NJ: On the trail of the Ft. Dix 6

"So they had time to drink and swim and plan a massacre," Herman mused. "It's crazy."

GOULDSBORO, Pa. -- Cassy Herman booked two unforgettable renters last winter for her Pocono Mountain vacation property. First came Eljvir Duka, a 23-year-old Cherry Hill resident, who wanted the Gouldsboro, Pa., house on Feb. 1. Duka offered Her man a $900 cash deposit in early December; she took it.

Six weeks later, a second man asked to lease the property for the end of January. He promised to leave hours before Herman's next renter arrived. Again, she agreed. But something gnawed at Her man as she hung up the phone. So she picked it up, redialed the last number on her caller ID and listened in stunned silence at what came next.

"FBI," a voice answered.

I couldn't believe it when I read how boneheaded the FBI was with that one! Until I read about this BIG boneheaded move. Talk about Keystone Cops!

One of the odder moments outlined in the FBI affidavit occurred at a local convenience store early the next day. As Eljvir and Dritan Duka wandered into the store, they recognized another customer -- the undercover agent who had been at the firing range -- and began chatting with him about guns. They allegedly asked their new acquaintance if he knew where they could buy assault rifles. Dritan Duka told the agent they wanted Russian AK-47s, not the cheaper Chinese version, be cause the Russian model was sturdier and easier to bury in the dirt or sand, according to the complaint. It's not clear how the agent responded.

About that week:
At least 14 people crowded into Herman's house that week, a band of chatty, vodka-swilling young men who included roofers, a baker and a cab driver. Agents recorded a key defendant claiming that all of them -- "less one or two" -- planned to participate in the at tack. In the end, prosecutors charged only four on the trip -- Duka; his brothers, Shain and Dritan; and another man from Cherry Hill, Muhamad Ibrahim Shnewer. Those four and a fifth, Serdar Tatar of Philadelphia, were charged with terror conspiracy. A sixth defendant, Agron Abdullahu of Atlantic County, is accused of supplying guns to the plotters.

About Gouldsboro and the house they rented from Herman:
North of Allentown and south of Scranton, Gouldsboro straddles two townships that claim about 3,000 residents, a total that ebbs and flows depending on the season. Its biggest commodities might be the same ones all hamlets seek: peace, quiet, isolation.

Small lakes dot the landscape, as does a 2,800-acre state park. An Army tank sits outside the local American Legion post, where veterans share drinks along a dark, smoky bar. There's a gas station, a convenience store and a shooting range. The Stars and Stripes fly from every other telephone pole on Main Street. Flags honoring U.S. prisoners of war hang on the rest.

On a Web site, Herman advertises her house as the only one of its kind in the gated development called Big Bass Lake. Filling 5,000 square feet, the house sports a hot tub and sauna, a 62-inch television in the master suite and an outdoor fireplace "for roasting marshmallows."

Sounds lovely, doesn't it? My question: Where did the money come from to fund this little outing...there's lots more good Sunday morning reading at the link. I especially liked reading how the attorneys are calling this terror confab "a vacation" and an "open house." Yeah, right.

NJ: Mosque members sue to oust Imam.

Holy Salafi Wahhabi - and right in Dinah's backyard!

At a time of debate over how the Islamic religion is practiced, some founding members of a Trenton mosque are asking a judge to oust their leader because they say he is taking the congregation in a fundamentalist direction.

In recent years, Imam Sabur Abdul Hakim has adopted stricter views of Islam and his aides plan to link the mosque with others of a conservative sect in Saudi Arabia, beaming in lectures via satellite links, according to a lawsuit filed in Superior Court in Mercer County.

The Mosque is owned by the International Muslim Brotherhood Inc - but it's "not related to the overseas organization". (And I am Marilyn Monroe.) Read how Peter Golden a Rutgers University history professor falls all over himself to avoid making the Islam=terror connection. He'll tar the Branch Davidians with that brush - but oh no, not Islam.

While Salafism has been linked to terrorists and al Qaeda, everyone who practices it is not a terrorist. Golden noted that Islamic fundamentalists are not the only ones linked to terrorism. Other religious fundamentalists, like David Koresh's Branch Davidians, also have been linked to violence, he said.

Is this an example of the schism that is starting to ripple through the muslim world? Let us hope so. Read it all, there's more at the link.

