Unholywars

Can you believe Al-Qaeda, world’s largest terror group is frightened seeing its fighters leaving the organization? Recent documents captured by US troops reveals that Al-Qaeda leaders in Iraq show the group has been weakened and that civilian anti-insurgency groups are making an impact. In a statement a a local al-Qaeda leader said,

I am Abu-Tariq, emir of the al-Layin and al-Mashahdah sector. We were mistreated, cheated and betrayed by some of our brothers.Those people were nothing but hypocrites, liars and traitors and were waiting for the right moment to switch sides with whoever pays those most.

Last year, many ordinary Sunnis in Iraq had showed their unwillingness to fight. The credit of this goes to Awakening movement started by US force that helped 80,000 Sunnis have joined the tribal groups of concerned local citizens (CLCs).

The outspoken radical Islamic cleric Abu Hamza Al Masri has been cleared of extradition to the United States of America by the British government. This is an important ruling by the British home department and sends out a clear message to radical Muslims of Britain who preach hatred among the local population. The Egypt-born former imam of Finsbury Park mosque in North London now has 14 days to appeal the ruling. If the appeal fails, he will be handed over to US authorities within 28 days.

The radical leader came to media spotlight when he publicly supported Al Qaeda and criticised the invasion of Iraq. US prosecutors charged him of providing support to Al Qaeda by setting up a terrorist camp in Oregon between 1998 and 2000. He is also accused of conspiring the kidnapping of 12 foreigners in Yemen in 1998. But the extradition ruling has opened up a debate of whether London has given into American pressures when it could have dealt with the former imam by itself.

Abu Hamza’s solicitor has cast grave doubts on his client’s future at the hands of the Americans. Mudassar Arani, the solicitor, said:

There are grave concerns about what might happen if the extradition goes ahead. The Americans have said he will not face the death penalty or be sent to the Guantanamo Bay detention camp- but how can we be sure?

Many believe that although Abu Hamza is a hate figure in the UK, extraditing him is not the British way of dealing with terrorists or suspects. But Washington was adamant to get him extradited from London and charge him for 11 counts of offences.

In an unprecedented move, Tamil Tiger rebels on Thursday have announced their intentions to strictly follow a Norway-brokered ceasefire that the Sri Lankan government withdrew from last week. Serious violence has erupted since the collapse of the 2002 ceasefire although both the parties never respected the terms of it during these five years. The government has pledged to end the Tamil rebellion by this year which over the past few weeks have cost the lives of civilians, rebels, soldiers and high-profile Sri Lankan politicians and ministers.

Last month Osama bin Laden had denounced the Awakening movement and all those who are collaborating with the US forces in Iraq. He had termed them as traitors.

If women suicide bombers expect respect from their male counterparts, they are sorely mistaken. It appears that women are being inducted into terrorist ranks to mock the masculinity of Muslim men. Professor Mohammad Hafiz, an expert on Islamic terrorism, informed MSNBC about this startling fact. Women, he points out, are just baits for men to join in increasing numbers into jihadi groups.

Traditional Islamic society prohibits unrelated women and men from mixing, leave alone engaging in any physical contact. This taboo is being used by unscrupulous terrorist groups who are arming women with explosives. Guards in the Middle East and especially Iraq are mostly men. They will hardly ever frisk a woman. So women terrorists have an easy entry where male terrorists have hard times entering.

Pope Benedict XVI has responded to the invitation of Islamic scholars for dialogue. He plans to meet Islamic scholars in the spring. MSNBC quotes the head of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue, Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, as remarking that the meeting will have a tripartite strategy. Tolerance, inculturation issues and pro-life activities will be stressed. All this has to be contextualized in the light of Pope Benedict’s past comments on the Islam. He had angered Muslims by quoting medieval sources which condemned the violence in Islam.

The US faces a new and covert threat which emanates from within the country. The ‘danger persons’ are the Muslim citizens of the country.

Al Qaeda is being used by Presidents Musharraf and Bush to distract everyone from domestic problems that plague both countries. Pakistan does not know who to blame for Benazir Bhutto’s death and the US has not yet been able to catch Osama Bin Laden. The al Qaeda can thus be used as a scapegoat. It is possible that al Qaeda has a role to play in Benazir’s killing; yet that does not exonerate Musharraf. It has emerged that Benazir had requested President Musharraf for increased and foreign security for herself. Musharraf had declined both requests. Now he is in a fix. Benazir was a key US ally and her death needs to be explained to the world. So the ever elusive al Qaeda is being blamed. The more sinister possibility is that the blame may be true; in case it later emerges that Musharraf’s regime wanted Benazir Bhutto assassinated.

