Gulf Arab states don't want Mubarak tried — Ahram Online asks why - Politics - Egypt - Ahram Online

Gulf Arab states don't want Mubarak tried — Ahram Online asks why - Politics - Egypt - Ahram Online

During a five-day tour to three Gulf countries, Prime Minister Essam Sharaf vowed that ousted president Hosni Mubarak will face trial over corruption and murder charges. At the end of his two-day visit to Saudi Arabia, Sharaf underlined that no Gulf state was exerting pressure in any way on the Egyptian government to exempt Mubarak from prosecution. “We do not accept any pressure from any state, and this is a purely internal Egyptian issue,” said Sharaf, emphasising that “No one in Egypt is above the law.”

Yet in spite of Sharaf's statements, many strongly believe that most Arab Gulf countries — especially Saudia Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Kuwait — are exerting pressure behind the scenes to keep Mubarak from facing any kind of trial. Some members of the ruling Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) in Egypt have said that “some Arab rich countries offered to give Egypt a lot of economic assistance, in billions of dollars, in exchange of granting Mubarak immunity from trial.”

In standing up to attacks on Tahrir Square protesters, who accused the army of backtracking on prosecuting Mubarak, Ismail Itman, a SCAF member, disclosed that “it is not a secret that we refused bowing to strong pressure from several Arab rich countries so as not to prosecute Mubarak.”

Many Egyptian political observers and members of the 25 January Revolution Coalition agree that Saudi Arabi comes top of Arab Gulf countries anxious to see Mubarak escape prosecution on accusations of illegal profiteering and murder. Gamal Zahran, a professor of political science at Suez Canal University and a former independent MP, argues that Mubarak was not only a puppet of Saudi interests and foreign policies, but also a personal friend of Saudi kings.

Mubarak also played a key role in defending Saudi Arabia when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1990 and in ridding the Arabian Peninsula of Marxists who were controlling the south of Yemen during the 1980s. “This is not to mention that Mubarak provided solid backing to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries in their long cold war against Iran,” said Zahran, adding that “right now, and while the relations between Gulf countries and Iran have worsened, all rulers there wonder, what if Mubarak was still in power.”

These countries became especially tense when Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil El-Arabi announced that Egypt is seeking to mend relations with Iran. They were also worried when SCAF allowed two Iranian warships to cross the Suez Canal in February.

Amin Youssri, a former ambassador, also believes that Riyadh was shocked at what it saw as Washington's abandoning of a trusted ally like Mubarak, who stuck his neck out to back US policies. “It is hosting exiled Tunisian leader Zine Al-Abidine Ben Ali after an uprising that deposed him from power, and stood up to the US's criticism of Bahrain and sent troops there to suppress a pro-democracy protest movement that could have toppled the Sunni ruling family from power,” said Youssri.

Youssri also argues that, "there's no doubt the Saudis are very concerned about Egypt's new foreign policy orientation. Egypt has already, in a short span of time, shifted its foreign policy.”

Youssri indicates that when a Saudi-sponsored satellite channel aired a Mubarak statement on 10 April, it was clear to all that the oil-rich kingdom was doing its best to pressure the military council in Egypt to pardon Mubarak. “The airing of this statement is evidence of Saudi pressure on Egypt not to prosecute Mubarak," argued Youssri. Egyptian official statements denying the existence of such pressure is merely a face-saving tactic, aimed at avoiding hightened tensions in relations with these countries.

On the other hand, Zahran believes that Mubarak and many of his henchmen, including state officials and business tycoons such as Hussein Salem, a former intelligence officer, forged close relations with the Saudia royal family. Inspectors at Cairo Airport Customs Office stopped last week 100 parcels belonging to Salem, which were headed to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. The parcels belonged to an export company and included papers associated with a Saudi prince. The parcels contained several photos of Salem while shaking hands with Saudi and UAE royals.

Salem was ousted president Hosni Mubarak's closest friend and owns a significant number of tourist villages and hotels in Sharm El-Sheikh, and is the major shareholder in the East Mediterranean Gas Company (EMG) which monopolises exporting gas to Israel. A number of US publications have claimed that Mubarak and Salem had close relations with Saudi Arabian intelligence officers, such as the late Kamal Adham.

Zahran believes that Saudi Arabia fears that the trial of Mubarak could expose his secret business deals with the royal family and spotlight the deals of his henchmen — particularly Salem — with the Saudi intelligence community, thus causing a lot of embarrassment to the kingdom's rulers.

The fact that the tour of Sharaf had not included the United Arab Emirates (UAE) also triggered speculation that the “UAE was by no means happy over the downfall of Mubarak or new Egyptian foreign policies showing friendly attitudes towards the ayatollahs of Iran," says Zahran. Just few days before his downfall, UAE's foreign minister, Abdallah Bin Sultan, was the only Arab and foreign senior official to pay Mubarak a personal visit. “It was clear support from UAE to Mubarak,” argues Zahran.

