Echo | 2010

Echo | April
May 2010
2010 1 1
 Index
Cover Story Middle East
14 | Palestinians ark
4 | Obama ‘Catastrophe’ Day
Administration
Response to the Gulf
Oil Spill Late 18 | Imam Khomeini’s
Political Thought From
jurisprudential point
of view

PAGE | | | 4 | | | | | | | | | | 12 | 14 | | | | | | | | |

Echo of Islam
Managing Director: Dr. Mahdi Goljan
Editor-in-Chief: Dr. Sadroddin Musawi
Editorial Board: A‘zam Hosseini, Samin Nabipour,
Shima Entezari Moghadam, Forogh Fakhari Iran
Photographer: Mohadeseh Vasfi
Public Relations Officer: Maryam Hamzelou
Design: Seyyed Amir Mohammad Moosavi 12 | MP: ‘Tehran Declaration’
Email address: s_am_moosavi@yahoo.com Indicates Iran’s Diplomatic
Tel: +98932-9059238 Creativity
Printing Expert: Majid Ghasemi
Tel:+98919-2892825
majidabnavi@gmail.com
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Fax: +9821-88902725
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http://www.echoofsalam.com

2 Echo | May 2010

 World of Islam Thought
50 | Imam Khomeini’s Political
24 | Leading Thought From jurisprudential
Intellectual: French point of view
Anti-burka Law
‘Won’t Work’

26 | Egypt: Nuclear-free
Mideast Key to Settling Iran
Standoff

28 | Saudi Blasts US
Double-standards
Over Nuclear
Mideast

| | 24 | | | | | 30 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 50 | | | |

International

30 | Unrest in Kyrgyzsan

32 | Don’t Take Offence at Our

Coalition; Its Aims are Liberal

36 | Shanghai Expo 2010 Opens

42 | Various Sections of Iran

Pavilion

Echo | May 2010 3

 Cover Story

Obama
Administration
Response to
Gulf Oil Spill
Late
The oil that is still leaking from
the well can seriously damage the
economy and the environment of our
Gulf States, and it could extend for
a long time. It could jeopardize the
livelihoods of thousands of Americans
who call this place home. That is why
the federal government has launched
an all-hands-on-deck, relentless
response to this crisis from day one.
President Barack Obama May 2, 2010

By: Jeff Crouere

4 Echo | May 2010

 Cover Story

Echo | May 2010 5

 Cover Story

O
n May 11, President
Obama tried to
sugarcoat his
administration’s inadequate
and tardy response to the
worst oil spill in our nation’s
history. His claim that the
administration has been
“all-hands-on-deck…from
day one” is laughable. The
Deepwater Horizon well
exploded on April 20, but
the President did not make
his first remarks on the
incident until nine days later
and finally visited the region
May 2, twelve days after the
incident. In fact, the Coast
Guard Commander for the
region initially had stated
that the incident would not
result in a major oil spill.
Prior to addressing the
Gulf disaster, the President
found time to blast Wall
Street and the Governor of
Arizona, advocate Earth
Day awareness, meet with
Rev. Billy Graham, pitch
racial politics in his weekly
radio address, prepare his
jokes for the White House
Correspondents’ Dinner,
make a racially divisive
video to activate his political
coalition for the 2010 election
and hold an impromptu
news conference on a range
of topics. In this news
conference, the President
discussed everything from
the Supreme Court to
immigration, but did not
mention the disaster in the
Gulf.
It was not until April

6 Echo | May 2010

 Cover Story

29 that President Obama

deemed the massive
explosion right off the coast
of Louisiana to be worthy
of comment. It was at that
point that his administration
finally realized that they had
underestimated the severity
of the explosion. Only then
did the administration move
into a frenzied state of
“action” trying to cover-up
their initial mistakes, their
inaction and utter ineptitude.
Commercial fishermen
in Louisiana could have
been utilized from the early
hours of this crisis to deploy
boom and protect delicate
marshland. Sadly, there
was an unacceptable delay
and even now, not enough
fishermen are being used
and many continue to wait
for a call to action that has
not come. In addition, the
controlled burn of the oil was
not started until four hours
after the second leak was
discovered.
Five years ago,
governmental officials at all
levels failed the citizens of
the state. This time, there
are similar failures from
government officials who
waited much too long to
take action. Dealing with
an emergency effectively
requires decisive leadership.
On that important test,
President Obama failed
miserably. Of course, the
liberal mainstream news
media has given the President
a pass. If a Republican

