Palestinian poet sentenced to death for apostasy by Saudi court

A Saudi court sentenced Asharaf Fayadh, a Palestinian poet, to death for abandoning his Muslim faith, a form of apostasy punishable by death in Saudi Arabia and a number of other countries who implement Sharia law.

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Human Rights Watch researcher Adam Coogle reported on the sentence. Fayadh was first detained by the Saudi religious police in 2013 and rearrested and tried in the early part of 2014. At first a court sentenced him to four years in prison and 800 lashes, but after the sentence was appealed, another court sentenced him to death just three days ago.

The Saudi judicial system is based upon Sharia law with the judges being clerics from the Wahhabi school of Sunni Islam. In the groups' interpretation of Sharia law, religious crimes such as blasphemy and apostasy are punishable by death. This is an interpretation held by many Islamic scholars but not all. The issue is discussed at some length in the Wikipedia entry on apostasy in Islam. Other countries including Yemen, the UAE, and Afghanistan also have the death penalty as punishment for apostasy. Public support for the punishment varies from one Islamic country to another with Afghanistan having one of the highest levels of support.

In Saudi Arabia, liberal writer Raif Badawi was flogged 50 times after being sentenced to 10 years in prison and 1,000 lashes for blasphemy. Although he remains in prison it appears that the international condemnation of the sentence has so far led to no repeat of the flogging. The judges need not sentence according to precedent but have leave to sentence according to their own interpretation of Sharia law. Hence Fayadh's first conviction was regarded as too lenient by the second cleric.

Sentences by lower courts can be heard by appeal courts and the supreme court. King Salman can pardon anyone. In Fayadh's case the lower court convicted him on the basis of a witness who claimed to have heard him cursing God, the Prophet Mohammad, and also Saudi Arabia. This last no doubt particularly irritates the monarchy. Evidence also came from a book he had written years ago. The appeals court sent the case back to the lower courts again to a different judge. That judge ruled out testimony from witnesses who had challenged the testimony of the prosecution witness. On November 17, he sentenced Fayadh to death.

Fayadh, 35, is a key member of the British-Saudi art organization. He has curated several art shows in Saudi Arabia. The recent death sentence was passed even though Fayadh repented. Often that would count to reduce the penalty. Fayadh told the Guaradian: “I was really shocked but it was expected, though I didn’t do anything that deserves death." Fayadh could still have his sentence changed by a higher court or be pardoned by King Salman.

Mona Kareem, an activist from Kuwait who leads a campaign for Fayadh's release, said the authorities promised Fayadh an appeal for years:“He was unable to assign a lawyer because his ID was confiscated when he was arrested [in January 2014]. Then they said you must have a retrial and we’ll change the prosecutor and the judges. The new judge didn’t even talk to him, he just made the verdict.”

Some of the poet's friends think that he is being severely punished because he posted on line a video showing the Saudi religious police lashing a man in public. The most one can expect from western leaders in response to this travesty of justice is a bit of a moral tongue-lashing. Arms shipments to the Saudis will continue as usual but at a quicker pace,as supplies have been used up in Saudi bombing, mostly in Yemen. The appended video shows the religious police busy forcing a woman to leave a mall because she has no gloves on.

Libyan Militant groups unapologetic about Benghazi attack

Militant group Ansar Al-Sharia claim they had no part in killing U.S. embassy staff in Benghazi but do not understand why tears are shed about the death of a diplomat. The real crime to them is the insult to Muslims in the film "Innocence of Muslims".

Powerful militias of various stripes simply refuse to lay down their weapons and cede power to the central government even though the Gaddafi regime is long gone. These groups include Ansar al-Sharia. Some have accused the group of being responsible for the attack on the Bengghazi consulate that killed the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three others. The group itself admits that members were present at the demonstration but deny any part in the killings. The government claims to have arrested 50 people as part of its investigation into the attack but has not said whether any are from Ansar al-Sharia.

The group's name Ansar al-Sharia means roughly "patrons of Sharia law". They want to impose Sharia law in areas they control and throughout Libya. There is a group with the same name in Yemen which controlled considerable territory a year ago but have now retreated into the mountains. The U.S. considered them an Al Qaeda linked group. However often such associations are a device to ensure that the U.S. will help the Yemen government suppress them. Once a few drone attacks are made on them they are very apt to link up with AQAM (Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula) anyway. The Ansar al-Sharia in Libya are said not to have any links with the Yemen group but they do have links to Ansar al-Sharia in Tunisia.

Sometimes the group is called Ansar al-Sharia in Beghazi (ASB) since they are quite active in the city. The group is led by Muhammad Zahawi. As well as being linked to the Tunisian Ansar al-Sahri the group is also linked to other smaller Salifi-jihadist battalions including one led by a former Guantanamo prisoner. Some analysts blame the attack on another militia theOmar Abdul Rahman brigades

In an interview with the BBC, the leader of Ansar al-Sharia, Sheikh Mohammed Zahawi justified the group's decision not to give up their arms as follows:

"The battle is not yet over. There are many Gaddafi loyalists in the new administration."

He is no doubt referring not to people who stayed with the Gaddafi regime but who defected and joined the rebels and are now part of the government. Zahawi also said the group sympathized with other militant groups including Al Qaeda. This view is not uncommon.

Diaa Rahman from the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies in Cairo said that often Al Qaeda is identified simply as a brand to be adopted because of sympathy with their ideas. This makes it even easier for those in the west to label militant groups as Al-Qaeda or Al-Qaeda affiliated even though Al Qaeda as a central organization probably does not even exist.

Rahman says:“

Al Qaeda as an organization, as a command, it doesn’t exist..There are no orders from Ayman Zawahri coming to jihadists in Libya or Sinai to make something....Since the death of Osama bin Laden, Al Qaeda has been in a sense reborn because some of its ideas and the model have inspired new militants.”

The Ansar al-Sharia does not want democracy in Libya but Sharia law:

"We don't believe in the democratic system because even those who live in such systems know it's a fake. We want to tell the world that the democratic project doesn't suit us and doesn't suit Islam."

In Benghazi there is a half-built town on the outskirts meant to house about 200,000 people. It was abandoned by the Chinese as the revolt against Gaddafi gathered steam. The Libyan government wants to entice western capital back into Libya and there are lucrative oil deals waiting to be signed. However, as long as security is weak and the government unstable capital will no doubt flow to more friendly climes.

Islamist Opposition wins big in Kuwait

   As in Egyptian elections Islamist parties in Kuwait did very well in recent elections. A bloc of  Islamist parties won a large majority of 34 of 50 seats in the National Assembly. There is just one legislative chamber in Kuwait.
    The bloc is a combination of harder line Salafists and the more moderate Muslim Brotherhood representatives. The majority is large enough to prevent the prime minister who is appointed by the monarch to block legislation through the 15 members of the cabinet he appoints. Even if he appoints no existing MPs the Islamists will still hold a 34 to 31 lead.
  Although the Kuwaiti parliament is in theory more powerful than those in other area monarchies in practice any attempts to exert real power are sometimes thwarted by royal action. The Islamist parties have pushed for anti-corruption measures and also introduction of Sharia law. Attempts by the legislature to pass laws against corruption led the Emir to dissolve the parliament in 2008. The emir claimed that the members were misusing their power. Corrupt politicians always worry about other politicians curbing their corruption! For more see this article.