Articles – Page 50

Bosnian muslim cleric urges restraint against Islamic charities

By RFE / RL, 30 June 2002

Mustafa Ceric, the head of Bosnia’s Islamic community, warned on 5 June 2002 that thousands of Bosnians could be deprived of valuable humanitarian aid as authorities target groups suspected of having links to terrorism, Reuters reported. RFE/RL – 6 June 2002 – “Islamic humanitarian organizations are raided and investigated not because they have done something wrong […]

This news item was originally published by RFE/RL, (Un)Civil Societies, Vol. 3, No. 24, 12 June 2002. Copyright © 2002. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org

Al-Qaeda disrupted but retains vast network

By Robert McMahon, 29 June 2002

Terrorism experts dispute the recent claim by an Al-Qaeda spokesman that the group retains nearly all of its top leadership and ability to function. They say the group has been hurt by the loss of its former haven in Afghanistan and scattered successes by the U.S.-led coalition against terrorism. But the experts told RFE/RL that […]

This article was first published on 28 June 2002 by RFE/RL (Radio Free Europe-Radio Liberty). Posted on RELIGIOSCOPE with permission. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is a private, international communications service to Eastern and Southeastern Europe, Russia, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Middle East, funded by the United States Congress. RELIGIOSCOPE highly recommends the RFE/RL website, with its informative daily newsline and various other reports: http://www.rferl.org/

Lithuania: priests and journalists may be secret agents

By RFE / RL, 5 June 2002

The Lithuanian parliament has adopted a new version of the law on the secret service, which does not ban recruitment of high-ranking state officials, lawyers, journalists, and priests by security services. RFE/RL – 5 June 2002 – The law does ban searches of the president, a representative of the National Security and Defense Committee told Interfax […]

This news item was originally published by RFE/RL, (Un)Civil Societies, Vol. 3, No. 23, 5 June 2002. Copyright © 2002. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org

Article on related issues: Nikolas K. Gvosdev, “Espionage and the Ecclesia”, in Journal of Church and State, Vol. 42, No. 4, Autumn 2002, pp. 803-823. – The Journal of Church and State is published by the J. M. Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies, Baylor University.

Moldova: will Supreme Court victory help True Orthodox?

By Felix Corley, 2 June 2002

Moldova’s True Orthodox community has welcomed its 29 May victory in the Supreme Court in the Moldovan capital Chisinau over the government’s repeated denial of registration, but fears that this may not be enough to overturn the government’s objections to granting registration. Keston News Service – 31 May 2002 – “It is difficult to say when […]

Hizb ut-Tahrir in Central Asia

By Bruce Pannier, 2 June 2002

How big a threat is Hizb ut-Tahrir? As Central Asian governments continue their crackdown on unsanctioned Islamic groups they say pose a threat to regional security, the Hizb ut-Tahrir movement, which advocates a return to “pure” Islam and the creation of a region-wide Islamic state, is an elusive and mysterious target. Among the most feared […]

This article in two parts was first published on 30 May 2002 by RFE/RL (Radio Free Europe-Radio Liberty). Posted on RELIGIOSCOPE with permission. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is a private, international communications service to Eastern and Southeastern Europe, Russia, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Middle East, funded by the United States Congress. RELIGIOSCOPE highly recommends the RFE/RL website, with its informative daily newsline and various other reports: http://www.rferl.org/

Uzbekistan: government backs Sufism to counter Wahhabism

By Igor Rotar, 26 May 2002

In the wake of a visit between 15 and 20 May to the Uzbek city of Bukhara (500 kilometres or 300 miles west of Tashkent), the “capital” of the Sufi Naqshbandi order in Central Asia, Keston has learnt that currently the Uzbek authorities are not simply not opposing the spread of the Naqshbandi order but, […]

Turkey: secular country encourages women to take greater part in religious life

By Jean-Christophe Peuch, 26 May 2002

Reversing centuries of tradition, Turkish authorities have decided that women will be allowed to participate more actively in the country’s public religious life, arguing they should be granted responsibilities equal to those of men before Islam. The move appears to be an attempt on the part of religious authorities in the predominantly Muslim but strictly […]

This article was first published on 25 May 2002 by RFE/RL (Radio Free Europe-Radio Liberty). Posted on RELIGIOSCOPE with permission. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is a private, international communications service to Eastern and Southeastern Europe, Russia, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Middle East, funded by the United States Congress. RELIGIOSCOPE highly recommends the RFE/RL website, with its informative daily newsline and various other reports: http://www.rferl.org

United States: U.S. commission dissatisfied with State Department religious freeedom stance

By Don Hill, 17 May 2002

In its International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, the U.S. Congress established an Office of International Religious Freedom within the U.S. State Department. The law also created an advisory Commission on International Religious Freedom. As RFE/RL correspondent Don Hill reports, the State Department and the religious-freedom commission can, and sometimes do, disagree — a divide […]

This article was first published on 8 May 2002 by RFE/RL (Radio Free Europe-Radio Liberty). Posted on RELIGIOSCOPE with permission. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is a private, international communications service to Eastern and Southeastern Europe, Russia, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Middle East, funded by the United States Congress. RELIGIOSCOPE highly recommends the RFE/RL website, with its informative daily newsline and various other reports: http://www.rferl.org/

Estonia: two branches of Orthodox Church seeking to live in one country

By Valentinas Mite, 12 May 2002

An ongoing debate between two rival branches of the Estonian Orthodox Church has underscored continued tensions between the Baltic country’s Russians and ethnic Estonians. After Estonia regained its independence in 1991, the country’s single Soviet-era Orthodox Church split into two branches. One — the Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church, under jurisdiction of Constantinople — was registered […]

This article was first published on 10 May 2002 by RFE/RL (Radio Free Europe-Radio Liberty). Posted on RELIGIOSCOPE with permission. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is a private, international communications service to Eastern and Southeastern Europe, Russia, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Middle East, funded by the United States Congress. RELIGIOSCOPE highly recommends the RFE/RL website, with its informative daily newsline and various other reports: http://www.rferl.org/

Bosnia: foreign-funded mosques under scrutiny

By Julie Poucher Harbin, 12 May 2002

Questions are being raised over foreign funding of Muslim organisations – and exactly what that money buys. Recent police raids against a number of Arab charities and the arrests of suspected terrorists alerted local and international attention to the resurgence of Islam in Bosnia. And among the questions being raised about the revival is who […]

Julie Harbin is a freelance journalist based in Bosnia.

This article was first published on 10 May 2002 (BCR No 335) by the Institute for War & Peace Reporting (IWPR), London. Posted on Religioscope with permission.

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