's an empty case," Roux said. "It's run like an Inquisition, (as) if some people did not wake up from the Inquisition time."

The plaintiffs focused their complaints on the use of a device that Scientologists say measures spiritual well-being. Members used the electropsychometer, or E-Meter, to "locate areas of spiritual duress or travail so they can be addressed and handled," according to Scientology's Web site.

The plaintiffs said that, after using the device, they were encouraged to pay for vitamins and books. They said that amounted to fraud.

Roux said Scientology is doing well in Europe, and he specifically mentioned Spain, Britain, and Sweden. He said a church opening in Rome, Italy, last weekend attracted 6,000 people.

"This is expansion, and people want to support the church," he said, when asked about members being asked to pay money. "We are 12 million in the world, and this 12 million want to support the church, and that's what they do."

He said France was a special case within Europe.

"You have in France a clique of anti-religious extremists that are making a lot of noise," he said.

Jordanian Accused In Dallas Bomb Plot Goes To Court

DALLAS, Texas (CNN) -- A terrorism suspect accused of plotting the bombing of a skyscraper made his first appearance in federal court Friday.

Hosam Maher Husein Smadi, a 19-year-old Jordanian, said little during a 20-minute hearing at the Dallas federal courthouse. His lawyer, however, said Smadi understood the gravity of the charge.

Judge Irma Ramirez set a probable cause hearing for October 5.

Smadi initially drew authorities' scrutiny because of his violent posts on an extremist chat site, court papers indicate. He was arrested Thursday in a sting operation, the FBI said.

Federal officials said Smadi, who entered the United States illegally and lived in Texas, tried to set off an explosive attached to a vehicle at the base of the 60-story Fountain Place office tower.

Long before authorities arrested Smadi, however, they were following his Internet discussions, according to a court affidavit.

"Smadi was discovered by the FBI within an online group of extremists," the affidavit says. "Among many others in the group who espoused and endorsed violence, Smadi stood out based on his vehement intention to actually conduct terror attacks in the United States."

Undercover officers then contacted Smadi, posing as members of an al Qaeda sleeper cell. After months of conversations, the agents considered Smadi a legitimate threat.

Smadi picked several targets to attack, including the Dallas-Forth Worth airport, before deciding on the skyscraper, which houses Wells Fargo Bank, the affidavit says. It details a conversation that Smadi is said to have had with authorities:

"I have decided to change the target," he said, according to the affidavit. "God willing, the strike will be certain and strong. It will shake the currently weak economy in the state and the American nation, because this bank is one of the largest banks in the city."

Smadi said many times that he wanted to commit violent jihad and he was a soldier of Osama bin Laden, the affidavit says.

Undercover agents tried to get Smadi to "re-evaluate his interpretation of jihad," saying there were nonviolent ways to commit the act. But "Smadi again communicated his continuing commitment for violent jihad," the affidavit says.

After casing the bank in July, Smadi told an undercover agent he would target it, according to authorities. Initially, Smadi told the agent he wanted to bomb the bank on September 11 but decided to wait until the Islamic holy month of Ramadan ended on September 20, authorities said.

After receiving what he thought was an explosive from an undercover agent, Smadi drove a car with the fake bomb into a parking garage under the skyscraper, authorities said.

Smadi thought he could detonate the bomb by dialing his cell phone, they said.

When he dialed, the number rang a phone in authorities' possession, the affidavit says.

Counterterrorism officials arrested Smadi on Thursday before publicly disclosing a similar but unrelated terrorism sting arrest Wednesday in Springfield, Illinois. A federal law enforcement official familiar with the cases said authorities feared that word of the Illinois arrest could tip off the Texas suspect to the sting operation.

A charge of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction carries a potential sentence of life in prison and a $250,000 fine.

In the Illinois case, undercover FBI agents foiled a plot to bomb Springfield's federal building, authorities said.

In neither case did authorities find ties to known terrorist groups.

