| Submit your comments on this article |
| Arabia |
| Gun battles force Kuwait to take closer look at influence of Islamic extremism |
| 2005-02-22 |
| A recent series of gun battles here between Islamist militants and the police is forcing Kuwait for the first time to take a long hard look at the influence and impact of domestic Islamic extremism. In tandem with a tough security crackdown that has so far netted some 18 militants and killed eight others, the Kuwaiti government is launching an awareness campaign to promote moderate Islam and counteract extremism. But as a staunch ally of the United States and host to some 25,000 American troops, Kuwait represents a tempting target for militant Islamists and many Kuwaitis are wondering if the violence plaguing neighboring Iraq and Saudi Arabia is set to spill over into their own nation. "These clashes are a small drop in the ocean to what is coming. Kuwait is becoming a top priority for Al-Qaeda," said Mohammed Mulaifi, a writer and member of the austere Salafi branch of Sunni Islam who has close contacts with Kuwaiti militants. So far the Kuwaiti authorities have remained one step ahead of the militants, busting cells, seizing weapons and arresting suspects before attacks are carried out. Kuwait is a relatively small, close-knit country, making it easier for the state security branches to keep tabs on potential troublemakers. At least three cells of Islamic militants have been identified in the crackdown, say Kuwaiti officials. One of the ringleaders, Amer Khleif al-Enezi, died in custody last week, eight days after he was arrested. Enezi reportedly had confessed to planning attacks against U.S. military convoys. Kuwait remains a vital logistics hub for American forces in Iraq. The Kuwaiti authorities traditionally have turned a blind eye toward extremist Islamists living in the country so long as the militants refrained from directing their activities against the state. But the recent violence has compelled the government to take action. "These events mark a real watershed in terms of Kuwait dealing with the problem of extremists in their midst," a Western diplomat said. The security scare also has led Kuwaitis to ask some searching questions about the Islam practiced in Kuwait and how to dissuade impressionable youngsters from turning toward the ideology of Osama bin Laden. "These incidents have turned the majority of the religious believers against the militant trend," said Shafeeq Ghabra, president of the American University of Kuwait. "They are asking how it is possible that their 15- or 16-year-old sons can be recruited by militants to murder in the name of God." Although Kuwait's Constitution is secular in nature, conservative Islamists wield considerable influence in how laws are applied in society. Kuwaiti Islamists were in uproar last year at the staging of a pop concert for the hit Lebanese television program Star Academy. A fatwa was issued banning women from singing to men and prohibiting dancing at concerts. Some schools even ban clapping and the playing of the national anthem, believing that they are expressions of secularism. The education curricula is coming under close scrutiny, particularly some religious school text books which contain inflammatory language about jihad and disparage the Shiite branch of Islam. |
| Posted by:Fred |