The worst that had been expected by Kenya watchers has happened. Many commentators had said that the country was slowly maturing into a real democracy. They were proved to have been too hasty! The mess that occurred during the presidential elections has awakened the sleeping monster of tribal divide in the country.

Though both Kibaki and Odinga had kept clear of sectarian issues and instead focused on national issues, hidden tribal instincts have surfaced and too with a vengeance. The animosity between Kibaki’s Kikuyu tribe and Odingo’s Luo (and its allied tribes) has its root in history. The real cause of friction is, as usual, unequal distribution of wealth and opportunities of Kenya.

Benazir Bhutto had degrees from Harvard and Oxford. She spoke fluent and unaccented English. Her looks were patrician and she came out as a liberal humanist in a rabidly anti-feminist Pakistan. In other words, Mrs. Bhutto was the only real challenge and alternative to both President Musharraf and the fundamentalist Right Wing. She may have won the upcoming elections in Pakistan.

This ex-prime minister has been assassinated. BBC reports her being first shot in the neck and then in chest. Then her craven shooter blew himself up, killing 20 more. Bhutto was addressing a campaign rally at Rawalpindi. It is common knowledge that the Bhutto family is jinxed like the Gandhi family in India. Bhutto’s father and brothers have all been assassinated.

According to reports from the Daily Mail, Britain’s MI6 was involved in peace negotiations with the Taliban over the summer. This is a surprising report given the UK’s tough non-negotiation policy against fundamentalist groups such as the Taliban. If this allegation turns out to be true, not only it would be an embarassment for Downing Street but it would also prove Britain’s frustration with the escalation of violence across Afghanistan.

Somalia is easily one of the toughest places to live today. More than a decade of hard violence coupled with an irresponsible government playing to the arrogant tunes of the clan leaders lobbying for power and pride has left many millions lifeless. Not many even contemplate leading a life with happiness and satisfaction in the near future. Militants, looters, bandits and security forces are to be seen everywhere. Ever since the Somali government fell in 1991, there has been complete chaos in the horn nation. Turned into a battlefield, there is fighting everywhere. Children hear to gunfire almost everyday.

Problems pile up, hunger everywhere

Hunger, poverty, militancy, civil strife, human rights abuses, food-aid delivery, forced displacement and security of aid workers are major issues here. The economy is so battered that feeding the population is an impossible task. Unfortunately, there is hardly any functioning government, which should ideally address these concerns. To make matters worse, the harvest has failed in Somalia’s Shabelle region, the traditional breadbasket. The country is experiencing its worst drought in 13 years. Though aid has been coming from far off regions, it doesn’t reach the hungry on time.

Western Sahara threatens to fall into the spiral of violence again as the Polisario Front has threatened to take up arms against Morocco. A brief glance at the history of the region leaves one bewildered at the number of proposals put forward to settle the dispute from a plethora of sources. The UN has come up with the idea of talks again on January 7.

But after ignoring all the geopolitical calculations of all the parties involved, namely Morocco, Algeria, Spain and to a lesser extent US and others, one’s attention is drawn to October 1975 judgment of the International Court of Justice. It had then rejected territorial claims by Morocco and Mauritania and recognized the Saharawis’ right to self-determination.

After such a clear verdict by the world’s highest court it is amazing that the Saharawis are still struggling for freedom. Morocco was in the wrong by slicing up the territory between itself and Mauritania when the Spaniards left. Worse still Morocco also gobbled up the part Mauritania let go.

Iraq’s security might have improved over the recent months due to a surge in US troops in the troubled areas and the strength that Iraqis have shown to stand firm in the face of Al-Qaeda-led extremist terrorism. But is it the true reality? Well, violence is low, but sectarian killings are still widespread across the country as the discovery of torture chambers by US forces reveals.

Despite the reconciliation process, the whole country is heavily divided on ethnic terms and to make matters worse, the threat of Al-Qaeda always looms large. The Al-Qaeda’s torture chambers were discovery in the Diyal province, north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad.

The more one reads about the status quo that is existing over the future of Kosovo presently, one tends to believe that the issue has somewhat been blown overboard by the high-profile presence of the United States and Russia with completely opposite interests. The matter has become so complicated that the United Nations has admitted of being unable to come to an amicable resolution. So now what? It looks like the Kosovars would go ahead with their planned independence declaration from Serbia. It may sound easy enough but the repurcussions of such a move at this stage are uncertain as well as threatening not just for the Balkans but for Europe as a whole.