Sudanese Religious Leader Assesses Democracy in Arab Nations
Khartoum -- Smiling, multi-lingual, and with a doctorate from the Sorbonne, Hassan `Abd Allah al-Turabi, who is one of the men who has been giving the United States a headache for the past 20 years, does not conceal that it was he who invited Usama bin Ladin to come to Sudan and who protected him during the years when the terrorist lived in the poorest Muslim country in the world. In exchange for investments from Bin Ladin, the government in Khartoum would help him form a base of terrorists - Al Qa`ida.During his time as a member of the Sudanese government, Turabi tried in the 1990s to bring together all Islamic fronts to form a sole organization. He failed, but this earned him the nickname "Pope of Terrorism" among Western authorities. Today, he does not give a clear answer on whether or not he supports killing innocent people. And he says that he does not know where Bin Ladin is. Turabi hosted O Estado at his home in Khartoum. Herewith, the main excerpts from the interview:
(Estado) What is the future of terrorist movements after seven years of the war on terrorism?
(Turabi) Pardon me, but what is terrorism? The war by the West is not against terrorism; it is against Islam. Before, the war was against the Soviet Union. Now, it is Islam`s turn. Attacking terrorism constitutes an attempt to get to Islam. The West knows that it cannot directly talk about (a war against) Islam.
(Estado) But the attacks exist and are justified by those movements as legitimate actions. Do you agree?
(Turabi) Why is it that everybody talks about Iran being a terrorist state because it wants to have a nuclear weapon but nobody accuses the United States, Great Britain, or France - which already have their own arsenals, all their chemical firepower, and millions of bombs? That is all legitimate for France but not for Iran and Pakistan, which are Islamic. They are immediately classified as countries that are a danger to humanity, and this justifies the destruction of all research in the field of physics. You all in the West still saw it with this story about destroying Iraq, even without finding the weapons. Curiously, nobody messes with Saudi Arabia.
(Estado) But does that justify attacks all over the world and the death of civilians?
(Turabi) I`d rather not answer.
(Estado) So then is the nickname that US and European authorities gave you - the "Pope of Terrorism" - justified?
(Turabi) No. What I did was simply convene all the movements so that we could try to have a common vision of the world. But the West soon saw that this could be dangerous. Curiously, the socialist parties met and there was no problem. I invited all movements - Hezbollah, the Shi`a, the Sunni, and all the rest; but not the governments. We had to summon the groups that represented the people.
(Estado) Don`t you believe that the Islamic Confederation already fulfills that function?
(Turabi) They are just diplomats, heads of state. It is just theatrics. They do not have a relationship with the people of the region. The Arab governments rarely did anything for their people.
(Estado) And wouldn`t the United Nations be an international forum for having a common vision of the world?
(Turabi) The United Nations is a dictatorship. The Security Council is simply a dictatorship. The United States gives the orders in that body.
(Estado) But Arab countries cannot really give much of a lesson in democracy, don`t you think?
(Turabi) There is no democracy in the Islamic world. In Arab countries, the word election doesn`t mean anything. There are people in power for decades. In the United States, there is an election every four years. Fair elections here are a joke. A national election is just a nice name that radio stations use; but the radio stations are from the parties. The governments detain whoever they want and everybody knows that. This is how it works here: Somebody launches their candidacy and the government, to maintain appearances, allows it. But it detains all that person`s aides and allies. The candidate is left by himself. That is how it works in Pakistan and in the entire region. But make no mistake. The United States and Great Britain like that. They think it is easier to deal with a dictator. Just take the case of Saudi Arabia and US support for the Saudi royal family. For years, they defended democracy in Palestine. Now that it has arrived and HAMAS won, they say that we should suppress that group.
(Estado) But isn`t there a way to reconcile Islam and democracy?
(Turabi) Of course there is. There is not even a church in Islam. Each person has a direct relationship with the Supreme Being; a relationship that, I would say, is democratic. But the governments abandoned the freedom that Islam promotes in order to control their countries. It is not fair to link Islam to dictatorships. In Islam, the distribution of wealth is essential. A truly Islamic country would never censor a journalist. The lack of democracy is not the fault of the religion, but of the governments.
(Estado) How do you assess the situation of the Arab attacks against local tribes in Darfur?
(Turabi) That is the result of poor central management. There is no such thing as a Sudanese nationality. There are several groups living here. To manage something like that, we need to decentralize the government. But today there is a dictatorship in Sudan and you cannot negotiate with a dictator.
(Description of Source: Sao Paulo O Estado de Sao Paulo in Portuguese --- Influential, center-right daily; critical of the government.)
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