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Posted by admin in CORRUPT ROGUE NAWAZ SHARIF, NAWAZ SHARIF FAMILY TURPITUDE, Nawaz Sharif Malcontent, Nawaz Sharif Massive Corruption on May 12th, 2017
Pakistan’s fearsome paper tigers are caught in two traps: Dawn leaks and the Panama Papers. Unable to get out of them they seem to have decided that attack is the best form of defence. Pursuant to this conclusion the jungle of Pakistani politics is ringing with the sound of their deafening roars.
The papers tigers have also put on special spectacles which produce the miraculous effect of making the jalsas of their opponents—principally Imran Khan—look to them like ‘jalsies’ and their own relatively modest shows of force held within shamianas look like mighty jalsas.
The chief lion, Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, has been at a loss to come up with the right answers to the Dawn leaks. He was first compelled to make a sacrificial offering of one of his favourites, former information minister Pervaiz Rashid, who remains close to the prime minister but, alas, is no more in the cabinet. Sooner or later Pakistani information ministers fall in love with their voices and for Pervaiz Rashid to be deprived of the heady pleasure of seeing himself constantly on television is no doubt a heavy loss to bear. Still, the iron law of necessity prevails over other considerations.
My friend Tariq Fatemi was the very model of loyalty, indeed loyal above and beyond the call of duty. But because of the Dawn affair he too has been cast to the winds. He is protesting his innocence—this in his farewell letter to the Foreign Office—but what good does this do him now?
Rao Tehsin, the former Principal Information Officer, has also been made a scapegoat for no better reason than that he is easily dispensable, although most people in the news business are aware that he had nothing to do with the Dawn leak.
This is turning into something like Watergate, lesser fry like Haldeman, Ehrlichman, Dean and a host of others sacrificed but President Nixon denying all culpability. The Furies eventually caught up with him but many lives were ruined.
Even as they roar the paper tigers are playing the same game. They want the nation to believe they are real lions and not of the circus variety but such is their moral courage that instead of taking the blame for this fiasco on their own shoulders they have put others—like the hapless Fatemi and Tehsin—in the firing line.
There is a reason for this course of action: the Princess Royal, reputedly the chosen heir to the Heavy Mandate, must be protected at all costs. Remember Memogate? It was pure fiction, a concoction which had nothing to do with national security. It was just an attempt to cut the Zardari government down to size. Dawn Leaks by contrast is all too real. At the height of the anti-Indian agitation in Occupied Kashmir it spoke India’s language and in so many words held the Pakistan army responsible for ‘jihadi’ policies and the country’s consequent ‘diplomatic isolation’. Self-incrimination and tarring the army with the brush of cross-border terrorism cannot go further than this.
At the time of Memogate Nawaz Sharif arrived at the Supreme Court in a black coat to read his indictment against the PPP government. As the Dawn leak saga unfolds what colour of coat would he like to put on now?
How did the Princess Royal get off the hook? The story going the rounds of course is that this concession, made right at the beginning when this affair exploded, came from him who reportedly wanted to be made field marshal. Someone does you a favour, in this case sparing the Princess Royal, and you return the favour by spreading stories of his field marshal ambitions.
All the same, Dawn Leaks and the Panama Papers are taking their toll. The more the paper tigers feel squeezed the more they roar. The chief lion calls his opponents a hundred jackals although if we look at the moral courage on display in both the Dawn leaks and the Panama Papers it becomes a bit difficult to make out who the lions are and who the jackals.
And what should we make of the Princess Royal losing her cool and attacking journalists, going so far as to imply that those associated with the outing of the leaks, like the journalist Umar Cheema, were guilty of conspiring against Pakistan. This is interesting, for it amounts to saying that the Sharifs and Pakistan are one, and that attacking the one is to attack the other. Louis Fourteenth said he was the state. Madam Maryam Safdar is saying the same thing. Iqbal and Jinnah, turn over in your graves.
But the screws are tightening. If the first action of the three-member Supreme Court constituted to supervise the Panama JIT (Joint Investigation Team) is any indication the Sharifs are in for a long, hot summer. The bench rejected the names sent for inclusion in the team by the State Bank and the Securities and Exchange Commission and asked for a list of fresh names. The beleaguered first family would not be amused.
One thing we can be sure of: the ISI and Military Intelligence representatives on the JIT will be extra vigilant. Gone are the days when the army and ISI acted as godfathers to the Sharifs and lifted them to power and prominence. In today’s different climate marked by the vast gulf of distrust and misgivings between the two sides, the Sharifs can expect no easy ride from that quarter.
But what are paper tigers up to, what does their roaring signify? From the tone of Nawaz Sharif’s recent speeches, and also from the roaring of smaller stuffed lions like Nisar Ali Khan, it almost seems as if they are trying to provoke a reaction. Not having answers to Dawn Leaks and the Panama Papers are they moved by the thought that it would be best to go down again as political martyrs?
It would be folly to lend them a helping hand in this. Zardari stewed in his juice and that is how the PPP was undone. Had his term been cut short by Memogate he too would have raised the banner of martyrdom. The Sharifs now are stewing in their juice. This is the work of no human agency. Dawn Leaks was no army conspiracy. Panama Papers was no handiwork of the ISI. In the predicament of the Sharifs we can see impersonal forces at work, the faint rustle of the wings of history as the past catches up with the present.
So let the stuffed lions roar. Let their minions roar, although personally I am not a little intrigued that the likes of the ever-amusing Talal Chaudry and Danial Aziz have mostly gone silent. Pakistan is caught in a bigger drama and when things happen on this scale and with such intensity, one misstep following another, it would be very surprising if the various events we are seeing don’t come together and roll to a resounding climax.
Posted by kaptainmirza in ISLAM=PEACE & BROTHERHOOD AMONG MANKIND, ISLAMOPHOBES, Islamophobia & Anti-Muslim Hate Crimes in France on May 12th, 2017
The centrist Emmanuel Macron was elected French president by defeating the ultra-nationalist and far-right candidate Marine Le Pen in the second round of the French presidential election, held on Sunday (May 7, 2017). Macron of the independent En Marche party won 23.75 percent votes and Le Pen of France’s National Front party won 21.53 percent votes.
The election victory of Macron has been hailed by his supporters and the ongoing President of France François Hollande, including various leaders and politicians of the Western World, especially Europe. The US President Donald Trump also congratulated the president-elect Emmanuel Macron and said, “I look very much forward to working with him”
His emphatic victory has brought huge relief to European allies who had feared another populist upheaval to follow Britain’s vote to quit the EU and Donald Trump’s election as US president.
In his victory speech, the president-elect Macron said that he would unite a divided and fractured France. He stated, “I will work to recreate the link between Europe and its peoples, between Europe and citizens.” Macron added that the world was watching and “waiting for us to defend the spirit of the Enlightenment, threatened in so many places”.
While, Macron who favours globalization, sees France’s way forward in boosting the competitiveness of an open economy.
The far-right candidate Le Pen had vowed to defend France against the forces of globalization and declared that now was the time to free the French population from arrogant elite. On April 24, this year, Le Pen had continued to emphasize the anti-immigrant and anti-globalization views and she denounced the efforts of the mainstream parties to keep her out of the presidency. She continued hostility to the European Union, NATO and wanted to shield French workers by closing borders, quitting the EU’s common currency, the euro, radically loosening the bloc and scrapping trade deals.
It is notable that three days before the first round of France’s presidential elections, held on Sunday (April 23, 2017), a French policeman was shot dead and two others were wounded in central Paris on April 20, 2017 when a gunman wielding a machine gun leapt out of a car and opened fire on the Champs-Elysees, Paris’s most famous boulevard. Via its Amaq news agency, the Islamic State group (Also known as Daesh, ISIS, ISIL) claimed that the attack was carried out by “Abu Yousuf al-Baljiki (the Belgian) and he is one of the Islamic State’s fighters.”
French President Francois Hollande said that he was convinced the “cowardly killing” on the Champs Elysees boulevard was an act of terrorism.
Karim Cheurfi, a 39-year-old French national who was shot dead by the police was identified as the attacker. Prosecutors said that a note defending ISIS fell out of his pocket, although there was no previous evidence of radicalization.
After the shooting, the three main candidates canceled campaign events and instead made televised statements in which they competed to talk tough on security and vowed a crackdown on ISIS.
The incident brought issues of terrorism, the French Muslims, security, and immigration back to the forefront of the campaign. Marine Le Pen demanded the closure of all Islamist mosques, repeating her call for Europe’s partly open borders to be closed. Le Pen also called Macron “weak” on terrorism and ISIS, as terror incident of Champs-Élysées had drawn renewed attention.
The fact of the matter is that the French president-elect Emmanuel Macron will maintain the US-led status quo in the world and will further advance the Israeli agenda against Russia, China, Syria, Pakistan etc, and the Muslims, while further advancing the international forces of globalization, controlled by the wealthy Jews and the elite class at the cost of small countries and the poor class.
In this regard, Gil Hoffman, under the Caption “Emmanuel Macron’s Israeli Ties”, Gil Hoffman and Michael Wilner, under the title Macron Fights for France’s Jewish Vote had already pointed out Macron’s connections with Israel by writing in Jerusalem Post.
In this respect, Haaretz an Israeli newspaper (www.haaretz.com) reported on April, 23 and 24, 2017, “In a race…Macron, a pro-European Union ex-banker, and economy minister…received slightly more votes than Le Pen…Speaking on Holocaust Remembrance Day, Moshe Kantor described Le Pen as “dangerous” and added that “the 48-year-old National Front leader recently made comments against the historic record of the Holocaust which makes her no less dangerous than her Holocaust-denying father who she has tried to hide…Le Pen recently called for banning the wearing of the kippah in public and for making it illegal for French nationals to also have an Israeli passport.”
Therefore, three days before France’s presidential elections, shooting at Champs-Elysees-Paris-famous Boulevard was conducted by the Israeli secret agency Mossad through ISIS to ensure the victory of the pro-Israeli Emmanuel Macron in the first round of the election.