In the same way as with Saudi Arabia, Zahran believes that Mubarak developed very close relations with the Bin Sultan family which has been in power in the UAE since the early 1970s. “Mubarak had a very strong personal relationship with the late Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan, the founder of the UAE,” said Zahran, who went on to express his belief that “Mubarak and his family made a vast personal fortune through the largesse of the Bin Sultan family.” “We all remember when Mubarak used to travel with Bin Sultan to Geneva for some hours and then come back to Cairo at the same day for no discernible reason,” said Zahran, contending that “it is almost sure that on these travels Bin Sultan was giving Mubarak a lot of money.”

The parcels that were stopped by Cairo Airport officials last week included photos of Mubarak's friend Salem shaking hands with Zayed Bin Sultan. Mubarak himself gave orders that many new housing communities and farmlands in Egypt carry the name of Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan.

At a recent conference in the UAE's capital Abu Dhabi, according to a source who was present at the conference, a confidante of the emirate's crown prince vented his frustration over the downfall of Mubarak."How could anyone do this to him? He was the spiritual father of the Middle East. He was a wise man who always led the region," the aide said. "We didn't want to see him out this way. Yes, people want democracy, but not in this manner. It's humiliating!"

Khalaf Al-Habtoor, head of a leading merchant family in Dubai, also wrote an angry article in the Gulf News newspaper last week saying, “There is a very real danger that mob rule is destroying Egypt's reputation, stability and economy while Mubarak was the symbol of stability, economic prosperity and peace.”

During his visit to the Gulf this week, Sharaf emphasised that “Egypt has strong relations with the UAE.” Sharaf, however, pleaded that "We have turned a new page that does not involve personalising relations with Arab countries." Sharaf added: “The security of the Gulf States is part of Egypt's own national security.” But he also defended democracy and prosecuting Mubarak. "We have started on a one-way path to democracy," he said. "We are trying to take the first step towards the rule of law, and no one is above the law, whoever they are."

Mubarak also developed strong personal relations with the ruling Sabah family in Kuwait. The family remains very grateful for Mubarak's strpmg stance against Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait in 1990. Mubarak also enjoys a lot of support in the Kuwaiti press, especially the daily newspaper of Al-Siyassa, whose editor, Ahmed El-Garallah, used to defend Mubarak strongly even against his domestic critics in Egypt.

Saudia Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait are three of the largest Arab investors in Egypt. Families like Kuwait's Al-Kharafi, Saudi Arabia's Al-Shobokshi, Talal, Saleh Kamel, and UAE's Al-Futtain, made huge investments in Egypt. “These investments will ensure taht relations between Egypt and Gulf countries stay on a good footing, but not enough to keep Mubarak immune from prosecution,” said Zahran.

Youssri also believes that the fact that Egypt got the approval of these three states to endorse the election of Mustafa El-Fiki as the new secretary general of the Arab League is proof that “these states recognised the new status quo, that they should not lose the support and influence of Cairo in these turbulent times, and let Mubarak go to hell.”

Mujahideen of Al-Shabaab take control of 90% of capital Mogadishu - Kavkazcenter.com

Mujahideen of Al-Shabaab take control of 90% of capital Mogadishu - Kavkazcenter.com

Ansar Forum reported that the Mujahideen of Al-Shabaab have increased the number of checkpoints in Mogadishu and expanded their zone of control over the capital of Somalia.

Sheikh Abu Rahman, governor of Banaadir region, told the Islamic media outlets in Mogadishu about the situation developing in the province.

He said that the Mujahideen forces control most of Somalia's capital and that they have inflicted the African aggressors and the puppet troops heavy blows.

The governor of Islamic province of Banaadir said that the Mujahideen are planning to destroy the formations of African invaders, who yet remain in Mogadishu and terrorize the peaceful Muslims.

"Mujahideen control and administrate 90 percent, and Insha'Allah the remaining (territory) will be completed (conquered)", said the governor of Banaadir.

Al-Shabaab officials also spoke about the ongoing project to reform the roads in Mogadishu, saying that the project is in pleasing condition.

Meanwhile, the puppet transitional government of Somalia has announcedthat it postpones holding "politically motivating meetings" in the capital Mogadishu, fearing that Mujahideen may carry out martyrdom operations during their gatherings.

Sources say that at the moment Mujahideen control about 50% of the entire country (the map can be viewed at the following link - the Mujahideen-controlled territory marked dark-brown color).

In this regard, we would like to recall that last year the Mujahideen Al-Shabaab and the Hizb-Al-Islam joined their ranks in the struggle against invaders and minions, claiming that they have a common goal - the establishment of Islamic rule in Somalia.

