[Schwartz] ME - maghreb majnun fil-Anbar

Two high-profile kidnappings end in spilt blood...

Sheikh Muhammad al-Khaznawi (or "al-Haznawi"), a popular Syrian-Kurdish cleric, went missing three weeks ago in Damascus (May 10th). The Syrian Human Rights Committee (SHRC) condemned the abduction:

[Sheikh al-Khaznawi] enjoys a wide range of relationships within Syria on both formal and public levels, and also possesses excellent relationships on both Arab and international levels.

Sheikh al-Khaznawi is from a knowledgeable religious family and possesses an exceptional role in the enlightenment of Kurdish issues and the defence of their rights. He also played a pivotal role in calming pacifying the turbulent circumstances following the Qamishli incidents of March 2004.*

SHRC calls upon free Syrians to expose his kidnappers and ensure his safe return to his family and to his useful activities.

Sheikh al-Khaznawi has been found dead in eastern Syria three weeks after he went missing in Damascus.

* Regarding Qamishli, a Dr. Kamal Mirawdeli wrote in the March 15th, 2004 edition of Kurdistan Observer's webpage,

In today's Independent there is nothing about Qamishli carnage where Syrian Arab Baathists are indulged in killing Kurds. Reliable Kurdish sources indicate that 94 people have been killed so far in Syrian governments violent measures to quell the Kurdish uprising in Qamishly and other Syrian-occupied western Kurdistan. The great Middle East correspondent Robert Fisk must not have heard of it. And even he has, it seems he doesnt think there is any thing worth reporting or commenting about.

If you are a Syrian university student or youth activist in the age-range 18-28 and would like to correspond for Thinking-East, please contact me: te.schwartz at gmail.com

Meanwhile in Iraq, Raja Nawaf, the kidnapped governor of the Anbar province, has been found dead along with his suspected captors after a clash with US forces. Mr. Nawaf's body was found tied to a gas canister in a house in Rawa, near the Syria border, the government said. Incidentally, Mr. Nawaf was also kidnapped on May 10th.

Reuters Online has released this interesting article, Iraq's wild west a constant thorn for U.S. troops:

When it comes to peace and stability in Iraq, there may be no greater obstacle to success than Anbar province, a vast region of desert and scrubland stretching west from Baghdad.

Of the 1,630 U.S. troops who have died since the war began, more than 500 have lost their lives in Anbar, a higher toll than in any other area of the country, according to icasualties.org, a Web site that tracks military deaths.

The province, which includes the cities of Falluja and Ramadi, a stronghold of the Sunni Arab-led insurgency, is so dangerous that no journalists venture there unless escorted by U.S. forces. Even many Iraqis are too scared to go.

(Check out WindsOfChange.net's similarly entitled May 25th article, Back to the Wild West of Anbar Province.)

Finally, the BBC Online, quoting a CNN report, says that Saddam Hussein shall go on trial "within two months": "Iraqi President Jalal Talabani has said he expects the trial of Saddam Hussein for alleged crimes against humanity to begin within two months."

If you are an Iraqi university student or youth activist in the age-range 18-28 and would like to correspond for Thinking-East, please contact me: te.schwartz at gmail.com