TimesmoroThe Manila TimesA M O N T H LY N E W S S E C T I O N O F E V E R Y L A S T F R I D A Y

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BY AMINA RASUL EDITOR

AFTER 9/11, as the United Statesgovernment prepared to declare waron terrorism, the term “clash of

civilizations” caught fire as a logical expla-nation to the tragedy. The “clash of civili-zations” was the thesis proposed by Dr.Samuel P. Huntington, identifying culturaland religious identities as the sources ofglobal conflict. Islam became suspect.

D I A L O G U E S I N M A D R I D F O R U M

Clash or alliance of civilizations?

The Alliance of Civilizations(AoC) was established in 2005 withthe aim of improving understand-ing and cooperative relationsamong nations and peoples acrosscultures and religions and, in theprocess, to help counter the forcesthat fuel polarization and extrem-ism that have plagued the relation-ship of the United States and its al-lies with the Islamic communities.

AoC was the initiative of the Gov-ernments of Spain and Turkey, un-der the auspices of the United Na-tions. Accepted formally by the Sec-retary-General of the United Na-tions on July 14, 2005, the Alliancehas been, since then, an initiative ofthe Secretary-General.

The AoC is also supported by aGroup of Friends—a community ofover 80 member countries and inter-national organizations and bodies.

The first forum of the Alliance ofCivilization was convened onJanuary 15 to 16, 2008 at Madrid,Spain, with hopes of improvingdialogue and understanding be-

tween Western and Muslim coun-tries. Around 350 delegates, includ-ing government members, repre-sentatives of international organi-zations and civil societies attendedthe forum. Invited to represent thePhilippines were Foreign AffairsSecretary Alberto Romulo, Fr.Eliseo Mercado, OMI, and MoroTimes Editor Amina Rasul.

In his remarks, UN Secretary-Gen-eral Ban Ki Moon said: “The Allianceof Civilizations is an important wayto counter extremism and heal thedivisions that threaten our world.”

The President of the Governmentof Spain, José Luis RodríguezZapatero for his part stated: “TheAlliance of Civilizations aspires tobuild bridges that can help us tomanage the differences existing inthe world, particularly those linkedto religious or cultural issues.”

President Jorge Sampaio, formerPresident of Portugal and High Rep-resentative for the Alliance of Civi-lizations, said in concluding the fo-rum: “So many responsibilities

ahead of us show that the Allianceis the right initiative at the rightmoment. Urgent action is needed tostop further degradation of humanatmosphere. Let’s keep united andfirm in our certainty that we canchange the world.”

Initiatives launched at the Forumincluded the following.

• Announcement of national andregional strategies for cross culturaldialogue by governments and mul-tilateral organizations to advanceAoC objectives in their respectivecountries and regions.

• Discussions at the policymaking

level that highlight the importanceto move the Alliance forward in 2008such as: developing joint multi-stakeholders initiatives at the re-gional level aimed at promoting abetter inter-cultural understanding,and preventing the mounting of ten-sions and the rise of extremism.

• Establishment of partnershipagreements, with various multilateralagencies and organizations, such asUNESCO, the League of Arab States,ISESCO, ALECSO and United Citiesand Local Governments (UCLG) -and the Council of Europe.

• Launch of a Rapid Response Me-

dia Mechanism beginning with anonline resource that will feature a listof global experts in cross-cultural is-sues, who are available to commentor to talk to journalists, particularlyin times of major cross-cultural cri-ses. Moro Times Editor Amina Rasulis a part of this initiative.

• Establishment of a Youth Soli-darity Fund aimed at providinggrants to support youth-led pro-grams in the areas of interculturaland interfaith dialogue. Moreover,a decision was made to strengthenthe network of youth participantsthat attended the AoC Forum and

broaden the network to includeother youth.

• Creation of a global network ofphilanthropic foundations and pri-vate funders, which will share infor-mation; raise awareness of ongoinginitiatives, identify mutual needs;and explore ways to leverage exist-ing resources for greatest impact.

Global Youth Initiativeand Media FundsIt was fascinating to observe twoMuslim women of privilege make adifference in the AoC Forum,launching a $100million inves-tment in a Global Youth Employ-ment Initiative and a multi-milliondollar Media Fund as the key initia-tives at the Madrid Forum.

H.H. Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser-el-Missned announced a $100-million investment in Silatech, aglobal youth employment initiativeaimed, she said, at “connectingyoung people to each other, to capi-tal, to industry, to opportunity.”

The Sheikha called for action asshe pronounced, “Enough talk!”Her Highness added, “By investingin our youth, we are investing in thesecurity of our nations, and onlysecure and confident nations canbuild alliances based on mutual re-spect and common objectives.”