Meanwhile, the change toward Salafism has driven away many of the more moderate members at Masjid As-Saffat and its religious school closed last year, the suit said.

Raise your hand...

...if you doubt that Islam is a religion of peace.

Algerian bombing, 4-11-07

Hat tip to TheReligionOfPeace.com

Putting the Bang in Bangladesh and with Saudi $, too.

Militants preparing to launch car bomb attacks. "We have several hundred cadres ready." Denies links to Taliban or other violent groups outside of Bangladesh. Hmm. What about the Wahhabi dough you're rolling in these days, scumbag?

Islamist militants in Bangladesh are preparing to launch car bomb attacks and carry out other deadly missions, one self-described militant commander said in a rare interview with a private television channel.

"After going somewhat slow following the execution of our top six leaders, (Bwa-ha-ha-ha!)we have regrouped, received funding from Saudi Arabia, acquired training and (are) now recruiting drivers to operate suicide vehicles," he told Ekushey television (ETV).

Okay, here's how it works. The money flows from Saudi Wahhabists to the jihadis. They wave it under the nose of an impoverished and ignorant Muslim, we'll call Mo Six Pack. Mo hasn't been living the life of Riley over in Bangladesh. What with the monsoons, tsunamis, floods and such and with four wives and 9 kids to feed he's feeling the pressure. He can't even have a cocktail to relax. No wonder he's ready to go off like a rocket. Throw in the concept of paradise with 72 sloe-eyed virgins waiting for him and you got yourself a new recruit. I still don't know what they offer the women jihadi...

But you know what I really like about these jihadis? They are such cowards. Truly. They hide in their caves and wear burkas to disguise themselves. Or they run off to hide behind the skirts of the Iranian theocracy, ala Nasrallah. IMO this is clearly a manifestation of their deep seeded insecurities about their sexuality. That and their inbreeding. But that's a topic for another day... Read on about the brave but covered from head to toe "militant" blowing his horn from his "undisclosed jungle location".

ETV aired the interview on Wednesday night, showing the militant hooded in a black robe from head to toe, and only revealing one eye."I cannot give my name for security reasons," he said, describing himself as the commander of the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen, an outlawed group seeking to introduce Shariah law in Bangladesh.

"The executions did not break our morale, rather inspired us to carry forward their mission," the militant said in the interview, conducted in an undisclosed jungle location. The name of the self-proclaimed militant commander was also not disclosed."We have several thousand cadres ready, including many to operate suicide missions."The militant said one funding means was "our people who work in Saudi Arabia", who send some of their own savings and collect from other sources."We are ready to strike again, soon," he added.

The militants faced some operational difficulties because of a state of emergency in Bangladesh now, but hoped to overcome those soon, the militant said."Now we have drafted young and old, and even women. They are all trained and equipped."Asked what mission he wanted to achieve, the militant said "to establish Allah's rule in the soil of Allah.""Anyone who accepts our demand is a friend, anyone who don't is an enemy. And we will finish them."However, he denied any links with the Taliban or other violent groups outside Bangladesh.Defence analyst Brig General (retd) Shahedul Anam Khan told ETV the threat of car bombings could be real but it might take some time before there was an attack.

Iran invents ISLAMOCYCLE for the lady bikers...

Good news. Soon she'll have a bike of her very own!

Lucky girls. I imagine that riding the bike with its specially designed cabin (!) and wearing a sleeping bag should be tons of fun! Especially in the warmer climates!!!

Iran plans to make special bicycles designed for women that will be compatible with Islamic regulations and not expose their body movements while riding. The new bicycle would have a cabin to cover half of a rider's body, the newspaper Iran quoted project manager Elaheh Sofali as saying.

Women's sports in general, and cycling in particular, have been a constant controversial issue in Islamic Iran. Several efforts to promote athletics by reformist circles and women's activists have failed because of opposition by the conservative clergy... The clergy considers women's body movements made while riding a bicycle to be provoking to men and not compatible with social rules.

Turkey: Swimsuit photos banned, could cause 'car accidents'

(I guess this means the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue is a no go, too.)

Media fury rages over swimsuit photo ban

A DECISION by Turkey's largest city to ban some pictures of swimsuit models has revived claims about the rising power of Islam, with newspapers saying the move was more befitting of theocratic Iran than a secular democracy.