After the liberation of Somalia, Al-Shabaab is planning to assist the Mujahideen in neighboring Yemen, which is located in close proximity to Somalia - they are only separated by the Gulf of Aden (see the map at link).

Department of Monitoring

Kavkaz Center

To those who give fatawa

Statement from the Shūrā Council of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan: “Regarding the Inception of the Spring Operations”

In the Name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful Fight in the Cause of Allah, those who fight you and do not be aggressive. Allah does not love the transgressors.( S:II V:190)

To the Muslim and Mujahid Nation of Afghanistan!

Today, our sacred Jihad against all foreign invaders in Afghanistan successfully steps up to the threshold of its tenth year, with the help of the Almighty Allah ( SwT) and your prideful Jihad and selfless sacrifices. With the approach of the spring, the Leadership Council of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan wants to declare the launching of the spring military operations christened as “Badar” to be waged against the invading Americans and their foreign Allies and internal supports.

For the purpose of success and effectiveness of the operations against the foreign invading forces and their defeated supporters, the following points must be born in mind:

1. As in the past, the Badar Operations will focus on attacks against military centers, places of gatherings, airbases, ammunition and logistical military convoys of the foreign invaders in all parts of the country.
2. Throughout the operations, the prior target of Mujahideen’s attacks must remain foreign invading forces, members of their spy networks and ( other) spies, high-ranking officials of the Kabul Puppet Administration, both military and civilian, members of the cabinet, members of the parliament, Heads of foreign and local companies working for the enemy and contractors.
3. Since members of the American espionage agencies, government officials of the Puppet Administration and enemies of the Afghan people and Jihad have ensconced themselves in the so-called Peace Council and are trying to pave the way for the prolongation of the American occupation by cashing in on the name of Jihad, religion and tribal chieftainship,; wants to prevent Mujahideen from waging Jihad against the invaders and are urging the Afghan Mujahid people to accept American slavery and surrender, therefore, members of the Council can be target of the Mujahideen attacks during the operations as, in view of their role, they are considered official members of the ranks of the enemy.
4. Strict attention must be paid to the protection and safety of civilians during the spring operations by working out a meticulous military plan. Utilizing all proven military tactics, the operations will focus on usage of advanced weapons against the air and ground forces of the invaders, tip-and-run attacks, and group offensives, city attacks, advanced explosives attacks, effective group and martyrdom seeking attacks by warrior Mujahideen.
5. The Spring Operations have been given the name of Badar in a hope that the Almighty Allah (SwT) may bestow on the Mujahideen victorious achievements versus all invading forces in Afghanistan like that which were bestowed on the believers during the historical battle of Badar in the 2^nd Hijri lunar year. Some ardent diabolic chiefs of the polytheists were either killed or captured at the hands of the Mujahideen during the confrontation.
6. Before the launching of the Badar Operations, we call on all officials of the Kabul Administration, military officers, officials of the spy agency and all other employees to cut off their relations with the invaders and their supporters whatsoever, and join the Mujahideen for the cause of defense of the people and their own person.
7. All Afghan people should bear in mind to keep away from gatherings, convoys and centers of the enemy so that they will not become harmed during attacks of Mujahideen against the enemy or, as usual, the enemy may not avenge itself on them, following the operations of the Mujahideen.
8. The Spring Operations of Badar have been launched for the purpose of protecting the tenets of Islam and the religion from the claws of the invaders and salvaging the country and people from the foreign colonialism because the foreign invaders have committed unlawful aggression against the sovereignty of our country; have ignited the flames of war in the yard of our house; have destroyed orchards and houses with bombs and bulldozers; have martyred our countrymen and imprisoned them and have desecrated the holiest Divine Book of the Muslims, the Holy Quran. Therefore, the war in our country will not come to an end unless and until the foreign invading forces pull out of Afghanistan and the cause of the war are obliterated. The Islamic Emirate considers this its legitimate right and religious obligation to defend its religion and country. The Jihad of the Islamic Emirate will continue with the help of the Almighty Allah and the support of the Mujahid people until the attainment of this legitimate right.
9. The Badar Operations will begin throughout Afghanistan on May, the 1st 2011 i.e. 11 Saur Hijri solar year.

Success comes only from Allah, the Almighty.

Leadership Council

Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan

Noam Chomsky interviewed on BlogTalk Radio

Listen to internet radio with Diane G on Blog Talk Radio

Ron Paul - Bernake press conference is PR and dollar is defunct!!!

AFP: Islamists protest outside Coptic Church in Cairo

AFP: Islamists protest outside Coptic Church in Cairo

(AFP) – 17 hours ago

CAIRO — About 2,000 hardline Islamists protested Friday outside the Coptic Church's headquarters in Cairo to demand the release of two women they allege are being held after converting to Islam.

The protesters, who belonged to the puritanical Salafi sect, marched on St Mark's Cathedral from a mosque after Friday prayers to demand the release of Wafa Constantine and Camellia Shehata, the wives of two priests.

