SAUDI ARABIA'S CORDON SANITAIRE
In an effort to prevent internal instability stemming from the insurgency in Iraq, the House of Saud is poised to seal its common border with the former Ba'athist state. According to one prominent Saudi daily, the government is planning to build a 900 kilometer "security wall" along the Saudi-Iraqi border as part of measures to prevent infiltration of extremists from Iraq into the Kingdom. The fence, which has an estimated cost of over $1 billion, will consist of "two rows of barbed wire equipped with the newest radars and infrared viewing devices," a spokesman for the Saudi Interior Ministry has confirmed. (Moscow RIA Novosti, September 13, 2007)
RIYADH-TEHRAN TENSIONS RISE
Following rumors of anti-Shi’ite sermons in Mecca, officials in Tehran have asked Saudi Arabia to crack down on extremist threats to Iranian pilgrims. Iranian news agencies already have reported on these sermons, and Iranian officials are concerned for the safety of their citizens during the month of Ramadan, when a large number of Iranian pilgrims make the Hajj to Mecca. The potential conflict comes amid rising religious tensions between Riyadh and Tehran, with Iranian diplomats warning that Saudi encouragement of anti-Shi’ite sentiment “could lead to a deep division between Muslims.” (London Al Quds al-Arabi, September 10, 2007)
THE NEXT THREAT FROM CENTRAL ASIA
The head of the Anti-Terrorism Center of the Commonwealth of Independent States is sounding the alarm over the vulnerability of Central Asia’s uranium deposits. According to Andrei Novikov, who heads the CIS ATC, “[i]nternational terrorist organizations have a huge interest in getting hold of radioactive materials.” This, the security chief says, includes efforts “to penetrate uranium mines of CIS states in the Central Asian region." In particular, regional officials are said to be concerned over “uranium-producing enterprises” in the former Soviet Republic of Kyrgystan, which are poorly protected and vulnerable to infiltration by regional radicals. (Moscow RIA Novosti, September 12, 2007)
THE IKHWAN’S NEW PLAN
Egypt’s most powerful Islamist party, the Muslim Brotherhood of Ikhwan Muslimoon, has finally unveiled its long-awaited party program. The new political plan, drafted by the movement’s intellectual leaders over the past few months as part of an effort to position the group more firmly in the country’s political discourse, is intended to define the group’s yet-to-be-established party. Copies of the platform were distributed by the Brotherhood’s General Guide, Mohamed Mahdi Akef, to key Egyptian writers and intellectuals.
In keeping with the organization’s bid to project a more moderate image, the platform stresses the importance of principles of civil participation and legislative authority. More troubling, however, are the organization’s positions on a number of pressing national and international issues. These include a reassessment of the country’s diplomatic relations with Israel, a “reevaluation” of the Camp-David Accords and all other international conventions, and the imposition of sharia on all tourists to Egypt. (Cairo Al-Masry al-Youm, September 13, 2007)
RELIGIOUS POLITICS REAR THEIR HEAD IN BISHKEK
Formally, the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan is still a secular state. Increasingly, however, observers say that the country’s politics are assuming a religious tinge. “In an attempt to win public support, Kyrgyz officials are launching increasing numbers of initiatives that reflect Islamic influences,” reports the Institute for War and Peace Reporting. “As political agendas are increasingly colored by religious values, some see the growing endorsement of Islam in official life as a contradiction of the principles underlying this post-Soviet republic.” The end result, some analysts fear, is the “eventual erosion” of the secular order in Bishkek. (IWPR Reporting Central Asia, September 18, 2007)