US military command ordered a group of warships and 4,000 marines to move to the Middle East, ITAR-TASS cites British military specialists. The Pentagon Chief Leon Panetta said that the US mobilized military forces in some districts of the Middle East to protect diplomats in the light of anti-American protests provoked by the release of US film "Innocence of Muslims" about Prophet Muhammad.
Alexander Ignatenko, Orientalist and Islamic scholar, president of the Institute of Religion and Politics, a member of the Council for Cooperation with Religious Associations under the president of Russia:
The current situation in the Middle East is very complex, complicated, multi-faceted, extremely controversial. However, as soon as I started pronouncing this phrase, when I said "the current situation," I recalled that within my memory, at least for 50 years, it has remained like that. Immediately the question arises: what is the particularity of the current, present-day situation in the Middle East? Needless to say, one should not in any case ignore events in Syria and around Syria, because these are in fact key events in the Middle East in the times we all live in. But today there is one tendency that I would like to talk about, because it is not covered enough, perhaps, because it is not visible enough in the media. If we look at events taking place in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Yemen, we will note one characteristic detail, which by the way was absent from the previous period and which did not exist in the nearest past. All these actions, these violent actions are carried out under black flags. Under black flags, which are the sign of al-Qaida or jihadist and Salafi movements, which in some way are associated with al-Qaeda.
At the moment there starts to appear information that the murder was premeditated a long time ago, several months ago, and it involved not only and not so much the Libyans, as people from other countries: from Mali, Algeria, very likely from some other countries. Al-Qaida members committed the murder, who are known in Libya as Sharia supporters (Ansar al-Sharia in Arabic). By the way, there are organizations that are called "Ansar al-Sharia", groups that unite Salafis; in Tunisia they are called Multaqa Ansar al-Shariah. They are also in Libya, as I have said, they are Ansar al-Sharia in Yemen, and in other countries there are groups with different names.
Now the discussion of these events in line with this is being initiated, because you cannot miss these flags and you cannot fail to note the absence of national flags. For example, in Cairo there were no Egyptian flags as there were, for example, during the January 25 revolution on Tahrir Square. Then it was all covered with Egyptian flags, it was a national revolution. In this situation there were no flags. You would not find any pictures, any videos. The same happened, I am once again stressing this point, in all the remaining countries.
Already, for example, the editor-in-chief of a very influential newspaper, Asharq Al-Awsat, has written a special article, which is called "Al-Qaeda flags in Cairo." This has already been noticed. And in the media there is already an ongoing debate, some assumptions, statements have already been made. For example, today the website of the TV channel "Al-Arabiya" published an interview with the former head of France's domestic intelligence, in which he talks, in general, about the same - about Al-Qaeda, the role of Al-Qaeda in the latest events - and, by the way, he states that al-Qaeda will not be able to take power either in Egypt, nor in other countries. Here one can agree with him, but with one provision: Al-Qaeda and the Salafis in general, which are the major foundation of al-Qaeda, or, so to speak, a reserve from which the infantry of Al-Qaeda is recruited, of course will not be able to seize power either in Egypt, nor in other countries, but it is important to remember that they do not want to do that. They are well aware of the fact that they do not have such a possibility. Here we come, perhaps, to the main point of today's agenda. The agenda of Al-Qaeda, the Salafis, those who call themselves Arab extremists. What is their tactic? Their tactic is to create emirates, proto-state or quasi-state formations with limited territories - there is a good Arabic word "kiyan" or "kiyanet" - in cities, in villages, in some tribal areas. And this is enough. For example, in Libya there are at least five such emirates, which they call "Islamic Emirates." Attempts to create emirates are taking place in Tunisia. There are such attempts in Yemen, there are at least five Salafi emirates of Al-Qaeda in Yemen. And most importantly, there is news that on the Sinai Peninsula on Egyptian territory ongoing fights have been taking place since the beginning of August. And from the beginning of August the Egyptian police, together with the Egyptian armed forces with the use of tanks, air forces and artillery, cannot defeat with these people. What is happening there? Who is at war there? Bedouin tribes who want to protect their right to contraband? No. Al-Qaeda is fighting there.
Currently, the states in which these revolutions have occurred in the course of the Arab Spring, which quickly turned into an Arab not even autumn, but an Arab winter, are confronted with a terrible danger. Because it is not only and not so much because there will be some types of proto-autonomous territorial entities on the territories of these countries, and that they would be Salafist and therefore anti-Christian and anti-Coptic in Egypt, anti-Berber, anti-Islamic, anti-Sufist in Libya, by the way, anti-Sufi and in fact anti-Egyptian in Egypt, because in the previous period the Salafis have done a lot there. I am referring to the destruction of Sufi mausoleums, and the burning of Christian churches, but here I would like to highlight the issue of Sufi mausoleums. And recall what the Salafis immediately started to do in Timbuktu, as if they had no other business. They began to destroy shrines or mausoleums of Sufi saints in Timbuktu, I am talking about the north of Mali. It is not America that is in danger, it is not a threat to Christians. What is happening now is a threat to the Arab people.