The church denies the women converted to Islam.

The Salafis have held regular protests over the case in the past year, but they have usually been smaller in number.

Their cause was eventually picked up by a Qaeda-linked group in Iraq that massacred dozens of Christians in a Baghdad church in November 2010 and vowed more attacks until the two women are freed.

Two months later, a suicide bomber killed more than 20 Copts after a New Year's Eve mass in the Egyptian coastal city of Alexandria.

The Coptic Church has reportedly convened a synod in response to the growing assertiveness of Salafis, who have increased their political presence in Egypt since a popular revolt toppled president Hosni Mubarak in February.

Copts, who account for about 10 percent of the country's 80 million people, complain of discrimination. They have been the targets of fairly regular sectarian attacks.

LA ILAHA ILLA HUWA

New video: Voting in democratic Elections in terms of the Islamic Law, By Sheikh Abi Muhammed al-Maqdisi F.A (may Allah free him)

Al Mu'minum

116. So Exalted be Allâh, the True King, Lâ ilâha illa Huwa (none has the right to be worshipped but He), the Lord of the Supreme Throne!

117. And whoever invokes (or worships), besides Allâh, any other ilâh (god), of whom he has no proof, then his reckoning is only with his Lord. Surely! Al-Kâfirûn (the disbelievers in Allâh and in the Oneness of Allâh, polytheists, pagans, idolaters, etc.) will not be successful.

118. And say (O Muhammad SAW): "My Lord! Forgive and have mercy, for You are the Best of those who show mercy!"

The Words of Abdullah Azzam

The Words of Abdullah Azzam

NYT Explains--But Doesn't Name--U.S. Terrorism

source

04/27/2011 by Peter Hart

Today the New York Times describes the state of the war in Libya:

WASHINGTON — NATO plans to step up attacks on the palaces, headquarters and communications centers that Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi uses to maintain his grip on power in Libya, according to Obama administration and allied officials.

This "more energetic bombing campaign" included "a separate raid on Monday that temporarily knocked Libyan state television off the air."

As the Times' Thom Shanker and David Sanger explain:

Officials in Europe and Washington said the strikes were meant to reduce the Libyan government’s ability to harm civilians by eliminating, link by link, the command-and-communications and supply chains that are required for military operations.

That is obviously the justification you're going to hear from the people doing the bombing. Legally speaking, you are supposed to bomb targets that provide some military function--otherwise the attacks could be war crimes. Whether state television provides some concrete military advantage that would make journalists a legitimate target is a topic media outlets should discuss, for obvious reasons. But the Times seems willing to let the U.S./NATO explanations stand on their own.

But a more revealing admission comes later in the piece, when the Times talks about Kosovo and the lessons it teaches us about Libya:

Gen. John P. Jumper, who commanded United States Air Force units in Europe during the Kosovo campaign, recalled that allied "air power was getting its paper graded on the number of tanks killed"--even though taking out armored vehicles one by one was never going to halt "ethnic cleansing."

So NATO began to hit high-profile institutional targets in Belgrade, the Serbian capital, instead of forces in the field. Although they were legitimate military targets, General Jumper said, destroying them also had the effect of undermining popular support for the Serbian leader, Slobodan Milosevic.

"It was when we went in and began to disturb important and symbolic sites in Belgrade, and began to bring to a halt the middle-class life in Belgrade, that Milosevic's own people began to turn on him," General Jumper said.

A military official is explaining that attacking certain civilian infrastructure can help to achieve a desired political outcome. That would seem to meet the conventional definition of terrorism, as violence directed against civilians for political ends. It's not that is new information--NATO airstrikes in Belgrade were intended to harm civilians, and pundits cheered as this happened. But if the point is that the war in Libya is going to be more like Kosovo, this is disturbing.

Jordanian Islamist endorses Syrian protest wave - Arab News

Jordanian Islamist endorses Syrian protest wave - Arab News

By REUTERS

Published: Apr 29, 2011 12:53 Updated: Apr 29, 2011 20:25

BEIRUT: A prominent Jordanian Islamist who inspired Al-Qaeda in Iraq has endorsed protests in Syria, saying the overthrow of President Bashar Al-Assad would be a step toward implementing Sharia law.

Abu Muhammad Al-Maqdisi, spiritual mentor of the late Jordanian-born militant Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi who led Al-Qaeda fighters in Iraq, said all Muslims had a duty to join protests against Assad’s 11-year authoritarian rule.

“Just as the fall of the regime is necessary for someone calling for democracy, it is also necessary for someone calling for application of Sharia,” Maqdisi said in a statement on the website Pulpit of Tawhid and Jihad.

Maqdisi, currently in jail in Jordan, was responding to a question about the legitimacy of Muslims joining demonstrations which have focused on demands for greater democratic rights rather than on an Islamist agenda.

