May
5
Hezballah Training Iraqi Militias Near Tehran
Filed Under Terrorism, Lead Story, Iran, Lebanon, Iraq, News | 1 Comment
There’s an article in the NYT today in which American interrogators have issued a report to the Iraqi government claiming that Hezballah has been training Iraqi militias inside Iran. This information is said to have come from interrogations of four Shiite militia members detained late last year, yet the report raises more questions than it does to address concerns of Iranian involvement in Iraq. As the article notes, this is not a fresh accusation by any means, and similar reports have been published by the Times itself. From today’s report:
There has been debate among experts about the extent to which Iran is responsible for instability in Iraq. But President Bush and other American officials, in public castigations of Iran, have said that Iran has been consistently meddlesome in Iraq and that the Iranians have long sought to arm and train Iraqi militias, which the American military has called “special groups.”
In a possible effort to be less obtrusive, it appears that Iran is now bringing small groups of Iraqi Shiite militants to camps in Iran, where they are taught how to do their own training, American officials say.
The militants then return to Iraq to teach comrades how to fire rockets and mortars, fight as snipers or assemble explosively formed penetrators, a particularly lethal type of roadside bomb made of Iranian components, according to American officials. The officials describe this approach as “training the trainers.”
The training, the Americans say, is carried out at several camps near Tehran that are overseen by the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Command, and the instruction is carried out by militants from Hezbollah, which has long been supported by the Quds Force. American officials say the Hezbollah militants perform several important roles for the Iranians.
To some, this is just another piece of evidence of Iranian meddling in Iraqi affairs. If you continue reading the article, it goes on to list some of the roles Hezballah plays for the Iranians, such as allowing Arabs to be trained by other Arabs, apparently facilitating some level of trust. However, Iran’s involvement in Iraq has been long known, and the roles it has played in training, arming, and financing militias has always been suspect. I read this report in a different context.
Hezballah, an illegal militia created and funded by foreigners, has not only been able to dwarf Lebanon’s armed forces in power and capability, but is making a run to position itself as the legitimate coercive force of the country. It has had the capacity to start and fight a war on behalf of its country, with no input from the elected government, and now “controls” significant areas of Lebanon to which it allows and denies access, even to the nation’s army. The training of foreign fighters by Hezballah only underscores the point that the battle for Lebanese sovereignty is a primary issue in dealing with the creeping Iranian hegemony in the region. This issue should not be perceived as secondary to Iran’s nuclear development or their standoff with the West, but is in fact critical to the resolution of these issues. Any discussions with Iran should place Iran’s interference in Lebanese affairs as a priority.
Apr
20
Iranophobia?
Filed Under Ridiculous, links, Iran, U.S, Iraq, News | 1 Comment
In comments made last week, U.S Secretary of State Condolezza Rice stated her aim to gather support from Arab nations in an effort to counter Iran’s “nefarious influence” in Iraq. Rice, who is scheduled to attend a conference on Iraq in Kuwait next Tuesday, said she would push for more Arab support of Iraq in terms of financing and an increase of Sunni participation in the country’s politics:
“What they need to do is confirm and work for Iraq’s Arab identity,” she said. “That in and of itself will begin to shield (Iraq) from influences of Iran that are nefarious influences,” Rice said at a news conference.
She also said Iraq’s Arab neighbors could help encourage the Sunni minority to participate more fully in the political process in Iraq and to offer Baghdad much-needed debt relief, which has been slow in coming.
In response, the Iranian Foreign Ministry has accused the Secretary of “Iranophobia”:
“Regarding Rice’s statements, these statements are not something new. American officials follow the policy of Iranophobia,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini told reporters in a weekly news conference.
“We see the developments in Iraq today are the outcome of the U.S. administration’s illogical policies. The American officials want to externalise the problems they are facing inside Iraq,” he said, adding U.S. policies in Iraq had failed.
