Saudi Arabia finally feels a slight prick of conscience over Gaza massacre, urges US to be even-handed, Islam and the West, NewAgeIslam.com

Islam and the West

Saudi Arabia finally feels a slight prick of conscience over Gaza massacre, urges US to be even-handed

A prominent member of the Saudi royal family is warning the Obama administration that failure to alter US attitudes towards the Arab-Israeli conflict radically would threaten the kingdom's "special relationship" with the US and could force Riyadh to abandon its own support for a peaceful resolution of the dispute.

In an article in today's Financial Times, Prince Turki al-Faisal, former Saudi intelligence chief and former ambassador to Washington, says that if the US wants to continue playing a leadership role in the Middle East and maintain its strategic alliance with Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil producer, it "will have to drastically revise its policies vis-à-vis Israel and Palestine".

Writing days after the end of Israel's three-week Gaza offensive, he says the Bush administration, which supported the onslaught, had left a "sickening legacy in the region". And while Saudi Arabia has so far resisted Iranian calls to lead a "jihad" against Israel, "eventually the kingdom will not be able to prevent its citizens from joining the worldwide revolt against Israel".

The prince - writing before President Barack Obama made his comments on the Arab-Israel conflict last night - holds no official position in the Saudi government at the moment but his views reflect the mounting frustrations within the al-Saud royal family and the apparent need to exert immediate pressure on the Obama administration for a more even-handed Middle East policy.

http://newageislam.com/saudi-arabia-finally-feels-a-slight-prick-of-conscience-over-gaza-massacre,-urges-us-to-be-even-handed--/islam-and-the-west/d/1159

The Refugee Who Rocked Islam: Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Islamic World News, NewAgeIslam.com

Islamic World News

The Refugee Who Rocked Islam: Ayaan Hirsi Ali

It said Van Gogh had been "executed" for making a film with her that exposed the widespread abuse of Muslim women. Now she would be "executed" too, for being an apostate. Even now, "Every time I close my eyes, I see the murder, and I hear Theo pleading for his life," she says. "'Can't we talk about this?' he asked his killer. It was so Dutch, so sweet and innocent." At the trial, Bouyeri spat at Van Gogh's mother: "I don't feel your pain. I don't have any sympathy for you. I can't feel for you because I think you're a non-believer."

This is the story of how a 25 year-old bogus asylum seeker from Africa came to Europe in search of freedom - only to be nearly murdered here by a Dutchman, on the streets of Amsterdam, for speaking out against religion. It opens in the blood-strewn streets of Somalia, and it closes in the shiny white marble of Washington D.C - yet it also ends where it began: with Ayaan's life in imminent, immediate danger. This is the story of the refugee who rocked Islam.

http://newageislam.com/the-refugee-who-rocked-islam--ayaan-hirsi-ali/islamic-world-news/d/1036

India probing an Armyman: Is this possible in Pakistan?, Islam and Politics, NewAgeIslam.com

Islam and Politics

India probing an Armyman: Is this possible in Pakistan?

By Kamran Shafi

There are details of the movements of Lt. Col. Shrikant Prasad Purohit and of how his laptop, which is "believed to have crucial information" and which went missing when he was arrested on October 29, has "been traced" by the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) team which is investigating the affair. Indeed, there are indications already that the RDX explosive used was stolen by the colonel/his helpers from the stores of an Indian Army artillery regiment. It is to be immediately noted that serving Lt. Col. Purohit is in civilian custody; and is being investigated by a civilian agency.

It is to be noted too that whilst the BJP has criticised the government for "framing Hindu leaders" and its president, Rajnath Singh, has accused the Congress of "communalising" terrorism to win elections, newspapers have pointed out that he has brushed aside allegations "that he could be guilty of the same by battling for persons held for terrorist attacks".

And so the Indian state goes on, trying to administer this vast and diverse country with problems that seem so massive: a huge population, now bordering on 1.2 billion people; poverty like we Pakistanis could not even begin to imagine; an infrastructure that needs immediate repair and refurbishment. I mean how do you keep an infrastructure going that has the weight of 1.2 billion souls upon it?

http://newageislam.com/india-probing-an-armyman--is-this-possible-in-pakistan?/islam-and-politics/d/1001