KURDISTAN NEWSLINE

Kurdish Leader Calls for the Elimination of Ladenite Ansar Al-Islam

July 23, 2002

Qala Chwalan, July 21—The Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani received a delegation of Sheikhs and spiritual leaders of the Naqshabandi Sufi order, headed by Sheikh Thabit Aladdin who presented Mr. Talabani with a memorandum, on behalf of the Naqshabandi Tarika, which strongly condemns the crimes committed by the terrorist rogue group, Ansar Al-Islam, against the Naqshabandi holy shrines, places of worship and breaching the sanctity of the Naqshabandi farms in Bakhi Kon, Hawraman area. The memorandum urged the Kurdistan Regional Government to take extraordinary measures to rid the region of this terrorist scourge and restore peace and order to the ordinary citizens.

Mr. Talabani emphasized the traditional role of the Naqshabandi Tarika in Kurdistan in championing the rights of the needy and the oppressed: “The Naqshabandi Sheikhs and spiritual leaders have always exerted utmost efforts to spread the religious consciousness and ethics within the Kurdistani society. The crimes committed against the Naqshabandis are crimes against the essence of Islamic culture and against all the norms of the Kurdistan liberation movement.” Mr. Talabani stressed that the crimes committed against the venerable shrine of Sheik Husamadin and his family on July 15 constitute a turning point in the policy toward the Al Qaeda-affiliated terrorist group, Ansar Al Islam ,which is an active part of the global terrorist movement. He added: “ Until recently we patiently tried to find peaceful ways of dialogue to reach out to this group in order save blood and agony for the people of the region. But the opportunity for dialogue has passed from the moment these outrageous crimes were committed by the group. As from now the policy of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan is to eradicate this terrorist group once and for all.” Mr. Talabani called upon all Kurdistani parties and organizations to take a clear-cut stand against the terrorist group, as this will determine the PUK’s relations with them. He added that there is no more choice for this criminal group except total surrender and offer themselves for trial, or to face defeat at the hands of the police and peshmerga.

Mr. Talabani urged the Naqshabandi leaders to visit with Mr. Masoud Barzani, the leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, who is even more outraged by the nefarious activities of Ansar Al-Islam, in order to define and coordinate a definite policy of eradicating the terrorist group.

The Kurdistan Regional Prime Minister, Dr. Barham Salih, the head of the Kurdistan Ulema Association and the Mayor of Sulaimani attended the meeting.

Who are the Naqshabandis?

The Naqshabandi is an orthodox Muslim Sufi order claiming lineage extending back to Abu Bakr, the first caliph. It is based on Sufi belief and practice in which Muslims seek to discover the truth of divine love and God and to facilitate the experience of the presence of divine love and wisdom in the world. The founder of the order Baha’adin (d.1384), from Bukhara, was called the ‘naqshaband’ (painter), in reference to the impression of God that the repetition of ‘dhikr’ (ritual prayer) that should leave upon the heart, and so his followers became known as Naqshabandi. The order played a vital role in the reform of Muslim life in the 18th and 19th centuries throughout the Islamic world.