World view: June 15, 2007

In the volatile Middle East, it was a week of wanton destruction, killings and mayhem. The Askari mosque was bombed in Iraq, Fatah and Hamas are spilling Palestinian blood and in Lebanon the sectarian divide has further widened with the assassination of an anti-Syrian MP by a car bomb. These events were contemplated, analysed and commented on. We present here excerpts of editorials from the regional and the international press.

Iraq violence

The situation in Iraq has taken a turn for the worse. One of the Shiites' holy mosques - the Askari mosque in Samarra - was bombed for the second time by suspected Al Qaida militants. The attack came just weeks after Shiite cleric Moqtada Al Sadr extended an olive branch to Sunni Arabs and called on his followers to protect and defend their Sunni brethren in the wake of Al Qaida's increasingly bitter attacks that target all Iraqis without distinction.

Commenting on the situation in Iraq, the Financial Times held the Iraqi leaders responsible for the worsening situation in the country.

"When the Iraqi franchise of Al Qaida blew up the Shiite Al Askari shrine in Samarra in February last year, it triggered a paroxysm of violence between Sunni and Shiite that would take an estimated 35,000 lives. The destruction now of the stricken shrine's two minarets is a transparent attempt to take Iraq's ethnosectarian carnage to an as yet unplumbed depth. It should have been anticipated."

It emphasised that "the jihadis are trying to repeat the trick, after pitched battles against their co-religionists in central Iraq and after US occupation forces have started arming some Sunni insurgents to take on Al Qaida. It was obvious they were going to stage some provocation, but amazing they could do it at the same shrine, supposedly under a special security blanket ... Iraq's political leaders, meanwhile, foremost among them the non-governing Shiite-led government of Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki, continue to pursue their communalist agendas. They give every sign of believing US forces will prevent a descent into total anarchy and that they can therefore carry on with winner-takes-all politics, displaying all the statesmanship of militia commanders. If the US presence is encouraging Iraq's leaders to resist all compromise, it is perhaps time to see if the certainty of US withdrawal will concentrate their minds."

Hamas-Fatah fighting

In the Gaza Strip, fierce internecine fighting between Hamas and Fatah has left more than 60 Palestinians dead. The Arab world has condemned the violent clashes which threatens the Makkah Accord and the formation of a unity government.

Saudi Arabia's Arab News termed the fighting as "disgraceful".

"It is not just the bereaved families of the slain who are weeping at the tragedy in Gaza - it is the whole Arab world. President Mahmoud Abbas rightly calls it madness but this should not disguise the fact that he and other Palestinian leaders of both factions are ultimately responsible for this wretched state of affairs. It is the refusal of the Hamas and Fatah leaderships to bury their differences, abandon their power bases, put aside past quarrels and work together for the good of all the Palestinian people that has brought about this revolting spectacle of Palestinian murdering Palestinian. They should all hang their heads in shame."

Jordan Times too condemned the fighting and asked: "A coup? A countercoup? Who is overthrowing whom? Fatah and Hamas are now officially engaged in a civil war. The spoils of victory: the Gaza Strip, an impoverished, overcrowded, underdeveloped open-air prison, a sandbox, in which the boys with the most guns can show off to precisely no one. Who to blame, when there is so much blame to go around? Everyone's favourite punching bag, Washington, for its unwavering support of the jailor, Israel, must surely come first. No wait; let's start with the jailor. Israel has pursued a merciless strategy of murder and destruction and left Palestinians hopelessly mired in their own defeat and weakness."