It is mentionable that Macron did not mention, as to how he will eliminate ISIS, while all other candidates have vowed to destroy the ISIS. It further creates doubt about her Israeli links.
Unlike several of his opponents on the left and right, Macron has avoided making pronouncements against Muslim dress codes and discriminatory laws which are, in fact, being applied against the Muslims in France.
Regarding France’s Presidential election and the French Muslims, The Washington Post, under the caption, “Anti-Muslim rhetoric permeates French presidential election campaign”, wrote on April 18, 2017, “For some, the French presidential election will alter the course of a troubled nation steeped in economic and social turmoil…In a country that remains under an official “state of emergency” following an unprecedented spate of terrorist violence in the past two years, the election also has become a referendum on Muslims and their place in what is probably Europe’s most anxious multicultural society. Before the election’s first round of voting Sunday, each of the five leading contenders—from across the ideological spectrum—has felt compelled to address an apparently pressing “Muslim question” about what to do with the country’s largest religious minority. Marine Le Pen…has made her answer crystal clear. In February, in the same speech, she decried “Islamist globalization,” which she called an “ideology that wants to bring France to its knees…While Le Pen’s diverse array of opponents do not all share her extremity…each seems to agree that, when it comes to Muslims, something needs to be done…“I want strict administrative control of the Muslim faith,” announced François Fillon, the now-disgraced mainstream conservative candidate, in a January campaign speech. By contrast, Emmanuel Macron, the popular independent candidate, has spoken frequently of what he considers the urgent need to “help Muslims restructure the Islam of France.” The far-left Jean-Luc Melenchon, who has condemned Islamophobia, ultimately wants to stamp out “all communitarianism” and has reiterated what he calls the “urgent” need to “put an end to the misappropriation of public funds attributed to private denominational education…With many of the devastating terrorist attacks perpetrated by French or European passport-holding militants affiliated with or inspired by the Islamic State, public opinion has grown increasingly suspicious of the Muslim population that has existed in this country for centuries… Despite the intricate diversity of that population, there is widespread anxiety that if either Le Pen or Fillon is elected, things could get significantly worse. Both candidates probably would move quickly to advance crackdowns on veils, mosques and Muslim community organizations in the name of state secularism… Few French Muslims see a candidate in the running who would change a status quo that many views as unsustainable… Hakim El Karoui, the author of a widely circulated 2016 report on Islam in France…a Paris-based think tank said, said, “the strict anti-terrorist stance adopted by the Socialist administration of President François Hollande—who famously persecuted the “burkini” last summer has undercut the desire among French Muslims to support the left in the 2017 election…The right has always been against Muslims and immigrants….Chief among the concerns many Muslims harbor is from the so-called state of emergency…Since its imposition, French authorities have been permitted to carry out upward of 4,000 warrantless searches on French homes, and likewise, have placed more than 700 people under house arrest. But many Muslims say they have been targeted unlawfully. According to France’s Collective Against Islamophobia (in French, CCIF), an advocacy organization committed to fighting discrimination, more than 400 French Muslims reported having their homes searched for no clear reason in 2016. Approximately 100 of those also were placed under house arrest, while nearly 30 were asked to leave the country.”
Nevertheless, a majority of the Muslims in France and other Islamic country have shown pleasure over Macron’s election triumph, because, they considered him better for the French Muslims than the fanatic Le Pen. However, it is wishful thinking of the Muslims who do not know the secret strategy of the US and Israel and their anti-Muslim war.
Remember that when Barack Obama won the presidential election on November 4, 2008; a wave of wishful thinking prevailed over the Muslims, including the Islamic countries that he is Muslim and would protect the interests of the Muslims. Since his campaign for the US Senate in 2004 and during the presidential election, his political opponents raised questions about his citizenship. Some said that Obama secretly practices Islam.
These claims in the public expanded during Obama’s pre-presidency and according to the Pew Research Center, 17% of Americans believed him to be a Muslim in a 2012 poll.
A wave of jubilation had been noted all over the world on January 20, 2009, when American President Barack Obama took the oath. His first address had indicated a positive change in the US foreign policy. In this respect, most of the political experts had hoped that he would rectify the blunders, committed by his predecessor in the name of the phony war on terror.
Addressing a crowd at Cairo University on June 9, 2009, while speaking optimistically in relation to the issues of Muslims like the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, President Obama had said, “To the Muslim World, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect”, and “based upon the truth that America and Islam are not exclusive, and need not be in competition.” Several times during the hour-long speech, members of the audience shouted, “We love you.”
A majority of the Muslims hoped that President Obama would resolve the issues which were affecting the Islamic World.
Similarly, while accusing President Bush’s policies in South Asia and recognizing interrelationship between war on terror in Afghanistan and dispute of Kashmir, Obama had stated on September 25, 2008, that if elected, he would encourage India and Pakistan to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and resolve the Kashmir problem to reduce nuclear dangers in South Asia—so that Islamabad could fully concentrate on fighting terrorism.
Quite contrary to his commitments, Obama not only set aside the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, but also the Kashmir issue. Instead, during his first visit to New Delhi, on November 6, 2010 President Obama announced the measures, America would take regarding removal of Indian space and defence companies from a restricted “entities list”, and supported Indian demand for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council, including membership of four key global nuclear nonproliferation regimes.
Ignoring the solution of Kashmir dispute which like Syria, remains a nuclear flashpoint between Pakistan and India, America started backing Indian hegemony in Asia to counterbalance the presumed threat of China.
And as part of the double standards, while preferring New Delhi at the cost of Pakistan—despite, Indian violations of various international agreements and its refusal to sign Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), CTBT and Additional Protocol with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Washington signed a pact of nuclear civil technology with New Delhi in 2008. During President Obama’s visit to India, on January 25, 2016, the US and India announced a breakthrough on the pact which would allow American companies to supply New Delhi with civilian nuclear technology.
Following his predecessor’s fake global war on terror and his anti-Muslim policies in its worst form, President Obama who created ISIL used it and Al-Qaeda, including their affiliated outfits through CIA and Israeli Mossad to secure the illegitimate interests of Israel. If the double game of President Bush (The Senior) and George W. Bush franchised Al-Qaeda on a global level, President Obama’s dual policy franchised both Al-Qaeda and ISIS as part of the anti-Muslim campaign and left no stone unturned in advancing the agenda of the Zionists, Israeli lobbies, and the neoconservatives.
However, the September 11 tragedy was fully manipulated by Israel who had joined the Bush’s anti-war terrorism enterprise so as to target Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and Pakistan in particular and other Muslim countries in general. For this purpose, extremist Jews also got the services of some radical Hindus to continue their anti-Muslim campaign. In this connection, by availing the international phenomena of terrorism, Indo-Israeli lobbies which are collectively working in America and other European countries have been exploiting the double standards of the US-led West regarding terrorism and human rights vis-à-vis China, Pakistan, Iran, Syria, Libya, Yemen etc.
Overtly, like Bush, President Obama had repeatedly stated that Muslims are moderate and Islam is a religion of peace, but covertly, he followed the agenda of the Bush to secure the Zionist-shaped policies.
Learning no lesson from the US and NATO’s longest war in Afghanistan, facing defeatism in that country, Obama continued state terrorism and extrajudicial killings of the Muslims through illegitimate drone attacks, CIA-torture cells, sectarian divide and violence on the basis of Shia and Sunni—assisting undemocratic forces such as the return of a military strongman in Egypt by toppling the elected government, and like Iraq, his policies created more collapsed states such as Libya, Syria, Yemen etc., which opened the door for Al-Qaeda and ISIL activists, coupled with total failure to convince Tel Aviv to abandon “settlements,” or to end delaying tactics in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the perennial humiliations of the Palestinians.
Since September 30, 2015, various unexpected developments had frustrated Israel and America. In this respect, Russian successful airstrikes on the ISIS targets in the northern Syria and Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, its coalition with Iran, Iraq, the Syrian army, the National Defense Forces (NDF) and Lebanon-based Hezbollah in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, retreat of the CIA-supported rebels and mercenaries after their failure to topple the Assad government, proving links of Al-Qaeda’s Al-Nusra Front and ISIS with America and Israel, Putin’s clear-cut statement, indicating the Zionist regime in the US and Israel for their “phony war on ISIS” surprised the Israel-led America and some European countries who wanted to oust the Assad regime.
As a matter of fact, the agents of Mossad who are in collaboration with the CIA sympathizers, Syrian rebel groups and the ISIL militants arranged terror attacks in Paris, Brussels, Orlando, San Bernardino, Nice, Munich, London, St. Petersburg (Metro train) and in Stockholm. While, a gunman who went by the nickname Black Jesus was identied—39-year-old Kori Ali Muhammad, making militant comments on social media killed three white men in downtown Fresno, California, on April 18, 2017, and fired at another before he was taken into custody while shouting “Allahu Akhbar,” as the Fresno police stated.
All these were false flag terror attacks, as the US and Israel wanted to obtain their covert aims against Russia and the Muslims. Mossad had also provided the US President Donald Trump with an opportunity to exploit various terror assaults to win the US presidential election and to reunite America and Europe, as a rift was created between America and its Western allies, especially Europe on a number of issues, including NATO.
And, President Donald Trump had left no stone unturned in implementing anti-Muslim policies, while speaking openly against the Muslims and Syrian immigrants.
Earlier, taking note of various developments and some other ones such as reluctance of NATO countries to support America’s fake global war on terror, acceptance of Syrian refugees by the European countries, especially Germany and the EU rule to boycott goods produced in Israeli settlements on the West Bank, Israeli Mossad which was in collaboration with the vulnerable CIA operatives arranged terror attacks in Paris on the night of November 13, 2016. As part of the double game, these terror assaults were conducted by these secret agencies, particularly Mossad which was in connivance with the ISIS terrorists who used the home-grown terrorists of France.