“The fall of this regime could lead to the establishment of a democratic regime as many of the demonstrators are demanding. But this could lead to opening up freedom to preach... and then demanding implementation of Sharia,” he said.

“As for participating in these protests, it is a duty for every Muslim who is able to do so.”

Maqdisi was a major influence on Zarqawi, who led Al-Qaeda fighters in Iraq before he was killed by a US bombing in 2006. But Maqdisi distanced himself from the indiscriminate killing of Shiite civilians committed by Zarqawi’s supporters. Syria’s exiled Muslim Brotherhood has called on Syrians to take to the streets on Friday and help the besieged southern city of Daraa.

Unlike the jihadist ideologue Maqdisi, the Brotherhood says it is committed to “pluralism and the ballot box.” Its leader Mohammad Riad Shaqfa told Reuters this month he sought “civic rule with Islam as a reference.”

The Brotherhood and pro-democracy activists deny accusations by authorities that militant Islamists were behind the unrest.

A Syrian rights group said on Thursday at least 500 people had been killed in the protests against Assad, whose minority Alawite family has ruled over Syria — a mainly Sunni Muslim country — for 41 years

Allahu Akbar!!! Egypt will lift Siege on Gaza

(AFP) – 5 hours ago

CAIRO — Egypt will permanently open the Rafah border crossing to ease the blockade on Gaza, Foreign Minister Nabil al-Arabi said Friday, sparking Israeli concerns over the implications for regional security.

Arabi said in an interview with Al-Jazeera his country would take "important steps to help ease the blockade on Gaza in the few days to come," according to the Arabic-language satellite channel.

He said Egypt would no longer accept that the Rafah border -- Gaza's only crossing that bypasses Israel -- remain blocked, describing his country's decision to seal it off as "shameful."

In Jerusalem, a a senior Israeli official said the Jewish state is "very concerned" about the implications of the Rafah crossing being thrown open.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the Israeli official said Gaza's Hamas rulers had already build up a "dangerous military machine" in northern Sinai which could be further strengthened by opening the border.

"We are very concerned about the situation in northern Sinai where Hamas has succeeded in building a dangerous military machine, despite Egyptian efforts to prevent that," he told AFP, without giving further details.

"What power could they amass if Egypt was no longer acting to prevent that build up?"

The fact that the new regime in Cairo was seeking to upgrade its ties with Gaza's Hamas rulers was an issue which could have strategic implications for Israel's national security, he said.

"We are troubled by the developments in Egypt, by the voices calling to annul the peace treaty, by the rapprochement between Egypt and Iran, and by the upgrading of relations between Egypt and Hamas. These developments potentially have strategic implications for Israel's national security."

Egypt has largely kept Rafah closed, opening it exceptionally for humanitarian cases from the besieged Gaza Strip.

Israel imposed its blockade on Gaza in 2006, further tightening it the following year when the Islamist Hamas movement seized control of the territory from forces loyal to Western-backed Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.

Since 2007, Gaza's 1.5 million people have relied on a web of tunnels beneath the Rafah border for most of their needs.

A 2005 agreement brokered by the United States put the Palestinian Authority and Israel in charge of Rafah, with observation from the European Union.

5 Years After U.S.-Backed Clashes, Palestinian Factions Fatah, Hamas Reach Unity Deal

Fatah and Hamas: Tectonic plates start to shift

A future environment composed of free Egyptians, Jordanians and even possibly Syrians could well fashion Israel's borders LINK HERE

Noah Feldmen: Rise and Fall of the Islamic State

The Rsie and Fall of the Islamic State

Obama's Losing It...

...as press in UK realizes the distinction between Taliban and ex-Mujahideen HERE

and Geraldo Rivera pronounces loss as well HERE and

As Taliban release 19th Anniversary Declaration of Victory

19 years ago, on 28 April (8 Saur, 1371 Hijri solar year), the Jihadic resistance of the people of Afghanistan culminated into victory versus the Red Army and their internal (Afghan) puppets. This was not an easy success. Almost 1.5 million Afghans had sacrificed their lives

to reach this great day of realization of hopes and aspirations, by forcing the dreadful Red Army of the former Soviet Union to flee the country—an Army which even the Westerners had acknowledged as being undefeatable. Unfortunately, some well-known leaders of the Jihadic resistance could not safeguard the fruit of the resistance which was, in fact, a historical pride for the Ummah as a whole. They acquiesced in embracing the internal ideological enemies in their ranks against whom they themselves had been fighting for more than a decade. Contrarily, they were not ready to tolerate unity and fraternity with their brothers-in-arm. The obsession of power grabbing frustrated the caravan of aspirations of the people which, though, by then, had approached its destinations.

