This Businessman Corrected Bush On Fascism

By Ahmed Quraishi

Nasser al-Kharafi, 67, a Kuwaiti businessman, died in Cairo Sunday night and was buried earlier today, Tuesday, in his native Kuwait. He was the third richest Arab. Forbes magazine placed him among the wealthiest businessmen in the Arab world. He was ranked 77 on the world’s list of billionaires in 2011 with an estimated wealth of $10.4 billion.

His father started out a small trader in Kuwait who ran a business that included Iraq, Iraq, Gulf region and India. Today, the Kharafi group has businesses and factories across the Middle East, with seven billion US dollars invested in Egypt alone. Jordan’s King Abdullah II once said to him, ‘Your investments in Jordan equal the US aid we receive.’

There are two reasons I mention him here. One is that I know some members of his family, close and distant relatives. And second is his person, the man behind all this wealth.

I have closely known three of his relatives. Surprisingly, all of them have shared the same personality traits as the deceased. He has been described as humble, honest, opinionated and principled.

When told that Forbes was predicting he would soon rival Bill Gates in his wealth, Nasser al Kharafi smiled and said ‘This is the last thing on my mind.’ And he was not being humble. He died in Egypt, away from his home in Kuwait, because he noticed some of the people in his business delegation visiting factories and offices in the region were too exhausted to coninue the trip. So he stayed overnight in Cairo for their sake.

While a shrewd and successful businessman, he was also a generous giver. In the tradition of the Arab Islamic culture, he wouldn’t divulge his largesse, but he has been known to have spent generously on the poor in the region, and was very proud that his companies provided job opportunities to 100,000 people across the Middle East. He was against stashing his wealth in western banks.

Although he was a Muslim from the Sunni sect and understood the politics behind Iran’s support for the Lebanese militia, Hezbollah, yet he publicly supported the militia on the sole criterion that the militia raised arms against Israel when no one dared to. He wrote eloquently in Arab media defending his position of supporting Hezbollah despite the many political differences between Arab governments and the government of Iran.

His last opinion piece in Arabic, titled, ‘Life Of Pride Or Death With Honor’ , published last month, contained an open letter to the leader of Lebanese Shia militia Hassan Nasrallah. It reflected his thinking. Here is a translated excerpt:

“How can we not support you when you are confronting the arrogance of the Israeli military machine. Thanks to your strong will and the heroism of the resistance fighters, the weakness and hollowness of Israeli military has been exposed (…) Your excellency Hassan Nasrallah, I know that you do not differentiate between Sunnis and Shias. The yardstick of Allah is piety, good deeds and the jihad in the name of Allah. There are those in our Ummah who are trying to divide Muslims to weaken the Ummah and weaken their hearts in the service of the Zionist enemy. What they don’t understand is that our enemy does not differentiate between us. The enemy is attacking Sunni Muslims in proud Gaza day and night, killing its women and children, just as the enemy attacks the Shia Muslims in the dear south Lebanon, and is threatening war against Muslim Iran. But our people don’t know this, whether they are nationalists or Islamists. That’s what hurts us.”

He was known for his bold opinions. In 2006, he asked the American president George W. Bush to clarify the concept of fascism when the US president claimed that, “Islamic fascism is the root cause of the crisis in the region.”

In an open letter he wrote to President Bush, al Kharafi said, “We, along with other people in the whole world, are standing united with you in your rejection of fascism. But the grim pictures of the Lebanese victims who died due to the Israeli aggression on Lebanon are showing us the opposite. We, therefore, believe that there is a misunderstanding on who should be accused of fascism.”

As any opinionated man, he had many critics in the region. But his hallmark was his smile and his firm and warm handshake. He reminded many of the legendary Arab traits of being resolute, honest but at the same time forgiving to those who attack his person, and capable of winning over enemies by his forthcoming handshake and smile.

People can agree or disagree with Nasser al Kharafi’s political opinions. But what can’t be denied is that this was a man that embodied what a businessman should be. He would often ask about the number of new job opportunities his new business ventures would create and this question would be at the top, right there with other commercial considerations.

Such a behavior would have never endeared him to the world’s famous business journals, but that’s the kind of businessman he was.

That’s why I mention him here today. May his soul rest in peace.

In Libya, 7 journalists unaccounted for, 3 others abused

CJP

New York, Atleast seven journalists covering the conflict in Libya are unaccounted for, according to research by the Committee to Protect Journalists, which expressed deep concern today about their well-being. The most recent to go missing is Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, a correspondent for London’s Guardian newspaper, whose disappearance was reported today.

A government tank outside Zawiya.

Also, on Wednesday, three BBC journalists recounted a harrowing 21 hours in the custody of Libyan military and security forces this week during which they were subjected to physical assault and psychological torment. The three, along with their driver, were detained at a checkpoint in Al-Zahra, south of contested city of Zawiya.

