Eid Al Fitr, or the feast celebrating the breaking of the fast, which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan during which time many Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset, is traditionally a time for rejoicing and forgiveness. All across the Muslim world, governments grant pardons to prisoners, releasing those who have committed lesser crimes.
In Iraq this week, the police set 124 Iraqi prisoners free. A day earlier, 675 detainees were released from US-run prisons. Those included 500 prisoners from the notorious Abu Ghraib detention facility where the US holds scores of prisoners suspected of participating in the anti-US resistance.
The tradition of leniency for Eid has even taken hold in parts of Europe where Muslim prisoners held on minor charges are freed from overcrowded jails.
Yet Al Qaeda's man in Iraq, Abu Mussab Al Zarqawi, is showing no such holiday spirit. He plans to celebrate the Eid, this very holy end of Ramadan, by killing two Moroccans who worked for their embassy in Baghdad.
The men, Abdel Rahim Boualem, 55, a driver, and Abdel Krim Mouhafidi, 49, a maintenance worker, have been living in Iraq for over 20 years, and are married to Iraqi women. They were kidnapped on October 20.
These are simple men who were not involved in politics. They are not high-level diplomats. They were on their way home from picking up their salaries in Jordan. It is difficult to fathom how the greater cause of Al Qaeda or Islam, as imagined by Zarqawi, stands to gain by their deaths.
Zarqawi's group said it had "sentenced the two Moroccan embassy employees to death", after they had been put on trial and found guilty of "being followers of the US".
A trial? Under whose authority? Tried under what laws? And by which judges? And what exactly was their crime? Oh yes, "being followers of the US".
By that one must understand that Zarqawi means the Moroccans are guilty of re-establishing their embassy in Baghdad while US troops remain in control of the country. Zarqawi has repeatedly warned Arab countries to stay away from Baghdad. The group affiliated with Al Qaeda claims Arab and Muslim countries that establish diplomatic representation in Baghdad are legitimizing the Iraqi regime, which they regard as a puppet regime loyal to the United States. This, in turn, they see as recognizing the US military occupation of Iraq.
Morocco reacted angrily, issuing a statement of concern and condemnation: "The Kingdom of Morocco has learnt with consternation of the announcement made by the Iraqi branch of Al Qaeda concerning the execution of the two Moroccan nationals, Boualem and Mouhafidi," read a statement from the Moroccan foreign ministry on Thursday.
"Morocco denounces with the utmost vehemence these barbaric conducts, which are contrary to the noble precepts of Islam and the fundamental values of humanity." It added, How does taking away the lives of a driver and a maintenance man - two men who it can hardly be said are responsible for Rabat's foreign policy - help advance the cause of Al Qaeda's Islam? This is the question that the silent Muslim majority must ask as they celebrate the Eid.
More than 200 foreigners and thousands of Iraqis have been kidnapped since the start of the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. The abduction and killing of two Algerian diplomats, as well that of the Egyptian chargé d'affaires in Baghdad were claimed by Zarqawi's group last summer.
Zarqawi must realize by now that his senseless killing of civilians, diplomats, Iraqi policemen and new army recruits - and even US troops - is not about to stop Iraq's determination to start taking responsibility for its own destiny. That much was proven in two general elections held in Iraq since the downfall of Saddam Hussein. Despite death threats from Zarqawi and his group, millions of Iraqis made their way to the voting booth.
At the end of the day what Zarqawi fears most are not the bullets, or the B-52 bombers, but the ballot.
The fact Iraqis can choose their own leaders through the electoral process frightens him more than a battalion of American special forces. Those he knows how to fight, he has demonstrated as much with his repeated attacks, his roadside bombs and other methods he has deployed on the battlefield.
This is why Zarqawi targets innocent people, like the Moroccan driver and the maintenance man, hoping his acts will create mayhem and continue to perpetuate a state of anarchy in Iraq. This, in turn, allows him and his group to survive. Zarqawi understands only too well that as soon as Iraq begins to settle down, it will mean the end of his campaign of terror and intimidation.
Claude Salhani is International Editor at United Press International
The Grinch stole Eid
TOOLBAR
To add a comment,
Please log in:
Don't have an account?
Register now to comment on stories and stay up to date on important events and issues in the Middle East with our newsletter.