Apr
3
“Dear Ayman…”
Filed Under Terrorism, Islam, religion, Israel, Iran, War, Iraq, Egypt, News | 1 Comment
A recording released on Islamist sites yesterday featured Ayman Al-Zawahiri answering questions from followers and 
online Islamic forum readers. The offer to take questions had been posed in December, and the response seems to have been overwhelming:
The questions were posted in response to Ayman al Zawahri’s December solicitation for online questions from “friendly or hostile” individuals and organizations with the promise that they would be answered one month later.
Zawahri’s almost two-hour-long audio message addresses everything from killing innocent lives to condemning one of the foremost Muslim scholars, Yusuf al-Qaradawi. Many of Zawahri’s questioners asked why al Qaeda is waging attacks on Muslims and in Muslim lands, rather than on Israel. Zawahri answered one such question, saying, “We promise Muslim brothers that we will strive as much as we can to deal blows to the Jews inside Israel and outside it.”
You can read the transcript of the audio message here. Zawahiri is asked many questions as to why more Muslims have been killed by Al-Qaeda than Jews, to which Bin Laden’s deputy responds with denial. He divides his questions into several parts, the first dealing with the murder of the innocent. AQ’s north African branches are brought up repeatedly, and responding to an attack on the U.N offices in Algiers, December 11th, which left at least 26 people dead, Zawahiri claimed that his mujahideen were far more reliable sources than the “lying sons of France.” His group, just in case you weren’t aware, has been active in Algeria. Here is the question and the beginning of its response:
2/1: The questioner Talib Jami’i Tib al-Jazaa’ir [University Student, Medicine,Algeria] says, “Al-Qaida Organization in the countries of the Islamic Maghreb: is killing women and children Jihad in your view? I want al-Zawahiri to answer me about those who kill the people in Algeria. What is the legal evidence for killing the innocents? The blood of sixty Muslims was spilled on the 11th of December in Algeria, and al-Qaida claims for itself an explosion in which Muslims who worship Allah (the Glorious and Great) alone died. There is no power nor strength except with Allah. So congratulations to the champion al-Zawahiri and Droukdel on the killing of the innocent students, children and women in this ‘Eid. What is the sin of the innocent? Allah suffices us and is the best of protectors against you.”
(Zawahiri’s responses in italics) My reply to Talib Jami’i Tib al-Jazaa’ir is the same as my reply to the previous questioner, but I add that those who were killed on the 11th of December in Algeria are not from the innocents. Rather, according to the communiqué from the brothers in al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, they are from the Crusader unbelievers and the government troops who defend them. Our brothers in al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb are more truthful, more just and more righteous than the lying sons of France who have sold Algeria to it and America, and who woo Israel in order for the head of the Crusade, America, to be pleased with them. These criminals who have attacked the Shari’ah and excluded it from government by force and rigging, and who have killed hundreds of thousands of innocent Muslims, and who help the Americans and their Crusader allies to kill millions of Muslims cannot possibly be truthful nor just.
The second group of questions focuses on Iran, although not much is necessarily answered. There was ample criticism of Hezballah and Hamas, excerpts of which follow:
On the Shiaa laity:
My response to the first question of Taalib al-Du’aa is that my stance towards the Shi’ite laity is the stance of the men of knowledge of the people of the Sunnah, which is that they are excused through their ignorance. As for those who participated with their leaders in cooperating with the Crusader and attacking the Muslims, their status in that case is that of the groups refraining from the laws of Islam. As for their laity who haven’t
participated in aggression against the Muslims, and didn’t fight under the standard of the global Crusade, our way with them is invitation and displaying of facts, and clarifying the extent of the crimes committed by their leaders against Islam and Muslims, and how they cooperated with the Crusaders in the occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq, and how they claim to defend the People of the House [of the Prophet] but when they fought each other, they destroyed the two domes of al-Husayn and al-Abbas (with both of whom Allah was pleased), and how they claim that their goal is the liberation of Palestine, but Hassan Nasrullah welcomes the international Crusader forces which occupied Lebanon and came between its people and the Jihad in Palestine, and Rafsanjani states that we don’t aim to remove Israel, and Iran is a member of the United Nations with Israel, and the United Nations charter obligates all members to respect the unity and safety of the other members territories and sovereignty.
