MYANMAR – SVIZZERA
Sittwe, calma apparente dopo le violenze religiose. Per Aung San Suu Kyi dilemma Rohingya
Colonnello dell’esercito e responsabile della sicurezza nello Stato Rakhine parla di “situazione sotto controllo”. Ma restano i timori di nuovi scontri fra buddisti e musulmani. La leader dell’opposizione in Svizzera parla di legalità e controllo dei confini, ma glissa sulla cittadinanza della minoranza musulmana. Portavoce Nld: “I Rohingya non sono nostri concittadini”.
Yangon (AsiaNews/Agenzie) - Le autorità birmane riferiscono che nello Stato di Rakhine, teatro nelle scorse settimane di violenze interconfessionali fra buddisti e musulmani, è tornata la calma e la situazione è sotto il controllo delle forze di sicurezza. L'annuncio arriva dal colonnello Htein Linn, responsabile dei Confini e della sicurezza dello Stato nord-occidentale, che in una conferenza stampa nella capitale Sittwe annuncia: "Possiamo dire che, adesso, la situazione è sotto controllo". Delle violenze a sfondo religioso in Myanmar ha parlato anche Aung San Suu Kyi, impegnata in un tour europeo iniziato due giorni fa in Svizzera e che nei prossimi giorni farà tappa in Norvegia, Irlanda, Inghilterra e Francia. La Nobel per la pace ha sottolineato che nel Paese deve valere il "principio della legalità" e della "supremazia della legge", ma non ha voluto spendere - forse per non irritare troppo la leadership di governo a Naypyidaw e lo stesso presidente Thein Sein - troppe parole di solidarietà per la minoranza musulmana Rohingya, ancora una volta vittima di abusi, straniera in patria (Myanmar) e respinta dalle nazioni musulmane dell'area (su tutti il Bangladesh).
Il colonnello Linn ha spiegato che sono tuttora in corso gli interventi a sostegno della popolazione locale e nega le voci circolate nelle ultime ore, secondo cui i rifugiati - nei campi e non - sarebbero ridotti alla fame. E aggiunge che quasi 32mila persone a oggi sono ospitate in 37 centri di accoglienza governativi sparsi per lo Stato di Rakhine, conosciuto anche col nome di Arakan. Tuttavia, nella zona si respira ancora una certa tensione e resta il timore di possibili nuovi scontri. Per questo sono intervenuti anche i leader religiosi birmani, invitando i fedeli alla calma e a collaborare con le autorità per riportare la pace.
A scatenare le violenze nello Stato di Rakhine, lo stupro e seguente omicidio di una donna buddista avvenuto a fine maggio. Nei giorni seguenti una folla inferocita ha accusato alcuni musulmani uccidendone 10 di loro, che viaggiavano su un autobus ed erano del tutto estranei al fatto di sangue. La spirale di odio, sfociata in una vera e propria guerriglia, è quindi continuata nei giorni successivi e ha causato la morte di altre 29 persone, di cui 16 musulmani e 13 buddisti, altri 38 i feriti. Secondo le fonti ufficiali sono andate in fiamme almeno 2600 abitazioni. Al momento sono tre i musulmani sotto processo per la morte della donna.
Della tensione fra buddisti dell'Arakan e musulmani Rohingya ha parlato anche Aung San Suu Kyi, in Europa per un tour ufficiale che ieri ha subito modifiche in seguito a un malore che ha colpito la leader dell'opposizione birmana durante una conferenza. Per i medici si è trattato di un episodio legato allo stress e alla stanchezza per il viaggio, ma la donna pare essersi ristabilita e continuerà il tour secondo programma. Rispondendo alle domande sulle violenze confessionali in Myanmar, la leader della Lega nazionale per la democrazia (Nld) ha rivendicato la "supremazia della legge", alla quale tutti i cittadini si devono uniformare. E aggiunge che è necessaria una sorveglianza "responsabile" lungo il confine fra Birmania e Bangladesh.
Alla precisa richiesta se consideri i Rohingya - bollati come immigrati clandestini dal governo birmano e perseguitati dalla giunta militare al potere sino al 2010 - come cittadini a tutti gli effetti, Aung San Suu Kyi ha ripetuto che è necessario mantenere la legalità nel Paese e che occorre una chiara regolamentazione sul diritto di cittadinanza. Nello Stato di Rakhine vi è un "problema concreto" che è aggravato da "confini labili" che non riescono a impedire "l'immigrazione clandestina".