Ultimately, the splendid victory of the Mujahid people evolved into a tragedy. Some opportunist armed men turned to violating the lives, property and honor of the people, cashing in on the factional fighting. The path of establishment of Islamic regime took up the form of a battle for power. Even the clandestine enemies of Islam were predicting that, as a result of the factional fighting, the Afghan people will be disappointed and oppressed to the point that, in future, they will welcome any non-Islamic regime with open arms.

At this time, some sons of this proud soil gathered under the banner of the Taliban Islamic Movement to bring the great aspiration of the establishment of Islamic regime to its destination—an aspiration that both Mujahideen and the Afghan people had offered 1.5 million martyrs for its sake. In fact, at that critical phase, the Taliban Islamic Movement played the role of (real) heirs of the spiritual legacy of Mujahideen. They implemented the aspirations of Mujahideen in 95% land of the country. However, the internal and external enemies of Islam and the country could not tolerate the regime.

Today, the true sons of this land offer their lives for the protection and success of the same goal. But the world of infidelity under the leadership of America wants to impede the realization of the said goal by dent of force. It is not possible now. The Afghan Mujahid people have thrown down the gauntlet by assembling under a sole leadership. When drops of rains become flood, mountains are not able to prevent them from carving their way forward.

We would like to say, no difference between a Talib and a Mujahid. The Mujahid and the Talib of yesterday who were fighting against the Red Army of the Soviet Union or fighting against America today, are, in fact, brothers-in-arm and share common goal.

At this final phase of victory, all Afghans who follow the Truth and love God, any ethnicity they may belong to, should join hands with each other for the sake of brining about Islamic regime. They should strictly avoid those blunders and flaws that take us away from our prideful goal. Protection of a revolution is as important as its precious winning.

The enemy has lost its morale and strength. Only need for a country-wide uprising. The day is not far off when the (current) invaders, like their predecessor of the 27^th April (7th Saur), will be forced to leave our land with humiliation and debasement.

– (Forward towards) independence of the country and an early establishment of the Islamic regime.

–Away with invaders and their puppet and shame on them.

–Pride and f victory to the sacrificing warriors of the way of Truth.

Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan

Treatment of Aafia Siddiqui In Bagram

Video of the recent protest in Morocco

This from NY Times today :

Mohamad Fizazi is emblematic of a problem facing the king of Morocco: How much, in these days of tumult across the Arab world, should the monarch heed men like him?

Mr. Fizazi, by his own admission, once preached jihad. That was before a day he says he will not forget: May 28, 2003.

Twelve days earlier, 12 suicide bombers had killed 33 other people in bombing attacks on a Spanish restaurant, a hotel, a Jewish community center and cemetery in Casablanca. Thousands were arrested and jailed in the crackdown that followed.

Mr. Fazizi said men in plainclothes stopped him outside the mosque where he was then imam. “I was gone for several days. My family had no idea about where I was,” he said in an interview in his home in Tangier. He was tried for terrorism and jailed for 30 years.

But on April 14, he was suddenly released, part of a move by King Mohammed VI to pardon or reduce the sentences of 190, mainly Salafi jihadist, prisoners — roughly one in 10 of the 2,000 or so people tried, sentenced and jailed after the Casablanca bombings.

While Morocco has not faced mass protests like those in Egypt or Tunisia, and there is no united call for the leader — the king — to quit, demonstrations have called for change. And the king has responded, with the April release and by pledging in March to grant more religious freedom and more transparent justice. A commission is supposed to report in June on changing the Constitution, with a referendum to follow.

How will Salafi jihadists, the main targets of the 2003 post-bombing detentions and trials, fit into this picture? Some of them advocate war against the Western presence in the Muslim world and have supported attacks in the West and the overthrow of rulers in Muslim countries.

To Arab and Western intelligence services, Mr. Fizazi was known as an important preacher in the movement. He had, they say, supported attacks on the West and its allies, and preached in Al Quds Mosque in Hamburg, with planners and pilots of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks listening.

“I preached in that mosque but I never met any of these people in private, and I had certainly no knowledge about their plans,” said Mr. Fizazi, 63.

Now, he said, he counsels moderation and has accepted democratic practices like elections that he once spurned.

But he wants the king to do more. He and four others recently released, plus five still interned prisoners, have joined human rights advocates in demanding a fresh inquiry into the May 2003 bombing and subsequent interrogations and jailings, as well as investigation of three top officials, two of them close advisers to the king.

“I had nothing to do with these attacks and there are many others in prison for this who don’t either,” Mr. Fizazi said of the Casablanca bombings.

“We want the decision makers from 2003 to be questioned,” said Muhammad Hakiki, a leftist political prisoner under the late King Hassan II who now heads Alkarama, a human rights organization in Morocco. “The king has to show now that he is not only talking but that he will also act,” he added.

The release of political prisoners is also the priority for the 20th February Movement, which has spearheaded some of the largest protests, said its spokesman, Montasser Drissi, a 19-year-old student.

