20 octobre 2008

 

 

Tunisie: 15 personnes condamnées pour terrorisme

 

AP | 20.10.2008 | 20:27 Quatorze personnes accusées de préparer des attentats en Tunisie ont été condamnées lundi à des peines allant de huit mois à huit ans de prison ferme pour le chef du groupe, a-t-on appris auprès de leur avocat Me Samir Ben Amor. Des procès en série se déroulent actuellement devant les tribunaux tunisiens en vertu de la loi anti-terroriste adoptée par le Parlement en 2003 et décriée par plusieurs organisations non gouvernementales et partis d’opposition qui la considèrent ‘anti-constitutionnelle’. Le chef du groupe de 14 personnes, Kaïs Haddaji, 34 ans, a reçu la peine maximale de huit ans ferme devant la cinquième chambre criminelle du tribunal de première instance de Tunis, les autres membres écopant de huit mois ferme pour n’avoir pas alerté les autorités des projets terroristes. Par ailleurs, la 13e chambre criminelle de la cour d’appel a confirmé lundi la condamnation prononcée en première instance d’un Tunisien de 31 ans, Mourad Khemiri, à deux ans de prison ferme pour ‘adhésion à une entente ayant fait du terrorisme un moyen de réaliser ses objectifs’, selon Me Ben Amor. L’avocat a plaidé l’acquittement de son client en soutenant que l’accusation était dénuée de fondement. Selon l’acte d’accusation, le prévenu faisait partie d’une cellule qui s’employait à recruter de jeunes Tunisiens pour aller combattre la coalition occidentale en Irak. AP

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Le chef de la diplomatie tunisienne attendu à Moscou

19:42|20/ 10/ 2008   MOSCOU, 20 octobre – RIA Novosti. Le chef de la diplomatie tunisienne Abdelwahab Abdallah sera en visite de travail à Moscou les 21 et 22 octobre à l’invitation du ministre russe des Affaires étrangères Sergueï Lavrov, a fait savoir lundi le porte-parole du ministère russe des Affaires étrangères (MID), Andreï Nesterenko. Le ministre tunisien aura à Moscou des négociations détaillées et approfondies sur la coopération bilatérale avec M. Lavrov et d’autres responsables russes. La Russie et la Tunisie préconisent la consolidation des principes collectifs dans la politique mondiale, notamment dans la réaction à de nouveaux défis et menaces, ainsi que dans le règlement des conflits. Nous sommes unanimes à estimer que l’architecture multipolaire répond le mieux aux intérêts de la stabilité mondiale et prônons l’élévation et le renforcement du rôle de l’ONU dans les affaires du monde’, a indiqué le porte-parole de la diplomatie russe.

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POUR ATTROUPEMENT DEVANT LE CONSULAT DE TUNISIE À ANNABA

9 personnes déférées devant le procureur de la République

Wahida BAHRI  – 

Dans la journée du mercredi, les familles des 19 harraga, interceptés par les gardes-côtes tunisiens, se sont attroupées devant le consulat de Tunisie à Annaba, dans l’espoir d’avoir des informations, voire des réponses sur le sort de leurs enfants portés disparus depuis mercredi dernier. Alertés par les services consulaires, les éléments des forces de l’ordre ont tenté de disperser le rassemblement des familles. En vain. Les familles déterminées, ont montré une certaine résistance aux éléments de la Police judiciaire de la brigade mobile (Bmpj). Bouclant le périmètre du rassemblement, les éléments de la Bmpj ont procédé à l’arrestation d’une trentaine de personnes dont des mineurs. Conduits au 3e arrondissement, la situation a failli dégénérer entre les éléments de la police et des proches parents des harraga, venus en masse au siège de l’arrondissement. Le calme n’est revenu qu’après la libération des mineurs. Ils doivent se présenter aujourd’hui, samedi, devant le procureur de la République près le tribunal de Annaba. Quant aux 9 personnes ayant résisté aux forces de l’ordre, après avoir passé une nuit dans les geôles du commissariat central, elles ont été déférées devant le même magistrat près la même institution juridique, qui les a sommés de citation directe pour comparaître devant le tribunal, ultérieurement. Toutefois, il convient de noter que ce rassemblement, premier du genre, a été organisé par les familles des harraga, à la suite d’un coup de téléphone donné par un harrag à son père, lui faisant part de sa présence en Tunisie. Pour rappel, plus de 68 candidats à l’émigration clandestine, dont 2 Tunisiens, 2 Marocains, 2 jeunes filles et des mineurs, ont tenté d’atteindre l’île de la Sardaigne dans le sud de l’Italie.

