THE CAT is finally out of the bag. Former British Secretary Michel Major in an article published by the Daily Guardian has disclosed that UK’s secret agency MI-6 recruited some 200 Muslim youth including Umer Sheikh to participate in the jihad in Kosovo. Umer Sheikh had been a recognized agent of MI-6 and was sent abroad for military training. He was believed to have masterminded the Nile Eleven attacks and was captured in Pakistan. It is intriguing to note that award of death penalty to Umer Sheikh had been opposed by the American and British authorities as they apprehended that sensational disclosures may be made to link British and American agencies with terrorists. Michel Major has described Umer Sheikh as a double agent.
Whatever the veracity of the statements made by a former top British official, it is now confirmed that the well-coordinated plan of hijacking of passenger planes and subsequent horrifying attacks on World Trade Centre and other targets in the U.S. on 11th September, 2001 which changed the world scenario in the context of spread of international terrorism, was indeed the handiwork of those who had been trained as spies by Western powers. This gives credence to the often repeated assertions that Nine Eleven sophisticated attacks, executed with precision, had a secret hand behind them. These were surely not the work of those who could have no knowledge of the air communication system. It is also amazing that none of the hijacked planes could be intercepted for quite sometime when they were heading towards their intended targets.
Even if it is assumed that the former agents of U.S. and British intelligence agencies involved in the Nine Eleven attacks acted on their own to carry out the Nine Eleven attacks, the Americans and British authorities can not absolve themselves of the responsibilities for subsequent developments. One should not forget that Osama Bin Laden and his associates were provided all sorts of financial and technical support including sophisticated weapons to help drive the Soviet troops out of Afghanistan. Once Afghanistan had been liberated, the Mujahideen, mostly trained by the U.S. and the British military experts, were left high and dry by their mentors to fend for themselves. No wonder, they turned their guns against all heathen forces and in support of oppressed people.
In the ultimate analysis, the American and British agencies must take the responsibility for the continuing blood bath being blamed on so-called terrorists. It is time the West came out clear on the issue, admit its blunders and proceed with urgency to eliminate root causes of international terrorism. The militants, extremists and terrorists are not afraid of force. The use of force against them has not succeeded. The West must now change its strategy to combat terrorism.

Hope of a lifeline

THERE is a new sense of urgency about Iraq. That is clear from the deliberations of the Arab League’s ministerial committee on Iraq which met in Jeddah. Understandably so. Iraq is a total disaster. The list of afflictions grows daily longer and more horrible. The country faces possible civil war and disintegration; violence is endemic; sectarianism is at a murderous all-time high; outside interference is becoming all the more evident; and there is a real danger that Iraq’s neighbors will be sucked into the mire — if only to contain and resolve it. It is Lebanon all over again — only much worse; because this time, the power vacuum provides a base and breeding ground for terrorists who have international plans. What makes matters so urgent is that there are only 11 days until the referendum on a constitution that should theoretically unite the country and open a new and peaceful chapter in the country’s history — but which is set to increase the sectarian divide and make peace an even more distant prospect.
The Sunni community does not trust the government; it feels it will be marginalized and penalized by the constitution. Iraq has no hope of emerging from the present bloodshed if such a significant section of the community feels it has no stake in its future. Iraq needs a lifeline if even greater catastrophe is to be averted. It needs it now. If the constitution fails because of the effective Sunni veto, it could trigger an anti-Sunni backlash and civil war that the insurgents have tried to create by their suicide attacks on the Shiites. But equally, if there is a “yes” vote in enough provinces, it could also be as much of a disaster. The Sunnis will feel cheated and bitter. That will act as a recruitment call for the insurgents. The Arab League is the only hope of a lifeline. The Kingdom has proposed a meeting of all Iraqi factions under the league’s auspices in order to bring about consensus on the constitution.
Eleven days is not a long time for that. But it has to be tried. It will require concessions but at least the Iraqi Sunnis know that Saudi Arabia and the other countries on the ministerial committee will do everything to ensure that they have a definite role in a future Iraq. What is encouraging is that, despite the intemperate comments of Iraq’s interior minister, the Iraqi government itself wants an Arab League lifeline; it realizes the need to bring the Sunni community back into dialogue. Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari made that clear in Jeddah after the ministerial committee meeting. The Kingdom will do its best, given the desperately short time to make that happen. It is certainly not going to let any individual minister’s personal, and clearly unrepresentative, rantings get in the way of its responsibility to help its neighbor. Time is running out for peace in Iraq. Neither the Iraqi government, nor Washington can make consensus happen. The Arab League is the only body that may be able to make a difference. But at this late hour, even that is not guaranteed.

—Arab News