And on his criticism of Hamas by audio tape:
Why do you intentionally direct sharply-worded advice to HAMAS through audio recordings? The one who is keen on Islamic unity and the supreme interest seeks other methods of offering advice and understanding the other’s stance by way of channels of dialogue, not media channels.
I warn my brothers the Muslims in Palestine and outside it from an orientation spreading amongst the leaderships of a well-known Islamic group and among political leaderships affiliated with Islamic activism in Palestine, [an orientation] which calls for setting up a Palestinian state on the parts of Palestine which were occupied after 1967 and forgetting the parts of Palestine which were stolen before that. The mask fell away from this orientation in the Makkah accord which gave up four-fifths of Palestine, and al- Qardawi – as is clear from his words – supports this orientation.
Thus, the Muslim Ummah in Palestine and everywhere must be extremely wary of that orientation and confront it with strength and resolve. As for her second question regarding the criticism of HAMAS, I would like to bring three things to the attention of the noble sister:
The first is that I took a gradual approach with HAMAS, from support to repeated advice to warning to general criticism, but when they signed the Makkah accord, frank criticism was a must. I took a gradual approach with them, but they didn’t heed the opinion of their brothers and continued in what they had plunged into, from their entering the elections in compliance with the secular constitutions to their abandonment of their brothers in Chechnya and finishing up with their abandonment of four-fifths of Palestine in Makkah.
The second is that I always differentiated in my messages between the political leaders of HAMAS and the Mujahideen of HAMAS and the rest of the Mujahideen in Palestine. I riticized the leaders of HAMAS and will continue to criticize them as long as they adhere to the secular Palestinian constitution and as long as they don’t declare their abandonment of the Makkah accord. As for the Mujahideen of HAMAS and the rest of
the Mujahideen in Palestine, I supported them and continue to support them, and I call on the Ummah to aid them, especially the tribes of the Sinai. Some criticized me as acting aimlessly, one time offering my condolences to the Ummah on HAMAS and another time requesting support for it, but this is not fair, for my
words are clear, public and on tape. I offered my condolences to the Ummah – and continue to offer my condolences to it – on the political leadership of HAMAS, and I requested the Ummah – and continue to request it – to aid all the Mujahideen in Palestine, including the Mujahideen of HAMAS.
He does make it clear that he in no way regards Hamas and Fatah as equals:
I don’t agree with those who make HAMAS and Fatah equals. HAMAS is a movement which stresses its affiliation with Islam, whereas Fatah is a secular movement. And I don’t agree with declaring HAMAS’s leaders to be unbelievers. Declaring individuals to be unbelievers is a serious matter in which there must be the presence of prerequisites and the absence of impediments. So I advise my brothers to abandon this issue and focus on supporting HAMAS if it is correct and criticizing it if it errors in a fair, scientific, invitational way.
The third set of questions deal primarily with Egypt. Al-Zawahiri is asked about the renunciation of violence last year by 135 members of his former group Al-Jihad, to which he replies that the organization he belonged to has since joined AQ and adds that they never renounced a thing:
al-Jihad Organization is a generic name. If, however, you mean the al-Jihad Group which I was honored to belong to, then it has not recanted – by the grace of Allah – for two reasons: the first is that it united with al-Qaida Group in the group Qaida al- Jihad, and the second is that those who have compromised are a man who left the group, and not just that, but left the path of Jihad entirely approximately 15 years ago, along
with a group of prisoners, some of whom used to be members in the group, others of whom split with it, and still others who never joined it in the first place. As for the Group, it hasn’t recanted: on the contrary, its leadership and the vast majority of its captives continue – by the grace of Allah – to be resolute on the truth. And the government media uses description without any truth to it, like “al-Qaida’s mufti,” “Amir of Egyptian
Islamic Jihad,” and “Taliban’s military advisor.”
He goes on to talk about his family in Egypt, the possibility of a branch of Al-Qaeda opening in his home country (in response to someone eager to “join the caravan”), and declares the State Security, which routinely investigates and detains Islamists, to be fair game. Questions on Lebanon, Iran’s conflict with America, and more on Zawahiri’s views of other Islamist groups round up the transcript, with a final note concluding “the first installment.”