Parole che non soddisfano i leader Rohingya birmani, fra cui Kyaw Min, un ex alleato che ha trascorso sette anni in galera come prigioniero politico: "[Parlare dei Rohingya] è politicamente rischioso per lei" ha commentato l'uomo. Più chiaro e netto, al contrario, il giudizio di Nyan Win, portavoce della Nld, che non commenta le parole di Aung San Suu Kyi ma aggiunge: "I Rohingya non sono nostri concittadini".
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» 06/15/2012 16:41
MYANMAR - SWITZERLAND
As an apparent calm follows sectarian violence in Sittwe, Aung San Suu Kyi ponders the Rohingya issue
Rakhine State Border and Security Affairs Minister says the situation is "under control". Fears of renewed Buddhist-Muslim clashes persist. In Switzerland, opposition leader calls for the rule of law and greater border controls, but avoids talking about citizenship for Muslim minority. But for NLD spokesman, "The Rohingya are not our citizens."
Yangon (AsiaNews/Agencies) - After weeks of Buddhist-Muslim violence, calm has returned to Rakhine State as security forces enforce their rule over the area. For the authorities, like State's Border and Security Affairs Minister Colonel Htein Linn, "the situation [is] under control". Aung San Suu Kyi, who arrived in Switzerland two days ago, addressed the issue of sectarian clashes. In Europe for an official visit, she will travel to Norway, Ireland, Great Britain and France. Although the problem of violence underscores the "need for the rule of law", the Nobel Prize laureate did not press the issue, to avoid perhaps irritating the government and President Thein Sein. Back home, the Rohingya Muslim minority continue to be victimised and suffer from the rejection by the region's Muslim nations (especially Bangladesh).
In Rakhine State, relief work for the people affected by the violence continues, Colonel Linn said, adding that tumours that refugees were starving were untrue. Almost 32,000 people are housed in 37 camps across the state (formerly known as Arakan).
Tensions persist though and renewed violence cannot be excluded. For this reason, local religious leaders have called on their co-religionists to stay calm and cooperate with the authorities to restore peace.
Violence broke following the rape and murder of a Buddhist woman in late May. An angry mob attacked Muslims on a bus who had nothing to do with the crime; ten were killed.
The situation then spiralled out of control, and anger turned into violence that claimed 29 lives (16 Muslims, 13 Buddhists) with 38 people wounded. Some 2,600 homes were set on fire, official sources say. Three Muslim men are on trial for the woman's death.
Aung San Suu Kyi, who is in Europe, spoke about the clashes between Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims, but her schedule was changed when she fell ill at a press conference.
Doctors said that the incident was caused by trip-related fatigue. Suu Kyi recovered quickly and will continue her tour as planned.
Speaking about the sectarian violence in her country, the leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD), insisted on the need for the rule of law, clear rules on citizenship, and "responsible" vigilance along the Burma-Bangladesh border.
When asked whether she considers Rohingyas Burmese citizens, Burma's opposition leader insisted that the rule of law was needed in in the country as well as clear citizenship regulations and efficient border enforcement policies.
For the current Burmese government and the former military regime that ruled the country until 2010, Rohingyas are illegal immigrants. The latter also persecuted them.
For Ms Suu Kyi, there is a "practical problem" in Rakhine State, compounded by a "porous border" that cannot hold back "illegal immigrants crossing."
This is not good enough for Burma's Rohingya leaders, including Kyaw Min, a one-time Suu Kyi ally who spent more than seven years as a political prisoner. "It is politically risky for her," he said, to talk about the issue.
Conversely, for NLD spokesman Nyan Win the matter is clear. Although he would not comment Suu Kyi's position, he said, "The Rohingya are not our citizens."
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» 06/08/2012 16:15
ISLAM
Fr. Samir: This too is Islam. The video of the beheading of a young Tunisian convert
by Samir Khalil Samir
The horrific video was released not by anti-Islamic groups, but by an Egyptian journalist, Tawfik Oshaka, condemning the Salafis and the Muslim Brotherhood. Islamic extremism has a cruel image of Islam. But the seeds of violence are present in the Koran and the life of Muhammad. It is time for Muslims to unequivocally condemn this violence.
