Resent articles by the "APS Diplomat Redrawing the Islamic Map" from The Free Libraryhttp://www.thefreelibrary.comen-usFarlex, Inc.Thu, 7 Jan 2010 11:45:40 GMT360http://www.thefreelibrary.comhttp://www.thefreelibrary.com/_/static/TFLbyFarlex.gif17565Mon, 28 Dec 2009 00:00:00 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Who+Will+Control+Iraq%3f-a0215407687The Iraqis, including most of the Shi'ite Arabs, are strongly opposed to any form of Iranian control over their country. This was demonstrated on Dec. 17 when a unit of the IRGC occupied a part of the Fakkah oilfield in the Shi'ite province of Meissan and hoisted the Iranian flag on the field's Well No. 4. Soon there were anti-Iran demonstrations almost throughout Iraq. Most remarkable was the...]]>Mon, 28 Dec 2009 00:00:00 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+Ja'fari+Quietism%2c+The+Taqiya+Background+%26+The+Iran+Dimension.-a0215407686
The First and Founding Imam in Shi'ism - Shi'ism now has many branches, with Ja'farism (or the Twelver Shi'ism) being the main one - was Ali ibn-Abi Taleb, the cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad and father of Hussein. The 12th and last of the Ja'fari Shi'ite Imams was Muhammad ibn Abdullah, known as al-Mahdi, a child the Ja'faris believe is in a state of occultation since 941...]]>Mon, 28 Dec 2009 00:00:00 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Syria+Is+Losing+Iraqi+Power+Base+%26+Remains+Part+Of+Iran-Led+Axis.-a0215407685
Yet Assad's Iraqi opponents claim that Syria's influence in Iraq is in decline, despite its competition with Iran. US military commanders in Iraq say the tactical Iranian-Syrian alliance with the Neo-Salafi network al-Qaeda is no longer posing a major threat to Iraq, although it still has the capability of staging spectacular suicide bombings in sensitive parts of the country. These...]]>Mon, 28 Dec 2009 00:00:00 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Resurgence+In+The+Shi'ite+World+-+Part+48+-+Iraq+Vs+Syria+%26+Iran.-a0215407684
Iraq's Shi'ite PM Nuri al-Maleki has become convinced that the worst sources of trouble for his country are the Alawite/Ba'thist regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria and the militarised Shi'ite theocracy of Iran. Both are harbouring what Maleki calls "terrorists", mainly remnants of Saddam's Sunni/Ba'thist dictatorship based in Syria and Sunni/Neo-Salafi groups led by al-Qaeda based...]]>Mon, 30 Nov 2009 00:00:00 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+Kurdish+Position+%26+Background.-a0213652964
There is a personal power-struggle between Kurdistan President Barzani and Iraqi President Talabani, the latter being head of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) while the former heads the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP). But both remain partners in the Kurdistan Coalition in Iraq's parliament and the KRG in the north. Both want Kurkuk to be part of the KRG territory....]]>Mon, 30 Nov 2009 00:00:00 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+Sectarian+Threat.-a0213652963During the darkest days of the Sunni-Shi'ite war which swept Iraq in 2006-07, few terrors equalled the rise of the Shi'ite death squads men in the guise of the Iraqi security forces who killed with impunity. Death squad killings not only inflamed sectarian violence but also undermined the public's confidence in its own security forces. Since then, tens of thousands of members of the security...]]>Mon, 30 Nov 2009 00:00:00 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+Election+Law+%26+Kirkuk+Issues.-a0213652962
The parliament on Nov. 8 cleared a major hurdle by passing a new law to hold the country's second legislative elections. Prolonged wrangling had resulted in a delay of over three weeks beyond the initial deadline. The primary obstacle had been how to deal with the oil-rich province of Kirkuk and, more broadly, the dispute between the central government and the Kurdistan Regional...]]>