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Saudi Arabia will soon set up a Centre for Contemporary Islamic studies and Cultural Dialogue at Imam Muhammad ibn Saud Islamic University in Riyadh. Saudi monarch, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, has approved the project.


“Our university will try to realise the Centre’s objectives by holding seminars and conferences, translating specialised books and publications and creating a database on how Islam tackles modern issues,” said Sulaiman Abalkhail, President of the University.


The University has appointed Dr. Abdul Kareem Al Sayegh, a member of the faculty of the Higher Institute of Judiciary, as the Centre’s under-secretary.


King Abdullah called for dialogue between Muslims, Christians and Jews in order to promote world peace, during his recent historic meeting with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican.


“The Centre aims at highlighting the greatness of Islam and its ability to tackle modern issues, introduce Islamic laws and teachings and take care of the issues of youth and family,” explained Abalkhail. He said the centre would also give importance to women’s issues and their rights in Islam, explain Islam’s stand on terrorism and other modern issues and promote a culture of dialogue in society.


The centre will have six units. The first unit will conduct research on modern systems and comparative studies of political, economic and social systems.


The second will focus on human rights and will conduct research on women’s issues and rights according to Islam. The third unit will deal with youth issues and problems while the fourth will deal with matters related to combating terrorism.


The Centre’s fifth unit will conduct programmes to promote dialogue with other cultures. The sixth unit will deal with family issues, including illiteracy and technological backwardness.


Abalkhail said the centre would be financed from different sources including the University’s budget, donations and endowments. The Centre will have its own income through research programmes, specialised courses and from its investments.


It may be noted that some time ago, the Saudi Ministry of Education and the King Abdul Aziz Centre for National Dialogue signed a partnership agreement to jointly promote the culture of dialogue.


The partnership initially is for a period of five years and will be renewed automatically unless either side notifies the other of its wish not to renew. The partnership aims to foster a culture of dialogue and encourage tolerance, moderation and freedom of expression based on Islamic principles.


The two institutes will cooperate in scientific studies, analyses, public opinion surveys and training programmes in achieving the objectives of the partnership. They will also organise meetings and seminars for the youth and establish joint data bases on the culture of dialogue.

GCC refuses to be bullied by the Americans and waking up to the hoodwinking game by the Bush administration


Iran’s status as a major player in the Gulf is dawning over the littoral states


Peals of sarcastic laughter greeted US Defence Secretary Robert Gates’ announcement that ‘Israel was no threat to neighbours, but Iran was’ at the GCC regional security conference on December 8 at Manama. The laughter rose from a room filled with government officials from Middle Eastern countries, says Khaleej Times. 


Gates who replaced the former Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, reportedly defended Israel’s nuclear programme saying the Jewish state did not seek to destroy its neighbours or support terrorism, unlike Iran. The paper noted that Israel is widely assumed to have the region’s only atomic arsenal, but declined to confirm or deny it.


It may be recalled that only a couple of days ago, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad had extended hand of friendship towards the GCC members asking them to throw out the foreign security cover from the region.


Significantly, no GCC country is willing to buy the American assurances on behalf of the Zionist state of Israel. The Manama meet loudly signaled its opposition to military option against Iran. GCC secretary general Abdurrahman al Attiyah told in categorical terms, “We want the military factor (of Iran’s nuclear programme) to be eliminated.”


Qatar’s Prime Minister Shaikh Hamed bin Jassem Al-Thani went even further. He told the conference, ‘I do not think we can try to solve our problems through trying to seal Iran from the region. They are a very important player and said it will not be in the interest of GCC to be pushed into military confrontation with Iran.


The snub from the GCC are second in series to the Bush Administration which was earlier served the blow from the National Intelligence Estimates (NIE) report that concluded ‘with high confidence’ that Teheran had halted its rudimentary nuclear weapons programme in 2003. It had further stated: If it was restarted, Teheran is unlikely to produce any weapons before 2012-15.


An earlier NIE report was produced in 2005 had billed Iran a nuclear threat. But now it is revealed that it was based on fabricated evidence supplied to the CIA.


It is further revealed that Bush was given the NIE report in August but Bush-Cheney-Condoleeza company was sitting over it in order to keep on the refrain of Iranian threat. 


The fanatic neocons had obviously trashed the NIE report produced by the $40 billion plus a year intelligence community and entrusted the job to Israeli agency Mossad. Israel has been trying to get the US destroy Iran in order to be in full control of the Middle East. But the NIE has for the time being put a cap on Bush administration’s capacity to hoodwink the American public opinion and enmesh the country into another catastrophic war in the Middle East. One hopes the Americans will be able to see the wicked lobbies and their diabolical games much before Bush bids adieu to the much misinformed countrymen.