The Alliance of CivilizationsMedia Fund on the other hand waslaunched by HM Queen Noor,who stated: “we are announcing a$100-million Fund to support theproduction and distribution offilms that entertain as well asenlighten—films that will enhancethe connections that already existbetween different societies, but areseldom noted on screen and inpopular culture.”

Spanish Prime Minister Za-patero, who proposed the initia-tive at the UN General Assemblyin 2004, encapsulated the hopethat the AoC would avert the “pre-dicted clash of civilizations by pro-moting security, understanding,tolerance, and mutual respect in aglobalized world.”

■ In the Madrid AoC forum Queen Noor of Jordan (left) announced a US$100-million fund for the production anddistribution of enlightening films and Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser al-Missned of Qatar announced a US$100-million fund for a global youth employment initiative.

OFWs in S. Arabia: Old partner, new challengesBY NORODIN M. MAKALAY

ALARMED over the rising tensionsbetween the government and theMoro Islamic Liberation Front(MILF), thousands marched nation-wide in key Philippine cities to pressboth sides to return to the negotiat-ing table. As both military person-nel and MILF are on full alert in con-flict-affected areas in CentralMindanao, religious and civil soci-ety groups moved to prevent the re-newal of a war that has claimedmore than 100,000 lives already.

In unprecedented moves unitingcivilians, religious leaders, MNLFand MILF sympathizers, the peacerallies have been organized in thecities of Manila, Cotabato, Marawi,General Santos and Iligan to breakthe most serious impasse in thepeace talks since negotiationsstarted in 1997.

Rallies are to be launched inBasilan, Pagadian, Zamboanga andSulu in the coming months.

More than 500 children comingfrom the different Islamic schools(madrasah) in Barangay Maharlika,Taguig, on January 19 wore greenbands (color of Islam) and wavedflags, calling for peace in Mindanaoin Islamic New Year celebrations(Amoon Jadeed).

In Marawi City, civilians filled thepublic plaza wearing red bands andraised flags with the word,Allahuakbar (Allah is Great).

Foreign observers from the Or-ganization of the Islamic Confer-ence and donor communities havealso expressed concern over the in-stability in the peace process.

Talks between the government andthe MILF hit a snag in December overdisagreements on the coverage ofancestral domain and subjecting it toconstitutional process.

After the “all-out war” of 2000,negotiations had progressed as aresult of mutual agreement thatthe government would not referto “Constitutional requirements”and the MILF would not demandindependence.

Secretary Jesus Dureza, the presi-dential adviser on the peace proc-ess, assessed the impasse as “amongthe most serious to stall the rockytalks, a big hump” upon which theGRP has no “magic formula” while“looking for a way out.”

The MILF negotiating panel re-fused to meet its government coun-

terpart during the 15th exploratorytalks last December 15 to 17 inKuala Lumpur, Malaysia, becausethe GRP draft of a proposedmemorandum of agreement onancestral domain supposedly didnot contain certain consensuspoints earlier agreed by the twoparties. The government negotiatingpanel reportedly inserted aprovision which states that theimplementation of the agreementwill have to follow “constitutionalprocess.”

The setting up of a BangsamoroJuridical Entity (BJE) had beenagreed upon by government andMILF negotiators during exploratorytalks in Kuala Lumpur in Novem-ber last year.

The situation has been aggravatedby statements from some of thepresident’s key officials threateningthe MILF with sanctions. SecretaryRonaldo Puno Puno was quotedsaying government should not givein to the MILF’s demand for aBangsamoro Juridical Entity (BJE)without a plebiscite. AFP Vice ChiefLt. Gen. Antonio Romero stated acondition that peace talks will notcontinue without disarming theMILF. The Mindanao Peoples Cau-cus (MPC) considers the AncestralDomain agenda in the GRP-MILFpeace talks as an “opportunity forMindanawons to revisit our colonialpast and correct the historical injus-tices committed against the indig-enous and Bangsamoro peoples inMindanao.”

“The peaceful lives of theBangsamoro were shattered by thetremors brought about by the com-ing of the colonizers,” said SammyMaulana, Consortium of Bang-samoro Civil Society (CBCS) secre-tary-general. “We are not begging foranything from the Government, wejust want to regain our homelandand restore our inalienable rights toself determination, both as peopleand a nation.”

Bobby Benito of the CBCS(Cotabato City) said there is nodoubt that the failure of peace talkswill lead to violence, chaos and war.“But the people are tired of war. Itis anti-people and violates the verycore values of all religions and civilsociety: love, peace, nonviolence.”

