The Kuwaiti newspaper Al Jarida ran an article last Sunday by Saad al Ajami saying that anyone who follows the country's local dailies and electronic websites would notice an increasing sectarian tone. "You only have to look at the readers' comments about any topic that addresses the Sunnis or the Shias to realise the bitter truth about the extent of sectarian tension that has started to spread in this small society."
However, amid a controversy provoked by the statement of the foreign minister Sheikh Mohammad Sabbah about Iran's threats to shut down the Hormuz Strait, Ajami said that he searched for an article by a Shia backing him. "But regrettably I could not find anything. I hope I was not a very good researcher," he wrote. "Iran does not represent the Shias, and the people of this honourable sect should realise that when we criticise the Iranian policies, we distinguish between religious beliefs and these policies," he added. "We are not the enemies of the Shias, but against the policies of a state that only regards our brothers in the Gulf as being subordinates who should obey and listen to its regime."
Abdullah bin Bajad al Ittibi, a columnist for the Emirati independent newspaper Al Ittihad, wrote yesterday that "the death industry" is still widespread and the number of its clients is increasing.
"The industry of death starts with mobilising society and stamping it with a single reading and interpretation of religion, which encompasses all the issues, great and small. Mixing between men and women is prohibited, revealing the face of women is prohibited, shaving beards is prohibited, modern clothing is prohibited and photography is prohibited," Ittibi wrote. "This is how the religious young men are mobilised and their psyche is prepared to do anything that the clerics tell them." This mobilisation is most dangerous when the fatwa accuses a segment or person of blasphemy, he wrote. "Then comes the role of the terrorist groups, who use the fruits of the efforts of the clerics to fill the country with flame and blood and strife."
The Saudi Arabian pro-government newspaper Al Watan ran an editorial yesterday saying that Saudi-Egyptian relations are an Arab safety valve, and a meeting in Cairo between King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz and President Mohammad Hosni Mubarak, was aimed at "correcting the Arab world's political course".
"Even though the two countries have been under attack for refusing to go along with the wretched revolutionary slogans that have destroyed the Arab nation, they maintained a pattern of calm political action," the paper said "Both capitals have been a cornerstone in defending the positions of Khartoum, which is targeted by the West," They have also supported Iraqi reconciliation. "Moreover, both capitals adopted highly moderate and smart positions on the Iranian-Western conflict. And they are still warning against a new war in the region by calling on Iran to accept international inspections and on the West to prevent any escalation." Everyone should support their efforts. "There is no alternative but utter chaos which will render the Arab arena ground for foreign ambitions."
A columnist for the Jordanian independent newspaper Al Arab al Yawm, Nahid Hatr, wrote yesterday that Raghida Durgham, a well-known writer for the London-based newspaper Al Hayat, expressed anxiety because of the "American retreat and confusion in the face of Russian bullying in the Caucasian region. "What is important here is that Durgham is close to the core of the Arab-American alliance. Thus, her attitude shows that this core is extremely worried that Washington might be too weak to confront Moscow's return to the international playground," he wrote.
"Washington's allies must be feeling extremely edgy at the escalating international developments, which are leading to the emergence of a new multipolar world order." How will the Americans respond, Hatr asked, will they accept the new balance of power and the new world order based on many players? "Or will the Americans follow Durgham's advice and use their forces in Iraq in a new aggression against Iran as part of an effort to regain global hegemony?" *Digest compiled by www.mideastwire.com