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Al-Ahram Weekly 25 - 31 May 2000 Issue No. 483 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 25 - 31 May 2000 Issue No. 483
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Focus Features Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Opting for moderation
RECENTLY released Moroccan Islamist leader Sheikh Abdessalam Yassine faces considerable challenges in winning adherents to his cause in view of increased restrictions on Islamists, Dalal Abu Ghazaleh reports from RabatFollowing his release after 11 years under house arrest, Moroccan Islamist leader Sheikh Abdessalam Yassine has pledged that his group will continue to act moderately and focus on "educational" activities.
Speaking during a press conference last Saturday, only days after his release on 16 May, Yassine, 72, head of Morocco's banned Al-Adl Wal-Ihsan (Justice and Charity) movement, reiterated his commitment to moderation. "For 20 years we have been against aggression," said the elderly sheikh.
Emphasising that his group did not have designs on state power, Yassine said, "We are not seeking the throne." During its two-decade-long existence, Al-Adl Wal-Ihsan has never challenged the four-century-old Alawi dynasty of King Mohamed VI. Likewise, it has not publicly questioned the widely accepted belief that the monarch is a descendant of Prophet Mohamed -- a status that has helped to shield the monarchy from opposition attacks.
Despite Al-Adl Wal Ihsan's relative moderation compared to other militant groups in North Africa, such as those in Algeria, Morocco's gesture to Yassine did not imply granting freedom to his organisation -- a situation the sheikh was eager to underline. "The ban on the symbolic leader has been lifted, but not the one imposed on the members of Al-Adl Wal-Ihsan," Yassine said, referring to some of his followers who are still in prison.
Highlighting the symbolic nature of the decision to release him were Yassine's announcements of increased state restrictions on his group's activities. Annually organised "Islamist summer camps" which had attracted thousands of Moroccans opposed to Western-style beaches were banned. Likewise, the group's newspaper was suspended.
Within the broader context, Yassine's release has been attributed to King Mohamed's desire to continue along the path of reconciliation begun by his father shortly before his death.
In the last months of his life, King Hassan released several political prisoners and offered compensation to families of scores of activists who had disappeared in the 1960s and 1970s, a period of social and political unrest in Morocco. However, authorities held out on the North African country's two most prominent dissidents: Yassine and the leftist opposition leader Abraham Serfaty.
Picking up on the work begun by his father, but with renewed vigour, King Mohamed, shortly after ascending the throne last July, permitted Serfaty to return from long exile in France.
Referring to the period just prior to Yassine's release, diplomats and analysts said the palace was in a dilemma. While eager to see Yassine freed from house arrest, it was concerned that he should keep a low profile, avoiding the type of fiery speeches that landed him in prison twice in the 1970s. Heightening these fears was a harshly worded letter that Yassine wrote to King Mohamed, criticising the monarchy as corrupt -- a letter that contrasted starkly with one written by Serfaty shortly before his release.
Circumstances, however, proved in favour of Yassine's freedom. With a popular monarch ruling the country at a time when Islamists seemed to be losing their appeal among the majority of Morocco's population, the risks implicit in releasing the aging leader probably appeared to be diminishing. At the same time, fears were mounting within the government that the elderly sheikh might die under house arrest -- a situation which observers suggested would have been met with widespread protest by Islamists and human rights activists in Morocco and abroad.
Thus far, palace calculations seem to have been correct: neither Yassine's attendance of prayers last Friday nor his press conference the following day have given King Mohamed any cause to worry.
Border dispute
QATAR'S Crown Prince Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al-Thani is scheduled to visit Bahrain for talks about a border dispute that has caused new tensions between the two Gulf Arab states, the Bahraini Gulf News Agency reported on Monday. It said Sheikh Jassim was expected to meet his Bahraini counterpart, Sheikh Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, but did not specify a date.Sheikh Jassim and Bahrain's Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman Al-Khalifa held talks over the long-standing territorial dispute during the weekend while both were attending the unity celebrations in Yemen.
This was the first reported meeting since Bahrain said it was suspending talks with Qatar over the dispute because Qatar failed to respond to its proposals to resolve the matter.
The dispute is over the small but potentially oil- and gas-rich Hawar Islands in the Gulf which have been controlled by Bahrain since the 1930s, but which are also claimed by Qatar.
The two Gulf officials also held separate talks in the Yemeni capital Sana'a with Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, the powerful Gulf Arab state which in 1986 intervened when Qatar and Bahrain seemed on the brink of war concerning sovereignty over the islands.
This latest strain in relations sparked calls by other Gulf Arab states counselling Bahrain and Qatar to exercise restraint and not escalate the row.
Israeli violations
MEMBERS of the Arab Labour Organisation (ALO) said they would address the issue of Israeli violations of the rights of Palestinian workers during the session of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) scheduled to be held in Geneva in early June.ALO officials concluded a two-day meeting at the organisation's headquarters in Cairo on Sunday, called to adopt a "united Arab stance" during the upcoming ILO conference.
Ahmed El-Amawy, the ALO's newly elected chairman and Egypt's minister of labour, said that the Arab world was passing through a crucial phase in which it was not only facing military and security threats, but also serious challenges in the economic and social spheres. "Thus, the [Arab] struggle should be transformed into hard work to achieve distinction in the economic and social fields and improve the living standards of its [the Arab] peoples," he said.
The ALO meeting was attended by labour ministers from Syria and Bahrain, and lesser representatives of Arab governments, as well as the ILO, the International Federation for Arab Labour Unions and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
In an attempt to enhance inter-Arab cooperation, the ALO signed an agreement with the GCC during the meeting. Both sides agreed to cooperate on projects for combating unemployment, child labour and encouraging women's participation in different fields of work.