The trio they want investigated includes two friends of the king, Fouad Ali Himma and Mounir el Majidi. The third, General Hamidou Laanigri, is former head of the internal Moroccan intelligence service known as the D.S.T.

Mr. Himma, who went to school with the king, was in 2003 the state secretary of the interior, responsible for the D.S.T. General Laanigri was its chief.

Mr. Himma left his position in August 2008 to found the Authenticity and Modernity Party, generally regarded as a political tool for the monarchy.

Moroccan human rights groups believe that Mr. Himma and the general were responsible for the torture and wrongful arrest of thousands.

Eric Goldstein, deputy director for Middle East and North Africa at Human Rights Watch, said he had no specific information about either man’s role. He did assert, however, that the United States and Morocco cooperated in renditions, flying suspects from Afghanistan or Pakistan to Morocco for interrogation by the C.I.A. Morocco has always denied any such role.

Mr. Hakiki, the former prisoner and human rights activist, said Mr. Majidi should be investigated for what he called “corruption in business.” Protesters have carried pictures of Mr. Himma and Mr. Majidi, demanding that they “get out.”

“The king is good, but some people around him are evil,” said Omar al Hamdouni, who was imprisoned on terrorism charges and has now been pardoned.

“The first one who started with positive changes in the Arab world was the Moroccan king,” Mr. Fizazi said. “I think the king has realized that things went wrong here and the biggest evidence for it is that he has freed us.”

Western security services may have a different view.

“Nothing would be worse and more dangerous” than freed Salafi jihadists “without jobs and perspective, because then they might fall back to what they preached before,” a European intelligence official said on condition of anonymity. “Fizazi used to inspire young men to take actions against any countries which participated in the wars in Afghanistan or Iraq.”

This official said he was surprised in July 2009 when Mr. Fizazi published letters opposing suicide attacks and attacks in Western countries. “We first thought, this must be fake, but it became clear that it wasn’t,” he said.

In the interview, Mr. Fizazi said he had written the letters of his own free will. “Today I am against the killing of innocent people, it is not right to have attacks in any Western countries.”

After his announcement, Mr. Fizazi said, he got death threats.

Asked about a son-in-law, Naman Meziche, who used to live in Hamburg and who, according to German and Pakistani intelligence officials, traveled in March 2009 to the tribal areas between Pakistan and Afghanistan, Mr. Fazizi demurred. “I had no idea about this, my son-in-law did not ask me, nor do we know where he is,” he said.

MUST READ PDF: Ph.D Dissertation on One Hadith: A Complete and Comprehensive Analysis of the Science and a Refutation of Orientalist Criticism

Zaman Iftikhar the Evolution Of a Hadith

PDF: IMF Global Economic Outlook, April 2011

IMF: World Economic Outlook, April 2011

Noam Chomsky - Global Hegemony: The Facts, The Images, April 20, 2011

From Eugene, Oregon the other day... May Allah guide him!

In Egypt, Protests and Demands for Change Reach Al-Azhar

NOTE: 15,000 IMAMS PROTESTED FOR INDEPENDENCE OF AZHAR TODAY - ONLY THE OLD REGIME AND THE IKHWAN WANT THINGS TO CONTINUE AS USUAL - MAKES YOU WONDER???  This post is from MEMRI, however it is largely neutral in nature and highlights alot of the reported realities with good links atthe end for citation...  By: L. Azuri*

Introduction The domestic protests and demands for reform and change in post-revolutionary Egypt have not missed Al-Azhar University, which is considered the most important educational institution and religious authority in the Sunni Muslim world. Elements within the institution – ulema, imams, and officials – are demonstrating to protest against Al-Azhar's backing of the Mubarak regime, demanding reforms that will ensure Al-Azhar's independence from the regime and freedom from corruption, so that it can regain its former place of honor in  Egyptian society and in the Muslim world. Another complaint voiced by the Egyptian public against Al-Azhar is that the institution has not been fulfilling its role as a guide for the people in the difficult revolutionary and post-revolutionary period, abandoning the field to radical Islamic elements. Some Salafis have sought to ride the wave of criticism against Al-Azhar, demanding the establishment of an ulema council drawing from all Islamic streams that will advise Al-Azhar in its religious decision-making. In response to this protest, Al-Azhar Sheikh Dr. Ahmad Al-Tayyeb initiated contacts with Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf over amending the Al-Azhar Law so that it would assure the institution's development and independence. A committee was formed to draft the bill, headed by jurist Tareq Al-Bishri. In a gesture aimed at supporting the fragile Egyptian economy, Al-Tayyeb has donated to the Egyptian treasury all the income he has earned at Al-Azhar since assuming his post. On the other hand, Al-Tayyeb dismissed the criticism of the institution's actions during the anti-Mubarak demonstrations in the early days of the revolution, and to date has not responded to the protestors' demands for his resignation so a new sheikh could be elected, rather than being appointed by the president, as had traditionally been the case under Mubarak. The question of what reforms Al-Azhar will undergo and who will lead them depends on how much the protestors can pressure the military rule and the religious establishments, and the extent to which these will be able to withstand this pressure, using the rationale that replacing Al-Tayyeb will create a vacuum and thus facilitate the rise of political Islam. This rationale plays on the recent fears in Egyptian society vis-à-vis the increasingly louder voices of the Islamic and Salafi streams. The Muslim Brotherhood has prominently defended Al-Tayyeb. With an eye to gaining legitimacy and appearing to be moderate, and to reassuring the public's apprehensions about it, the movement has expressed support for transforming Al-Azhar into an independent body with global influence – but with Al-Tayyeb as the reformist. Al-Tayyeb is also supported by a stream within Al-Azhar, which wants him to remain in his post. The following is a review of the criticism of Al-Azhar, and the reactions of the religious establishment and the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt:

