The recent ethnic wars and crises that have ravaged the Balkans over the last few years are a reminder of the complexity of a region where past enmities and unsettled grievances, as well as thwarted national aspirations and traumas, retain their powerful presence, often hidden behind the artificial carapace and boundaries of the modern nation-State.
Iraqis have always suspected that the 1963 military coup that set Saddam Husain on the road to absolute power had been masterminded by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
The Algerian army, like the Turkish military, shows no sign of relinquishing its grip on power, and the speculation generated by the recent release of the two Islamic Salvation Front Leaders...
The identity of the two bombers who blew themselves up simultaneously in a busy outdoor market in West Jerusalem on July 30 remains a mystery.
There is in Malaysia a truly George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty Four scenario. There is an ‘Anti-Corruption Act’ to nab those who complain about corruption; an Institute of Islamic Understanding to promote an orientalist version of Islam; non-Muslims advising the Muslims how to reform Islam, else Islam will `die off’ due to its failure to change with the time...
At US$7 trillion, America has the largest economy in the world (the world’s economy is put at $25 trillion). Currently the US also enjoys a robust job growth rate with unemployment put officially at a mere 5 percent, lowest of all the industrialised countries.
That Muslims take strong offence at any insult to the honour of the noble Messenger of Allah, upon whom be peace, is not in doubt.
Greece not only persecutes its own Muslims but also plays a conspicuous role in the programme of obliteration directed at the presence of Islam in the Balkans.
President Nelson Mandela has hailed the prominent role played by Islam in the liberation and construction of Africa describing the world’s most frequently demonised faith as the continent’s principal religion and as an agent of tolerance and goodwill.
Pakistan launched its golden jubilee celebrations by a radio and television address by prime minister Nawaz Sharif at one minute past midnight on August 14. Then there was flag-hoisting ceremony at the parliament building attended by the country’s top brass while the people rejoiced in the streets waving flags and releasing thousands of balloons.