Dad Admits Killings To Reporters, Blames Crime On 'Spirit'

(CNN) -- A Florida man admitted to reporters that he killed his wife and five "innocent" children, adding that he wants to be executed "right away" so he can be buried with them on Saturday.

Mesac Damas, 32, said he wanted to take his own life, but did not have the courage to go through with it, "because if you kill yourself, you're not going to heaven."

Damas made the statements to a Naples Daily News reporter as he was being led into a Haitian police vehicle in Port-au-Prince. Damas was returned to the United States late Tuesday following his capture in Haiti.

Damas faces six counts of premeditated first-degree murder in the deaths of his wife, Guerline Damas, 32; and the couple's five children -- Michzach, 9; Marven, 6; Maven, 5; Megan, 3; and Morgan, 11 months, police have said. The six bodies were found Saturday in the family's North Naples, Florida, home after relatives called police saying they had not been heard from.

Asked by the reporter in Haiti why he killed his family, Damas responded, "Only God knows." Questioned further, he blamed the crime on his mother-in-law. "Her mom pretty much made me do it -- the devil, her spirit, whatever she worships," he said.

Damas added, "When I did it, [my] eyes [were] closed but right now my eyes are open." He repeatedly asked the reporter, "Do you believe in Jesus Christ," and stated, "The devil exists."

Police said an arrest warrant was issued for Damas on Tuesday "based on information and evidence collected thus far in the investigation and statements made by Damas to a federal agent after his detention in Haiti."

Police have not said how the five were killed, but Collier County Sheriff Kevin Rambosk described the scene as "horrific."

The Naples Daily News, citing the warrant, reported that the woman and children were stabbed and their throats were slashed.

Damas had used a one-way ticket to fly from Miami to Haiti. Later, he told reporters that he had gone to Haiti to say goodbye to his family. He claimed that he had planned to turn himself in.

Police had asked the FBI and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for help in locating Damas. The FBI's legal attaché in the Dominican Republic notified authorities in Collier County, Florida, that a man believed to be Damas was taken into custody Monday by the Haitian National Police.

"Information obtained by [the sheriff's office] shows Damas was found hiding near a hotel in the capital city of Port-au-Prince," a sheriff's statement said Tuesday.

Police earlier said the judge who signed the arrest warrant ordered that Damas be held without bond upon his return to Florida. If convicted of six counts of first-degree murder, Damas could face life in prison or the death penalty.

Mesac and Guerline Damas had a history of domestic violence, police said. Mesac Damas was arrested in January, and in June he pleaded no contest to misdemeanor battery charges against his wife. Police said they did not believe he served any jail time, and did not think a restraining order was currently in place regarding the couple.

However, an arrest warrant was issued Monday for Damas on charges of violating probation stemming from the January arrest.

Guerline Damas' family released a statement Tuesday through the sheriff's office, saying she was "the best mother, sister and daughter in the world. She was caring and loving, and we miss her very much."

"This is a family tragedy and we want the community to realize that domestic violence is a serious issue," said the statement from the family. "If you have friends or family who are in an abusive relationship, please try to get them help. And to those women who are being abused, please love yourself enough to get help."

The family said its main concern was getting Damas back into the country "to face what he has done and get justice for our sister and daughter and her children. ... We ask that you keep our family in your prayers."

The Damases had been married about 10 years, Rambosk said. He did not know how long they had lived in Naples.

The six bodies were found about 6:30 p.m. Saturday, a day after police had visited the home to check on the family, Collier County sheriff's Capt. Chris Roberts said.

A family member had asked police to conduct a welfare check on the home Friday, saying they had not heard from a resident there, Roberts said. Responding officers knocked on the door and got no answer, he said, but they saw nothing that aroused their suspicions.

The following morning, the family member became more concerned and filed a missing persons report, Rambosk said. Later, authorities requested a key to the house from property management, as well as authorization to enter.