French President Francois Hollande who declared an emergency in the country had said, “It is an act of war that was committed by a terrorist army, a jihadist army, Daesh against France…France would act with “all the necessary means, and on all terrains, inside and outside, in coordination with our allies, who are, themselves, targeted by this terrorist threat.”
Israel succeeded in its sinister designs, Europe was put on high alert and Paris attacks were being taken as assaults on the whole continent. Afterward, France started airstrikes on the ISIS targets in Syria.
ISIS which is being driven out of its areas of territorial control in Iraq and Syria by the Russian-led coalition and the so-called Western-assisted alliance has hundreds of French-speaking fighters, which have claimed responsibility for several terrorism-related assaults.
France which has lived under a state of emergency since 2015 and has suffered a spate of Islamist militant attacks mostly perpetrated by young men who grew up in France have killed more than 230 people in the past two years.
In France, around five million Muslims are living—roughly 7.5 percent of the population—the largest share of any country in Europe.
At least two million Muslims have French citizenship. The Muslim community is made up of immigrants from Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria and a small population from South Asia
Historically, the immigration started in 1960-70s and consisted mainly of “economic migrants,” who filled the blue collared jobs which the native French did not want. However, their second and third generation is educated but ostracized from the mainstream French society.
Muslims came to France following France’s colonization of North Africa. The current relationship between the French state and its Muslim population is based upon discrimination, because Muslims are being considered as an underclass—was conditioned by the twin legacies of imperial history and economic exploitation.
Unlike other colonies, Algeria was officially considered a part of France, meaning that Algerian Muslims could come freely to France to live. Once there, however, they faced systematic and often brutal repression.
Antagonism with a subject Muslim population is written into France’s political structure: the current constitution—which established the Fifth Republic — was designed to resolve the state crisis provoked by Muslim resistance to colonialism.
When General De Gaulle called for constitutional reform in 1958, he did so precisely in order to shore up presidential authority, weakened by the upheavals of the Algerian war of independence.
There are also some other purposes behind the creation of xenophobia against the Muslims in France.
Firms sometimes made prayer rooms available to their employees, a startling difference from today, when the private sector is collaborating with the state to eradicate manifestations of Islam in every sphere outside the home.
French perceptions of Muslims and Islam changed significantly over the past decade. Since 9/11, a number of terrorist attacks in Europe and in France, in particular, led to an increase in debates, such as “Clash of Civilizations”, “Islamisation of Europe” and the “Islam problem.” It has thus resulted in dividing the French society between “us” and “them.”
In the pretext of the fear of Muslims and Islam, growing in Europe, France has enacted a number of laws to maintain the so-called “secularism” of the French society. In this context, the controversial ban on the traditional veil, worn by Muslim women is notable. France has banned the traditional veil in public areas, considering it to be a symbol of “oppression” against women. Consequently, women, wearing veils cannot enter universities, banks, hospitals, offices etc., thus making it difficult for Muslim women to avail public facilities.
Headscarves and other religious traditional dresses have been banned in schools. This has, mainly, affected Muslim children, while, proposals for discontinuation of substitute for pork and “Halal” (Permitted in Islam) food in school cafeterias are also being voiced.
Many Muslims, however, find these laws part of discrimination, which has further broadened the divide between the Muslim community and the Christians.
Besides, the Muslim youth is facing discrimination in employment opportunities. In this regard, “Muslim Diaspora” is twice more likely to work in factories than the rest of French force. They are also underrepresented in executive positions.
It is noteworthy that another false flag terror operation-the Charlie Hebdo incident has also put Muslim population under greater scrutiny. Violence against Muslims increased twofold after the incident. As regards the incident, on January 7, 2015, two Islamic militants attacked the office of French satirical weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris, and killed 13 people on January 9, 2015, two brothers namely Said and Cherif Kouachi suspected for the incident were killed in a shootout with Police—in a hostage-taking situation, at a signage company in Dammartinen-Goele where some people were also targeted. Thus, the gunmen killed total 17 persons. Mossad manipulated the anti-Muslim approach of France and indirectly used these Algerian Muslims for the terror attack through ISIS. Afterward, Mossad’s connections with Charlie Hebdo episode had been proved by many senior writers, analysts and social media bloggers—a video titled “Did Mossad Do Charlie Hebdo” prepared/uploaded by www.brothernathanaelchanne.com is worth watching. In fact, besides creating differences between Christians and Muslims, Zionist groups and Mossad used the episode to punish France on recognizing a Palestinian state and to desist other EU countries to avoid such approach on Palestinians. However, the magazine had continued to print anti-Muslim publications, under the pretext of freedom of speech, thus creating resentment in the Muslim community. Similarly, one of the most confrontational debated books of 2015 has been, “Submission” by Michel Houellebecq, which portrays France being ruled under Islamic law by 2022. The book thrives on the paranoia of the European society towards Islam and Muslims.
As part of discrimination, radicalized Muslim inmates are detained separately from the rest of the inmates. The second and third generation Muslim youth which has been brought up and educated in France is faced with an “identity crisis,” despite being a French Muslim in a society which is unwilling to accept them as truly French. This lack of identity which has been exploited by the Mossad and some CIA agents forced a number of the French citizens (Muslims) to fight in Syria against the Assad regime.
As regards the discriminatory treatment with the Muslims, Under the title, “French police abuse Muslims under emergency laws-Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International report physical and psychological abuse as raids target Muslim minority”, Aljazeera multimedia network wrote on February 4, 2016, “France has carried out abusive and discriminatory raids and house arrests against Muslims under its current state of emergency…stigmatizing those targeted, including children and the elderly…Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty International published separate research…pointing to cases where excessive force had been used, leading to human rights violations including violence…Those targeted said the police burst into homes, restaurants, or mosques; broke people’s belongings; threw Qurans on the floor; terrified children; and placed restrictions on people’s movements so severely that they lost jobs and income, or suffered physically…ISIL’s claim[For terror attacks] triggered a backlash not just in France, but across Europe and elsewhere- as Muslim communities were collectively punished…France has a responsibility to ensure public safety and try to prevent further attacks, but the police have used their new emergency powers in abusive, discriminatory, and unjustified ways, said Izza Leghtas, Western Europe researcher at HRW, calling for an immediate end to warrantless searches and house arrests…This abuse has traumatized [Muslims] families and tarnished reputations, leaving targets feeling like second-class citizens…In one house raid, HRW said, police broke four of a disabled man’s teeth before they realized he was not the person they were looking for…In another case, a single mother’s children were transferred to foster care following a raid…Freedom, equality and fraternity have been badly damaged in the weeks since the November attacks.”
On August 29, 2016, Nick Riemer, under the caption, “The Roots of Islamophobia in France” wrote on the website https://www.jacobinmag.com/2016/08/burkini-ban-islamophobia-valls-france-secularism-islam/, “Children have watched as their parents are dragged from their beds by heavily armed police…Mosques have been violently ransacked by the police. Worshippers are humiliated and degraded, including through the use of police dogs. Around twenty mosques have simply been closed, and more will soon be shuttered. Political organizations with Muslim links have also been threatened with closure; demonstrations, including, including pro-Palestinian ones…Muslims appealing for asylum find themselves even more vulnerable than residents. The government delivers anti-Islamic broadsides while destroying refugee camps in Calais and elsewhere. Meanwhile, the French have blessed the European Union’s deal with Turkey on refugees, under which Syrian refugees arriving by boat on Greek islands are deported to Turkey. In pursuing these policies, French politicians have knowingly ignored the fact that long-standing and state-sponsored Islamophobia, combined with military activity in Muslim countries, has only encouraged extremism. The political classes have refused to recognize how their economic and social policies fuel the alienation that drives people to join groups like ISIS. A ferocious escalation of Islamophobic propaganda from all quarters of French culture and politics accompanies these measures. According to Abdellali Hajjat and Marwan Mohammed, the construction of the ‘Muslim problem’ over recent years constitutes one of the main vectors for French and even European elites’ unification” across the political spectrum.”
A website http://www.middleeasteye.net/essays/muslim-and-french-2084594508 pointed out on August 8, 2016 “Laïcité went from being a constitutional principle to becoming an ideological weapon used to justify the social death sentence against Muslims in France…Several primary school children were either physically assaulted by their teachers or school principal…such a story did not move the minister of education, Mrs. Najat Vallaud Belkacem, who not only refused to condemn the school personnel’s violence against a child but further stated that they had acted according to the procedures in place. This cynical position was confirmed a few weeks later when the international media turned its attention to a new witch hunt against Muslim students…Western Muslims, and particularly French Muslims whose country has become the laboratory of Islamophobia…are the clear indicator of how well our democracies are doing. The recent drift toward authoritarian regimes, the rise of fascist discourse in not only US politics but also in most of Europe, the acceptance of regimes of exception like the current state of emergency in France, pre-emptive prosecution in the US or the capacity for the UK government to deport a person or stripping citizenships while people are abroad should worry us; not because they are applied against people we may disagree with but because we leave it to the state to decide alone without any accountability and look away when minorities are being put under increasing pressure. But once you create a precedent, you seldom go back. In the case of France, a concept keeps steering violent debate about Muslims.Laïcité is a constitutional principle granting the French state’s religious neutrality and that there is no official religion in France. Proclaimed in 1905, it put a clear separation between the state and the church. Laïcité was seldom debated until Muslim immigrants who were once invisible sociological subjects reduced to mere statistics became a visible part of French society.”
Recall, just after the September 11 tragedy inside the United States, chauvinism and extremism were deliberately developed among the Americans through media and statements of high officials of the Bush Administration. President Bush used the words, “crusade against the evil-doers”, adding to the perception that the ongoing ‘different war’ against terrorism is actually a war against the Muslim countries. Inside the US, suddenly, every Muslim found himself divested of his nationality. Arrests, detentions, and harassment of the Muslims by the CIA and the FBI were other steps which still continue. Israeli atrocities on the Palestinians were brushed aside.
