| Author | Message | | Saint | | Posted: Mon Jul 29, 2002 3:33 am Post subject: Well, they look like Al-Qaeda - a cautionary tale |
| This is worth a read:
Terrorism dispatch
Well, they look like Al-Qaeda
In the latest of his regular online dispatches, The Observer's Chief Reporter looks at why terrorist "links" are so easy to claim and difficult to prove and congratulates the Pakistani journalists who decided to dig deeper after seven men were shot in Macedonia. Worldview highlights: best of Jason Burke:
http://www.observer.co.uk/worldview/page/0,11916,715400,00.html
Sunday July 28, 2002
This is a cautionary tale.
On March 2nd this year seven men "who appeared to be of Middle Eastern origin" were shot dead by Macedonian security services near the capital Skopje. The authorities then proudly announced that they had folied an al-Qaeda plot and described the dead men as Islamic extremists who were plotting attacks on the British, American and German embassies in southeasten Europe. Quite how they had reached this conclusion was not immediately apparent because the Macedonian security services - or anyone else from the government for that matter - had been unable to interview them particularly thoroughly before they died in, as the thriller writers would have it, "a hail of lead".
Indeed exactly how the men had died was unclear too, Ljube Boskoski, the Macedonian interior minister, first said they had been shot by a police patrol. Then he said they had died in a gun battle with soldiers on a country road outside the capital.
The Macedonians did however produced "Arabic language" pamphlets containing the names of other terrorists and the dates of a series of secret meetings at which the men had plotted their forthcoming attacks. The government also released photographs of weapons and hand grenades which the authorities claimed were found on the dead men's bodies. Though newspapers around the world were happy to take Bosloski at his word observers noted that the arms looked brand new and the combat fatigues which the men were said to be carrying had actually been recently pressed.
A Pakistani magazine, the Herald, obtained copies of the pamphlets. The Herald, one of the best publications in south Asia has conducted an exhaustive and illuminating investigation to find out exactly who were the "key al-Qaeda figures" whose death in Skopje five months ago was trumpeted around the world.
The Herald immediately saw that the pamphlets found on the men were in fact invitations to a Shia muslim religious gathering in eastern Pakistan. The names listed were the organizers and speakers. There was also a verse from the Quran and a copy of the Nad-e-Ali, a key religious text found in almost every Shia home. The Herald then set about tracing the dead men. All were from eastern Pakistan except for one who was a Sikh of Indian origin. Only one had any connection to any Pakistani extremist organisation, Shia or otherwise, let alone al-Qaeda. They were, it seemed illegal immigrants who had been working in Greece.
The one man with extremist connections was 26 year old Bilal Kazmi who had spent two years in prison for the murder of two activitst of the violent Sunni muslim group Sipa-e-Sahaba. Legal costs for the case had bankrupted the family and Bilal had travelled to the West, through Iran and Turkey, to earn some money. However, even if he was guilty of the crime for which he was convicted, Kazmi was nothing to do with al-Qaeda. He was a Shia acitivist and thus, to bin Laden and his people, a heretic. The strong antipathy between al-Qaeda (which has ideological roots in hardline Sunni muslim thought and financial and political roots in hardlien Sunni muslim countries and circles) and the Shias persists notwithstanding clumsy attempts by the Israelis or the Americans to manufacture links to Hizbolllah or the Iranians. Two other victims of the shooting came from the profoundly poor village of Bhao Ghaseetput. Khlaid Mahmood was married with three young daughters and earned his living by selling the milk of his cows and driving the tractor of a local landlord. He had left for Greece in the summer of 2000. Riaz Ahmed worked alongside Mahmood in Bhao Ghaseetput and earned 1,500 rupees (25 pounds) a month for tending cattle. Ahmed Khan, a village elder, told The Herald that a number of residents had successfully made it to the West and been able to remit what for the locals were huge sums of money. Neither man had anything to do with al-Qaeda and, to be honest, it is absolutely ludicrous to think they might have done. The Herald found that six out of the seven men killed were poor labourers from rural Pakistan. The idea that they were skilled al-Qaeda operatives or even footsoldiers for militant Islam is frankly daft. That didn't stop the Macedonians claiming it or credulous journalists believing them or readers accepting what they had been told as the truth. There have been many such claims made and many more will be, particularly as the politicians try to prepare us for a war in Iraq. You have been warned.
Jason Burke is The Observer's Chief Reporter. You can read a selection of his reporting on the terrorism crisis, including his fortnightly online terrorism dispatch in Observer Worldview's best of Jason Burke page:
http://www.observer.co.uk/worldview/page/0,11916,715400,00.html
This article can be found here:
http://www.observer.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,764347,00.html | |  | | Guest | | Posted: Thu Aug 01, 2002 11:18 am Post subject: |
| And this lot look like the Taliban. Except...Theyre on our side...Or the Russians side..Well our side while Karazis ducking and diving and dodging. When he stops or is stopped then I suppose we ll be guessing why the Wests troops are doing Russias work for em...