Apr
3
Another Mall In Dubai
Filed Under Ridiculous, News | Leave a Comment
Larger than the Mall of the Emirates, which boasts an indoor ski slope and a 500-room luxury hotel, the Dubai Mall is set to be opened by the end of this year. It’s part of the Downtown Burj Dubai project whose centerpiece will be Burj Dubai, which officially overtook Taiwan’s Tapei last June as the world’s tallest building. I suppose building one of the world’s largest malls to accompany the tallest building only makes sense.
(Khaleej Times Online) With a total site area in excess of 12.1 million sq ft, the showpiece mall sets a new dimension with its various construction components truly epic in proportion and scale. The structural steel used in mall, which will be bigger than the Mall of Emirates, is double that deployed for the Eiffel Tower (7,300 tonnes), and the stone and tile works of 1.2 million sq ft already laid are approximately 18 times the size of a football field measuring 69,000 sq ft. The net leasable floor area will be equivalent to the size of 50 football fields put together, developers said.
Maybe the Sandmonkey’s theory is right.
Apr
2
Maliki Claims Success, Most See A Draw
Filed Under U.S, Iraq, War, News | Leave a Comment
Which in itself is a sign that the IA is not yet capable of ensuring security and sovereignty to its government and country. The British have taken note as well, and a planned spring withdrawal of around 1500 soldiers will have to be put off. Britain’s Defense secretary, speaking to the House of Commons, said that “it is prudent that we pause any further reductions while the current situation is unfolding.” The apparent lack of success in Basra has been attributed to a fierce resistance from the Sadr-loyal Mahdi Army, who kept their positions so secure in the oil rich southern city of the country that the IA called in backup from its coalition partners.
Iraq’s Prime Minister, realizing the significance of the operation, begged to differ in another one of those ever-familiar situations in the Middle East where victory is claimed and the real losers are forgotten about:
Maliki said the offensive was aimed at criminal elements, not Sadr’s Mahdi Army, which is a rival to the militia of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, a key component of Iraq’s coalition government. The two Shiite militias are vying for power in southern Iraq, and Basra, with its port and oil, is the biggest prize there when local elections take place this fall.
Sadr has said Maliki is trying to crush him before the balloting to ensure that the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council controls Basra.
…
The Iraqi prime minister had a different take. In a statement released Tuesday, Maliki said the “success of the rule of law plan” in Basra would allow him to launch several reconstruction projects to help the city.
Mar
29
The assault on Shiaa militias in Basra (read that link), Iraq was touted as a major test for the nation’s army and government. Addressing militia members, many of whom belong to groups with close ties to national leadership, Prime Minister Nouri Al
-Maliki issued a 3-day ultimatum on Wednesday ordering gunmen to turn over their weapons and sign a pledge renouncing violence. Failure to meet this demand would result in outlaw status. Maliki has staked his political reputation on this campaign, and a decisive response to the ongoing clashes between militias in the oil-rich city was in demand.
Nevertheless, it seems the Iraqi Army is struggling to rout militias on its own, putting into perspective the decisions at stake in the next U.S presidential election. From the IHT:
The strikes by American warplanes in Basra, one on a militia stronghold and a second on a mortar team that was attacking Iraqi forces, were made at the request of the Iraqi Army, said Major Tom Holloway, a spokesman for the British Army in Basra.
Holloway said that the Americans conducted the air attack because the Iraqi security forces did not have aircraft capable of making such strikes. American and British forces have been flying surveillance runs over Basra since the latest fighting in the city began this week.
“I think the point here is actually that the Iraqis are capable, they are strong and they have been engaging successfully,” Holloway said.
The strike on the mortar team was made at about 9 p.m. Thursday by a U.S. Navy fixed wing plane, U.S. military officials said.
Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, who on Wednesday set a 72-hour deadline for the militias in Basra to lay down their arms or face harsh consequences, said Friday that cash rewards would be offered to anyone in Basra who turned in heavy weapons or artillery. Maliki, who has staked his political credibility on the Basra campaign, said the cash offer would extend until April 8.