“The abuse inflicted on international journalists raises serious concern about the welfare of Libyan journalists unaccounted for since the start of the conflict,” said CPJ’s Deputy Director Robert Mahoney. “We call on Colonel Qaddafi’s government to release all detained journalists immediately, and to allow the media to work freely.”

Abdul-Ahad, an Iraqi who is an award-winning war reporter, was last known to be on the outskirts of the coastal city of Zawiya, where there has been heavy fighting between rebels and forces loyal to Muammar Qaddafi. “The Guardian has been in contact with Libyan government officials in Tripoli and London and requested them to act urgently to discover where he is, if he is safe and well, and to establish if he is in the custody of the authorities,” the paper said in a story on its website today. Abul-Ahad has reported from a number of conflict zones, including Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, and Sudan. The Guardian said Abdul-Ahad and was last in touch with the paper through a third party on Sunday.

Andrei Netto, a reporter for Brazil’s O Estado de S. Paolo, was released today to the Brazilian ambassador in Tripoli after being jailed for eight days in the city of Sabrata,O Estado reported on its website. O Estado said Netto, who had been held by troops loyal to Qaddafi, was in good health but was told to leave Libya on Friday.

The whereabouts of at least seven local journalists remained unclear today, CPJ research shows. Atef al-Atrash, a contributor to local news outlets, disappeared shortly after speaking on air on Al-Jazeera from Benghazi. Mohamed al-Sahim, a blogger and critical political writer; Mohamed al-Amin, a cartoonist; and Idris al-Mismar, a writer and former editor-in-chief of Arajin, a monthly culture magazine, have also been reported missing. Two Tripoli-based journalists–Salma al-Shaab, head of the Libyan Journalists Syndicate, and Suad al-Turabouls, a correspondent for the pro-government Al-Jamahiriya–were detained last month but are now unaccounted for.

Three BBC journalists–reporter Feras Killani, cameraman Goktay Koraltan, and producer Chris Cobb-Smith–were released on Tuesday after 21 hours of abuse that included beatings and mock executions, according to news reports. Killani told the BBC: “They were kicking and punching me, four or five men. I went down on to my knees. They attacked me as soon as I got out of the car. They knocked me down to the ground with their guns, AK47s. I was down on my knees and I heard them cocking their guns. I thought they were going to shoot me.” He said he was later beaten severely and accused of being a spy. Cobb-Smith described a mock execution: “A man with a small submachine gun was putting it to the nape of everyone’s neck in turn. He pointed the barrel at each of us. When he got to me at the end of the line, he pulled the trigger twice. The shots went past my ear.” Cobb-Smith managed to place a call to the BBC with a phone that had not been discovered by security agents.

The International News Safety Institute issued a safety advisory today saying that journalists travelling to Zawiya are being obstructed. “Journalists have been detained at checkpoints on the edge of Zawiya and their equipment has been destroyed. Attempting to get in to Zawiya is extremely risky,” the institute said on its website.

Since Libya’s political unrest erupted last month, CPJ has documented at least 12 detentions, four assaults, two attacks on news facilities, the jamming of Al-Jazeera and Al-Hurra transmissions, and the interruption of Internet service. Numerous journalists have also reported the confiscation of equipment.

Defector admits ‘fabricating’ crucial Iraq WMD intel: report

LONDON: The defector whose claims that Iraq had biological weapons were used to justify the 2003 US invasion has admitted that he lied to help get rid of Saddam Hussein, the Guardian newspaper said Tuesday.

Iraq’s elected Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki speaks at a ceremony to mark the birth anniversary of Prophet Mohammed at Um al-Qura mosque in Baghdad February 15, 2011.

Rafid Ahmed Alwan al-Janabi, codenamed Curveball by German and American intelligence officials, told the BND, Germany’s secret service, that Iraq had mobile bio-weapons trucks and had built clandestine factories.

Even after he went back on his story after being confronted with denials from another source, his former boss, the BND continued to take him seriously, he told The Guardian.

The false information formed the cornerstone of former US secretary of state Colin Powell’s key address to the United Nations on February 5, 2003.
During the speech, Powell described Janabi as “an Iraqi chemical engineer” who “supervised one of these facilities.”

“He actually was present during biological agent production runs and was also at the site when an accident occurred in 1998,” Powell told the UN.

“Maybe I was right, maybe I was not right,” Janabi told the British newspaper.

“They gave me this chance. I had the chance to fabricate something to topple the regime. I and my sons are proud of that and we are proud that we were the reason to give Iraq the margin of democracy.

“I had to do something for my country, so I did this and I am satisfied because there is no dictator in Iraq any more,” he added.