“We, in the civil society are aware ofthe fact that majority of people in thegrassroots desire a meaningful result of

People Power acts toprevent outbreak of war

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funds in the Gulf region.The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority has

an estimated asset of $875 billion and theKuwait Future Generations Fund has about$250 billion. Through all these, the Phil-ippines, unlike its neighbors like Malay-sia, has yet to witness a trickling of invest-ments from these emerging funds.

Laidback stance ruedPhilippine Consul General Ezzedin H. Tago,also lamented the laidback stance of Philip-pine businesses in the Gulf and the Kingdomin particular. Tago, who grew up in Jeddahin the 80s, said, “we have to be creativeand a bit aggressive in wrapping up bil-lion-dollar contracts, in finding marketsfor our products and services, and in draw-ing investments to our country. The time

■ Nurses from the Philippines are among the most appreciated foreign profesionalworkers in Saudi Arabia.

BY NASSER SHARIEF

JEDDAH:Focused on the Abu Sayyaf, the so-called fight against terrorism, and thenever-ending drafting and redrafting ofagreements with the rebels in the South, Juande la Cruz is made to believe that these takentogether is all there is to expect from theMuslim world.

What doubles the pain is that the Philip-pines has been sending its sons and daugh-ters to the Middle East by the millions sincethe 70s. Many influential princes and prin-cesses here have grown up with Filipinoyayas and can speak Tagalog fluently!

This situation was lamented by Abdul AzizH. Elwattar, Manager of Media Relations ofthe Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and In-dustry when Moro Times paid him a courtesyvisit in his office. “It’s odd,” he said, “thatwhen your President Gloria Arroyo came,she kept harping on more jobs for Filipi-nos here when you could have gotten thebig contracts for businesses and attractedinvestment funds for the Philippines.”

Elwattar said that Filipinos ought to bar-gain for more considering the huge contribu-tion they have made in building up the citiesand industries in the Middle East. Korea, forexample, which has skeletal setups, get manybusiness contracts here.

Investment from surplusesThe Kingdom, due to the continuous slide ofthe US dollar, is poised to administer its ownSovereign Fund which seeks to reinvest its sur-pluses. The Kingdom has about $266 bil-lion (1 trillion Saudi Riyal) in surplus.

Most government surpluses are currentlyinvested in US Treasury bonds. Dr. Said Al-Shaikh, chief economist of the National Com-mercial Bank, proposed diversifying thesefunds across asset types, countries, and vari-ous currencies. This development came in thewake of successful administering of other

when we would just wind up as manpowersuppliers is a thing of the past. The mi-lieu is changing faster than we realize.”

“We want the big corporate names inthe Philippines to gain footholds here,especially since there is a wide openingup of opportunities for foreign businessoutfits to operate here independent oflocal sponsors,” he added.

The Philippine National Bank, leaderin the remittance operations for the Mid-dle East, is buoyant about Philippinebusiness prospects. Amroussi Rasul, PNBVice-President for the Middle East andchairman of the Philippines-DubaiChamber of Commerce, has been en-couraging OFWs to invest in real estateand hopes that more Philippine busi-nesses will enter the region.

Construction boomWith a land area of one quarter of the UnitedStates, Saudi Arabia has lined up more con-struction projects: hotels, housing projects,golf courses, equestrian, marinas and fishingand diving resorts along the Red Sea coast.

The Obhor Creek, which was once anobscure beach north of Jeddah, now teemswith white-sailed yachts and boats. Alexan-der Macabanding, a Filipino engineer whooversees constructions works for the Na-tional Commercial Bank, said that theFarasan Island near the mouth of the RedSea is crowded with land developers andconstructions there are in full blast.

Other Arab countries, especially theUnited Arab Emirates and Qatar, are also inthe midst of a construction boom, attract-ing foreign investors.

■ Filipinodoctors arerespected allover theMiddle Eastbut most ofall, manyobserversnotice, in theKingdom.

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THE word hijrah signifies leavinga place to seek sanctuary or free-

dom from persecution for reason ofbeing Muslim. Hijrah can also meanto leave a bad way of life for a goodor more righteous way. Themuhajireen—those who had mi-grated with Prophet Muhammad(peace be upon him) to Madinah(old name: Yathrib)—is a derivativeof this word.

The muhajireen are called thisname because they left their landsand dwelling places for the sake ofAllah. And they migrated to a landwhere they had no family or pos-sessions. The Prophet had preachedIslam in Makkah for thirteen years,but not without opposition fromthe rulers of Makkah who wor-shipped many gods rather than theOne God (Allah).

As the opposition to Islam grewstronger, an economic boycott wasstaged against the early Muslims.Fearful for their safety, the Prophetsent some of his followers and com-panions (sahabah) to Ethiopia,where the Christian ruler extendedprotection to them. In the reckon-ing of some historians, this was thefirst hijrah. But the persecutionworsened in Makkah, and the earlyfollowers of Islam were harassed,abused, and even tortured. Thensuddenly a small delegation fromthe oases of Yathrib, some 400 milesnorth of Makkah, came to meet withthe Prophet.

