"Horn, John" wrote:
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: The Fool [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> >
> > http://www.nj.com/newsflash/international/index.ssf?/cgi-free/
> > getstory_ssf
> > cgi?a0531_BC_MagicLamb&&news&newsflash-international
> >
> I can't seem to get this URL to work. Got a hint as to what this is about?
>
> - jmh
I had a hard time getting it to work.
BEGIN QUOTE
Uzbek Muslims find consolation in
`Lamb of God,' secular government
annoyed
By BAGILA BUKHARBAYEVA
The Associated Press
6/1/02 12:40 PM
DURMEN VILLAGE, Uzbekistan (AP) -- Just three days before a major
Islamic holiday, a lamb was born with white patterns on its black fleece
resembling the Arabic words for Allah on one side and Mohammed on the
other.
The phenomenon has caused a sensation among ordinary people in this
former Soviet state where most people are Muslims -- and been an
annoyance to authorities in the staunchly secular government.
Mainstream religious organizations are pursuing a campaign to
characterize the lamb as nothing special. But thousands have flocked to
this village in the eastern Fergana Valley to see what they believe is a
lamb of God sent to strengthen Muslims' faith.
Religion is an extremely sensitive matter in this Central Asian country,
where the government has been cracking down on Islamic militants for
several years. Officials worry the lamb may boost the ranks of
opposition
sympathizers.
Adding a political angle, the lamb belongs to a family that had a young
male relative beaten to death by security officers last November after
he
was detained for alleged links to a banned religious group.
END QUOTE
I can cut-and-paste the entire article and e-mail it to anyone who wants
it. Let me know. (The "send this page" link at the bottom ends up only
sending the URL, which doesn't work if you wanted the text of the
article rather than the URL.)
Julia