Istanbul municipality asked stores selling swimwear made by Turkish manufacturer Nelson to seek permission to place photographs of models in swimsuits and bikinis on store front windows located on main streets. It then denied them permission.

The controversy follows several large secularist protests in Turkey, a secular republic with an overwhelmingly Muslim population, against the ruling AK Party, which controls the Istanbul city authority and which has Islamist roots.

Secularists say AK wants to undermine Turkey's separation of state and religion and to boost the role of Islam in daily life, claims which the centre-right, pro-business party denies. “Is this becoming a land of mullahs like Iran?” asked the Vatan daily, commenting on the row over the swimwear pictures.

Echoing that comment, the staunchly secular Cumhuriyet daily quoted local consultant Ali Saydam as saying: “(The AK Party) is creating worries that they are turning Turkey into Iran.” This year four firms were denied permission to hang photographs in store windows, according to newspaper reports.

Moris Eskinazi, part owner of Nelson, told Reuters the need to seek municipality permission was new. “We've never had to get permission before, and they wanted us to bring a copy of the photographs we planned on putting up,” he said.

The authorities offer a string of rationalizations for their actions. First, there was the car accident excuse. They they said the ads weren't up to EU standards. Finally they played the aesthetic card, saying that they violated the historical character of the city. Headscarf ads? Well, they don't appear to violate the historical character of the city. You can buy ad space all day long for them... Creeping sharia...

More at the link.

Caption this pic

Snively Whiplash: Curses foiled again.

Norwegian wood...it's not good.

I'm talking about poor Namand Mamandi, a Norwegian-Iranian who had the misfortune of getting caught having a nip in Tehran and rec'd 130 lashes in public as a result. Some chaser, huh. I worked for a number of years as an ICU nurse in some pretty bad hoods and let me tell you, I've never seen wounds like this. (original post is here.)

They didn't use Norwegian wood - they used electrical cables.

Read this rough translation of a piece by Bjorn Carlsen, editor of TV2 Nettavisen/iOslo.no. Video at the link as well. His injuries appear to be even more painful there. Watch it and be thankful you can freely imbibe and still sit in a chair afterwards. The most interesting part of the article?

UD ignorant ofAs iOslo.no called up Foreign Office Monday morning, owned they no matter hrtø any about issue. Norwegian authorities hasn't knowledge at this, say kommunikasjonsrdgiverå Christening Melsom in UD at iOslo.no. The accumulationså by far hasn't iOslo.no fttå a few annotation at it Iranian embassy.

It appears that the Norwegian government is taking a soft approach to this blatant attack on one of their citizens. Thanks for nothing, guys. And we know from the Dr. Haleh Esfandiari situation that Iran doesn't recognize the dual nationality distinction.

Here's another rough translation of a follow up article from TV2 Nettavisen/iOslo.no from today advising Norwegian Iranians to avoid going to visit in Iran because of the increase in human rights violations against holders of dual citizenship. I think. (My Norwegian is non-existent)

The Norwegian gov't still hasn't done anything despite the fact that Mr. Mamandi has been a citizen of that fair nation since 1999.

Don't squeeze the hostages...

You know Dinah has been getting all exercised over the MSM labelling of the US citizens held hostage in Iran as "soft hostages" The only thing more disturbing IHO is the "soft approach" the US government has taken with regard to their seizure.

Yesterday, Iran finally acknowledged the detention of Dr Haleh Esfandiari for "crimes against national security." A charge that could carry the death sentence.

Information about what could have led to her detention continues to be thin on the ground but I did find this over at al-Guardian:

Human Rights Watch, which fears that the 67-year-old scholar may have been subjected to coercive interrogation. The human rights group also points out that Esfandiari's arrest took place during a particularly onerous week in Iran, one that saw "escalated repressive campaigns against Iranian women's right activists and student leaders".

But it isn't just the last week. In a climate that the writer Praful Bidwal aptly describes as having grown "palpably more unfree, tense, apprehensive and insecure" in the last year, the government of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has announced a purge of liberal and secular professors from Iran's universities, harassed and banned several student organisations, shut down scores of newspapers and magazines and clamped down on the country's women's rights movement, which has been gaining momentum in recent months.

This last front may be pivotal to understanding why Tehran has targeted Esfandiari, who is a former Deputy Secretary General of the Women's Organization of Iran and the author of Reconstructed Lives: Women and Iran's Islamic Revolution (1997).