Learning no lesson from the drastic aftermath and the implications of the post-9/11 tragedy, some irresponsible politicians, rulers, writers and think-tanks of the Western countries, especially Europe, including their media are repeating similar anti-Muslim chauvinism which has, particularly, been accelerated in France after the Paris attacks of November 13, 2016, and those occurred afterwards. They have been misguiding their general public by creating prejudice against the Muslims.
They are propagating the so-called threat of Islamophobia. In one way or the other, the Muslims are being persecuted in the US and other Western countries, particularly in Europe. Especially, France shows the anti-Muslim phenomenon of the post 9/11 tragedy in its worst form.
In this regard, scholars of international affairs agree that “foreign affairs are too foreign” to the citizens of a country. Renowned scholar Prof. Hoslti opines that “issues and situations” have “influence on public opinion” which in turn “influences the objectives and actions.”
So, the fault cannot be laid on the general masses, a majority of whom does not have much time to go in-depth. Hence, they are swayed by emotions, stereotypes, and prejudices created by the political leaders who keep on manipulating any crisis for their own self-interests with the sole aim of getting their sympathies to increase their vote bank. There are equal strong pressures from religious and nationalist forces in wake of global war on terror which is dividing the world along religious lines.
Nonetheless, owing to the irresponsible approach of the Western leaders, far right-wing parties and “Stop Islam” movement in the West, especially in Europe are becoming popular by largely attracting their people. Amid a migrant crisis, sluggish economic growth and growing disillusionment with the European Union, right-wing parties in a growing number of European countries have made electoral gains. The right-wing parties range across a wide policy spectrum, from populist and nationalist to far-right neofascist.
But, some other developments such as criticism of the controversial Turkish-EU refugee deal by a number of human rights groups, Britain’s decision to leave the European Union (EU), after the referendum (Brexit) on June 24, 2016, prospects of Scotland and some other countries for separation from the EU, and the divide between the elite class which run multinational companies with the direct or indirect control of the Jews and the general masses who are suffering from multiple problems in wake of differences on the refugee crisis, Syrian war, Greece’s weak economy, violent protests and strikes against the labour laws in France in 2016 in favour of the employers at the cost of the employs etc.—the chances of European Union’s disintegration which will give a greater blow to the US-Europe alliance against Russia the “Stop NATO protests” in Europe were quite opposite to the Israeli secret interests.
Besides revival of the fake global war on terror, Israeli-led America also got the support of its Western allies (NATO) against Russia in relation to Syrian civil war, and as part of the double game and secret strategy, American jet fighters and those of its Western coalition started targeting the ISIS terrorists in Iraq and Syria.
Notably, backing out from his earlier statements, American President Trump has changed his policy regarding Europe and NATO. In this connection, he stated on April 13, 2017, that US relations with Russia may be at “an all-time low” and declared a new-found faith in NATO, suggesting the alliance was “no longer obsolete”. Besides, the White House said on May 21, this year, that US President Donald Trump will attend a summit of leaders of NATO nations on May 25 in Brussels.
Undoubtedly, international terrorism is the by-product of the US-led Western intervention in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and the proxy war being waged in Syria.
We may conclude that despite the victory of Emmanuel Macron in the presidential election of France, discrimination against the Muslim will continue in France in particular and other Western countries in general.
Sajjad Shaukat writes on international affairs and is author of the book: US vs Islamic Militants, Invisible Balance of Power: Dangerous Shift in International Relations
Email: [email protected]
Courtesy Veterans Today
Posted by admin in CURRENT EVENTS on May 12th, 2017
A few days ago, photos of Prince Harry cavorting naked with a blonde hit the web. While the prince has had his share of controversy in the past, including attending a party in a Nazi uniform and getting caught smoking weed, he has a long way to go to catch up to some of his scandalous relatives.
While most Americans think that George III was a tyrant, it was actually his son who took being a horrible monarch to a new level. The licentious George IV was possibly the worst monarch in British history, and even before he took the throne he managed to involve himself in dozens of scandals. Because he was rather unattractive, he found the best way to get women to sleep with him was to offer them what in today’s money would be hundreds of thousands—in some cases, millions—of pounds. However, after he had gotten what he wanted (and often a child or two as well), he would refuse to pay. His father usually ended up footing the bill to make the women go away. It was no wonder George tried to get out of his financial agreements, considering he was a prolific gambler and once had debt collectors surround his residence demanding payment.
But the biggest scandal of his life involved his main mistress, a twice-widowed Catholic woman named Maria Fitzherbert. When she refused to sleep with him, he started sending her suicide notes that ran as long as 42 pages. Eventually, she relented—but only if he married her.
Unlike the Prince of Wales today, George simply could not marry a commoner. On top of that, it was actually illegal for him to marry a Catholic. He ignored all that, though, and married Mrs. Fitzherbert in a secret wedding in the dead of night. It was so secret that seemingly everyone in England knew about it within a few months. Ten years later, when his father insisted he get married for real to a foreign princess he hated, George’s illegal marriage threatened to derail the whole thing. In the end he abandoned his mistress and numerous children to do his duty, but his image was tarnished forever.
Edward VII was almost certainly the most over-sexed monarch in British history. Throughout his life it is estimated he slept with thousands of women. Some led to scandals, including a former friend threatening to blackmail the prince after he slept with his friend’s wife. But without a doubt it was his very first sexual encounter that sent the strongest shockwaves through the royal family.
Edward (who was called Bertie by his family) had the misfortune of being a libertine in a family of prudes. His parents, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, had both been virgins when they married and it never occurred to them that their children would ever consider not following that path themselves. But at the age of 19, his parents sent him off to a military camp for the summer, and there he encountered the camp prostitute. Despite being watched like a hawk by his chaperones, he managed to have sex with her three different times, all of which he recorded in his diary.
Eventually, one of his chaperones found out what was going on and informed Edward’s parents. Their reaction was melodramatic, to say the least. They could never look at him again without being reminded about how he had failed. He could never get married now because his wife would be too good and pure for him. Bertie went back to school at Cambridge, but his father, not content to berate him in letters, came to visit and took his son on a long walk in the rain in order to yell at him some more. When Prince Albert fell ill a short time later, the doctors told Queen Victoria it was due to the shock of her son’s betrayal. Albert died of his illness and Victoria blamed her son and heir for the death of her beloved husband for the rest of her life. All because he got it on with a hooker.
While she may have been prudish in her younger years, in old age Queen Victoria may have thrown caution to the wind. Once she was widowed, she withdrew almost completely from public life and isolated herself on her country estates. There she became close to a Scottish servant named John Brown (pictured with the Queen). She allowed him to take liberties that no one else would dream of, like calling her “woman” instead of “Your Majesty.” She gave him presents and created special honors and medals to present to him alone. Her children took to calling Brown “Mama’s lover,” and soon rumors were getting back to London about their relationship. Some claimed they slept in adjoining rooms and that a minister had admitted on his death bed that he had presided over a secret marriage between the two. A popular magazine started referring to the queen as Mrs. Brown.
When Brown died, Victoria was distraught. She had a statue of him built and the instructions she left when she died included that she be buried with a lock of his hair, his photograph, and a ring he had given her. After Victoria’s death, her youngest daughter went through her diaries and burned many of the pages that she thought were too dirty to ever see the light of day. Many are presumed to have been about Brown.
Incidentally, like Prince Harry, Queen Victoria was also the subject of a salacious image in her youth, although this one was on purpose. As a gift for her husband early in their marriage she had a racy portrait painted of herself, one which Prince Albert found so sexy that he hid it away in his private office so no one else would ever accidentally see it. The portrait was only recently deemed acceptable for release so be prepared:
No member of the royal family has ever been considered more scandalous to the family that the current queen’s Uncle George, the Duke of Kent. His life is considered so unsavory that to this day his papers are sealed at Windsor Castle, and no researchers are allowed to look at them. This may have something to do with the fact that George was bisexual.
As the fourth son of George V and fifth in line to the throne, George, like Prince Harry, knew his chances of becoming king were slim and he was freer than his brothers to live the life he wanted to. And it turned out the life he wanted to live involved lots of sex and drugs.
Before his marriage, he is supposed to have enjoyed the company of thin blonde men, but afterward his tastes expanded to include a black (female) singer. He was arrested for engaging in homosexual activity at least once, but released when his identity was confirmed. The papers may not have reported on his indiscretions, but all of the high society knew about them.
George was also heavily addicted to morphine and cocaine and was put under house arrest by one of his brothers during the 1920s in an attempt to cure him. It didn’t work.
The Duke was not discreet when it came to writing to his lovers and was reportedly blackmailed by a male prostitute over his love letters. Other dirty missives by George to Noel Coward were probably stolen from the playwright’s house.
George died in a plane crash at the age of 39. A mystery even surrounds his death. While the official version is that the pilot took the wrong flight path and crashed into a mountain, rumors started circulating that the Prince, a pilot himself, had been flying while drunk. Others spread salacious rumors that his lifestyle had become too much of a liability for his family, and he had been killed on purpose.
Just to be safe, Prince Harry might want to rethink his next game of strip billiards.
DAVID TORMSEN JUNE 23, 2015
It’s a sad fact of life: Absolute monarchies generate more crazy stories than democratic republics. While the common people of the Saudi state are subject to strict rules and tender mercies of the religious police, the royal family are subject to no such restrictions and live lives of luxury and adventure. Instead, the biggest threats to the Saudi princes and princesses are often themselves.10 Princess Basmah’s Fake Sheikh
Her Royal Highness Princess Basmah bint Saud bin Abdulaziz al Saud, the granddaughter of the first Saudi king and the daughter of the second, has long been a thorn in the side of the country’s rulers due to her liberal reformist outlook and human rights campaigning. She has publicly stated her wish that the kingdom would adopt a constitution ensuring gender equality and civil rights, reform of divorce laws, the education system, and social services to reduce discrimination against women, and getting rid of the mahram, a male chaperone who must accompany Saudi women in public. Despite this, she still became a target for those who seek to bring down the ruling Saud dynasty. In 2013, she was allegedly tricked into a Facebook conversation with a hacker who had broken into the account of a personal friend, whom she refuses to identify but described a 30-year-old sheikh in the United Arab Emirates. Her Skype conversations with the fake sheikh were recorded, while he used flattery to try to lure the princess into sexually explicit conversations. She also claimed that her computer was hacked, with videos and photos stolen. After several months, the blackmailer revealed himself, demanding that £320,000 be sent to an Egyptian bank account. The princess decided to go public instead, so the blackmailer released a 40-second video to YouTube showing the princess smoking and blowing a kiss with her head uncovered. While innocuous to Western eyes, this constituted a major scandal for Saudi society. She believes the blackmail plot is linked to the individuals behind the Mujtahidd Twitter account, a network of dissidents who publish intimate details of members of the royal family in order to destabilize the regime.
