Greater Middle East
Angry protests spread in Jordan
More than 5,000 took to the streets across Jordan in "a day of rage" to protest escalating food prices and unemployment Jan. 14—the same day that Tunisia's president fled after weeks of violent demonstrations. Angry protests are reported from Amman, Irbid, Karak, Salt and Maan, demanding that Prime Minister Samir Rifai step down. "We are protesting the policies of the government—high prices and repeated taxation that made the Jordanian people revolt," former Karak mayor Tawfiq al-Batoush told Reuters at the protest outside Karak's al-Omari mosque. (The Guardian, Jan. 15; Reuters, Jan. 14)
Protests follow anti-Christian terror in Egypt
For the first time, Coptic Christians took to the streets in Egypt in a series of angry protests after a bomb blast during New Year's Eve midnight mass at Alexandria's al-Qiddisin (Saints) Church left 32 dead and some 100 injured. Chanting "With our souls and blood we save the cross," Copts marched through Cairo and tried to storm the Radio and TV headquarters in Maspero.
Lebanon: military court convicts cleric on terrorism charges
A Lebanese military court on Nov. 12 convicted cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed of terrorism and sentenced him to life in prison. Bakri was found guilty of belonging to an armed group that plotted to carry out terrorist acts against Lebanese soldiers and was sentenced along with 54 others who fought in clashes with the Lebanese army in 2007. Tried and convicted in absentia, Bakri was reportedly surprised when his lawyer informed him of the verdict. He claims to have never received a summons or an arrest warrant. As Bakri lives openly in Tripoli, a city in the north of Lebanon, and appears regularly on television, it is not immediately clear why he was not arrested. Bakri maintains that the charges are fabricated and has refused to turn himself in.
Egyptians unite against al-Qaeda threat to Copts
President Hosni Mubarak on Nov. 6 condemned threats by the al-Qaeda franchise in Iraq against Coptic Christians in Egypt and promised to protect them. The Islamic State of Iraq, claiming responsibility for a bloody hostage taking in a Baghdad church last weekend, threatened to target the region's Christians if the Coptic church did not release two women the group claimed had were being held against their will after converting to Islam. Mubarak told Pope Shenouda III in a phone call that he rejected "pushing Egypt's name into the terrorist act that targeted a church in Baghdad."
Terror rocks Istanbul —again
A suicide bomber struck Istanbul's Taksim Square the morning of Oct. 31, injuring at least 32 in the city's busiest node. The apparent targets were police officers at a substation at the square's north end. At least 15 of those injured were police. The attack came on the last day of the unilateral ceasefire declared by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). The so-called "no-action period" had been extended for one month on Sept. 30. (LAT, EÖ/VK, Oct. 31)
Kuwait appeals court upholds acquittal of accused al-Qaeda militants
A Kuwaiti appeals court on Oct. 28 upheld the acquittal of eight men accused of attempting to form an al-Qaeda cell and planning to attack a US base 70 miles south of Kuwait City. The men were tried and acquitted by a lower court in May, with two of the men, Mohsen al-Fadhli and Mohammad al-Dossari, being acquitted in absentia. Al-Fadhli has been wanted by Kuwaiti security forces for the past five years, and al-Dossari is standing trial in Lebanon on charges of terrorism. Five of the remaining defendants were released from custody following the original acquittals, while the sixth defendant is currently serving a life sentence on unrelated terror charges. The court of appeals also upheld the lower court's ruling that the men had been tortured by the Kuwaiti security service. Adel Abdulhadi, a lawyer for the acquitted men, said that the defense team was considering suing the interior ministry for the alleged torture. The prosecution still has the option of appealing the acquittals to Kuwait's highest court, although they have not yet indicated whether they will do so.
Ex-Gitmo detainee surrenders in Yemen
Yemeni authorities announced Aug. 23 that a former Guantánamo Bay detainee who apparently rejoined al-Qaeda has turned himself in. Ali Hussein al Taiss was a wanted "al-Qaeda element," according to Saba News Agency, the official Yemeni news service. But al-Taiss surrendered to authorities and "expressed his remorse for the period he has spent in joining al Qaeda ranks and showed his readiness to cooperate in serving the country's security and stability." Al-Taiss was transferred to Yemen on Dec. 15, 2006. He is one of several former Gitmo detainees who are believed to have joined al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). (The Long War Journal, Aug. 23)
Sufis on the NYT op-ed page —again
We have noted before the strange phenomenon of neocons exploiting Sufis on the op-ed page of the New York Times. On Aug. 17, William Dalrymple, author of Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern India, is the latest to weigh in with a defense of Islam's pluralistic mystics in a piece entitled "The Muslims in the Middle." We have no particular reason to believe Dalrymple is a neocon, and his strong support of the so-called "Ground Zero Mosque" (which we applaud) clearly sets him apart from most of them. However, he exhibits some elements of their thinking. He cites (without criticism) the recent RAND report advocating US encouragement of Sufism to counter jihadism in the Islamic world. Worse yet, he compares the courage of Sufis who "risk their lives for their tolerant beliefs" to that of "American troops on the ground in Baghdad and Kabul"! At the same time, he notes that Sufis such as Haji Sahib of Turangzai (in contemporary Pakistan) were persecuted by the British colonial overseers—oblivious to the irony. As we stated the last time Sufism made the op-ed page: Nothing will discredit the Sufis (and make them targets for terror) faster than making them appear as collaborators with the US and and its brutal proxy regimes—legitimizing the Wahhabi types as the "resistance." We present here the text of the editorial, with relevant or problematic passages in bold:
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