It may be off to a long awaited start but there are some ominous dark forces stirring the pot including fundamentalists and men with dubious records.
A. Gizabi
THE AFGHAN Islamic Transitional Government (AITG), was formed in two stages: The first part - mainly 14 so-called key portfolios introduced during the last session of the emergency Loya Jirga on June 19.
The second part - the 13 ministries announced on June 22, the deadline set up by the Bonn Agreement on Afghanistan.
On the surface, the new government is a coalition of forces designed to bring national unity and reconciliation among various factions. It is also designed to be a government of professionals and technocrats, needed for reconstruction of the war-torn country.
However, a closer look at the make up of the new government and its name suggests serious flaws and sinister forces at work behind the scenes.
The name
Before its actual announcement, an Islamic prefix was suggested by two clerics, Asef Mohseni, a Shi'a fundamentalist and Rassoul Sayyaf, a Sunni Wahabi. Some of the delegates tried in vain to explain that in a country where 99% of the population are Muslims, there is no need for an Islamic prefix.
It is not merely the name but the implications that the possible future implementation of the Shari'a or Islamic codes of conduct, that is worrisome for people.
The memories of depriving women of their basic rights, harsh and sometimes inhuman treatment of common criminals or the stoning of adulterers are vividly remembered by the population.
The first victim of the AITG was Dr Seema Samar, minister of women's affairs and well-known human rights activist who was stripped of her post after being accused of rejecting the Shari'a.
However, in an interview with a foreign radio station, she said that she opposed the strict interpretation of Shari'a á la Taleban. Nevertheless, Fazl Hadi Shinwary, the chief justice of the supreme court, is said to have barred her from holding any public office, although he denies doing so.
Shinwary, soon after taking office in the AITG, announced that he would amputate the hands or feet of convicted thieves.
Who replaces whom?
President-elect Hamid Karzai promised to appoint a cabinet that would balance the technocrats and professionals with people from different ethnic and factional groups.
However, the balance has been tipped in favour of appeasing the warlords. Dr Zalmai Rassoul, former civil aviation minister in the AITG, an experienced administrator, and is replaced by Mirvais Sadiq, son of Ismael Khan, the fundamentalist warlord in the western province of Heart.
Dr Sultan Hamid, minister of transportation in the AITG is replaced by Sayed Ali Jaweed, a fundamentalist Shi'a cleric who is supported by other warlords.
Younos Qanooni, formerly minister of interior in the AITG, is replaced by Taj Mohammad Wardak, an 80-year-old former governor of Paktia province who failed his first test as an administrator byfailing to quell the local disturbance in the province.
There is still a dispute over the appointment of a minister of justice because two rival warlords are reportedly backing two different nominees.
What does this mean for Afghans?
For a country coming out of the 23 years of war, Afghanistan needs a stable and unified government that would bring a semblance of normality. At the same time, most observers of the scene agree Afghanistan can only emerge from the ruins of the war by people, foreign or native, who can provide the technical expertise.
The present government has only a handful of people who are qualified for the posts that are assigned to them. There are some people with PhDs, like ministers of finance; information and culture; reconstruction; higher education.
However, there are those who have not finished high school, are barely literate and are assigned to the key ministries of agriculture, commerce and transportation.
Since his government lacks the necessary means and power to control the country, Karzai needs the support of every strongman. At the same time, it is difficult if not impossible to satisfy rival, adversarial elements within his own government.
For their support or silence, Karzai has to be generous with cabinet posts. Yet he cannot choose his ministers, and has to accept whoever he is introduced to.
Proportionate to the support he receives, the lion's share of the posts have gone to the strongest warlords. He offered the defence, foreign and education portfolios to the Panjshiris led by general Qaseem Fahim, who promoted himself to the rank of Marshal. The security and secret service are under his command.
Lobbying the Afghan way
The rival factions have not only tried to increase their own influence, but also decrease that of their foes. The so-called Rome ministry, the ministers introduced by the ex-king camp, have, apart from one, all kept their posts.
The finance, aviation, and women's affairs portfolios have all gone, or are going, to different factions and groups - only the post of reconstruction has been left to its former occupant.
Karzai in his effort to increase efficiency and reduce expenditure had promised to abolish and merge some ministries such as education and higher education; agriculture and irrigation and environment and reconstruction and city construction. However, in his effort to appease the various sides, rather than managing to reduce the size of the government, he has by all indications, increased it.
He created several new consultative ministries such as that of the Kochis, Nomads, and numerous commissions such as those relating to security, finance, radio and TV.
As a whole, many in Kabul agree Karzai's policy of appeasement can only prolong the shaky status quo.
He has to choose between working for the country, in order to pull it out of the present quagmire, and fulfill the promises he made to the people.
His other option is to walk a tightrope and appease the various factions and their sponsors and lose the confidence of all those who have suffered during the last 23 years at the hands of the warlords, some of whom are appearing with Karzai in every occasion.
In Afghanistan there is a fitting proverb for this: You cannot hold two melons in one hand. | | | | | ©2002-2009 WarWithoutEnd.co.uk |
