What the Arabic press is saying about ISIL and its objectives in the Middle East. Translated by Carla Mirza
The critical situation of this region has been generating speculations and opinions over the origins of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), its sponsors, its main agenda and its ideology.
“Some say that ISIL was created in Iranian laboratories and I might agree with such a possibility,” remarked Abdullah Nasser Al Otaibi, in the pan-Arab daily Al Hayat.
“I maintain that it was created to penetrate the Sunni component that can only be compromised through its most radical and extremist factions”.
Others consider that it is the offspring of the Assad regime. “I could support this idea if the current presence of ISIL on Syrian territory positively impacts interest of the Baathist regime,” observed Al Otaibi.
“I can also reject this possibility when I learn that ISIL comprises dozens of different nationalities, mainly Iraqis, as it negates the theory of local origins and supports the theory that it works as an agent for the Syrian regime”.
As for its pretended Iraqi origins, “the Iraqi government knew that implicating this extremist organisation in the fight against Sunni rebels may get out of hand and contribute to uprooting Al Maliki”, he added.
He stressed that the organisation was definitely not created by Saudi Arabia, as the country has suffered in the hands of similar extremist organisations in the past.
It’s not a creation of America either, as the country today is different from what it was during the past century.
“I believe it is a purely a ‘Qaedist’ organisation, serving it on the basis of whether it wishes to support a state or another, then causing problems to the same,” concluded Al Otaibi.
Various developments and their immediate and potential consequences may lead this organisation to implement its project of declaring a state in both Syria and Iraq, wrote Khaleel Hassan, in the Dubai-based daily Al Khaleej.
“The question is whether this organisation will be satisfied with what it has achieved until now, or whether regional and international politics will lead it to step up its activities,” he asked.
ISIL will most likely work on creating propitious conditions for itself by channelling its actions in other directions. In the process, it will implicate various regional parties in the fight against it and spread extensive chaos,” he argued. “It is the biggest danger facing the Arab world and the results from wrong and destructive beliefs and policies have dispelled all hopes of unity.”
In his column is Asharq El Awsat, Abdel Rahman Al Rashed mentions the latest pledge of support to ISIL, voiced by 20 to 30 people in the Jordanian city of Al Maan.
The numbers, he says, might seem insignificant compared to those in previous demonstrations during major political events, but “there could be more to it than meets the eye, because anyone supporting the organisation would hide his sympathies in fear of being placed under security control”.
This has caused concerns for political extremists.
That is evident in the denial of Abu Sayyaf, the leader of the Jordanian jihadist group, of any relation to those demonstrations. He said he was deceived by those by ISIL, which neither serves his movement nor represents it, he observed.
cmirza@thenational.ae