Before him, they all embraced Is-lam and pledged support to theProphet and their new religion.Upon returning to Yathrib, theypreached Islam to every householdin their community. The followingyear, a larger delegation traveled toMakkah and pledged their supportto the Prophet and agreed to granthim protection in Yathrib.

The Prophet urged his compan-ions to emigrate to Yathrib, whilehe himself became the last to leavehis hometown with his closestfriend, Abu Bakr as-Siddiq. Later, inthe early fall of 622, he and AbuBakr set off to join the emigrantsin Yathrib.

The hijrah of the Prophet waslater taken as the starting point ofMuslim chronology. According totradition, the hijrah of the Prophettook place in September 622. Uponarriving in Yathrib (henceforthcalled al-Madinah, the City), theProphet sought to establish twoimportant pillars of the new Mus-lim community: building of a masjid(mosque) and binding true ties ofbrotherhood between themuhajireen and the host communityof helpers known as the ansar.

The masjid became not only aplace of worship but a place oflearning, a madrasah. It is also herewhere the Prophet (s.a.w.) estab-lished the center of government forthe new Muslim state. The hijrah ofProphet Muhammad (s.a.w.) issometimes inaccurately translatedas “flight.” In truth, the hijrah wasa carefully planned migration whichmarks not only the beginning of theIslamic era but also, for the Mus-lims, a new way of life. Henceforth,the organizational framework of theMuslim community, or ummah, wasnot to be based on mere blood kin-ship, but on the greater brotherhoodof all Muslims, male or female.

Hijrah as one can glean from theQur’an is much more than leavingone place to another. In Surah al-Ankabut, Allah tells us what ProphetIbrahim (peace be upon him) said:“Verily, I am turning [hijrah] towardsmy Lord.” This part of the verse(ayah) teaches us the true meaningof hijrah where Allah is the ultimatedestination, and we, Allah’s serv-ants, are the travelers.

In this sense, hijrah should be acontinuous phenomenon in our life—not only physically moving to-wards the destination but rathermaking transformation away fromthe carnal desires, and go by the vir-tue of hijrah through migration ofthe heart towards the mercy of Al-lah’s acceptance.

Migration of the heart, however,is a gradual process that is the re-sult of a continuous training(tarbiyyah) based on proper under-standing of aqeedah (set of beliefs),and submission to the Oneness ofAllah and the Prophethood ofMuhammad (peace be upon him).Quiet often, Muslims fail to under-stand that the most essential pillarto apply in their life is the first one:La illaha illallah, Muhammadunrasulullah, there is no god but Allah,and Muhammad is His messenger.

(Moner Bajunaid is the ExecutiveDirector of Mindanao Integrated Net-work Development (MIND) Center ,Cotabato City. A former Chancellor ofMindanao State University- GeneralSantos City, Bajunaid Convenor of thePhilippine Council for Islam and De-mocracy (PCID) and is Regional Co-ordinator of the Empowering the UlamaProject (PCID).)

Hijrah and theIslamic new year

Firstly, there is a need for para-digm shift on the part of Philip-pine society and the Moros. Themajority must trust the Moros andaccept them as part of the nationonce given to heal their feelingof alienation. Likewise, the Moroswill need to accept that they arepart and parcel of the Philippinesociety and start to feel and actlike citizens.

Secondly, there is a need to unifyand achieve political consensusamong the four gate keepers ofpeace in Southern Philippines—theMoro Islamic Liberation Front(MILF) and the Moro National Lib-eration Front (MNLF) leadership,the traditional leaders (Sultan/Datus), and the leaders of the af-fected Christian provinces.

Lastly, the international com-munity especially the Organizationof the Islamic Conference (OIC),the Association of Southeast AsianNations (Asean) and the UnitedStates of America (USA) are neededto play a mediating and cons-tructive role.

The OIC, which has been a dis-mal failure in mediating the con-flict, must show its resolve to in-vest its resources in terms of fundsand expand its diplomatic pressureto ensure that both parties abide byany peace agreement.

The Asean states, who have beena passive spectator to the tragedyof more than 100,000 peoplekilled in the conflict, must help inthe process. For instance, Singa-pore, which has a successful ad-ministration of its Singaporean

minority Muslim communities,can help in governance. This canbe in sharing its experience in de-veloping a Singaporean MuslimIdentity in a Multi-cultural society.This may include the areas of themainstreaming of Madrasah Edu-cation, and the Singapore han-dling of separation of State and Is-lamic religious practices.

