Informed Comment: Muqtada Calls on Parliamentarians: 'Just say 'No'

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Muqtada Calls on Parliamentarians: 'Just say 'No'

Muqtada al-Sadr called Saturday for Iraqi parliamentarians to reject the draft security agreement proposed by the Bush administration and PM Nuri al-Maliki. Tens of thousands of Iraqis rallied against the agreement.

Reuters reports political violence in Iraq on Saturday:

' * SAMARRA - A mass grave containing 11 bodies was found in the northeast of Samarra, 100 km (60 miles) north of Baghdad, by Iraqi police with the help of local U.S.-backed security patrols. Five of the corpses were of policemen killed a year ago. Police also found a former prison belonging to Sunni militants, said police Colonel Abdul Khaliq al-Samarraie.

* BAGHDAD - Iraqi Police arrested a man accused of a bomb attack on U.S.-backed neighbourhood patrols in Baghdad's Doura neighbourhood, and found explosives in his possession, said Qasim Moussawi, government spokesman for security in Baghdad.

* TUZ KHURMATO - The body of a man was found in Tuz Khurmato, 170 km (105 miles) north of Baghdad, showing signs of torture and gunshot wounds more than a week after he was kidnapped, police said.

* KIRKUK - Three policemen were wounded when a roadside bomb struck their patrol in the southern part of Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

* MOSUL - An unidentified body was found in the south of the Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, with a bullet in the head, police said.

MUSSAYAB - Gunmen shot dead the leader of the Sunni "Awakening" movement in the town of Mussayab, 60 km (40 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.

KIRKUK - A Kurdish security official was killed by a bomb attached to his car south of Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

FALLUJA - A suicide bomber killed a Sunni imam on Friday night, police said. '

1 Comments:

At 9:33 PM, Anonymous said...: Ultraconservative Islam on rise in Mideast

Critics worry that the rise of Salafists in Egypt, as well as in other Arab countries such as Jordan and Lebanon, will crowd out the more liberal and tolerant version of Islam long practiced there. They also warn that the doctrine is only a few shades away from that of violent groups like al-Qaida — that it effectively preaches "Yes to jihad, just not now."

In the broad spectrum of Islamic thought, Salafism is on the extreme conservative end. Saudi Arabia's puritanical Wahhabi interpretation is considered its forerunner, and Saudi preachers on satellite TV and the Internet have been key to its Salafism's spread.

Salafist groups are gaining in numbers and influence across the Middle East. In Jordan, a Salafist was chosen as head of the old-guard opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood. In Kuwait, Salafists were elected to parliament and are leading the resistance to any change they believe threatens traditional Islamic values.

The gains for Salafists are part of a trend of turning back to conservatism and religion after nationalism and democratic reform failed to fulfill promises to improve people's lives. Egypt has been at the forefront of change in both directions, toward liberalization in the 1950s and '60s and back to conservatism more recently.