Sadr has urged his men not to hand in their arms to a government ‘that won’t end the U.S occupation‘. Maliki in turn called his foes “worse than Al-Qaeda”, ensuring he will continue this fight “until the end.”
British involvement has also risen, and U.S President George Bush has called this Shiaa on Shiaa struggle as “a defining moment in the history of a free Iraq.” Both Bush and the Iraqi Government have a lot at stake in this fight, and Maliki’s decided he won’t be leaving Basra until its over.
Update: For video, click to Read more
Mar
29
Lobbying V.I.P Tourists
Filed Under vacation, Egypt, News | Leave a Comment
Egypt’s ambassador to Britain is apparently lobbying hard to make his country Gordon Brown’s next vacation spot. The North African country attracted more than one head of state last December, and Prime Minister Brown may be set to join the club:
Gehad Madi, the ambassador for Egypt, to where the Blairs repair each winter, tells Mandrake that he has made it his mission to encourage Brown to change his ways.
“He hasn’t had a proper holiday since becoming Prime Minister,” His Excellency told me at the launch of Rowan Somerville’s novel The End of Sleep, at the Egyptian embassy in Mayfair. “We would like him to go to Egypt.”
To this end, Madi’s wife, Mona, has made contact with Sarah Brown.
“I recently took Sarah and her boys to the Tutankhamun exhibition [in Greenwich],” she said, “She was very, very interested; she particularly wanted her boys to understand the history of it. We would be happy to arrange a holiday for the Browns in Egypt.”
Mar
28
“Fitna” Reaction
Filed Under Pakistan, religion, Netherlands, Iran, News | 5 Comments
After watching ‘Fitna‘ yesterday, I wasn’t sure whether to post a reaction that night here on the blog. The film failed to move me either way. It was a series of images which we have all seen before, especially regular readers of blogs, while the only thing distinguishing it from a U.S presidential campaign ad was that Wilders’ argument is directed at the entire religion and not just at an identified radical strain.
Let’s face it, the film was boring. It didn’t live up to its hype. However now that it seems the initial reaction to the film was one of relief, it may very well shine the spotlight on Wilders’ argument. It is an argument that I do not believe can stand much scrutiny if considered honestly, and one that is not easily proven by a 15 minute film.
Of course, the IRI responded quickly. The Iranian Foreign Minister was quoted as saying “This heinous measure by a Dutch lawmaker and a British establishment … is indicative of the continuation of the evilness and deep vengeance such Western nationals have against Islam and Muslims.”
In Pakistan, a few demonstrations took place, none of them attracting over 100 people. The story was still managed to make the IHT. Indonesia also issued a statement, saying:
“We are of the view that the film has a racist flavour and is an insult to Islam, hidden under the cover of freedom of expression,” a Foreign Ministry spokesman said. “We call on Indonesian people not to be incited.”
Once again, however, all this pales in comparison to reaction within Holland. I wrote this at the beginning of the month:
Yet what is worrying about this story is its’ propensity to attract judgment on the basis of foreign reaction. The movie’s release and broadcast may not necessarily stoke severe social tensions within the Netherlands, but looks bound to provoke an international reaction disproportionate to the issue itself. Religious leaders from Egypt and Syria have demanded the EU take action against those who insult religion, for example, bringing back into focus an increasingly familiar debate of cultural sensitivity versus freedom of speech.
I still think this story has a way to go before people forget about it, although it shouldn’t provide us with much more than increased calls for interfaith dialogue as well as the lowest common denominator protests we read about every so often. One hopes at least that we don’t see an exaggerated reaction to a movie that isn’t very offensive.
Mar
27
Wilders Having Some Trouble - Update:Fitna released on Live Leak
Filed Under religion, Netherlands, Islam, News | 2 Comments
Update: Fitna has been released on Live Leak.