The Iraq war resulted in more than 100,000 civilian deaths and destroyed the political reputations of the then US president George W. Bush, his defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and their ally British prime minister Tony Blair.

Rumsfeld admitted in memoirs released last week that he “made a misstatement” when he claimed Hussein had weapons of mass destruction sites round Baghdad and Tikrit.
Janabi told The Guardian he was “shocked” by Powell’s speech, but played down his role in the conflict.

“Powell didn’t say I was the only reason for war, he talked about three things: Uranium, Al-Qaeda in Iraq and my story (biological weapons),” he said.

And he accused the BND of having broken an agreement that they would not hand over his information to other countries. A German official, named “Dr Paul,” approached Janabi in 2000 after identifying him as a Baghdad-trained chemical engineer with possible inside intelligence of former leader Hussein’s regime.

“He said it was very important, that Iraq had a dictator and I needed to help,” the defector told The Guardian.

Janabi, who fled Iraq in 1995, lied to the BND, telling them Hussein had acquired mobile bio-weapons trucks and built weapons factories.

Later however, the BND confronted Janabi with a statement from Bassil Latif, his former boss at the Military Industries Commission in Iraq, who said there were no trucks or factories.

Janabi told the BND: “OK, when (Latif says) there no trucks then (there are none),” according to the paper.

Despite his admission, Janabi said security officials continued to take his claims seriously.

They told him in 2002 that his pregnant wife might not be allowed to join him in Germany if he refused to cooperate.

But the defector denied that he had lied to the BND in order to secure asylum, claiming he did it purely to topple Hussein.

“I was granted asylum on March 13, 2000. The story…had nothing to do with my asylum claim,” Janabi told the paper during a meeting in Germany.

“I had a problem with the Saddam regime, I wanted to get rid of him. I tell you something when I hear anybody, not just in Iraq but in any war, (is) killed, I am very sad. But give me another solution. Can you give me another solution?”

“Believe me, there was no other way to bring about freedom to Iraq. There were no other possibilities,” he added.

Tyler Drumheller, the former CIA chief in Europe, said Janabi’s “fascinating” admissions “makes me feel better.”

“I think there are still a number of people who still thought there was something in that, even now,” Drumheller told The Guardian.

Occupied Kashmir under literary spotlight

By Beatrice Le Bohec

JAIPUR, India – Asia’s biggest literary festival, in India’s “pink city” Jaipur, has given pride of place to troubled Indian Kashmir, whose literature has been marked by more than two decades of rebel violence.

In recent years, the Jaipur festival has become the literary event not to be missed in India

Muslim-majority Kashmir has a rich literary tradition dating back to the 14th century, but few outside readers are familiar with its beauty because little has been translated.

But now a growing number of Kashmiri works are appearing in English as reader interest in a region beset by a separatist insurgency since 1989 is growing, festival organisers said.

Invited to appear at the five-day Jaipur Literary Festival, which began on Friday and is billed by organisers as the biggest in Asia, poet Naseem Shafaie read her work to a mainly English-speaking audience at a seminar.

Her translator Neerja Mattoo then took the floor to render the rhythm and words of Shafaie’s verse in English.

Shafaie’s haunting poetry evokes the pain she felt when her husband, a journalist, was the victim of an attack, and the distress of dispatching her son to New Delhi to keep him safe from the unrest in Kashmir.

Shafaie is the first woman to have published a book of poems in Kashmiri, entitled “Open Windows”.

“I see a growing interest in Kashmir because of the political situation. People want to read to learn,” Shafaie said through her translator.

The insurgency against Indian rule in Kashmir has claimed more than 47,000 lives, and the presence of hundreds of thousands of security forces in one of the most militarised regions in the world has fuelled the anger of residents, especially among jobless youth.

Last summer more than 100 people were shot dead by security forces during a wave of demonstrations triggered when a teenager was killed by a police tear gas bullet.

The Himalayan region is held in part by nuclear-armed India and Pakistan but claimed in full by both.

“In Kashmir, politics is inseparable from everyday life. No family was spared by the violence,” said Indian journalist Rahul Pandita, who originally hailed from the area and has reported in conflict zones such as Iraq.

“But it takes time for problems to find a place in the local literature, and it takes even more time for them to be translated into English.”

Kashmiri literature translated into English will develop in the next five years, he predicted, especially as “poetic expression grows in certain forms of misfortune.”

Mattoo, who has translated three books of Kashmiri short stories and poetry into English, said there were limits on the number of English versions that can can appear because of a simple lack of translators.

In recent years, the Jaipur festival, which began in 2006 with a handful of authors and participants, has become the literary event not to be missed in India.

More than 200 authors were invited this year and organisers expect more than 50,000 people to attend the event, which offers discussions, readings and concerts in the scenic setting of a 19th-century hotel in Jaipur known as the “Pink City” because of its rose-coloured buildings.