Juan Cole

Pakistani Intelligence aiding Taliban revival? The Pakistani newspaper, Jang (“The News”) says it was told by a member of the Taliban that the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence is attempting to broker an alliance of the Taliban remnants with the forces of renegade warlord Gulbuddin Hikmatyar. The ISI denies it and says it is cooperating with the […]

Bush speaks out against Islamophobia Since President Bush had earlier been criticized for not speaking out about the slurs being cast on Islam in the US by the Christian Right–most recently Jimmy Swaggart–(and by settler-linked extremists like Daniel Pipes), it is only right that some mention be made here of his remarks today, and those […]

Is it Bin Laden Again? I believe the recently released Bin Ladin tape is authentic. I could only hear snippets in the background of the CNN report, but it certainly sounded like Bin Laden to me. He has a slightly strange diction, with vague threats always implied, and I heard what I thought were some […]

Now the rumors are that the Pakistan Muslim League (Q) (which is loyal to General Pervez Musharraf) along with several smaller parties, may make a coalition with the fundamentalist United Action Council to form a government. Earlier attempts to work something out with the Pakistan People’s Party fell through, perhaps because Musharraf is unwilling to […]

Iraqi Parliamentarians condemn UN Security Council Resolution in Opening Debate Asharq al-Awsat says that the foreign affairs committee of the Iraqi parliament has recommended against accepting the UN Security Council resolution 1441 passed last Friday, insisting on the resumption of weapons inspections. Yesterday, Saadoun Hammadi, the Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament, threw into doubt whether […]

Iraq is complaining about repeated Turkish incursions into its airspace, and is taking the matter to the Arab league. Given that there is a no-fly zone in the northern, Kurdish areas near Turkey and that Iraq does not even control its airspace up there, this particular complaint seems bizarre on the face of it. But […]

Amnesty International Appeal for Dr. Aghajari PUBLIC AI Index:MDE 13/022/2002; UA 330/02 – 7 November 2002 Threat of execution/medical concern IRAN – Dr Seyyed Hashem Aghajari (m), aged 45, writer and academic Prisoner of conscience Dr Seyyed Hashem Aghajari, a history professor at Tehran’s Tarbiat Modares University, is at threat of execution. He was arrested […]

Jordan declines to Join in Iraq War (Again) Jordan’s Foreign Minister Marwan al-Mu`ashir continued to maintain today that its territory could not be used in any U.S. attack on Iraq. He said that the US understands he constraints on his government. He may have been referring to the anti-American fatwas issued at a recent gathering […]

Deal struck for Government in Pakistan? Rumors are swirling in the Pakistani press (“informed sources say . . .”) that a deal has finally been struck under U.S. pressure that will allow the formation of a national unity government including both the Pakistan People’s Party and the Muslim League (QA) along with a number of […]