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Beirut (AsiaNews) - In recent days, AsiaNews received a chilling video which shows the beheading of a young Tunisian accused of apostasy because he was a Muslim convert to Christianity. In the video posted on Youtube, some masked people brandish a knife ready to kill a young man lying on the ground, his face held motionless. After the cry of some ritual prayers, and whisper a few words of the young man held on the ground (a prayer), one of the men with their faces hidden slits his throat while blood flows relentlessly, in a long and horrible scene. Finally his head is presented as a trophy.
Originally the video was shown on television of "Egypt Today" (Misr al-Yawm). "Egypt Today" is a well known and respected newspaper, even with on-line edition in Arabic.
The person that posted and commented on this video, Tawfik 'Okasha, is a well known and serious journalist. Currently he is subject to attacks and condemnations from various Islamic groups (the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafi) because he is publically critical of fanatic Islam.
The video of the beheading is preceded by a warning from Okasha, who advises against ots viewing if people are sensitive, especially for children, girls, women.
Eventually, Okasha says: My brothers, you think that this is Islam? You are giving bad publicity to our religion. This film is seen in Europe and America, Germany, France, England and elsewhere. This is the image that we are giving of ourselves.
Is the video authentic?
One wonders about the authenticity of the images.
The prayers that you hear in the background while the act is being carried out are authentic, well-known formulas of insults against anyone who leaves Islam; oaths made to God against apostates, against unbelievers, and all those who are held to be enemies of Islam.
Tawfik Oshaka is certainly authentic and confirms his line to defend Islam against the extremists. Precisely for this reason he is being targeted by extremists. Okasha believes in the veracity of the video and released it.
I do not have the skills to accurately verify the authenticity. The sequence in which the young apostate is slain and beheaded, to the point where his head is brandished in triumph seems to have no breaks. But it is striking that man about to be killed remains so quiet, without any reaction, whispering a few words, without moving.
Cruelty is inherent to terrorism
What is surprising, however, is that a simple knife is used for the beheading which lasts for almost a full two minutes, increasing the spectators horror. Usually, the execution of apostates is handled by specialized executioners with a sharp sword, in a clean blow.
The video is definitely made to terrorize anyone who wants to become a Christian.
It is important to note that the video was released not by anti-Islamic groups and individuals, but by people who want to defend Islam, accusing the fundamentalists.
Okasha's comment is "What you see is not Islam and is not acceptable." His comment is thus pro-Muslim and anti-terrorist.
The savage brutality of Islamic terrorists shown in the video is not surprising: we have sometimes seen similar executions with videos from Iraq. Even the prayers that you hear recited by the Imam are real, which they know by heart, not a literary or theatrical declamation.
The surprise attribution to Tunisia
There are no data to accurately determine that the video is from Tunisia. Especially since this country is one of the most liberal in terms of Islam and the same Ennhada, the Muslim Brotherhood party now in power, wants to promote a very tolerant image.
On the other hand, the Islamists have now become an international group capable of infiltrating anywhere. They are also in Syria, mingled among the opposition that has declared a "holy war" against Assad. Just as we saw them in Libya, mixed with the opposition against Gaddafi. Islamic radicalism and terrorism have become an international movement.
Radical and fanatical Islam has always done these things. In Algeria, in the 90s they did terrible things, killing more than 100 thousand people. They ripped open pregnant women to kill the child!
A Muslim minority that ruins the image of Islam
We decided to publish the link to the video - experiencing the cruelty of the sequences - because these acts give the image of a Muslim minority that ruins the whole Islamic community. The Islamophobia of which the Muslims often complain, is caused by such things. As long as moderate Muslims fail to protest against these acts, Islam will always be associated with violence.
Of course, there are many Muslims who reject these inhumane acts, and most likely the majority rejects them. But words of protest are not enough! It takes visible action to counter these spectacular and dramatic episodes. Mass, well-organized demonstrations, are needed. Islam and authentic humanists must clearly demonstrate to everyone that Islam has nothing to do with this gratuitous and unheard of violence!