Dutch MP Geert Wilders has faced hurdle after hurdle in his attempt to release his movie, “Fitna”, which has resurfaced familiar discussions on tolerance, free speech and ‘Islamophobia’ over the past few months. His website has been taken down by its hosting service, Network Solutions, due to a flurry of complaints directed at the company. This prompted an investigation into whether or not the website violates Solutions’ terms of service, although that decision has drawn considerable criticism aroundthe blogosphere because of another website (allegedly) being hosted by the company: hizballah.org. Needless to say, this is fodder for Wilders’ supporters. If your still looking for a website about “Fitna”, Radio Netherlands Worldwide has one up which showcases Dutch tolerance for Islam in English, Arabic and Indonesian.
A protest last weekend in Amsterdam, which received a lower turnout than what organizers had planned for, still managed to make headlines in both domestic and international outlets. It was thought several thousand would make it out to the demonstration in the Dutch capital. The weather was not as cooperative.
Wilders does have options, however, if he indeed still intends to air his movie before April 1st. The country’s Muslim channel, NMO (Nederlanse Moslim Omroep) has offered to air the controversial film, but has had its proposal rejected. The leader of the ‘Freedom Party’ has received a similar overture from a foreign source more ideologically inclined to help, in the form of a Czech nationalist party known for downplaying historical tragedies:
The NS was highlighted in the media in January, 2006, when it staged a meeting on the spot of a former wartime camp for Romanies in Lety, south Bohemia. The NS then claimed that the Lety camp was a mere labour camp where Romanies died of common diseases.
However, according to historical sources, 326 people perished in the Lety camp and over 500 inmates ended up in the Nazi extermination camp at Auschwitz.
Wilders is now appealing to his international supporters for financial help, although is not making the request in relation to his latest cinematic venture.
Update:From the WSJ, aside from the over-usage of “radical jihadist” (this is such a silly term which lacks any nuance whatsoever) it’s a pretty good read:
I do not defend the right of Geert Wilders to air his film because I agree with it. I expect I will not. (I have not yet seen the film). I defend the right of Mr. Wilders and the media to air this film because free speech is a fundamental right that is the foundation of modern society. Western governments and media outlets cannot allow themselves to be bullied into giving up this precious right due to threats of violence. We must not fool ourselves into believing that we can appease the radical jihadist movement by allowing them to set up parallel societies and separate legal systems, or by granting them special protection from criticism.
Check out Outsider’s earlier posts on Wilders
Mar
25
Bread Crisis, Continued
Filed Under Food, Egypt, News | Leave a Comment
Reports of new clashes in the increasingly long Egyptian breadlines are coming in today. According to a police source cited in the linked report, 7 people have died. Among those deaths, two have been a result of stabbings. Last week’s demand by the President to produce more bread has led to the opening of 10 additional large bakeries and distribution kiosks, as well as an effort to purchase more wheat:
The state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper said Mubarak’s order to the armed forces to intervene “means that he has declared an emergency state to combat this crisis.” Another columnist in the paper called the bread riots “a very critical moment” for Egypt, demonstrating the gap between rich and poor.
Some fear the crisis could mirror riots in 1977 that killed at least 70 people after the government hiked the price of bread and other subsidized foods.
Egypt grows about half of the more than 14 million tons of wheat it consumes every year. It has also long been one of the top importers of U.S. wheat, using about $54 million of some $2 billion a year in U.S. aid to buy it. But its U.S. purchases have been falling as it searches for cheaper sellers on the world market, where prices have tripled in the last 10 months.
Mubarak has ordered the government to use foreign currency reserves to buy additional wheat, according to his spokesman Suleiman Awad.
The government also will add 15 million new names to the list of those receiving cheap rations of cooking oil, sugar and rice. That and other measures will increase the government’s annual food subsidy costs by $3.1 billion to a total of $13.7 billion this year.
None of that has given much relief to citizens, many of whom already are disgruntled with Mubarak’s government because of its long hold on power, and its favoritism and corruption.
“I’ve been standing here for hours, and we are not close to getting bread yet,” said Mohammed el-Deeb, a manager at medical company. “Of course I need to stand in the line, I can’t afford the other bread.”
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