In 2004, Prince Nayef bin Fawwaz Al Shalaan was indicted in the United States and France for his involvement in a drug-dealing operation between South America and Europe. The scheme dates back to a love affair between the prince and a Colombian woman named Doris Mangeri at the University of Miami in the 1970s. They kept in touch and occasionally met over the years, with the prince even acting as a virtual surrogate father for her children. In 1998, the prince is alleged to have met with members of a Colombian drug syndicate introduced through Mangeri. The syndicate was headed by Juan Gabriel Usuga and Carlos Ramon, former brothers-in-law who had both lost an eye in accidents and were making millions in the drug trade. They shared a ranch outside Medellin, Colombia, which they called the Cyclops Cattle Ranch.The prince allegedly proposed smuggling cocaine on his private Boeing 727 jet, then laundering money through a bank he owned, Kanz Bank, “the only Islamic private bank in Geneva.” The prince has a history with drugs and was once indicted in Mississippi on narcotics charges in 1984. The Colombians agreed to his plan, and 2,000 kilograms (4,400 lb) of cocaine was smuggled into a stash house in Caracas via potato truck, then transferred into 100 empty Samsonite suitcases, and finally placed aboard the prince’s plane. Moved to a Paris stash house, some of the cocaine was then shipped off to Italy and Spain. Unluckily for the conspirators, the Paris stash house and a Spanish shipment were intercepted by authorities. As they squabbled over blame, the Colombians found themselves arrested in the United States.Despite the Saudi kingdom’s draconian policies against drug trafficking, the prince claimed his meetings with the Colombians were merely a search for investors for a plastics venture and was found not guilty by their courts. As there are no extradition treaties between the kingdom and either France or the United States, there wasn’t much that investigators could do. The Saudi interior minister, Prince Nayef bin Abdel Aziz, even threatened to cancel several French business deals if the narcotics investigation continued. Prince Nayef bin Fawwaz Al Shalaan remains in hiding. In court, Usuga claimed that he asked the prince why he wanted to smuggle drugs, and the prince replied: “The world is already doomed. [I’ve been] authorized by God to sell drugs.”
This is one Romeo and Juliet story that ended just as badly as the original. Princess Misha’al bint Fahd al Saud was in an arranged marriage (by all accounts, an unhappy one) with an older cousin. She left for Beirut to pursue further studies. There, she met Khaled, the son of a Saudi diplomat, and began an affair. They maintained the affair back in the kingdom and finally attempted to flee the country together in 1977, but they were caught before they got very far. The princess refused to simply denounce her lover and confessed to the adultery, enraging her conservative grandfather, Muhammad bin Abdul Aziz al Saud, brother of the king.She and her lover were taken to a parking lot in Jeddah, and 19-year-old Princess Misha’al was executed by a gunshot to the head while her lover watched. He would be dispatched by beheading, which was reportedly botched so badly that it took four strokes to complete. The Saudi authorities attempted to keep the whole affair quiet, but it caused international outcry in 1980 when it became the subject of a docu-drama entitled Death Of A Princess, broadcast on the BBC and PBS. The Saudis responded by trying to suppress the film, and they failed. They retaliated by expelling the British ambassador to Riyadh, withdrawing 400 Saudi royals from Britain, and causing the UK £200 million in lost revenue from canceled orders and product boycotts. The film was rebroadcast in 2005 and is available to view in full online.7 Royal LockupPrison Hands
According to televised testimony by Princess Anoud al Fayez, one of the late King Abdullah’s numerous ex-wives, divorced by him several times, who now lives in the UK, King Abdullah kept the four daughters he had with her, Princesses Jawaher, Sahar, Hala, and Maha, under virtual house arrest in the Jeddah royal compound. They are said to have been under the control of three of their half-brothers for the past 14 years, a supposed punishment for racy lifestyles and criticism of the royal family. Others among the king’s daughters have had successful careers and even championed human rights, so why these four were singled out is something of a mystery. The women, now in their thirties and forties, are locked up under terrible conditions. In an interview with RT last year, Princesses Hala and Maha claimed that they were running out of food and water. In an interview with an Arabic TV network, the princesses said that they are being held as punishment for their stance on women’s rights and opposition to male guardianship over women. The Saudi authorities have never charged them with a crime and refer to it as a “private matter.”In an email with a Middle East current affairs site, Princess Sahar explained the dire nature of their plight: We, along with our mother, have always been vocal all our lives about poverty, women’s rights and other causes that are dear to our hearts. We often discussed them with our father. It did not sit well with him and his sons Mitab and AbdelAziz and their entourage. We have been the targets ever since. We have been treated abysmally all our lives, but it got worse during the past 15 years. When Hala began to work as an intern at a hospital in Riyadh, she discovered political prisoners thrown in psychiatric wards, drugged and shamed to discredit them. She complained to her superiors and got reprimanded. She began to receive threatening messages if she didn’t back off. The situation deteriorated, and we discovered that she was also being drugged. She was kidnapped from the house, left in the desert, then thrown in Olaysha’s Women’s Jail, Riyadh. She soon became yet another victim of the system, as were the so-called patients (political prisoners) she was trying to help. Maha, Jawaher and I have all been drugged at some point . . . We have been told to lose all hope of ever having a normal life.6 Halloween At Faisal’sEpic Party
Halloween is banned in the Saudi kingdom, as are most foreign holidays, for their “un-Islamic” nature. Every October, shopping malls are patrolled by religious police on the lookout for outlets selling costumes. But this prohibition doesn’t extend to the royal family. According to US diplomatic cables released through Wikileaks, there is a wild party scene in Jeddah under the protection of Saudi princes. In 2009, Prince Faisal al Thunayan held an underground Halloween party at his residence, inviting over 150 young Saudi men and women. Prince Faisal is a Cadet prince, meaning that he is not in line for the throne but still enjoys all the protection and perks of being a member of the royal family. The religious police were kept at bay by khawi, young Nigerian bodyguards of a similar age who grow up with their princes and serve for life and are considered utterly loyal. Despite Saudi prohibitions on alcohol, Filipino bartenders served a cocktail punch made from sadiqi, a local moonshine. Top-shelf liquor bottles filled with sadiqi were on display. The event, co-sponsored by US energy drink company Kizz-me, featured dancing, costumes, and a DJ. The American consulate officials attending the event heard by word of mouth that many of the female guests were actually prostitutes hired for the event and also that cocaine and hashish use is common at these kind of parties. While only a few years ago, the only nightlife for rich Saudis in Jeddah was informal “dating” in private residences, today, many royal residences have basement bars, discos, entertainment centers, and clubs catering to a growing appetite among the young elite for Western-style nightlife options.
In 2010, Prince Saud bin Abdulaziz bin Nasir al Saud was arrested for beating his manservant and gay lover, Bandar Abdulaziz, to death in an expensive London hotel room. The death is said to have come after weeks of physical and sexual abuse at the hands of the prince. Finally, on Valentine’s Day, in a rage fueled by champagne and “sex on the beach” cocktails, Mr. Abdulaziz was beaten 37 times and bitten on both cheeks. He died as a result of his injuries. After the attack, the prince ordered glasses of milk and water, dragged the corpse into the bed, and tried to clean up the blood in a failed attempt to cover up his crime. The prince spent most of his trial trying to prove he was not gay, as homosexuality is punishable by execution in Saudi Arabia. However, one expert on Saudi Arabia noted that most executions for homosexuality in the kingdom were linked to rape charges, and as a member of the royal family, the prince was unlikely to suffer capital punishment. Others believe that the concealment was motivated more from a desire to obscure the sexual element in the crime. The prince and Abdulaziz seemed to have been in a committed but abusive relationship. They went shopping, dined, and stayed together in the best hotels, but the prince subjected his manservant and lover to frequent violent attacks. One such assault, caught on a parking lot CCTV camera, showed Mr. Abdulaziz submitting to a beating and then meekly following his master as he walked off. The prince attempted to claim that the death was related to a supposed incident where Mr. Abdulaziz was beaten up and robbed of 3,000 euros several weeks earlier, but forensic evidence proved that the wounds were more recent. The prince was convicted and jailed for life but was sent back to Saudi Arabia in 2013 as part of a prisoner exchange deal to allow five Britons languishing in Saudi jails to serve their sentences at home.4 Prince Turki And Princess HindMiami
In 1973, Prince Turki bin Abdul Aziz married beautiful 20-year-old Hind al-Fassi (daughter of a Sufi mystic barred for religious reasons from entering the Saudi kingdom) over the objections of his family. He divorced his first wife in the process. For nine years, they traveled the world with Hind’s mother, sister, and brothers, Mohammed, Allal, Mustafa, and Tarek, as well as a large entourage. They lived a lavish and outlandish lifestyle and caused scandal and headlines wherever they went with their unrestrained spending and wild parties. They eventually settled down in a North Miami condominium, the Cricket Club, overlooking Biscayne Bay. They went there at the urging of Alvin Malnik, a multimillionaire Jewish lawyer with mob connections whom they had met while staying in London. He had charmed Hind’s brothers with his dashing and adventurous image and quickly managed to take control of the prince’s finances. Various chaos involving the al-Fassi brothers ensued. Mohammed, jealous of Malnik’s power, went to Turkey and adopted a young boy and then dumped his Italian girlfriend to marry a Saudi girl, all apparently in a failed attempt to impress his brother-in-law. Seventeen-year-old Tarek kidnapped a young Saudi woman in a London discotheque, proposed to her, and made a cash offer to her husband to divorce her. Malnik’s son, Mark, fell in love with Hind’s sister. The move to the United States was intended for Malnik to finally sort everything out.Miami had an effect on the al-Fassis, who discovered that it was the perfect city to host their lavish and rambunctious lifestyles, despite trouble with the neighbors and disastrous real-estate schemes. Trouble started to emerge in 1982, when newspaper articles alleged that servants on the prince’s compound were being forced to work 24/7 at punishingly low pay while being prevented from leaving or contacting the outside. A warrant was issued, and a dozen police officers arrived with an interpreter in tow. A shouting and shoving match ensued between the officers and Princess Hind and the bodyguards. During the fracas, the princess’s mother, in the bathroom, asked a police officer to pass her a towel through the door. When he did so, she bit him on the arm.Lawsuits and counter-suits raged between the police and the prince, who eventually got off due to diplomatic immunity, hastily organized by the State Department and the Saudi ambassador. The family was ordered to return to the kingdom, but it wasn’t long before the prince and his entourage relocated again to Egypt, where they took over the top three floors of the Ramses Hilton. The Cairo press in the 1990s was filled with lurid stories of servant beatings and thuggish bodyguards. Two Egyptian waiters fell from the hotel while trying to escape down the side of the building with tied bedsheets. Hind became notorious for refusing to pay a local jeweler thousands of dollars that she owed and for entertaining male guests, including well-known Arab singers, while Prince Turki was passed out from prescription medications, prescribed to him by his domineering wife.