The United States of America(USA) and other countries such asAustralia and Japan can help in set-ting up educational and politicalinstitutions that will help theMoros develop its leadership andhuman resources capability.

The MILF predicts a grim sce-nario if the GRP and the MILFpeace process in Southern Philip-pines will not be salvaged. TheMILF claimed in its official website( www.luwaran.com) that the stalledpeace talk is helping MILFhardliners opposed to the peaceprocess wrestle power and influ-ence among its ranks.

Incidents of military-rebel clashesin Datu Piang and an NPC towersabotaging in Lanao del Norte speakof the fragile status quo between thetwo parties. The subordinate units ofboth sides, who have local unsettleddifferences, suggest the likeliness ofprovocation and escalation. Lest oneforget, the Philippine Marines, whohave suffered humiliating (beheaded)casualties in Basilan, may want to set-tle scores with the MILF operatinguntouched because of the peace proc-ess. Both parties are holding the trig-ger of their weapons, ready to fire ona slight provocation.

There are two scenarios in the fu-ture of security in Southern Phi-lippines. The first is a situationwherein the peace process finallybreaks down with an escalation ofconflict between the military andthe MILF. The second scenario iswhen the government pushes forthe constitutional change to estab-lish a framework that could accom-modate the demand of the MILFand other stakeholders—MNLF, theMoro traditional leaders and en-sure the protection of the rights ofthe affected Christian communi-ties. The first scenario is prevent-able but this is very likely, consid-ering the volatility of the situation.In an event of an all out war, it willlikely create a scenario that thewhole secessionist groups willunite on one front and return to thestruggle for independence and fighta hard attrition warfare.

The MILF may resort to a tacticalalliance with the MNLF MisuariGroup and the Abu Sayyaf Group.The MNLF which is concentrated inSulu, the ASG in Basilan and theMILF in Central Mindanao will notpose an operational problem.Given the fact that the frontrunnersof the different movements are oldcadres of the then-undividedMNLF, unification is possible. Theimmediate implication of the con-dition of the first scenario is the de-railment of any gain of the coun-ter-terrorism efforts of the Philip-pine government. It might alsoopen a new front for the Jihadistsin the region, similar to the situa-tion in the year 2000 wherein In-donesian JI presence was signifi-cantly felt in Southern Philippines.

The second scenario is what willprevent the peace process frombreaking down. The Philippinegovernment can accommodate theMILF demand of self-rule under afederal system.

This will be a tedious and longprocess.

First, the proposal has to be de-liberated in an unsupportive Phil-ippine Senate, which has beendoubtful of the intention of the gov-ernment to change the Constitution.

Second, a Christian majorityCongress has expressed oppositionto any expansion of the areas of thecurrent autonomous region. Oneclear complication would be theproposed inclusion of more than athousand Muslim communities inthe Christian dominated provincesinto the Bangsamoro Juridical En-tity (BJE).

This early, two governors ofChristian dominated provinces—Jesus Sacdalan, (North Cotabato)and Daisy Avance Fuentes ,(South Cotabato)—have ex-pressed opposition to any agree-ment reached without public(Christian) consultation.

Third, it has to find political ac-commodations for affectedelected influential local chief ex-ecutives (Moro Sultans and Datus)of ARMM.

Fourth, it has to contend withthe MNLF, which entered into anearlier agreement with the Phil-ippine government, whose mem-bers have renewed hostil it ieswith the government and have es-tablished tactical alliance withUS-designated terrorist ASG. Ifone has to examine this process,one wonders whether a solutionis possible.

In the end, both parties—gov-ernment and the MILF—have tomeet head on. The dividends ofpeace will benefit everybody, boththe Philippine society and theMoros. Peace will usher in stabil-ity, necessary to defeat terrorismand extremism.

(The author is an Associate Re-search Fellow at the S. RajaratnamSchool of International Studies(RSIS), Nanyang Technological Uni-versity. He is a native ofMaguindanao.)

JIHADIST

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Hijrah shouldbe a continuousphenomenon inour life – notonly movingphysicallytoward thedestination butbeingtransformedaway from thecarnal desirestoward themercy ofAllah’sacceptance Negotiating the southern problem

BY DATU DINN PIANG AMPATUAN

THE Philippine government (GRP)and the Moros need three consensustools to successfully work out a

political settlement acceptable to the peopleof Mindanao.

THE Alliance of Muslim Advocatesof Law (AMAL) invites articles to bepublished in the Bangsamoro LawJournal. BLJ aims to highlight ma-jor legal and political issues con-fronting the Muslims in thePhilippines.The first issue’s theme is“The Bangsamoro and the ExistingLegal and Political Framework.”Email Johaira C. Wahab atjcwahab@yahoo.com.