Another possible reason for her arrest is alluded to in a Wilson Center statement, which says that the questioning to which Esfandiari has been subjected has "focused almost entirely on the activities and programs of the Middle East Program at the Wilson Center. Repeatedly during the interrogation, Dr Esfandiari was pressured to make a false confession or to falsely implicate the Wilson Center in activities in which it had no part."

The US State Department has made $75m available for "democracy promotion" in Iran, and Tehran clearly believes that the center is involved in such activities.

The kicker:

As the Iranian dissident Akbar Ganji argues, those funds only "make the work of the pro-democracy movement more difficult. The government of Iran describes all of its opponents as agents of the United States [and] claims they are on the payroll of the Bush administration." And that's precisely what's happened to Esfandiari.

The real kicker:

You know something's not right when Glamor.com in a freaking MOTHER's DAY piece is the only major media outlet banging the drum for Dr. Esfandiari's release.

Visit Free Haleh and take part in their letter writing campaign...

Baquba Salvation Council formed.

Baquba takes a page from the Anbar Salvation Council playbook. Starting to look like the tribal leaders have REALLY had enough of al Qaeda.

An official in Diyala Province announced that more than 280 prominent personalities and tribal and military leaders have formed a “Baquba Salvation Council” to confront acts of violence in the province, focusing especially on combatting the so-called “Islamic State of Iraq.”

Al-Melaf reports in Arabic that Shaykh 'Awad Najm al-Rabi'i, the head of the new “Baquba Salvation Council” announced that around 280 tribal leaders, academics, military leaders, from the full range of sects and ethnicities have formed the council to confront the deteriorating security situation in the province and confront the “gangs” that operate under the organizational rubric of the “Islamic State.”

Citing “resentment and anger among the tribal leaders at the conduct of these gangs,” al-Rabi'i said the leaders were insistent on “declaring war against them and expelling them from the province and bringing security back to the citizens,” the agency writes.

Iran: Fashion police victim attempts suicide. Further crackdown urged.

It appears to be true:

A 21-year-old medical student at the University of Shahrekord in western Iran identified only as Farinaz attempted suicide on Monday by overdosing on aspirin after police had arrested and later released her for breaking new Islamic dress code rules. She is currently in a coma at the hospital of Isfahan. Under a new moralization campaign which kicked off last month, police can arrest women who do not abide by a strict Islamic dress code. Farinaz had reportedly not fully covered her hair with the veil.

While a greater crackdown is being called for by an official of the He man woman haters club.

“The actions of State Security Forces (SSF) against mal-veiled women are necessary but insufficient”, said Farahnaz Qandforoush, the governorate’s advisor on women’s affairs.The SSF should have decisively enforced the dress code over the past decade, Qandforoush told the government-run news agency Fars.“The inaction in previous years has led women and girls to start thinking that they can appear in society in any way they want”, Qandforoush protested.

You have to wonder where this is all headed.

Iran:Ahmadinejad tosses al Jazeera out on its ear-a.

Out, out dammed smut!

An Al-Jazeera television crew was ordered out of a press conference to be held by visiting Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday, the channel's correspondent said.

Officials from the Iranian embassy in Abu Dhabi asked the team from the Arabic-language Al-Jazeera and its sister channel Al-Jazeera English to leave the hall ahead of the press conference, Mohammad al-Abdallah told AFP. Ahmadinejad is wrapping up a landmark two-day visit to the United Arab Emirates, the first by an Iranian head of state to the US Gulf ally.

A member of the Iranian delegation said the ban was related to an Al-Jazeera programme which was deemed insulting to Iraq's Shiite Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. "It was because Iran's parliament has ordered a ban on dealing with Al-Jazeera due to its offence to Ayatollah Sistani," Navid Behrouz told AFP.

They've been in trouble with Iran before:
The channel was involved in a similar controversy in December 2005 when Iraqi Shiites protested after a talk show guest accused Sistani of favouring the US occupation. After that incident, Tehran summoned the ambassador of Qatar, where Al-Jazeera is based. Its Tehran bureau was shut down by the authorities in April 2005 amid accusations of stirring up violence in its coverage of clashes in the ethnic Arab majority southwestern oil city of Ahvaz. It only reopened 14 months later.

