Sunday, December 24, 2006

Unfortunately, he was wrong. I came across this interview that Jamal `Abdul-Nasser (I violate transliteration rules for his name) gave to a Soviet correspondent in February 1966. He was talking about King Faysal's effort to create an Islamic world organization. Nasser said: "There are some slogans that are being promoted, like the idea of establishing an Islamic alliance. This is not a new idea and we have seen similar attempts, and I think that you remember Baghdad Pact, and I don't think that the fate of this alliance if it comes into existence will be different from past efforts. The Arab people have rejected such alliances in the past and will reject them now too. The forces of colonialism and reaction inside the Arab world and outside it have started a new offensive."