Articles

he Americans find themselves at their wits end with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Even as lame duck president, he has put his spanner in the Bilateral Security Agreement that the Americans desperately want signed immediately. They have threatened to withdraw all their forces and leave Afghanistan to its fate unless it is signed immediately but Karzai remains unfazed. He seems to dare them to walk away.

Failure of the foreign conspiracy to topple the government of Bashar al-Asad has resulted in fighting spilling over into Lebanon. In addition to fightnig, such as in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, assassination of Hizbullah commanders and fighters has also intensified. Hassan al-Laqqis, a prominent Hizbullah commander was the latest victim, assassinated last night as he returned home. Two gunmen shot him at close range.

Within a few days of Iran signing the interim deal with the sextet (US, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany), there have been quick moves by Tehran to approach its Persian Gulf neighbors. These regimes have also realized that change is coming and it would be in their interest to mend fences with Tehran. The speed with which the moves are occurring is quite astonishing.

Shaykh el-Qaradawi continues to grab headlines. His latest announcement about resigning from the advisory Committee of Ulama at Al-Azhar has been welcomed by most sincere Muslims. He resigned because he accused Al-Azhar and its shaykh of failing to condemn the military coup and its massacres of the Egyptian people. Muslims, however, have questioned el-Qaradawi's sectarian outbursts and his acceptance of patronage of the Qatari amir.

After three rounds of intense negotiations in Geneva, Iran and the P5+1 countries signed an interim deal in the early hours of November 24 relating to Iran’s nuclear program. The deal to last for six months calls for Iran to limit its nuclear activity in return for some relief from sanctions.

After experiencing repeated failures in its policies, especially in Syria, Iraq and Egypt, Turkey has embarked on a course correction in foreign policy. One hopes these are sincere and that Ankara would work for peace and justice rather than disunity in the region.

The American political system is hostage to money. Lobbies rule the roost. The US, however, is not the only country where money talks. Other countries also use money to buy influence or favour. The Saudis use money to create fitna in the Ummah.

In Islam difference of opinion is permitted but in a respectful manner. Sectarianism is a deliberately propagated ideology of hate in which one group of Muslims denounces another as ‘kafirs’ and even resorts to killing. Such hate ideology must be exposed and confronted.

Bandar, the illegitimate son of Sultan born of an illicit affair with a black maid, is the black sheep of the Saudi family. It is not his skin colour but his dark deeds that have aroused so much contempt for him. Like Wahshi, the murderer of Hamza (ra), he is filled with hate.

For more than 30 years, Islamic Iran has held its ground—on the battlefield, on its right to enrich uranium and to establish a system of government based on Islamic principles. This has demanded sacrifices but ultimately, it was its enemies that blinked and came to the negotiating table.