'Arab Spring' holds IMF, World Bank, amid financial woes

By Hugues Honore (AFP) – Apr 16, 2011

WASHINGTON — Global finance chiefs sought ways to help Arab economies flourish amid pro-democracy revolts erupting across the region as the IMF and World Bank met in Washington Saturday.

While the Arab Spring that has seen dictators in Egypt and Tunisia fall since January has captivated the two key global institutions in their spring meetings, looming in the background were destabilizing "imbalances" in the world's most powerful economies.

International Monetary Fund and World Bank policy makers made support for Arab countries a key priority, highlighting the social-political impact of skyrocketing food prices and joblessness around the world and especially in the Middle East-North Africa (MENA) region.

"We can together build a better future for these countries. And that's not only important for Egypt and Tunisia, it's important for the whole world because this example is an example that is going to have a lot of consequences," IMF managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said Friday.

"The upheaval in the MENA region is not only a reflection of discontent over jobs, low wages and poverty, but also represents a day of reckoning for trade and economic policy choices made ... over past decades," Supachai Panitchpakdi, the secretary general of the UN Conference on Trade and Development, told the opening meetings said in a statement.

But two years after a global recession, finance ministers and central bank governors were also confronting persistent weaknesses in the global financial system, skewed trade balances and exchange-rate policies amid a two-speed recovery.

Weak growth in developed countries, particularly in the United States were the crisis began, persists, while emerging countries' more robust expansion is drawing warnings of overheating.

The developed and emerging countries traded barbs over the so-called imbalances, with big-deficit economies like the United States and European countries assailing surplus states like China, and vice-versa.

"The United States will do its part to address our external deficit and repair our public finances," US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said in an opening statement.

"However, others, especially those whose fundamentals call for greater exchange rate flexibility, must also contribute," he added -- a direct call to China.

Beijing meanwhile countered that deficit countries to get their houses in order.

"Systematically important advanced countries need more rigorous fiscal consolidation targets due to their tremendous spillover effects," said Yi Gang, deputy governor of the People's Bank of China, in a statement.

He called on the Europeans specifically to better address the eurozone debt crisis.

European countries "need to seek political consensus, beef up fiscal consolidation efforts, and make intraregional cooperation mechanisms more effective so as to dispel market mistrust and enable stabilizers to play their role."

Addressing the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC), the IMF's 24-nation steering panel, on Saturday morning, Financial Stability Board chief Mario Draghi stressed that "sovereign and banking risks are closely intertwined in some countries."

"There is a need to decisively press ahead with the repair and strengthening of weak banking systems, using the forthcoming rounds of stress tests to address expeditiously any weak points identified," said Draghi, the head of the Italian central bank.

The IMFC meeting will be followed later in the day by a meeting of the Development Committee, which advises the IMF and the World Bank on aid to developing countries.

The IMFC was directly affected by the pro-democracy turmoil that swept the Arab crescent this year. Until February it was headed by Egyptian Finance Minister Youssef Boutros-Ghali, who was obliged to step down after he was fired, along with half the government, by then-president Hosni Mubarak in Cairo.

A week later, Mubarak himself was ousted by popular revolt. The IMFC chairmanship went to Singapore's finance minister, Tharman Shanmugaratnam.

The post-revolution period in Egypt and Tunisia and aid to other Arab countries swept by protests seeking social justice and better economic futures have been the center of attention in Washington since Thursday.

France and the United States announced Thursday a "joint action plan" for five international financial institutions to aid development in the Middle East and North Africa.

The IMF was tasked with providing an economic evaluation of the countries potentially involved, initially seen as Tunisia and Egypt.

Strauss-Kahn said the IMF was ready with aid if asked. But Tunisia and Egypt have so far not done so.

Tunisian authorities are negotiating with a number of countries and development agencies at this point, while Egypt is studying its options, officials from the two countries have said.