Author: VK
The UN Security Council may include a Syrian group "Dzhabhat an-Nusra" to the list of terrorist organizations linked to "Al Qaeda", RIA Novosti reports. Request was sent by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Syria to the UN Security Council last week.
According to Andrey Baklanov, Deputy Head of International Relations of the Federation Council, the situation has been developing based on a power scenario: “The war could go on for quite a long time. It provides an additional opportunity for the growth of all kinds of terrorist groups and the spreading of these elements in other neighboring territories. Syria is in the very heart of the Arab world. This all poses new threats to the region as a whole. The President of Syria, when he met with us, devoted the lion's share of conversation not so much to Syria as to how brick by brick the Arab world is being demolished, how brick by brick the periphery close to the Russian borders is being destroyed. In general, he said what unfortunately, is proved by some evidence: there is a connection between events in certain countries which is, of course, not good one, a connection due to the fact that there are certain forces that want to increase tension, to create the conditions for large-scale arms deliveries. This, unfortunately, is the case. So far what has been done in the last few weeks, has had no effect, so I urge to add to the work which is carried out some fresh thoughts, fresh ideas, fresh people in order to try to help the people of the Arab countries, of the countries of the Near East which are so close to us and to prevent the further spread of conflict in the region”.
Speaking about the role of Islam in the conflict, Leonid Syukiyainin, Doctor of Law, Professor at the Institute of State and Law of the Russian Federation, said: “A lot of what is happening in the Middle East, in the Arab world, and even earlier in Russia, began without Islam. When the Chechen conflict began, there was no Islam there, there was no trace no sign of it, nothing. Then it appeared and did not just appear but began to play a very significant role. This applies to the situation in the Arab countries as well. When the first people who were against Mubarak started to come to the Tahrir Square, there was almost no Muslim Brotherhood at first, they had to jump into one of the last cars and, of course, take advantage of the situation. There are many other factors ... And they almost came to power. Initially, the Islamic factor did not play any important role there. Among all the events, among the factors that have led to the revolution or the change of power in Egypt, the Islamic factor did not play a major role initially. The same was in Syria. Now, the Islamic factor is becoming more and incorporated in these events. I have recently read an interview with one of the ideological political leader of one of the opposition groups in Syria. He works in Cairo, because he's recruiting people there to be sent to Syria. He said: "Syria is important for us, because in the future Damascus will be the capital of the Caliphate." This is the future capital of the caliphate, you know? A lot of people go there to fight for the Caliphate. He even said that on a number of liberated territories, which are controlled by certain groups, some opposition groups, Islamic punishments "hudud" are in use, there are courts and it is a absolutely normal practice there. And he says that many go there exactly for this, supporting these ideas. Of course, we should not exaggerate these kind of statements, but we should perhaps consider them, because this is a serious thing. The Islamic factor certainly makes this whole conflict more complex”.
Commenting on the statement by Andrei Baklanov that the Arab world is falling apart brick by brick, Leonid Syukiyainin asked: “Who is tearing it apart? The West? Islamic radicals? The Gulf countries, which, as some say, want to change regimes into Islamist ones, although, by the way, in their own countries they are strongly against any Islamist or extremist forces. That is the question. The mentioning of the Islamic factor in this context does not simplify the situation, but introduces one additional factor and a very powerful, very strong one, which is not going anywhere. In Chechnya this Islamic factor appeared at some point, because at some point even the leaders of the Chechen separatists were saying: "We were pushed towards Islam, we were forced into it." They referred to the federal government. "The very situation has driven us to Islam," Dudayev said. "It has driven us, we have had no thoughts about Islam whatsoever." Dudayev did not know at all. He said he was ready to pray not five but ten times a day. For any Muslim it sounds ridiculous. When he said that he did not need any constitution and that everything was in the Quran, it was the naive statement of someone who is ignorant of Islam. And what is happening nowadays? Without taking into consideration the role played by the Islamic factor today, it is impossible to understand the situation in the North Caucasus, including Chechnya. And given the facts that Ruslan Vyacheslavovich has just mentioned, the role of this factor seems even more important. How shall one use it? Is it an ally or enemy for Russia? Is it an ally of the right political forces throughout the region, including Syria, or is it the enemy of the right political forces? Is there a moderate Islam that could be... In fact, whose weapon is Islam? Of extremists, terrorists and criminals, or can it be a weapon of the regime? Recall that the Ba'athist regime had no relation to Islam. On the contrary, if you remember the events of the 1980s, do you remember what a massacre was held against the Muslim Brotherhood in the country? The Muslim Brotherhood was banned as organization, participation in this organization was a crime. Even today I have at home a Syrian law passed by the Syrian Parliament, if I am not mistaken, in 1983. A law banning the Muslim Brotherhood and persecuting people simply for belonging to the organization, it did not matter even if you did not do anything there. The regime itself gave up Islam to the opposition forces”.