(Source: ‘L´Expression’ (Quotidien – Algerie) le 18 octobre 2008)

Ultraconservative Islam on rise in Mideast

Critics worry that Salafists will crowd out more tolerant version of Islam

The Associated Press updated 11:19 p.m. ET Oct. 18, 2008 CAIRO, Egypt – The Muslim call to prayer fills the halls of a Cairo computer shopping center, followed immediately by the click of locking doors as the young, bearded tech salesmen close up shop and line up in rows to pray together. Business grinding to a halt for daily prayers is not unusual in conservative Saudi Arabia, but until recently it was rare in the Egyptian capital, especially in affluent commercial districts like Mohandiseen, where the mall is located. But nearly the entire three-story mall is made up of computer stores run by Salafis, an ultraconservative Islamic movement that has grown dramatically across the Middle East in recent years. ‘We all pray together,’ said Yasser Mandi, a salesman at the Nour el-Hoda computer store. ‘When we know someone who is good and prays, we invite them to open a shop here in this mall.’ Even the name of Mandi’s store is religious, meaning ‘Light of Guidance.’ The rise of Salafists has critics worried that their beliefs will crowd out the more liberal and tolerant version of Islam long practiced in some Middle East countries, particularly Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon. They also warn that its 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.’ Extreme end In the broad spectrum of Islamic thought, Salafism is on the extreme conservative end. Saudi Arabia’s puritanical Wahhabi interpretation is considered the forerunner of modern Salafism, and Saudi preachers on satellite TV — and more recently the Internet — have been key to the spread of Salafism. Salafist groups are gaining in numbers and influence across the Middle East. In Jordan, a Salafist was chosen as head of the old-line opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood. In Kuwait, Salafists were elected to parliament and are leading the resistance to any change that would threaten traditional Islamic values. The gains for Salafists are part of a trend of turning back to conservatism and religion after major political movements like Arab nationalism and Democratic reform failed to fulfill promises to improve the lives of average people. Egypt has been at the forefront of change in both directions, toward liberalization in the 1950s and ’60s and back to conservatism more recently. The growth of Salafism is visible in many parts of Cairo since its adherents set themselves apart with their dress. Women wear the ‘niqab,’ a veil which shows only the eyes — if even that — rather than the ‘hijab’ scarf that merely covers the hair. The men grow their beards long and often shave off mustaches, a style said to imitate the Prophet Muhammad. ‘Ancestor’ emerges The word ‘salafi’ in Arabic means ‘ancestor,’ hearkening back to a supposedly purer form of Islam said to have been practiced by Muhammad and his companions in the 7th century. Salafism preaches strict segregation of the sexes and resists any innovation in religion or adoption of Western ways seen as immoral. ‘When you are filled with stress and uncertainty, black and white is very good, it’s very easy to manage,’ said Selma Cook, an Australian convert to Islam who for more than a decade described herself as a Salafi. ‘They want to make sure everything is authentic,’ said Cook, who has moved away from Salafist thought but still works for a Cairo-based Salafi satellite channel Hoda. In most of the region, Salafism has been a purely social movement calling for an ultraconservative lifestyle. Most Salafis shun politics — in fact, many argue that Islamic parties like the Muslim Brotherhood and the Palestinians’ Hamas are too willing to compromise their religion for political gain. Its preachers often glorify martyrdom and jihad — or holy war — but always with the caveat that Muslims should not launch jihad until their leaders call for it. The idea is that the decision to overturn the political order is up to God, not the average citizen. Contrasts with Islam But critics warn that Salafis could easily slide into more violent, jihadist forms. In North Africa, some already have — the Algerian Salafi Group for Call and Combat has allied itself with al-Qaida and has been blamed for bombings and other attacks. Small pockets of Salafis in northern Lebanon and Gaza have also taken up weapons and formed jihadi-style groups. ‘I am afraid that this Salafism may be