Iran: Top Blogger arrested

This is bad:

Mehdi Boutorabi, the CEO of Persian Blog, a service company for Iranian bloggers, was arrested Sunday in his Tehran office, reports said Monday. Persian Blog was founded in 2001 by three students who two years later, during a crackdown by authorities on bloggers which led to many arrests, sold it to Boutorabi, a young entrepreneur close to Iran's reformist movement.

Officially, Boutorabi was arrested over the disappearance of former Pasdaran general, Alireza Asghari, though the connection between the two is unclear and has not been explained by authorities yet.

An ex deputy defence minister, Alireza Asghari disappeared in Istanbul, Turkey, in January.

Some claim the former Revolutionary Guards commander, who has precious information on Iran's missile systems and nuclear progress, defected to a European country while others believe he was abducted by the US.

Should Persian Blog be shut down, thousands of Iranian bloggers would loose the opportunity of keeping an online diary.

After authorities recently shut down a number of reformist newspapers, blogs are a relevant source of independent news in Iran.

US confirms GIs in AQ hands. AQ issues taunts.

Qaeda tells US to stop hunt for missing soldiers.
An Al-Qaeda group demanded on Monday that the US military halt its hunt for three US soldiers it is believed to be holding if the troops are to remain safe, according to an Internet statement.

"Your soldiers are in our hands. If you want them safe, do not search for them," the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq, an alliance of Sunni groups led by Al-Qaeda, said in the statement.

The three soldiers went missing early Saturday after gunmen ambushed their patrol, killing four soldiers and an Iraqi army interpreter travelling with them, near the town of Mahmudiyah, 30 kilometres south of Baghdad.

The US military confirmed on Monday that it believes the three have been kidnapped by militants loyal to Al-Qaeda.

"At this time, we believe they were abducted by terrorists belonging to Al-Qaeda or an affiliated group and this assessment is based on highly credible intelligence information," said spokesman Major General William Caldwell.

The search continues.

Tae Kwon Do and the Hijab - Canada caves.

Tae Kwon Do Championship to allow the hijab.

The Muslim hijab, banned at a taekwondo tournament in Quebec last month, will be allowed at the 2007 World Championship in Quebec City later this month, the International Taekwon-Do Federation announced on Friday.

The decision by a Quebec federation last month to bar a team of Muslim girls from taking part with their hijabs at the regional tournament had prompted protests of discrimination, but Quebec federation officials said it was a matter of safety.

That group was affiliated with the World Taekwondo Federation, a rival group to the International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF), which said on Friday it would temporarily allow the head scarves at its May 31-June 3 championship.

There's really nothing left for me to say about this disgusting display of dhimmitude.

Pakistani officer shoots 2 US GIs dead - make that 1

Update: The story is changing and reports are conflicting, but now only one American soldier is dead. Another has been reported wounded. Miscreants, they are calling the perps. I think bastards might be more appropriate.

Militants opened fire Monday on a convoy carrying U.S. and Pakistani military officials near the Afghan frontier, killing one American and one Pakistani soldier, the Pakistani army spokesman said. At least two Americans and two Pakistani soldiers and were wounded.

Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad said “miscreants” — usually a byword used by Pakistani officials to describe Islamic militants — fired at the convoy carrying military officials who attended a meeting in the northwestern town of Teri Mangal.


The earlier story: WTF?

KABUL, Afghanistan - A Pakistani officer shot dead two U.S. soldiers Monday during a meeting over a border clash between Pakistani troops and Afghans, an Afghan government spokesman said. A spokesman for the Pakistan military denied that its soldiers had shot anyone.

Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman Zahir Azimi told Reuters: "At the meeting, a Pakistani officer rose up and fired at U.S. soldiers, resulting in the deaths of two soldiers and wounding of two others."

He said U.S. soldiers had returned fire, killing several Pakistani troops. An Afghan officer present at the meeting in Pakistan's Kurram tribal agency was also wounded, he said.
This is a developing story and details will be added as they become available.

Saudi woman files first case ever against religious police

They are known in the Kingdom as the Muttawa and number 5000 strong. Their mission? Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. Oh and pulling women from cars and interrogating them for 'not wearing decent clothing.'

I predict this case will go nowhere.

A Saudi civil court is to hear the first ever case brought against the kingdom's religious police charged with enforcing a strict Islamic moral code, the woman plaintiff's lawyer told AFP on Saturday.