According to Wikileaks, in 2006, US Consul General Tatiana Gfoeller wrote a cable detailing a disastrous dinner held by Prince Khalid bin Faisal al-Saud for the visiting Prince Charles. The two princes have a history, sharing a love for landscape painting and even holding an art exhibition together in London and Riyadh. Prince Khalid was said to be nervous about hosting a party for Prince Charles, as his palace was run-down and in dire need of renovation. The entire meeting had been organized by someone described as a “prominent Western businessman,” who was then told by Prince Khalid that it was his responsibility to renovate the ground floor of the palace. When the businessman asked if he could decline, he was given an emphatic “no.”The businessman did his best with the three weeks of time that he had. First, he cut power to the place, so no one could turn on the lights and see what was up. Holes in the walls were filled with Styrofoam, and projectors were set up to project colors and designs onto the walls. The whole dinner was to be lit only by candles, to further obscure the hasty renovation job. The ruse worked; Prince Charles commented on how luxurious and beautiful the palace was, and the businessman was rewarded with paintings from both of the princes and a “tip” of over $13,000. The businessman was also quoted in the cable for describing Prince Khalid as being “extremely cheap.” This record of stinginess took on new significance when Prince Khalid became governor of Mecca, and there were speculations he could be tapped for the throne.2 Rape At The Plaza HotelPassed Out Woman
In 2010, Prince Abdul Aziz bin Fahd was enjoying his opulent and carefree lifestyle at New York’s Plaza hotel. He was staying in a 370-square-meter (4,000 ft2) fourth-floor suite, while members of his entourage occupied 50 rooms in the Plaza and nearby hotels. The prince and his entourage had been staying at the Plaza, partially owned by a royal cousin, for four months when one of his men, Mustapha Ouanes, raped a young barmaid who had fallen asleep in his room. Mr. Ouanes, a mechanical engineer in the employ of construction and telecommunications company Saudi Ogere, was tasked with modifying the climate-control system in the prince’s suite to match his tastes. On January 26, 2010, Mr. Ouanes met a 26-year-old barmaid and her friend at a bar in the West Village; they shared drinks there and at another bar. The victim left to smoke hashish with another friend, and after she returned, the three went to Ouanes’s two-room suite to share breakfast. Incapacitated by alcohol and hashish, the two women passed out, only to awaken to discover Mr. Ouanes raping the victim. In the trial, the defense claimed that the women tried to make Ouanes pay them for sex, concocting a rape story for a lawsuit and cash payout only after he refused. Plaza employee Nizar Adeeb testified that when police arrived, he went up to the suite, where one of the women, very upset, shouted at him, “Do you work for the prince, too?” As police took Mr. Ouanes away, Adeeb gave him a $100 bill to take with him and covered the handcuffs with a coat: “The concern was the Plaza’s reputation, more than the client.” Ouanes was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison. The judge dismissed an attempt by the defense lawyer to have the jury’s verdict overturned in the light of 61-year-old Mr. Ouanes’s coronary artery disease and supposed worsening health. 1 The Assassination Of King FaisalKing Faisal
In 1975, popular Saudi Arabian King Faisal was assassinated by his nephew, Prince Faisal Ibu Musaed. King Faisal had been known for his modernization drive, close ties with the United States, and support for pan-Islamism and conservative forces throughout the Arab world. On March 25, 1975, the king was sitting in his majlis, meaning “a place for sitting,” an event where the king opened up his residence to hear petitions from citizens. Outside, the prince chatted with Kuwaiti representatives, who were also waiting for an audience with the king. King Faisal emerged, and the prince rushed to embrace him, the king bending forward to kiss his nephew’s head as is Saudi custom. The prince then shot three times, hitting the king in the chin and the ear. A bodyguard then hit him with a sheathed sword as Oil Minister Zaki Yamani shouted at him not to kill the prince. The king was rushed to a hospital, where doctors massaged his heart and gave him a blood transfusion but could not successfully save him. It is said that the king’s dying wish was for the prince to be spared. The prince’s brother, Khalid, took the throne by agreement of the Saudi royal family, and the capital shut down completely for three days of mourning. Prince Faisal was declared insane, but a panel of Saudi medical experts determined that he was sane at the time of the assassination. He was found guilty of regicide by the high religious court and executed by beheading in a public square at the Al Hukm Palace (Palace of Justice) in Riyadh in front of thousands of onlookers. There were conspiracy theories related to the assassination, but it was determined that Faisal acted alone. One motive may have been a revenge killing for the death of Prince Khalid bin Musa’id. King Faisal had recently introduced television to the kingdom, which had provoked a violent reaction in some quarters. Prince Khalid bin Musa’id had been killed by a policeman while leading an attack on a television station.David Tormsen has his own ways of dealing with the end of this year’s season of Game of Thrones. Send invitations to Jeddah Halloween parties to [email protected].
Dubai ruler’s eldest son dies of heart attack aged 33So what REALLY happened to Dubai’s Sheikh Rashid? How billionaire prince was hit by claims of cocaine, sex parties – and a ‘roid rage’ killing before he died at 33
Dubai’s Sheikh Rashid, 33, died of a suspected heart attack on Friday
The prince was laid to rest on Saturday at the Umm Hurair Cemetery
Rashid was in line to rule Dubai but crown prince title was stripped in 2008
His younger brother, Sheikh Hamdan, 32, was made the heir in his place
Leaked diplomatic cables accused Rashid of murdering an aide at the Palace
Rumors of drug abuse have long circulated in Emirati high society
The prince is thought to have been unmarried, as are his brothers
By RUTH STYLES FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 15:23 GMT, 21 September 2015 | UPDATED: 06:55 GMT, 22 September 2015
He was the eldest son of Dubai’s Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum – a handsome royal playboy with a glittering future ahead of him.
But on Saturday, 33-year-old Sheikh Rashid was laid to rest after apparently dying of a heart attack at home on Friday.
Now, Daily Mail Online can reveal that the untimely death of Sheikh Rashid has left many questions unanswered – in particular what caused an apparently healthy man to die at such a young age.
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Untimely death: Dubai’s Sheikh Rashid died aged 33 of a heart attack at home on Friday morning
Untimely death: Dubai’s Sheikh Rashid died aged 33 of a heart attack at home on Friday morning
Although the official cause of death has been given as a heart attack, allegations of drug and steroid abuse and of several stints in rehab have long percolated through Emirati society circles.
Rashid, who at one point held a number of high-profile roles, quietly withdrew from public life in the years leading up to his death and became an enigmatic figure in the emirate he was once destined to rule.
Born in November 1981, Rashid was the son of Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed and his principal wife, Sheikha Hind bint Maktoum bin Juma Al Maktoum.
Sheikh Mohammed is a modernized, albeit one with two wives and 24 children, and has transformed what was once a dusty patch of sand into a glittering modern metropolis.
He has also parlayed what was a small trickle of oil into tourist dollars, making Dubai, with its mega-malls and year-round sunshine into one of the top tourist destinations in the Middle East.
Through his Godolphin racing stable, Sheikh Mohammed is a prominent figure in the horse world and regularly attends prestigious race meetings such as Royal Ascot in Britain.
Sheikha Hind, by contrast, is almost never seen. The 53-year-old first cousin of her husband, she is known as ‘the First Lady of Dubai’ and is mother to 12 of his children.
Little seen: Rashid, pictured in 2006 with Sheikh Mohammed, has hardly been seen since 2008 when he was stripped of the title of Crown Prince. His younger brother, Sheikh Hamdan, 32, was given the job instead
Little seen: Rashid, pictured in 2006 with Sheikh Mohammed, has hardly been seen since 2008 when he was stripped of the title of Crown Prince. His younger brother, Sheikh Hamdan, 32, was given the job instead
Sporting hero: Rashid brought glory to his family in 2006 when he won two gold medals at the Asian Games
Sporting hero: Rashid brought glory to his family in 2006 when he won two gold medals at the Asian Games
Aged 17 when she married Sheikh Mohammed, Hind’s wedding, estimated to have cost $100 million, was Dubai’s first big public event.
But unlike Princess Haya of Jordan, Sheikh Mohammed’s junior wife, Hind chose to become a traditional Arab matron and lives sequestered in accordance with the Islamic purdah system.
Men such as Sheikh Rashid, however, are not subject to purdah which made his low profile all the more mystifying to locals.