❋ ❋ ❋

MANILA City Jail ChaplainAbdurahman Taher invites dona-tions in kind – clothes, toiletries orfood – for the more than 300 Mus-lim detainees in Manila City Jail .Contact 09104177827.

❋ ❋ ❋

ANVIL Publishing through editorGutierrez Mangansakan invites con-tributions to a SECOND ANTHOL-OGY of Essays by Young Moro Writ-ers to be released in 2009. Emailcontributions to morofilm@-yahoo.com

» ANNOUNCEMENTS:

WHAT’S UP, MORO?

the peace process, not only to put anend to the ravages of war, but to addressthe longstanding political problem ina nonviolent way,” Benito added.

Pastor Frank Bantilan of GeneralSantos City said that the indigenouspeople of Mindanao have been dis-tressed by the sudden impasse in thepeace talks. “Muslims and Lumads [in-digenous people] are more than broth-ers, we feel no different pain,” he said.

From Marawi City, Lacs Dalidig ofthe Movement for Multi-SectoralPeace and Development, said, “Thefailure of peace agreements in the pastcan be attributed mainly to thenonparticipation of the Bangsamoropeople, because nonparticipationmeans they do not own a peace agree-ment. As real stakeholders, their col-lective voice should be basis of au-thority and the last word in the solu-tion of the problem.”

In September 1996, the Philippine

government also signed a peace agree-ment with the Moro National Libera-tion Front (MNLF), from which theMILF broke away in 1977. More thana decade after the signed pact, theMNLF and other critics have accusedthe Philippine government of lackingsincerity, honesty and political will infully implementing the agreementand in working for attainment ofpeace in Mindanao. A recent book,Broken Peace? An Assessment of the GRP-MNLF 1996 Peace Agreement, pub-lished by the Philippine Council forIslam and Democracy, details the lackof implementation of the agreement.

In June 2007, Silvestre Afable, thegovernment chief negotiator in thetalks with the MILF, resigned. He saidhe did not enjoy the full confidenceof President Gloria Arroyo. He wasreplaced by Rodolfo Garcia, a retiredgeneral and former Armed Forces vicechief of staff.

Changing lifestyleShopping malls are sprawling eve-rywhere and more are work-in-progress. Forget about the old Baladof downtown Jeddah, which used tobe the only rendezvous for OFWs onweekends in the 80s. Here, fourmalls occupy the four corners of aroad intersection.

With growing commercializationcomes changing lifestyles. The younggeneration, born in affluence, has nomemories of Bedouin life. Studentsnow come back from Europe withnew ideas about life. Young men shedoff their traditional thoub and head-gear in favor of Armani jeans andBenetton shirts.

Old taboos are slowly set aside. Atthe Chamber of Commerce we havevisited, they have women staffhunched on laptops doing officechores. It is also reported that womencan now drive cars with the consent oftheir guardians although I still have tosee one on the road.

Ageing OFWsUnlike in Dubai and other Gulf coun-tries, many Filipino workers in SaudiArabia are past forty, a legacy of theoil-boom period of the eighties. Theyhave lingered on, offered better paypackages by their happy employers.Lately, the Kingdom has been limitingthe number of new visas for foreignworkers, trying to encourage more lo-cals into the workforce. Unfortunately,the Philippines’ main export to theMiddle East remains to be manpower.

The conditions of Filipinos workingin the Kingdom have improved gener-ally. However, nostalgia and pining forlife back home remain strong (but notas acute as it used to be). Here, wehave the Internet, the cellphone, andthe almighty TFC (The Filipino Chan-nel) to connect OFWs with home.

In a typical Filipino household here,the TV screen is turned-on the wholeday even when nobody is watching asbackground ambiance akin to wallpa-per on a computer screen.

People Power acts toprevent outbreak of war

■ WAR FROM D1 ■ CHALLENGES FROM D1

OFWs in Saudi Arabia

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NAJAF, Iraq:The dearestwish of Reza

Moussaoui, anIranian Shiitepilgrim who crossedthe border to attendweekend Ashurarituals in Iraq’sshrine city of Najaf,is to be able to die.

His eyes filled with tears, Rezastands next to a mound of travelbags as he waits to board a bus thatwill take him back to Isfahan, theancient Persian capital. But his heartis not in the journey.

He leaves behind him, near theseedy hotel where he has been stay-ing, the place where he wants to restforever in peace—Wadi Salam, thelargest cemetery of the Muslim world.

The retired craftsman spent fourdays in Najaf with a group of piouscompanions attending rituals com-memorating the slaying of the re-vered Imam Hussein by the armiesof the Sunni caliph Yazid in 680.