Echo | May 2010 7

 Cover Story
President had neglected such
a crisis for so long, there
would be a media firestorm.
During his visit on May
11, the President once again
pinned the blame on British
Petroleum (BP), the operator
of the well. Yet, this blame
game does nothing to help
Louisiana deal with another
Hurricane Katrina-like
threat. Of course, BP will
have to pay for the damages
and is ultimately responsible,
but when the Gulf Coast
is threatened by a massive
oil spill, it becomes the
responsibility of the President
of the United States as well.
Our federal government has
8 Echo | May 2010
many more resources
than BP and those
resources should
have been deployed
from the first day,
not ten days after the
explosion
The President’s
six hour visit does
not offer much
are that the well is leaking
satisfaction to our fishing
5,000 barrels per day, but
industry which has been
the President’s point person
shutdown by this incident.
for the disaster Commander
Approximately 30 percent
Admiral Thad Allen noted that
of the seafood consumed in
the leak could increase 2,000
this nation comes through
percent to an unimaginable
the wetlands of Louisiana,
level of 100,000 barrels per
so this disaster will impact
day. The environmental
millions of Americans.
consequences of such a
Today, the estimates
monumental mountain of oil
are too scary to contemplate.
The massive oil spill
threatens the economy and
environment of this region.
It will lead to billions of
dollars in damages. Sadly, it
did not capture the attention
of the President until nine
catastrophic days had elapsed.
If this disaster had occurred
off the coast of New York
or California or any blue
state, there is little doubt that
President Obama would have
been more proactive.
This massive explosion
should have been priority
number one for this
administration from April 20
onward, but, unfortunately,
politics and other trivial
pursuits, occupied the time
of the President until a
wake-up call on April 29. In
the nine days that elapsed,
precious time was lost and a

containment problem became
a clean-up nightmare.
Obama’s response to the
oil explosion was so tardy that
he actually accomplished the
impossible. He made Bush’s
response to Hurricane Katrina
seem downright timely.
Huge spill
threatening ecology
of Gulf
Oil has been spewing since
the rig Deepwater Horizon
exploded April 20, killing 11
people and sinking two days
later. The government shortly
afterward estimated the spill
at 210,000 gallons — or 5,000
Echo | May 2010
barrels — a day, a figure that has
since been questioned by some
scientists who fear it could be
far more. BP executives have
stood by the estimate while
acknowledging there’s no way
to know for sure.
BP also owns a rig that
operated with incomplete
and inaccurate engineering
documents, which one
official warned could “lead to
catastrophic operator error,”
records and interviews show.
Two months before the
Deepwater Horizon accident,
19 members of Congress
called on the agency that
oversees offshore oil drilling
to investigate a whistle-
blower’s complaints about the
Cover Story
BP-owned Atlantis, which is
stationed in 7,070 feet of water
more than 150 miles south of
New Orleans.
The Associated Press
learned that an independent
firm hired by BP substantiated
the complaints in 2009 and
found that the company was
violating its own policies
by not having completed
engineering documents on
board the Atlantis when it
began operating in 2007.
Word of huge submerged oil
plumes, meanwhile, raised the
specter of more damage to the
ecologically rich Gulf. It also
adds to questions about when
large amounts of crude might
hit shore.
9
 “It’s just a matter of time ... and the
first significant amount of oil is going
to show up around the U.S,” said Hans
Graber, director of the University of
Miami’s satellite sensing facility, who
has been tracking the oil slick.
Researchers from the National
Institute for Undersea Science and
Technology have said they had detected
the underwater oil plumes at depths
between just beneath the surface to
more than 4,000 feet.
Three or four large plumes have
been found, at least one that is 10 miles
long and a mile wide, said Samantha
Joye, a marine science professor at the
University of Georgia.
Researchers Vernon Asper and
Arne Dierks said in Web posts that the
plumes were “perhaps due to the deep
injection of dispersants which BP has
stated that they are conducting.” BP
has won government approval to use
chemicals on the oil near where it is
gushing to break it up before it rises to
the surface.
The researchers were also testing the
effects of large amounts of subsea oil on
oxygen levels in the water. The oil can
deplete oxygen in the water, harming
plankton and other tiny creatures that
serve as food for a wide variety of sea
critters.
Oxygen levels in some areas have
dropped 30 percent, and should
continue to drop, Joye said.
“It could take years, possibly
decades, for the system to recover from

10 Echo | May 2010

 an infusion of this quantity of oil
and gas,” Joye said. “We’ve never
seen anything like this before. It’s
impossible to fathom the impact.”
Joye’s lab was waiting for the
research boat to return so a team
of scientists can test about 75
water samples and 100 sediment
samples gathered during the voyage.
Researchers plan to go back out in
about a month and sample the same
areas to see if oil and oxygen levels
have worsened.
BP has been unable to stop the
gusher with huge blowout preventers
on the well or by putting a 100-ton
box above the flow to trap and siphon
it to a tanker on the surface. The
latest effort, inserting a mile-long
pipe into the largest of two leaks, hit
a snag Saturday.
BP chief operating officer Doug
Suttles said one piece of equipment,
called the framework, had to be
brought to the surface and adjusted
to fit with the tube.
The framework holds a pipe and
stopper. If it works, the tube could
Echo | May 2010
capture more than three-quarters of
the leak. BP also must contend with
a smaller leak that’s farther away.
One expert said BP’s latest idea
seems to have the best chance for
success so far. Inserting a pipe into
the oil gusher would be easy at the
surface, said Ed Overton, a LSU
professor of environmental studies.
But using robots in 5,000 feet of
water with oil rushing out of the pipe
makes things much more difficult.
“It’s something like threading the
eye of a needle. But that can be tough
to do up here. And you can imagine
how hard it would be to do it down
there with a robot,” Overton said.
BP is also drilling a relief well
that is considered the permanent
solution to stopping the leak. It’s
about halfway done and still months
away from being completed. The
company also is still considering
using a smaller containment dome
known as a “top hat,” as well as a
“junk shot,” in which golf balls and
rubber would be inserted to try to
clog the leak.
11
 Iran

