MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD PICKS A NEW LEADER
The Egypt-based Muslim Brotherhood, the largest Islamist organization in the world, has elected a new leader or Supreme Guide, the eighth since the organization was founded in 1928. The Brotherhood, which is Egypt’s largest opposition party, “generally eschews violence and agrees to play by the rules of the secular state even if it thinks them unfair,” according to The Economist. The party has been struggling with its identity of late, as a younger, more liberal faction is battles with “a growing number of young people, frustrated by paternalism and impatient for change” who are “attracted to more radical trends, such as arch-fundamentalist, Saudi-influenced Salafism.” The selection of a new Supreme Guide was anticipated as a signal of the direction the Brotherhood leadership was seeking to take the group. Ultimately, the group chose a 66-year-old veterinarian, Muhammad Badeea, “a relative conservative who ran the group’s recruitment and indoctrination arm” and who did several stints in Egyptian prison. The selection was seen as a victory for hardliners, and tracks with elections to the group’s 15-man “guidance council” last December, when conservatives dominated the election. (The Economist, January 21, 2010)
THE SAUDI STAKE IN YEMEN...
Much of the focus on Yemen in recent months has centered on efforts by the weak government in Sana’a to combat terrorism and separatism, and the implications for U.S. security if al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) is allowed to gain a foothold there. The U.S. has responded by significantly boosting its financial and military assistance to Sana’a. However, Washington's involvement is dwarfed by that of Yemen’s neighbor, Saudi Arabia. While the U.S. committed $63 million to Yemen this year, Saudi Arabia has offered exponentially more, in the form of a $1.25 billion development package. The reason for the Saudi largesse? Riyadh likely has more to fear from a resurgent AQAP than Washington does. The group operates within Saudi Arabia, where it conducted a series of deadly bombings in the mid 2000s and recently attempted to assassinate a member of the Saudi Royal family. Saudi Arabia also fears “a potentially dragged out border conflict with Yemeni rebels.. as well as the possibility of refugee-generated civil strife from a secessionist movement in Yemen’s south... Yemen’s worsening economic conditions could [also] fuel militancy among an increasingly impoverished population of 23 million. Finally, there are fears in Riyadh that Yemen’s deteriorating stability could present an opportunity for meddling by Saudi Arabia’s regional nemesis, Iran.” (Christian Science Monitor, January 21, 2010)
...AND THE ROLE OF U.S. SPECIAL FORCES THERE
In mid-December, President Obama authorized the deployment of several dozen special forces personnel operating under the Joint Special Operations Command (J-SOC) to assist Yemen in its fight against al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). Operating out of a “newly built joint operations center,” the soldiers are working with Yemeni military and intelligence forces to “plan missions, develop tactics and provide weapons and munitions” as well as sharing sensitive intelligence but are not taking part in combat operations. Since the program began, through two dozen ground raids and airstrikes, Yemeni troops have killed six of the top 15 leaders of AQAP along with scores of others. One Yemeni official explained that the intel-sharing had been “key in carrying out recent successful counterterrorism operations,” and the U.S. and Yemen maintained “steadfast cooperation in combating AQAP.” (Washington Post, January 27, 2010)
SECULARISTS SCORE A VICTORY IN TURKEY...
Turkey’s ruling Islamist-oriented Justice and Development Party (AKP) has been struck a major blow in its ongoing tug-of-war with the country’s fiercely secular military. The relationship between Turkey's powerful armed forces and civilian government has been a rocky one (with four military coups in 50 years), particularly when it is led by religious parties. But the AKP has been on the offensive in recent years, making dozens of arrests of retired and active military officers on allegations of plotting another coup or undermining the government. Perhaps the AKP's most audacious move, however, was its stage-managing of legislation (passed last year) granting civilian courts the power to prosecute military personnel in peacetime for “crimes against national security, constitutional violations and attempts to topple the government.” However, Turkey’s secular opposition party, the People’s Republican Party, challenged that law in court and on January 21th the verdict came down: a unanimous vote by Turkey’s Constitutional Court to strike the measure down. (Istanbul Zaman, January 22, 2010)
...AND A LOSS IN EGYPT
While the court ruling in Turkey was cheered as a victory by secularists, a major court ruling in Egypt has had the opposite effect. Egypt’s leading Islamic University, al Azhar, last October made the surprising decision to ban the niqab (full face veil) among its female students and teachers.(Females remain separated from males in dorms and classes). Al Azhar followed that ruling up with another in December stating that “the face veil had no basis in Islam” and that same month Egypt’s Minister of Higher Education banned the niqab in university examinations. However, a female student who refused to remove her niqab appealed the decision, and an Egyptian court ruling in late January overturned al Azhar’s ban. (Reuters January 28, 2010)