The Middle East's Fuzzy Math, Swordsmen of Arabia

Iraq's Wars:
Iraqi, and Arab, media reports that there is a mini inter-Sunni civil war going on in al-Anbar province. Al-Anbar is the hotbed of the insurgency that rejects the results of the Iraqi elections. It is a multi-faceted insurgency (this word, insurgency, by the way, is a politically correct, polite, and now Washington-sanctioned name for a violent terrorist campaign that blows up civilians and chops off heads in front of the camera). It looks like al-Qaeda in Iraq has been pushing hard to enforce its new Islamic Emirate (no oil their, though), and has been stepping on some big tribal tails, or toes, depending on the particular tribe in question. Some tribal sheikhs are objecting to this usurpation of their authority, and some heads have been rolling, literally.
It is also very likely that large amounts of money have been changing hands, just to bolster the resolve and the backbone of these tribal sheikhs. It would make the 'resistance' much more palatable inside Iraq and in the West if it could get rid of the political and cultural baggage of al-Qaeda and its Salafi allies.

Muqtada al-Sadr has been cooperating after all, in his own volatile way, with the 'surge', a.k.a the Baghdad Security Plan. The Iraqis and the coalition are negotiating with the hairy cherub now to open a manned security zone in al-Sadr city.

Playing Second Fiddle:
While Iran's Ahmadinejad was flying into Riyadh for a Big Two meeting on Lebanon, Palestine, and sectarianism, Egyptian officials were busy publicizing President Mubarak's role in the region, especially his contacts with Assad of Syria- these would be the Little Two of the new Middle East equation. So, the Big Two meet in Riyadh, the newly anointed capital of the Arab World, while the Little Two meet nowhere: they exchange calls and letters.
Apparently the Egyptians are not happy with their new role as second-fiddle to the petro-potentates. The stagnant country ruled by (Leonid) Mubarak is not nearly as pivotal in regional policy-making as it was under his bold predecessors, Nasser and Sadat, when it was the undisputed Arab leader.
Speaking of second fiddles, an editorial in the Syrian official daily Tishrin (all newspapers are official in Syria, as in most Arab states- in some states they are merely semi-official, whatever that means), emphasized the deep roots and durability of Syrian-Iranian relations, dating back a quarter century to the Iran-Iraq War. This was probably a response to publicized attempts to wean Syria away from its alliance with Iran.

Libya will not attend the Arab Summit in Riyadh this month. The Libyans are using a procedural point, in that the last Arab summit had decided on Sharm El-Shaikh (does not say the sharm of which shaikh) in Egypt as a permamant venue, and that only a whole Arab summit can change that, not an agreement among the Saudis and Egyptians. They probably have a valid point, if they are into this sort of hair-splitting.

Fuzzy Arab Math:
A summit of seven Moslem countries will also be held in Mecca, after the Arab summit. This meeting will join leaders of what is dubbed 'The Sunni Alliance', including Turkey, Pakistan, Malaysia and Indonesia- it has pointedly left out Iran, which makes for a much less interesting, albeit less contentious, summit.
The Middle East, especially the Arab part of it, is undergoing a flurry of summits these days of various groups and myriad cross-alliances. It is becoming mind-boggling, if you like cliches. It is almost impossible for most people to keep track of the many varieties of these multi-layered, sometimes almost incestous, Arab alliances that often cannibalize each other: the 22, the 7, the 6, the 4, the 6+2 (is it not easier just to say the 8?), the Big 2, the Little 2. Some would say that we should add one more to each category, since they contend that the United States is either an invisible partner, or is actually pulling all the strings of these groups: the 22, the 7, the 6, the 4, the 6+2 (that would be eight), etc. Then we should talk of the 22+1 (=23), the 7+1 (=8), the 4+1 (=5), the 6+1 (=7), the 6+2+1 (is that 9?). Or perhaps we should put the Arab cart behind the horse's behind and just say 1+22, 1+7,....etc. And we haven't started talking of the Maghreb (that is North Africa) yet. Game theory anyone?

Headless in Arabia:
The Alhayat Daily had an interesting interview with Saudi Aarbia's top swordsman, that is the state executioner who lops off heads in public squares. He does that every Friday after the noon prayers, just before his audiences head home for the traditional weekend lunch of roast camel and braised lamb, with all the fixin's. The man claims he has chopped off 3500 heads in the past quarter century- and he is not the only executioner in the country. He claims that he once chopped off the heads of twenty convicts in one day, and he might be telling the truth: records show that in one day in 1989, 16 Kuwaiti Shi'as convicted of security crimes were beheaded in Riyadh- and their families are reported to have heard about it in the usual fashion, from the media. Add to that the usual assortment of foreign laborers, vengeful abused Asian housemaids, and those accused of witchcraft or having intercourse with the djinn, and the number could easily go up to twenty in one day.
Last week, international human rights groups complained bitterly when Saudi authorities executed four Sri Lankan laborers for robbery, then left their headless bodies on display in public for some time. The groups claim that the hapless headless workers were denied legal council and subjected to beatings while in custody. It is not clear how many of those the Ace Swordsman himself dispatched. Does he get a Golden Noose on retirement? I think the man is angling for a Saudi Purple Heart.

Any MLB team looking for a good pitcher with strong arms and an awesome resume these days can contact the London-based Saudi newspaper al-Hayat.
Cheers
Mohammed