Articles

General Abdul Rashid Dostum’s tiny kingdom in northern Afghanistan collapsed around him suddenly. A major blow was delivered by generals Abdul Malik and Gul Mohammad, brothers of a slain former chief of staff of Dostum’s militia, Rasul Pahlawan.

Africa’s game of musical chairs produced another farcical comedy/tragedy when on the weekend of May 17-18, Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu waza Banga, the Zairean dictator, was flushed out of Kinshasa, the capital.

There are more than 200 billion barrels of proven oil reserves and perhaps 50 trillion cubic metres of gas in Central Asia and the Caspian Sea Basin. Such riches could keep the lights burning in the west for a long time.

The quest for water to satisfy the burgeoning needs of an ever-increasing number of Jewish settlers in arid Palestine is as old as zionism itself. Theodore Herzl, the founding father of political zionism, recognized the vital importance of water for the success of his colonialist project.

History does not move in leaps and bounds. Most Muslims involved in Islamic activity, especially of the political party variety, want immediate results.

In the east Malaysian state of Sarawak, the confluence of the Rajang and Balui Rivers is marked by the Bakun Rapids. Here, churning whirlpools and crashing white water have undone many an experienced boatman.

Malaysia’s controversial mega dam project in the Eastern state of Sarawak is showing signs of stress. Reports of construction mishaps and financial problems faced by Ekran, the main contractor of the Bakun Hydroelectric Dam Project are being blacked out from the tighly-controlled Malaysian press.

The brutal manner in which Muslims are being treated in Myanmar (Burma) is no bar to the junta’s ambition to join ASEAN, the grouping of South East Asian Nations.

A tug of war between the Refah-led government of prime minister Necmettin Erbakan and the military establishment over the role of Islam in public life has dominated Turkish political scene since the end of February.

Just as the European Union (EU) announced that its members were sending their envoys back to Tehran after a 20-day hiatus, the Rahbar (Leader) of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatullah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, delivered a powerful slap on their collective face.