But we must also reflect on the relationship between Islam and violence
This violence does not represent the majority of Islam. Far from it! But it's also true that violence has its seed in the Koran, and finds life of Muhammad and his depredations ... which are sometimes very violent.
Muslims must condemn this violence, not just by saying "but this is not Islam." Unfortunately, even that is Islam and found in the Koran. There is actually a seed of violence within Islam and the Koran, which today is taken up by the radical tendencies. Every radical group has its imam, issuing fatwas authorizing such violence, fatwas based on Islamic tradition. And the terrorists act believing that they are worshiping God!
Islam needs, like all religions, to be rethought!
Perhaps in the seventh century, such violence was understandable, among people who lived in the desert. But now it must be condemned and the religious center of Islam saved.
Even the Bible has violent passages in the Old Testament. And I remember the great biblical scholar, the current Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, had written to denounce the violence done in the name of God and the Bible.
But none of us Christians, although we recognize the Old Testament as a revealed text, would dream of applying what is written in some of those books to the letter. It would be unacceptable.
If no one says anything, let alone Muslims, the seed of violence will grow. The rejection of violence must be absolute and radical, for all those who believe in God, for all those who believe in man, in the name of God and in the name of humanism!
Warning: The images of the video referenced above may offend your sensibilities.
Here is a link with video from "Egypt Today":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=sxGWlOQZyEs&skipcontrinter=1
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» 06/15/2012 13:40
IRAN - SYRIA
Al Qaeda's rise in the Mediterranean more dangerous than Iranian nuclear programme
The provocative statement comes from Hassad Firouzabadi, chief of staff of the Iranian Armed Forces. Diplomatic sources and experts confirm the terror network's increased activity in the region. Muslim extremists want to get their hands on Assad's chemical weapons and medium-range missiles.
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Tehran (AsiaNews/ Agencies) - The establishment of "Al-Qaeda on the southeast coast of the Mediterranean is more dangerous than the threat of nuclear weapons," said Iranian Major General Hassan Firouzabadi, in what amounts to a provocation. He spoke a few days before the Moscow meeting between Iran and the 5+1 group (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council of the US, Russia, China, UK and France, plus Germany).
According to Firouzabadi, who is the Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, the terrorist movement has already replaced the late Osama bin-Laden and is moving its main forces from Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan to the Mediterranean with the complicity of Western forces. Although biased, Firzouzabadi's words have a kernel of truth.
For months the United Nations and Western nations have denied the presence of al Qaeda operatives in the ranks of the Syrian Free Army; now British Foreign Secretary William Hague and UN Secretary General Ban ki-moon have both acknowledged their presence.
News accounts about foreigner fighters trying to cross into Syria from Turkey with Turkish approval have been pouring in on a daily basis.
In an interview with AsiaNews on 24 May, Mgr Nazzaro, apostolic vicar in Alep, complained about the presence of foreign troops who are not in Syria for peaceful purposes. Foreign fighters are overrunning the country, he noted, coming from Tunisia, Libya, Turkey, Pakistan and other Muslim states. "Weapons and money are pouring across the borders to feed the spiral of violence."
For terror expert Chris Dobson, al-Qaeda is using the Syrian crisis as it did the Libyan crisis, using Western support for the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA), to send its men to the Mediterranean.
"There is mounting evidence that al-Qaeda militants are fleeing from their vulnerable hide-outs and setting up bases among the rebels in Syria," Dobson explained.
Once the Syrian regime is overthrown, Syria and Lebanon would be an ideal location from which to launch attacks against the West.
The terror group also wants to get its hands on the Syrian regime's arsenals with its Russian heavy weaponry, including chemical weapons, and medium range missiles that could shoot down airliners.
Yesterday, British tabloid The Sun obtained pictures and footage showing a masked gunman brandishing a machine gun flanked by rocket-propelled grenade launchers as he hails the war against Assad.
The video, released by a group called Al-Nusra, was posted on websites connected to al-Qaeda.
Another extremist website posted the last message of Abu Yahya al-Libi, al Qaeda's second in command who was killed on 5 June by a US drone in Pakistan's tribal area on the border with Afghanistan.
