Another type of terror/ Al-Ahram Weekly

With the Mumbai attacks, the world has crossed a watershed in the history of terror, if only because of its gory virtuosity, writes Ammar Ali Hassan in this Egyptian weekly. The nature of attacks has drastically changed, and so the major countries have to rethink their approach to terror. The focus must shift to the social and cultural front: “It is inadvisable for major countries to continue siding with countries that have a history of provoking Muslims, such as India and Israel,” the article concludes.

In the stalemate of the Clash of Civilisations/ Hurriyet

The article by Cengiz Candar in this Turkish daily points out that the Mumbai terror attacks and the nuclear brinkmanship between India and Pakistan will test Barack Obama’s mettle. The compulsions of Pakistan’s internal politics suggest President Zardari might be unable to meet India’s demands to crush the organisations that India holds responsible for the attacks. The writer asks Turkish Prime Minister Recep T Erdogan, as the co-chair of the UN-patented ‘Alliance of Civilizations’ initiative, to play a constructive role in the conflict and in the process, boost Turkey’s image in the international arena.

Perceived injustices must be tackled by Obama/ The Jakarta Post

Evidence against the Lashkar-e-Toiba’s involvement in the Mumbai attacks is only circumstantial, nothing has been proven—so begins this opinion piece written by Samsul Muarif. It states that Islam is the antithesis of terrorism and the international community must stop equating Islam with terror. While killing innocents in the name of Islam cannot be called jihad, those Muslims who are becoming terrorists are doing so as the last resort against perceived injustices. It is these grievances, most importantly the Palestine issue, that Barack Obama must address as US President, a task in which his Indonesian background will no doubt help him.

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