Provided with a princely education, Rashid’s academic career began at the prestigious Rashid School for Boys in Nad Al Sheba.
Later, he moved to the UK to attend Sandhurst – a top training college for British military officers – before graduating in 2002.
On his return to Dubai, he assumed an increasingly high profile and took on a number of prominent public roles, as well as partnerships in a series of lucrative businesses.
He also opened a number of his own companies, among them United Holdings Group Dubai – a multidisciplinary investment group.
Fitness fanatic: Like his brother Hamdan, Rashid was famously fond of competitive sports
Fitness fanatic: Like his brother Hamdan, Rashid was famously fond of competitive sports
Gym goer: These photos, thought to have been taken in 2003, show Rashid working out in the gym
Gym goer: These photos, thought to have been taken in 2003, show Rashid working out in the gym
Like his father and brothers, he was also a passionate horseman and set up his own racing stable under the name of Zabeel Racing International.
With a personal fortune of an estimated $1.9 billion, he had no shortage of funds to invest and soon racked up an impressive number of winners – 428 in total.
He also developed an interest in endurance racing, the equestrian equivalent of the marathon, and in 2006, became a national hero when he picked up two gold medals at the Asian Games.
But less than a year later, Sheikh Rashid had all but disappeared from public life – and, in 2008, was stripped of the title of crown prince.
A third brother, Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, 31, was given the title of deputy ruler of Dubai at the same time.
Quite why this should have happened remains unclear, with the official explanation being that the current incumbent Hamdan, 32, was simply better suited to the job.
That, however, was not the explanation bandied about in the upper echelons of Emirati society at the time or, indeed, as it later became clear, among the diplomatic community.
One particularly lurid version of events appeared in a confidential memo written the then Acting Consul General David Williams for the CIA the same year.
The diplomatic cable was one of the thousands released by Wikileaks and offers a fascinating insight into what really went on behind the scenes at the Zabeel Palace.
Noting that the move wasn’t a complete surprise because of Hamdan’s increasingly high profile, Williams went on to say that Rashid ‘does not play a public rule in Dubai affairs’.
Proud: Rashid, back row center, received a heroes’ welcome on his return to Dubai from Qatar
Proud: Rashid, back row center, received a heroes’ welcome on his return to Dubai from Qatar
Brothers: Rashid, right, pictured with his brothers Sheikh Majid (left) and Sheikh Maktoum in 2007
Brothers: Rashid, right, pictured with his brothers Sheikh Majid (left) and Sheikh Maktoum in 2007
Brothers: Sheikh Makhtoum, left, and Sheikh Hamdan, right, carry their brother’s coffin into Zabeel Mosque
Brothers: Sheikh Makhtoum, left, and Sheikh Hamdan, right, carry their brother’s coffin into Zabeel Mosque
Mourning: Sheikh Mohammed, fourth from left, and Sheikh Hamdan, sixth from left, pictured at Rashid’s funeral
Mourning: Sheikh Mohammed, fourth from left, and Sheikh Hamdan, sixth from left, pictured at Rashid’s funeral
Future ruler: Sheikh Hamdan, the second son of Sheikh Mohammed and his principal wife Sheikha Hind, was named heir to Dubai in 2008
Future ruler: Sheikh Hamdan, the second son of Sheikh Mohammed and his principal wife Sheikha Hind, was named heir to Dubai in 2008
Then came a bombshell. ‘It is alleged that Rashid killed an assistant in the Ruler’s office,’ continues Williams, ‘thereby forfeiting his opportunity to be heir.’
Although the identity of the aide supposedly murdered by Rashid has never been revealed, commentators at the time suggested that the attack could have taken place during an episode of ‘roid rage’ – a reference to the steroids the prince was believed to have taken.
Further colorful allegations emerged in another cable, this time written in the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh, which spoke of an underground royal party scene in which sex parties and drugs were common currency.
Written by Consul General Martin Quinn, the dispatch claimed that the underground scene was ‘thriving and throbbing’ but was only available to the very wealthy.
He also noted that ‘cocaine and hashish use is common in these social circles’, which, he added, were largely composed of aristocratic and princely members.
Among the fabulously wealthy guests to attend the parties, it has been alleged, were the Emirati princes – including Rashid.
Although the notoriously secretive Zabeel Palace has never commented on Rashid’s alleged use of drugs, another illuminating episode came three years later in 2011 – shortly after the prince gave up his presidency of the UAE Olympic Committee due to his ‘heavy workload’.
A British aide who had been working for the Al Maktoums at the sprawling Longross Palace in Surrey, England, brought an unfair dismissal case against the family in London and claimed he was sacked after refusing to spy on a dignitary staying there.
Glittering: Sheikh Mohammed’s tenure has seen Dubai transformed into a glittering tourist destination
Glittering: Sheikh Mohammed’s tenure has seen Dubai transformed into a glittering tourist destination
High profile: Sheikh Mohammed, pictured with Princess Haya at Goodwood Racecourse in Chichester, England, shares a love of racing with his sons, including Sheikh Rashid who owned a racing stables of his own
High profile: Sheikh Mohammed, pictured with Princess Haya at Goodwood Racecourse in Chichester, England, shares a love of racing with his sons, including Sheikh Rashid who owned a racing stables of his own
Choice: Emirs such as Sheikh Mohammed can choose their heir, although traditionally, the eldest son is chosen for the job. Sheikh Mohammed opted for his second son, Hamdan (pictured), instead
Choice: Emirs such as Sheikh Mohammed can choose their heir, although traditionally, the eldest son is chosen for the job. Sheikh Mohammed opted for his second son, Hamdan (pictured), instead
Staying silent: Sheikh Mohammed, pictured with the Queen in Abu Dhabi in 2010, has never commented on the allegations of drug use surrounding Rashid
Staying silent: Sheikh Mohammed, pictured with the Queen in Abu Dhabi in 2010, has never commented on the allegations of drug use surrounding Rashid
Mr Ali, who claimed he ‘regularly came into contact with the family’, alleged that Rashid, far from having a heavy workload, was instead in the throes of drug addiction.
What’s more, Mr Ali continued, the problem had become so acute that prince had been made to attend a rehab clinic by his furious family in 2009.
Other bizarre claims emerged, including accusations that staff working for the Al Maktoum family operated in a ‘climate of fear’.
Another aide, Olatunji Faleye, giving evidence on behalf of Mr Ali, claimed racial abuse from ‘my bosses’ was commonplace and said he had repeatedly been called ‘a black slave’.
He also claimed that colleagues had dismissed his Christian beliefs as ‘inferior, rubbish and no good’ and had told him to convert to Islam.
Most damaging for the family, if not Rashid himself, was the accusation that Mr Ali had been ‘bullied, harassed and belittled’ before being forced out of his £60,000-a-year ($93,000) job.
Although the tribunal ended in victory for the Al Maktoum family and Sheikh Mohammed himself was never accused of any wrongdoing, the family has never publicly denied the allegations put forward about Rashid.
Since then, little has been heard from or about the 33-year-old, although his brother Hamdan has made frequent public appearances alongside his father.
Until the announcement of his death on Friday, Rashid had been all but hidden away behind the scenes at the Zabeel Palace.
Now he is making headlines once more, with his memorial service and burial at the Umm Hurair Cemetery in Dubai covered faithfully by the local press.
A three day official mourning period has been declared, while Hamdan, who with Maktoum, 31, carried Rashid’s body during his funeral on Saturday, has spoken movingly of ‘losing my best friend.
For all that, it seems likely that Sheikh Rashid will become little more than a footnote in the United Arab Emirates’ royal history.
But whatever the truth of his alleged penchant for drugs, there is no denying that the death of a young man in his prime is anything but a tragedy.
According to rumors circulating in the country, Hamdan’s father, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, threatened last November to disinherit his son if he pursued the relationship, but to no avail.
The young man chose love over his title and situation, bringing his father to reconsider his position.
The Sheikh finally seems to have accepted the situation and even gave his blessing to the new couple.
That’s called a progressive step which is why Dubai has become a cosmopolitan city. Modernization and freedom of individual rights to make this world a better place to live.
Excellent step in the right direction. Will certainly bring in more visitors. Pakistan needs to follow suit.
Hope the so called ulema in Pakistan will strongly condemn this act of UAE government .Why is Pakistan dry’ due ulema ?
Desperate times require desperate measures in a Las Vegas of the Middle East.
Dubai is the best!!!!
Pakistan is Pakistan and UAE is UAE, these are two different countries and have their own different setups. let’s not compare Pakistan to UAE as these are totally two different countries.
Everyone knows, Arab Muslims ,with Indian maids can go to any extent for earning and values of Islam like us are long forgotten.
The UAE does what is best for their country ,in modern times.
@Gypsy when did UAE ever claim it was an Islamic Republic ?
@Proud_Indian ….”progressive step” .Yes; most of business is in Indian hands ! so cheers !
Ramazan or no-Ramazan, rivers of liquor always flow in Dubai.
This is “purely” for the Saudi’s convenience when they travel out in droves on Thursday’s to Dubia for drinking and whoring. They call it “progress”
Good move by Dubai officials. Right or wrong, it’s a tourist attraction catering to millions of people. It’s about giving people ‘choices’.
If you don’t like it, don’t drink.
Why do Muslims get so bent of shape b/c it doesn’t fit their ideals.
kind of Soft Alcohol and Soft Music
Wait till iftar !!! what a joke!! At least some common sense has gone in to Arab Head !
WoW! The Holy Arabs of UAE… custodians and torchbearers of the religion, sowing the seeds of war, separation and religious extremism in other countries (read Pakistan and Yemen) and promoters of
individual freedom and quality of life in their own country. What an irony!
This only speaks of how desperate the Dubai government is for revenue stream.
Sacrificing values and religious traditions for money is decadent in itself.
And allowing Alcohol consumption during the day, in the holiest month, further erodes any level of respectability Dubai had left – after allowing all other types of vices (supposedly ‘illegal’) to flourish
under the very noses of the local police ,who are officially accomplice in the act.