transferred to be a Jihadi Salafism, especially with the current hard socio-economic conditions in Egypt,’ says Khalil El-Anani, a visiting scholar at Washington’s Brookings Institution. The Salafi way contrasts with Islam as it’s long been practiced in Egypt, where the population is religious but with a relatively liberal slant. Traditionally, Egyptian men and women mix rather freely and Islamic doctrine has been influenced by local, traditional practices and an easygoing attitude to moral foibles. But Salafism has proved highly adaptable, appealing to Egypt’s wealthy businessmen, the middle class and even the urban poor — cutting across class in an otherwise rigidly hierarchical society. ‘Our identity is Islamic’ In Cairo’s wealthy enclaves of Maadi and Nasr City, upper-class Salafis dressed in traditional robes can be seen driving BMWs to their engineering firms, while their wives stay inside large homes surrounded by servants and children. Sara Soliman and her businessman husband Ahmed el-Shafei both received the best education Egypt had to offer, first at a German-run school, then at the elite American University in Cairo, but they have now chosen the Salafi path. ‘We were losing our identity. Our identity is Islamic,’ 27-year-old Soliman said from behind an all-covering black niqab as she sat with her husband in a Maadi restaurant. ‘In our (social) class, none of us are brought up to be strongly practicing,’ el-Shafei, also 27, added in American-accented English, a legacy of living in the U.S. until he was 8. Now, he and his wife said, they live Islam as ‘a whole way of life,’ rather than just a set of obligations such as daily prayers and fasting during the holy month of Ramadan. A dozen satellite TV channels — most Saudi-funded — are perhaps the most effective way Salafism has been spread. They feature conservative preachers, call-in advice shows and discussion programs on proper Islamic behavior. Numerous Salafist mosques in Cairo are packed on Fridays, the day of weekly communal prayers. Outside downtown Cairo’s Shaeriyah mosque, a bookstall featured dozens of cassettes by Mohammed Hasaan, a prolific conservative preacher who sermonizes on the necessity of jihad and the injustices inflicted on Muslims. Alongside the cassettes were rows of books espousing Salafi themes about sin and Western decadence. One book, ‘The Sinful Behaviors of Women,’ displayed lipstick, playing cards, perfumes and mobile phones on the cover to make its point. Another was titled ‘The Excesses of American Hubris.’ Critics of Salafism say it has spread so quickly in part because of encouragement by the Egyptian and Saudi governments, which see it as an apolitical, nonviolent alternative to hard-line jihadi groups. ‘Not a good thing’ Critics warn that the governments are playing with fire, saying Salafism creates an environment that breed extremism. Al-Qaida continues to try to draw Salafists into jihad, and the terror network’s No. 2, the Egyptian Ayman al-Zawahri, praised Salafists in an Internet statement in April, urging them to take up arms. ‘The Salafi line is not that jihad is not a good thing, it is just not a good thing right now,’ said Richard Gauvain, a lecturer in comparative religion at the American University in Cairo. The Salafis’ talk of eventual jihad focuses on fighting Americans in Afghanistan and Iraq, not on overthrowing pro-U.S. Arab governments denounced by al-Qaida. Most Salafi clerics preach loyalty to their countries’ rulers and some sharply denounce al-Qaida. Egypt, with Saudi help, sought to rehabilitate jailed Islamic militants, in part by providing them with Salafi books. Critics say the regime of President Hosni Mubarak sees the Salafists as a counterbalance to the opposition Muslim Brotherhood. ‘Battle is not over’ The political quietism of the Salafis and their injunctions to always obey the ruler are too good an opportunity for established Arab rulers to pass up, said novelist Alaa Aswani, one of the most prominent critics of rising conservatism in Egypt. ‘That was a kind of Christmas present for the dictators because now they can rule with both the army and the religion,’ he said. The new wave of conservatism is not inevitable, Aswani maintains, noting that his books — including his most popular, ‘The Yacoubian Building’ — have risque themes and condemnations of conservatives, and yet are best-sellers in Egypt. ‘The battle is not over, because Egypt is too big to be fitting in this very, very little, very small vision of a religion,’ he said. Associated Press  