In the 15-minute video, Libi calls on Syrians to abandon any "illusions of peacefulness" and fight Assad and what he called US conspiracies against the Islamic revolution.
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» 15/06/2012 12:06
IRAN - SIRIA
L'ascesa di al-Qaeda nel Mediterraneo più pericolosa del nucleare iraniano
La provocazione è stata lanciata da Hassad Firouzabadi, capo di Stato maggiore iraniano. L'attività della rete terroristica è confermata da fonti diplomatiche ed esperti. Gli estremisti islamici interessati a impossessarsi delle armi chimiche e dei missili a media gittata di Assad.
Teheran (AsiaNews/ Agenzie) - "La presenza di al-Qaeda in Siria e Libano è più pericolosa delle bombe nucleari". E' la provocazione lanciata dal gen. Hassan Firouzabadi, capo di Stato maggiore dell'esercito iraniano, in vista dell'incontro fra Teheran e 5+1 (i membri rappresentanti del Consiglio di sicurezza Onu - Stati Uniti, Russia, Cina, Gran Bretagna e Francia, più la Germania) in programma nei prossimi giorni a Mosca. Secondo il militare, il movimento terrorista islamico avrebbe già sostituito il defunto Osama bin-Laden con un nuovo leader e spostato nel Mediterraneo le sue truppe finora attive in Afghanistan, Iraq e Pakistan. E questo con la complicità delle forze occidentali. Le dichiarazioni "faziose" di Firouzabadi hanno però un loro fondamento di verità.
Negata per mesi da Onu e Paesi occidentali, la presenza di uomini di al-Qaeda fra le fila dell'esercito libero siriano è stata denunciata nei giorni scorsi da William Hague, segretario di Stato britannico e in maggio dallo stesso Ban ki-moon, segretario generale dell'Onu. Notizie di miliziani stranieri che tentano di passare il confine fra Turchia e Siria, con il benestare della autorità di Ankara sono all'ordine del giorno. In un'intervista rilasciata ad AsiaNews lo scorso 24 maggio, mons. Nazzaro, vicario apostolico ad Aleppo denunciava la presenza di forze straniere che non vogliono la pace in Siria. Il Paese è ormai preda di guerriglieri provenienti da Tunisia, Libia, Turchia, Pakistan e altri Stati islamici. Armi e denaro passano attraverso i confini e alimentano questa spirale di violenza".
Chris Dobson, esperto di terrorismo e strategia militare, ritiene che al-Qaeda avrebbe sfruttato la crisi siriana e libica e il sostegno dei Paesi occidentali ai ribelli del Free Syrian Army (Fsa) per far entrare i suoi uomini nel Mediterraneo. "I terroristi - afferma - sono usciti dai loro nascondigli e risiedono ora nelle basi dei ribelli del Fsa". Secondo Dobson, la Siria e il Libano sono in una posizione ideale per lanciare attacchi contro i Paesi occidentali una volta terminata la guerra contro il regime siriano. Alla rete di terroristi farebbero gola gli arsenali militari di Bashar al-Assad, che contengono oltre ad armi pesanti di fabbricazione russa, anche missili a media gittata, in grado di abbattere arei di linea, e armi chimiche.
Lo scorso 13 giugno, il quotidiano britannico The Sun ha pubblicato una foto e un filmato che ritraggono guerriglieri armati che espongono la bandiera nera del movimento islamico. Le immagini mostrano un uomo che brandisce una mitragliatrice pesante e un lancia razzi, mentre inneggia alla guerra contro Assad. Il video è stato diffuso da un gruppo chiamato al-Nusra su un sito jihadista legato al-Qaeda. Nei giorni scorsi un altro sito estremista ha pubblicato l'ultimo messaggio di Abu Yahya al-Libi, N.2 della rete terrorista, ucciso da un drone statunitense lo scorso 5 giugno nell'area tribale pakistana al confine con l'Afghanistan. In un filmato di 15 minuti, il leader lancia un appello a tutta la Siria ad unirsi ad al-Qaeda nella battaglia per sconfiggere il regime. "I siriani - afferma - devono abbandonare l'illusione di una fine pacifica del conflitto. Essi devono combattere Assad e la cospirazione ordita dagli Stati Uniti contro la rivoluzione islamica".
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