No harm in it, in my opinion live and let live.
Putting restrictions during holy month does not make people who fast to stop fasting and who does not fast will make them fast.
It’s a personal choice and if you have a strong faith, these things should not bother you.
At the end of the day, this is our test to control ourselves in every way possible during the month of Ramzan and all year around as well.
Cheers!
Go Pats!
@Gypsy On record on paper… The larges sale of liquor is during the time of Eid in Pakistan
@timetostopthis It will bring more tourists and tax revenue but it’s a drug.
Just like any other drug, it’s increased consumption will cause addiction and deterioration of health.
Its addiction can lead to fatal diseases such as cancer and the cardiovascular disease.
There is no point in promoting its consumption, therefore I think Pakistan is doing the right thing.
Being a Muslim, I welcome this move.
Let people who wants to drink allowed to drink and let people who wants to fast allow them to fast.
Dubai is breaking the Islamic rigid stone age blindness now..
Middle East is progressing and becoming more and more liberal which is a good news for world peace.
Next someone will sleep with the mothers ?
Money walks, money talks, money rocks and sometimes stalks.
It’s their wish.
The amount of respect UAE has earned is because they have taken measures to bring investment, create business opportunities’ and keeping their people happy.
Those who don’t drink will not drink, those who want to drink will drink at any cost.
Why lose business revenue that helps in nation building.
Smart move – HALLAL & HARRAM are talk of past ,Islam & Ignorant Muslim’s
I wonder what’s next for Dubai to attract tourists, shoppers and whoever has a wad to blow??
Perhaps Casinos, ala Las Vegas and Macao?
It would not be stretch for Dubai, since it already allows most of the other activities which are purview of the
playboys, stopthismoney launderers, and criminals who come to wash their wealth by spending the ill-gotten wealth on Dubai properties,
luxury cars and other flashy items!
“Wetter” and better!
never they do not have guts
I am free willed individual, i wish that everywhere in the world i go, there should be no restriction on me unless i am not intruding others business.
I like alcohol very much.
I Love it. Thanks UAE!!!
@Mahmood I dont see what the fuss is about.
Its only for visitors and has no impact on the emirati population.
Stop hyperventilating over everything.
stop thisSacrificing values for ‘visitor’s cash’ and allowing Muslim population to witness violation of their moral code, is everything to worry about .
Where does it stop?
@Ammar I think you are wrong as you make all alcohol drinkers to be alcoholics. That is definitely not the case.
The vast majority of people drink small quantities of alcohol purely for recreation and it causes no damage to their health. Besides, if you consider alcohol to be a drug, what about cigarette smoking?
How about stopping the sale of cigarettes too in Pakistan. Its equally addictive and is a known cause of lung cancer. And while we are looking at stopping things, how about stopping the sale of sugar and cooking oil as they can lead to diabetes and other major health related diseases.
My friends are appreciating this act of UAE as if liquor is very good for health and strengthens one’s body and mind.
It is an established fact that it is harmful for the health and that’s why prohibited in Islam.
Good decision.
To all those cheering and applauding this decision of the desperate Dubai government, do you even know that earnings from any means forbidden in Islam – not just consumption,
but sale of alcohol, are not Halal?
Or do you even care?
That would explain your thinking.
They have totally lost their way the dream will fail totally un-Islamic the locals ,
will not be happy with this Ramadan is a very holy month for Muslims and this is totally a desperate move showing the financial state the country must be in
Modernity is not consuming alcohol or wearing revealing western attire as some comments here suggest.
Nothing but hypocrisy at a grand scale.
Drinking liquor is a personal matter. There are hundreds of thousands of non-Muslims in Dubai. Why should anyone take away their right to enjoy an alcoholic drink, as long as they remain within the bounds of the local laws. If someone were to evaluate alcohol consumption in Pakistan, I assure you that it would be no less than at least half of Dubai. It is almost as easily available in Pakistan, as it is in Dubai. And its probably far cheaper here, as long as the buyer doesn’t get cheated with fake stuff. In Muslim countries like Pakistan, with marginal tourism and very small non-Muslim populations, if Muslims stick to their religious laws, there would be no demand for it and the business will flop or will be marginal at best. IMO, it is far more important to absolutely ban cigarettes and pan / gutka / chaaliya. They are absolutely, without any doubt, far more hazardous to human health.
bro is saying right
Dubai has taken a retrogressive step. It should ban alcohol all together.
Alcohol is mother of evils and it has destroyed not only morals but als0 is the cause of most crimes like rape , murder , drunken driving, stealing and looting
shah abdul hannan social activist, Dhaka
@Mahmood Don’t drink!! Simple.
money talks 🙂
great news for anti Islam forces and all vested interests.
@M. Malik money talks…. The people in charge of Dubai don’t care about what’s forbidden in Islam….. Don’t like
Posted by atteeq in Nawaz Sharif Massive Corruption on May 5th, 2017
Mr. Shuja Nawaz , younger brother of former Chief of Army Staff General Asif Nawaz Janjua , in his book“CROSSED SWORDS Pakistan, its Army and the wars within” published in 2008, by Oxford University press writes the full story, what his brother General Asif Nawaz told him.
“SHARIF ALSO FOUND THAT HE AND THE NEW ARMY CHIEF THOUGHT DIFFERENTLY ON MOST MATTERS. HAVING GROWNUP IN THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY, SHARIF BELIEVED IN THE GIVE –AND-TAKE OF THE MARKET PLACE. PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS WERE IMPORTANT TO HIM AND TO HIS FATHER, MIAN MOHAMMAD SHARIF, KNOWN TO THE PUBLIC AS “ABBA-JI”.
ONE OF THE FIRST ACTIONS THAT THE SHARIF FAMILY INITIATED WAS A GATHERING ARRANGED BY THE PATRIARCH OF THE FAMILY WHERE HE SAT DOWN HIS TWO SONS (NAWAZ & SHAHBAZ) BEFORE THE NEW ARMY CHIEF AND TOLD GENERAL ASIF NAWAZ IN PUNJABI THEIR COMMON TONGUE;
“THESE TWO ARE YOUR YOUNGER BROTHERS . IF THEY MISBEHAVE, JUST TELL ME AND I SHALL FIX THEM!”
THE GENERAL WAS NOT — — USED TO SUCH INFORMALITY AND MAY HAVE APPEARED STAND-OFFISH. LATER, HIS TACITURN RESPONSES AT THE BREAKFAST MEETINGS THAT THE PRIME MINISTER WOULD INVITE HIM TO, ALSO DID NOT ADD TO BUILDING CONFIDENCE BETWEEN THEM. SHARIF BEGAN CULTIVATING OTHER GENERALS IN THE ARMY, USING, AMONG OTHE THINGS, FAMILY OR TRIBAL CONNECTIONS TO REACH OUT TO THEM.
IN ONE CASE HE WAS REPORTED TO HAVE GIVEN THE BROTHER OF THE CORPS COMMANDER IN LAHORE A LUCRATIVE LICENCE OF AN INDUSTRIAL UNIT. THIS LED TO THE CORPS COMMANDER BEING SUMMONED FOR A DRESSING DOWN BY THE NEW CHIEF.” (Page 449)
So this was not only the army chief whom Nawaz Sharif tried to bribe but he attempted to bribe the senior commanders of the army. Shuja Nawaz further writes
“REPORTS STARTED COMING IN TO THE COAS THAT THE PRIME MINISTER HAD GIFTED NEW “BMW” CARS TO SOME GENERALS.
THIS CREATED ALARM IN THE MIND OF GENERAL ASIF NAWAZ.
ONE DAY, HE WAS VISITED BY SHAHBAZ SHARIF, WHO BROUGHT OVER THE KEYS OF A “BMW” AND SAID; ABBA-JI HAS SENT AS A GIFT FOR YOU. GENERAL ASIF REF– — USED WITH THANKS.
LATER WHEN HE (GENERAL ASIF NAWAZ) WENT TO CALL ON THE PRIME MINISTER IN MUREE, HE FOUND OUT FOR HIMSELF THAT THESE REPORTS ABOUT THE “BMWs” WERE ACCURATE. ACCORDING TO HIM (GENERAL ASIF NAWAZ) AS HE PREPARED TO LEAVE, THE PRIME MINISTER ACCOMPANIED HIM TO HIS CAR, SURROUNDED BY COLLEAGUES.
WHAT CAR ARE YOU USING?”ASKED SHARIF.
A TOYOTA CROWN, REPLIED GENERAL NAWAZ, POINTING TO THE OLD MODEL HE HAD — — USED FOR HIS VISIT.
THIS CAR DOES NOT BEFIT YOU, SAID SHARIF IN PUNJABI, THEIR SHARED LANGUAGE, AND SIGNALLED TO A COLLEAGUE WHO TROTTED OFF AND DROVE BACK A NEW “BMW” SEDAN THAT HAD BEEN CLEARLY WAITING FOR THAT MOMENT. SHARIF PRESENT THE KEYS OF THE “BMW” TO GENERAL NAWAZ SAYING:” THIS IS THE CAR THAT YOU DESERVE”.
GENERAL NAWAZ RECALL BEING MOMENTARILY FROZEN BY THE AUDACITY OF THIS ACTION. QUICKLY, HE DROPPED THE KEYS BACK INTO THE PRIME MINISTER’S HAND, AND SAID : THANK YOU VERY MUCH. SIR! I AM HAPPY WITH WHAT I HAVE. SALUTED HIM AND DROVE OFF.
WHAT THE PRIME MINISTER PROBABLY THOUGHT AS A FRIENDLY GESTURE WAS NOT SEEN AS SUCH BY THE ARMY CHIEF , WHO FELT THAT IT WAS A PUBLIC DEMEANING OF HIS OFFICE AND A CRUDE ATTEMPT AT BRIBERY. (PAGE 450)
Posted by Brave_Heart in PAKISTAN STRONG on May 2nd, 2017
Courtesy-Pak Fauj Zindabad
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