Juan Cole

Iranian President Khatami attacked the idea of a US war against Iraq forcefully while in Spain this week. Officially, Iran has all along loudly denounced the idea of a US invasion of Iraq. . The ruling ayatollahs are afraid, I think of having the US in place on both major borders–in Afghanistan and in Iraq. […]

The Jordanian officials are conducting interrogations of Muslim fundamentalists in Jordan concering the assassination of Laurence Foley, the head of US AID in Amman. An al-Qaeda link is suspected, but it is also admitted that in the current atmosphere it could have been the act of a local group. A group called Honest People of […]

Feuding in Northern Afghanistan US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and US Ambassador to Afghanistan Robert Finn met with warlords in Mazar-i Sharif Monday. The factional fighting between soldiers loyal to Uzbek leader Abdul Rashid Dostum and Tajik commander Muhammad Atta has roiled the hinterlands of Mazar in the past few months. The fighting is local, […]

Iraq War would bring increase in Terrorism: Oxford Report Jane Merrick of the Press Association reported that the Oxford Research Group believes and Iraq war will increase terrorism by al-Qaeda against the United States. It believes that 10,000 civilians will die in an American attack on Iraq. Paul Rogers, a professor of Peace Studies at […]

Fate of Iraqi Political Prisoners Unknown Iraqi organizations and notables in London have called on the Iraqi government to account for what they claim are tens of thousands of political prisoners. These were supposed to have been released in the general amnesty bestowed during the past week, but they were not. (Reported by Asharq al-Awsat). […]

Abu Qatadah Arrested– Key Figure in al-Qaeda The Palestinian cleric Umar Muhammad Abu Umar (“Abu Qatada”), 40, was arrested in a Wednesday raid on a council house in Bermondsey, south London. Suspected by many European authorities of being a key figure in al-Qaeda, he and his family had been missing since last December. British authorities […]

More on Pakistan’s Elections I just wanted to emphasize that I was not at all critizing the moves for restoration of democracy in Pakistan in my op-ed. What I was criticizing was the contradictions in the process. General Musharraf unilaterally amended the constitution 29 times last summer. He placed extreme constraints on campaigning. Pakistan People’s […]

Petition for Palestinian Children A wonderful Israeli organization called Taayush or “living together” has launched a petition drive concerning the dire state of education for Palestinian children under Israeli occupation. The petition can be found at: http://taayush.tripod.com/petition.html and it reads as below. I hope everyone will go sign it, and send money to Taayush. Don’t […]

Parliamentary Maneuvering in Pakistan It is being speculated in the Pakistani press that the Muslim League (QA) may be able to form a government if it allies with absolutely all of the small parties and independent members of parliament. It could cobble together a majority of seats, and would benefit from the plan to add […]