On September 24 the British government published a "dossier of evidence" against Saddam Hussein that critics quickly dismissed as a "weapon of mass deception". Iraq’s fate was determined by decisions made long ago, argues FAISAL BODI.
They were supposed to be the British government’s piece de resistance in its domestic war on terror: the smoking guns that confirmed the presence of al-Qa’ida cells in Britain. But a recent wave of police raids on homes, charities and, most spectacularly, a mosque in London have provoked accusations that the government is scapegoating the Muslim community in order to boost support for its involvement in the impending war against Iraq.
As Eid ul-Fitr looms, spare a thought for the 625 Muslim prisoners in Guantanamo Bay who, deprived of their dignity and freedom, do not even know when, or whether, they will ever celebrate the festival at home with their families.
In the mid-1990s, the Hindu-Christian duopoly in Mauritian politics was shaken by the emergence of a Muslim challenge. This month Cehl Fakeermeeah, founder of the Hizbullah party, is expected to be committed to trial on what most Muslims believe are politically motivated charges. FAISAL BODI reports.
The deaths last month of 65 Afghan tribal leaders when their convoy was attacked by US aircraft has drawn attention to the US’s bombing of virtually random targets in Afghanistan.
Journalists working for British newspapers have been grumbling recently about the way the British government is leaning on editors to fall behind its phony war in Afghanistan. Even staff at the left-of-centre qualities have noticed a definite reduction in the anti-war tone struck in the days immediately after September 11...
If you thought the US veto was only effective in the UN security council, think again. It is just as useful at international conferences, as the Palestinians found in Durban.
Britain’s long-expected general election will take place on June 7. British Muslim community groups, meanwhile, have already started campaigns against Islamophobic and pro-zionist MPs. At least three MPs representing the ruling Labour Party in London are in danger of losing their seats.
Once the American experience had provided a foretaste of how terrorism legislation can be misused, it was a foregone conclusion that once the Terrorism Act came into force on 19 February, Muslim organisations would fall like dominoes under its impact.