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Farrakhan says ‘new beginning’ for Nation of Islam

 

Associated Press, le 20 octobre 2008 à 03h24 By SOPHIA TAREEN, Associated Press Writer Sophia Tareen, Associated Press Writer Sat Oct 18, 7:37 am ET CHICAGO – The Nation of Islam, a secretive movement generally closed to outsiders, has planned a rare open-to-the public event at its Chicago-based headquarters in what the Minister Louis Farrakhan deemed a ‘new beginning’ for the group. Hundreds of religious leaders of different faiths have been invited to the event planned for Sunday, a rededication of the group’s historic Mosque Maryam on the city’s South Side. Farrakhan is scheduled to speak. ‘We have restored Mosque Maryam completely, and we will dedicate it to the universal message of Islam, and the universal aspect of the teachings of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad,’ Farrakhan said in an invitation letter. ‘It represents for the Nation of Islam, a new beginning.’ The event comes just weeks after the death of Imam W.D. Mohammed, the son of Nation founder Elijah Muhammad, who broke with the group and moved thousands of African-Americans toward mainstream Islam. The Nation purchased the mosque, a former Greek Orthodox church, in 1972 and has since been making renovations. The stately 1948 structure, embellished with a golden dome and topped with an Islamic crescent moon, is adorned with Quranic verses in Arabic. Experts say opening the mosque’s doors to the public is a calculated move. ‘It is a very conscious effort to open the mosque up to the community and to rededicate the community to learning about Islam,’ said Aminah McCloud, a professor of Islamic studies at DePaul University. ‘Previously, the Nation has been open to people coming to visit it, but its members don’t generally go anywhere else … now there is a concerted effort.’ While the Nation has espoused black nationalism and self-reliance since it was founded in the 1930s, in recent years members have reached out to other groups. For instance, the Nation has a Latino liaison and has become involved in immigrant rights rallies and marches. Also, the Minister Ishmael Muhammad, a top assisting minister at the mosque and widely thought to be a potential successor to Farrakhan, has talked about unity between all people, at times speaking in Spanish. Farrakhan, 75, has haltingly tried to move the Nation toward traditional Islam, which considers the American movement heretical because of its view of Elijah Muhammad as a prophet — among other novel teachings. Orthodox Islam teaches that there has been no prophet after Prophet Muhammad in the seventh century. He’s also played down some of the group’s more controversial beliefs. The Nation of Islam has taught that whites are descended from the devil and that blacks are the chosen people of Allah. The event on Sunday also wraps up a week of events marking the 13th anniversary of the Million Man March, which Farrakhan began in 1995. That year, hundreds of thousands of people traveled to Washington, D.C. to participate. On Thursday, Farrakhan spoke to inmates at Cook County jail urging self improvement, atonement and reconciliation, principles the Million Man March promoted. Those values ‘can help reduce violence and anti-social behavior … and have universal significance and will benefit those willing to listen,’ according to a statement from the Nation. Farrakhan’s Sunday speech will mark his second major public address this year and is among several smaller community and religious events he has attended. His public appearances have surprised many since in 2006, he seceded leadership to an executive board while recuperating from serious complications from prostate cancer. In February, Farrakhan appeared at an annual Saviours’ Day event in Chicago and called Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama the ‘hope of the entire world’ that the U.S. will change for the better. The Obama campaign quickly denounced Farrakhan’s support, because of past comments about Jews that many have called offensive. In the past months, Farrakhan has attended funeral services of W.D. Mohammed and Jabir Herbert Muhammad, both sons of the late Elijah Muhammad. Associated Press  

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ROME, 17 oct 2008 (AFP) – 17/10/2008 18:14 ROME, 17 oct 2008 (AFP) – Synode: des évêques accusent l’islam de violer les droits des femmes Des évêques participant à un synode réuni depuis le 5 octobre au Vatican ont accusé l’islam de ne pas respecter les droits des femmes tels qu’ils sont inscrits dans la déclaration universelle des droits de l’homme, selon un porte-parole cité vendredi par l’agence Ansa. Ces critiques ont été formulées durant une réunion du groupe des évêques de langue espagnole, a précisé Ansa. Selon une synthèse de leurs discussions rapportée par ce porte-parole, l’Eglise catholique, dans ses rapports avec les musulmans, ‘doit garder à l’esprit leur conception du mariage et de la famille, qui ne reconnait pas aux femmes les droits prévus par la déclaration universelle des droits de l’homme de l’ONU’. Ces évêques ont donc appelé l’Eglise à la ‘prudence’ dans ses efforts de rapprochement avec l’islam, a indiqué le porte-parole, Julian Carron. Jeudi, un rapport d’étape du synode qui doit s’achever le 25 octobre a déjà recommandé la prudence dans les relations islamo-chrétiennes, tout en relevant ‘d’importants points communs’ entre les deux religions (‘résistance à la sécularisation et au libéralisme, défense de la vie humaine, affirmation de l’importance sociale de la religion’). Vingt-cinq femmes (sur 331 participants), laïques ou religieuses, participent à titre d’expertes ou d’auditrices au synode des évêques réuni sur le thème de ‘la parole de Dieu’. Plusieurs d’entre elles se sont exprimées sur le rôle des femmes dans l’Eglise catholique (catéchisme, prières, service auprès des pauvres) et ont demandé qu’il soit souligné dans le document final du synode, selon le compte-rendu officiel diffusé par le journal du Vatican l’Osservatore Romano. AFP