The unnamed woman is seeking compensation after she and her daughter were allegedly wrongfully arrested in a shopping centre car park in 2004 for "not wearing decent clothing," her lawyer Abderrahman al-Lahm said.Women in Saudi Arabia must be covered from head to toe when they go out in public.

The religious policeman in question arrested the pair, commandeered the car from their driver and drove them to his headquarters where the already sick mother suffered "health complications," said Lahm.

The woman's family is bringing the case before a civil court in Riyadh on Sunday after an Islamic court rejected the complaint, reportedly ruling that "a member of the religious police cannot be judged," Lahm said

That's Shar'ia justice for you, folks. Get a taste of it.

And in other American soft hostage news...

There's not much in the news about detained Iranian-American academic Haleh Esfandiari today. The third woman detained with them has not yet been identified.

Hillary Clinton is deeply concerned at the inexplicable detention.

Huh. WaPo is calling them 'soft hostages'. As did the LA Times.

I wonder if Robert Levinson the ex FBI guy that disappeared off the Isle of Kish is feeling like a "soft hostage" right about now? His fate remains a mystery. (Let me tell you - I get taken hostage and you refer to me as a "soft hostage"? When I get out? I'm coming after you and we're going to have a little talk.)

But back to our hostages. Is referring to them as soft hostages supposed to make us feel good about the situation? Good grief! Why would we want to have dealings with a regime that institutionalizes kidnapping and makes it part of their strategic arsenal? A strategic arsenal that will soon include nuclear weapons.

That's nice, real nice.

All this talk of hostages makes me wonder how our missing GI's are doing over in Iraq. Will the WaPo and the LA Times will be referring to them as 'hard hostages'? Al Qaeda is calling them Crusader soldiers and hearing this did not give me a warm and fuzzy feeling:

US commanders said that a nearby unit had heard the explosions and tried to communicate with the ambushed patrol, without success. An unmanned spotter drone flew overhead 15 minutes later and saw the burning vehicles but a coalition Quick Reaction Force did not reach the scene until 5.40am, nearly an hour later.

“In the United States military we have a thing called the soldier’s creed, and it says ‘I will never leave a fallen comrade’,” Major-General William Caldwell, a US military spokesman, said in Baghdad.

Undermanned, says Scott of Town Commons in his Bad news out of Iraq. Now we hear that the Quick Reaction Force didn't arrive for an hour. Not good.

Where is the rest of that surge?

Faster please.

Iran: Norwegian flogged for drinking.

And it's not a pretty sight.

A Norwegian resident of Iranian descent was flogged in public in Iran for drinking alcoholic beverages, an Iranian opposition website claimed on Saturday. It released photos of the individual bearing scars from the lashes.

Namand Mamandi, who resides in Norway, was arrested by Iran’s para-military Bassij Force while visiting his mother in Iran, according to a report on the Persian-language website Iran Asrar.He was sentenced to 130 lashes in public. Days after the sentence was carried out Mamandi managed to return to Norway. He is currently in hospital recovering from the flogging, the report said.

Iranian Fashion Police Back out on the Beat

17,135 warnings written.
850 pledges to respect the veil more written.
80 women (and 50 men) sent to the authorities.
Being able to trot around dressed as I please?
Priceless.

Iran stops 50 women at airport for un-Islamic dress.

Iranian police have prevented 50 women from boarding flights in their ongoing crackdown on dress styles deemed to be out of line with Islamic dress rules, officials said on Sunday.

"Fifty badly-veiled women were prevented from boarding domestic and international flights for failing to respect Islamic dress rules," said the head of airport police Mamoud Bot-Shekane, according to the Fars news agency. He said that the airport police have handed out "17,135 warnings to women who are not fully respecting the Islamic veil and 850 of them have had to make a written pledge to respect the veil more." Out of these, the cases of 80 women as well as 50 men have been sent to the judicial authorities, he added.

Iran's police have been enforcing a nationwide crackdown on slack dressing for the past three weeks -- a regular pre-summer event that has been pursued with increased vehemence this year. Some conservatives have applauded the crackdown as important to protect the security of society but moderates have publicly questioned whether Iran would be better off tackling poverty and crime rather than slack dressing.

Iran's police chief Esmaeeli Ahmadi Moghadam has insisted that the crackdown is not temporary and will continue.