Sunday, 26 June 2011

The following are reports published today, from MEMRI’s Special Dispatch series and the MEMRI TV Project.

  • Yemen's Ambassador to Egypt Abd Al-Wali Al-Shimari: I Refuse to Return to Work for a Regime that Sheds the Blood of the Yemeni People
  • Former U.S. Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney on Libyan TV: People in the U.S. are Losing Their Homes, while the Libyan Government Builds Homes for Its People
  • On India Visit, Sufi Mystic from Baghdad Says: 'A Besieged [Muslim] Community Always Looks for Alibis; The War that Osama [Bin Laden] Fought is Not for Real Islam, But Political Islam'

Special Dispatch No. 3947—Yemen/Egypt/Inter-Arab Relations

Yemen's Ambassador to Egypt Abd Al-Wali Al-Shimari: I Refuse to Return to Work for a Regime that Sheds the Blood of the Yemeni People

Following are excerpts from an interview with Yemeni ambassador to Egypt Abd Al-Wali Al-Shimari, which aired on Al-Masriya TV (Egypt) on June 6, 2011.

To view this clip on MEMRI TV, visit http://www.memri.org/clip/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/2991.htm.

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Abd Al-Wali Al-Shimari: "I was officially appointed, and I served as Yemen's ambassador to Egypt for a long time. I served as ambassador to Egypt and the Arab League for 11 years. But I refused to work, and declared my support for the Yemeni revolution. I refused to return to my work under the current regime, because it is shedding the blood of the Yemeni people, to which I belong. Sovereignty lies, first and foremost, with the Yemeni people. Therefore, I refused to return to work in my office, where there is a picture of a leader who is killing his own people."

To read the full report, visit http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/5407.htm.

Special Dispatch No. 3946—U.S. and the Arab & Muslim World

Former U.S. Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney on Libyan TV: People in the U.S. are Losing Their Homes, while the Libyan Government Builds Homes for Its People

Following are excerpts from an interview with former U.S. congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, which aired on Libyan TV on June 14, 2011.

To view this clip on MEMRI TV, visit http://www.memri.org/clip/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/2985.htm.

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Cynthia McKinney: "We were all stunned when we heard the allegations, because you see, in the United States we do not have free health care. We do not have free education. So the politics in the U.S. right now is around health care issues. It is around education issues."

To read the full report, visit http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/5406.htm.

Special Dispatch No. 3945—India/Islamic Reform/Iraq/South Asia Studies Project

On India Visit, Sufi Mystic from Baghdad Says: 'A Besieged [Muslim] Community Always Looks for Alibis; The War that Osama [Bin Laden] Fought is Not for Real Islam, But Political Islam'

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The shrine of Sufi mystic Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer, India

In a recent interview conducted during a visit to India, Abdul Rahman Abdulla Al-Gilani, custodian of the Baghdad-based shrine of 12th-century Sufi mystic Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jilani, expressed the Sufi viewpoint regarding the deceased Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

Rejecting bin Laden's message to Muslims regarding jihad and anti-Americanism, Abdul Rahman Abdulla Al-Gilani said that Sufism does not permit revenge, and guides its followers to seek justice in the divine court. The interview was conducted after the May 2 killing of Osama bin Laden in a U.S. operation in Pakistan.

Abdul Rahman Abdulla Al-Gilani argued: "Sufism, which is another name for moderate Islam, has no place for revenge. You can only pray and preach. The prerogative to punish is with God, not man. God is synonymous with justice."

To read the full report, visit http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/5405.htm/?jklhl.