He says he spent time praying inthe golden-domed mosque, whichprotects the remains of Ali, father ofImam Hussein and cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Muhhamad.

Ali founded Shiism at the time ofthe death in 632 of the ProphetMuhhamad in response to a disputeover who would succeed him.

Reza says he had also joined in aself-flagellation procession on Sat-urday, the climax of the 10-dayAshura ceremonies.

“Of course I am happy,” he says,despite his tears, “but what I reallywant is to be buried close to theImam Ali. And the only way wouldhave been for me to die during thepilgrimage.”

In spite of the good relations be-tween the two neighbors, adminis-trative difficulties and the high costsof transport make it almost impos-sible for Iranian Shiites to be buriedat Najaf, unless they die on the spot.

Steady on his legs, Reza, in hisearly sixties, does not look destinedfor a premature end as he finallyclimbs into the bus for the 12-hourjourney home.

The necropolis of Wadi Salam (val-ley of peace) stretches as far as the eyecan see—tight lines of ochre bricktombs broken occasionally by moreelaborate tombs shaped like mosques.

There is no way of knowing howmany graves there are in the cem-etery, says Abu Saif Najah, one of theoldest gravediggers of Najaf. “Somesay five million, others say 20 mil-lion, but only God really knows.”

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The tradition of being buried inthis corner of the desert dates fromthe eighth century, after the caliphat the time, Harun al-Rashid, haddiscovered during a hunting trip thewell-kept secret that the remains ofAli were buried there.

Since then, Shiites have be-lieved that being buried near theshrine of Ali will bring them spir-itual rewards.

“All Shiites think that because ofImam Ali they will get quicker ac-cess to paradise, and they want tobe buried with their faces toward hismosque,” said Najah, adding that

not only Iraqis are buried in thecemetery.

“We have people from as far awayas Azerbaijan, Muscat, Oman andSaudi Arabia,” he said.

Taking care of the 200 bodieswhich on average arrive for burialeach day, for a fee of 200,000 dinars(about $165), are some 90 funeralparlors which have been operatingfor generations from small offices inthe center of the cemetery.

The name of the gravedigger andof the tribe for whom he works isscrawled on the stripped plasterfrontages of each office.

■ A partial viewshows thecemetery of theShiite holy city ofNajaf in centralIraq. The Wadi al-Salam (Valley ofPeace) in Najaf isone of thelargestcemeteries in theworld. Millions ofShiite Muslimsover thecenturies havebeen broughtthere for burialfrom all over theworld, making ofthe desert valleya “city of thedead.” AFP PHOTO

Without these undertakers, no-body would have a clue how to findthe burial site allocated to their fam-ily, or to their tribe.

“There is no map of Wadi Salam,”laughingly explains anothergravedigger, Imad al-Ansari, whilehelping a customer search for thegrave of his father.

Ansari glides without difficultythrough the narrow sandy lanesbordering the low, square burialsites, giving the impression of a gi-ant crossing a miniature city that hasbeen frozen in time.

He leads his visitor towards a

batch of new graves near the sea ofNajaf, a vast salt lake that extendstoward the west, and beyond that,into the desert.

“There is no lack of space if theIranians want to be buried here,”Ansari says, referring to RezaMoussaoui’s expressed wishes. “Butthis must be organized between gov-ernments, it is a matter beyond ourjurisdiction.”

He adds wryly, referring to the factthat the graveyard is getting closerto the lake each day, “We can offerthe Iranians a grave with a view ofthe lake.” AFP

■ Burqa-clad Afghan women walk on a cold winter’s day inKabul on Thursday. The Afghanistan government launched twobodies to strengthen women’s rights. AFP PHOTO

Afghanistan sets upbodies to strengthenrights of womenKABUL, Afghanistan: The Afghanistan Ministry for WomenAffairs has launched two new bodies to protect women rightsand strengthen their status in the post-Taliban nation, a localnewspaper reported recently.

The organizations titled “Healthy Family, Happy Society” and“Law and Women” are aimed at eliminating violence againstwomen and helping establish a healthy and prosperoussociety, daily Afghanistan Times quoted Minister for WomenAffairs Hosn Bano Ghazanfar as saying.

The Healthy Family, Happy Society would be carried out byreligious leaders in several provinces of the country to giveawareness on women rights, while the second body the Lawand Women would be run by lawyers and prosecutors, theminister added.

Lawyers and prosecutors will, by publishing posters andlaunching informative campaigns, highlight the right ofwomen envisaged in the country’s constitution and guaran-teed by Islam, the religion of Afghans.

Women during the six-year reign of Taliban regime toppledin late 2001 almost had no right as the hard-line movementhad confined them to houses and closed girl schools.

