Raymond Davis, Aafia Siddiqui, And Other Related Matters...
19 February 2011El-Hajj Mauri' Saalakhan
Assalaamu Alaikum (Greetings of Peace):
I begin on a historical note. On this day, February
21, 1965, one of America's most courageous,
articulate, and world renowned sons (of the better of
the "two Americas") - a committed American born Muslim
by the name of El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, aka, Malcolm
X - was assassinated in New York City. As a Muslim of
African American descent I not only remember him with
pride, I recognize this warrior for justice as one of
the most important teachers in my life. May ALLAH
forgive his sins, and grant him a high place in the
blessed ranks of the martyrs. Ameen.
Court hearing for Tarek Mehanna
Br. Tarek Mehanna, a Muslim political prisoner in the
Boston area, will have a very important court hearing
this coming Wednesday, February 23rd, 2PM, at the
Moakley Federal Courthouse, 1 Courthouse Way, Boston,
MA. Insha'Allah, I plan to be in attendance; I
strongly encourage all others (in a position to do so)
to be in attendance as well.
MSA Southeast Conference @ Duke
University
My congratulations to the young brothers and sisters
who organized last weekend's MSA Southeast Conference
at Duke University in Charlotte, NC. I salute them for
having the courage and commitment to raise the issues
that were raised in the conference, and for including
speakers who some might consider a bit controversial
into the mix. I also appreciate the late night session
that Amir Abdel Malik, Sheikh Khalid Yasin, and I, had
with the sisters (at the sisters' request) on Saturday
night; it was a mutually rewarding and
thought-provoking discussion.
(I will have more to say on the conference - and some
of the very specific nasiha that I offered to all of
its participants - in a later posting, insha'Allah.)
On a related note, I've been invited by Imam Khalid
Griggs to be the principle presenter at a one day only
social justice workshop scheduled for Saturday, March
5, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Insha'Allah, I am
looking forward to the program with much anticipation.
I strongly urge my brothers and sisters (especially
the youth) within reasonable driving distance of
Winston-Salem, to make their very best effort to
attend the workshop. I am certain, insha'Allah, that
you will find the upcoming program informative,
inspirational, and well worth your time.
More on this in the coming days, insha'Allah.
Raymond Davis and Dr. Aafia Siddiqui
"By now journalists everywhere (except in the US)
have come to the conclusion that there is far, far
more to Raymond Davis than is being revealed by the US
or by Pakistani officials. That he was engaged in
anti-state activities in Pakistan, and that the two
young men he killed were intelligence agents tailing
him, is virtually an accepted fact. The US, never
famous for its diplomacy, seems to have discovered
fresh depths to its strong-arm, coercive diplomacy.
The mere fact that no less a personage than the US
President has asked that this low-ranked person be
granted absolute immunity, is indicative of the US
desperation to get him out of Pakistan and its court
system."
These are the opening paragraphs of a
thought-provoking commentary by Shaukat Qadir, a
retired Brigadier from the Pakistan infantry. The
article is titled, "Why Pakistan cannot release the
man who calls himself Raymond Davis."
From the very beginning of this curious saga involving
the mystery man who calls himself Raymond Davis, it
has been my opinion that he was someone who worked in
Pakistan undercover as a private contractor; and my
gut instincts suggested to me that the deliberate
killing of those two Pakistani men had nothing to do
with a potential robbery.
While the information that has come out over the past
month appears to confirm the basis for that
supposition, it now appears that Mr. Davis (or
whatever is real name is) was far more than a lowly
gun-for-hire contractor. There are strong suggestions
that Mr. Davis is CIA, and that he may even have
connections to some of the terrorist attacks that have
rocked Pakistan. (Surely ALLAH knows best.)
With that said, I find it encouraging that Aafia
Siddiqui's name is repeatedly coming up in much of the
drama revolving around this operatives case in
Pakistan. One thing is certain: there should be no
repatriation of Mr. Davis to America, unless there is
quid pro quo repatriation of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui as
part of the deal! Insha'Allah, I will have more to say
on this later.
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