However, in the post-Taliban era women have more freedom as theyserve as parliamentarians, politicians, teachers and even ministers.

Nevertheless, women in war-ravaged country are stillfacing enormous problems as vast majority of them areilliterate and have been suffering from poverty, old traditionand forced marriage. XINHUA

S A U D I - S O C I E T Y - W O M E N

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia: Saudi women will infuture be allowed to stay in hotelsunchaperoned under a royal decree is-sued in the ultra-conservative Muslimkingdom, a rights organization said.

“We have become aware of a royal de-cree authorizing Saudi women to stay inhotels without being accompanied by a‘mahram,’” a chaperon, the vice-presidentof the independent National HumanRights Association (NHRA), Mufleh al-Qahtani, told Agence France-Presse onTuesday.

He said that from now on, the man-agement of a hotel will be contentwith asking unaccompanied femaleSaudi guests “to present an identitycard and give their names to the po-lice,” he added.

“This is a step in the right direction

for more women ’s rights,” saidQahtani of restrictions that also pre-clude women from driving ortraveling abroad unless they are withtheir husband or another close malerelative.

He said “sensitive progress” was be-ing made in the field of women’s rights,and added that his group had “raisedthis situation with the authorities.”

The manager of one Riyadh hotelconfirmed to Agence France-Pressethat he knew of a circular from thecommerce and industry ministry lift-ing restrictions on women unaccom-panied by a “mahram” from register-ing as guests.

Asking that his name not be used,the manager said the circular stipulatedthat the woman “have an identity card

bearing her photograph” and the hotelmanagement inform the nearest policestation and also provide officers with aphotocopy of her ID card.

The measure will come as a boon tothose Saudi businesswomen who havebeen unable to register at hotels with-out a chaperon.

Saudi Arabia applies a strict form ofSunni Islam known as “Wahhabism,”which follows the interpretations of18th century scholar Muhhamed binAbdul Wahhab.

In addition to not being allowed todrive or travel unless accompanied bya male relative, women in the desertkingdom that sits on a quarter ofworld oil reserves are also forced tocover themselves from head to toe inpublic. AFP

MAZAR-I-SHARIF, Afghanistan: A court in devoutlyIslamic Afghanistan has sentenced a local jour-nalist to death for blasphemy, an official andfamily members said Wednesday.

Perwiz Kambakhsh, 23, was arrested on Oc-tober 27 for allegedly distributing material hedownloaded from the Internet and deemedoffensive to Islam among fellow students atnorthern Balkh University.

“Based on the crimes Perwiz Kambakhshcommitted, the primary court yesterday sen-tenced him to the most serious punishmentwhich is the death penalty,” Balkh provinceDeputy Attorney General Hafizullah Khaliqyartold Agence France-Presse.

An official notice of the penalty by the Balkhprimary court Tuesday to the reporter’s family,his brother and fellow journalist Sayed YaqubIbrahimi said.

Khaliqyar had threatened Monday to arrestjournalists who “support” Kambakhsh at amedia briefing where officials defended thearrest of the reporter.

“Journalists are supporting Kambakhsh. Iwill arrest any journalist trying to support himafter this,” he said.

Khaliqyar had earlier said Kambakhsh had“confessed” and must be punished.

Ignoring threats, journalists were gatheringoutside Ibrahimi’s house to organize a “possi-

ble” protest, an Agence France-Presse corre-spondent said.

Ibrahimi said the trial was held behindclosed doors and without any lawyer defend-ing him.

Global media watchdog Reporters WithoutBorders appealed to Afghan President HamidKarzai to intervene.

“We are deeply shocked by this trial, carriedout in haste and without any concern for thelaw or for free expression, which is protectedby the constitution,” Reporters Without Bor-ders said.

“Kambakhsh did not do anything to justifyhis being detained or being given this sentence.We appeal to President Hamid Karzai to inter-vene before it is too late.”

The group said Kambakhsh was supposedlyarrested because of a controversial article com-menting on verses in the Koran about women,although it has now been established that hewas not the article’s author.

Kambakhsh was a reporter for the newspa-per Jahan-e Naw (The New World) and a jour-nalism student at the Balkh university.

Conservative religious clerics have also calledfor the death penalty for Kambakhsh. His ar-rest has been condemned by domestic and in-ternational rights groups.

He has the right to appeal to higher courts. AFP

Afghan reporter accused ofblasphemy sentenced to death

■ An Afghan man buys newspapers at a roadside stall in Kabul on Wednesday. A court indevoutly Islamic Afghanistan has sentenced a local journalist to death for blasphemy, an officialand family members said. AFP PHOTO

Unchaperoned Saudi women can stay in hotels

Iraq’s graveyard even the living dream about