MP: ‘Tehran
Declaration’ Indicates
Iran’s Diplomatic
Creativity
Iran’s agreement with Brazil and Turkey on swap
of nuclear fuel and the declaration issued in this
regard showed the strength and creativity of Tehran’s
diplomacy, a senior legislator said on May 22.

12 Echo | May 2010


T Turkey Vows to Keep Iran’s
he issued declaration was a move forward
that showes diplomatic creativity
of the Islamic Republic of Iran in
maintaining its interests, Hossein Fadayi said.
Based on the trilateral agreement, Tehran should
declare its acceptance of the swap deal in an
official letter to be sent to the IAEA “within one
week”. The fuel swap will take place nearly a
month after receiving an official approval from
the Vienna Group (International Atomic Energy
Agency - IAEA, the US, France and Russia).
Noting hegemonic powers have made every
effort to isolate the Islamic Republic of Iran
on international political and diplomatic
scenes, Fadayi reiterated that Iran’s diplomatic
creativity in hosting the G-15 summit and the
‘Tehran Declaration’ was a strong answer to
such moves by the
hegemonic powers.
“This major event
helped the independent
countries realize
that the hegemonic
system is seeking to
impose itself on these
countries,” he said.
“But the G-15
summit in Tehran
brought about convergence and closeness
between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the
independent and free states,” the MP added.
The 14th Summit of the Group of 15 (G-15) was
held in Tehran in mid May with senior officials
from developing countries in attendance.
The Group 15 was established in
September 1989 to develop economic
cooperation among developing countries.
The G-15 is a group of 18 developing
countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America
and was set up to foster cooperation amongst
members and other international groups.
Iran, Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, Chile,
Egypt, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kenya,
Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Senegal, Sri
Lanka, Venezuela and Zimbabwe are the G-15
members.
Echo | May 2010
Iran
Uranium until Tehran
Receives N. Fuel
Meanwhile, Turkish Foreign Minister
Ahmet Davutoglu underlined his country’s
commitment to keep safe Iran’s low enriched
uranium until Iran receives its needed nuclear
fuel for the Tehran research reactor.
Turkey and Brazil will keep Iran’s low-
enriched uranium in Turkey as long as
Tehran has not received any fuel for its
research reactor, Davutoglu said during a
press conference on the sidelines of the 14th
G-15 Summit here in Tehran on Monday.
“According to trilateral deal, Iran will deliver
1,200 kilograms of low-enriched uranium
to Turkey,” Turkish
foreign Minister stated.
He added Iran will
negotiate with Vienna
group and IAEA in this
respect in the near future.
Davutoglu also
expressed hope that
Iran nuclear program
issues could be settled
through negotiations
and diplomacy.
After several hours of intense negotiations
between Iran, Brazil and Turkey on
Monday, Tehran agreed to ship its
low enriched uranium to Turkey.
Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin
Mehman-Parast said Monday that Tehran
government agreed to a draft proposal
whereby Iran will send some 1200 kg of its
3.5 percent enriched uranium over to Turkey
in exchange for a total of 120 kg 20 percent.
The IAEA will officially receive a letter with
regards to the swap deal “within a week”.
Based on the agreement, the fuel swap will
take place nearly a month after receiving
official approval from the Vienna Group,
which consists of representatives from Iran,
France, Russia and US and IAEA.
13
 Middle East
Palestinians Mark
‘Catastrophe’ Day
Protesters demand right of return of hundreds of
thousands of refugees driven from their homes.
By Adel Zaanoun
P
alestinians marked on
May 14 the 62nd anni-
versary of the Naqba,
the “catastrophe” of Israel’s
creation, demanding the
right of return of hundreds of
thousands driven from their
homes.
Protests were staged in the
Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip and
in Lebanon, home to around
400,000 Palestinian refugees,
as chief Palestinian negotiator
Saeb Erakat blasted Israel for
its “disregard of international
law.”
Some 3,000 people
demonstrated in Gaza’s
Jabaliya refugee camp in
a protest organized by the
Islamist Hamas movement,
14
and many joined a battle with the enemy.
demonstration in the Nuseirat
camp staged by the Islamic
Jihad.
“We will never give up the
right of return” of refugees
to their towns and villages, a
Hamas leader, Muin Mderes,
told the crowd in Jabaliya.
Israeli governments have
refused to allow Palestinian
refugees to return to homes
they fled in 1948 over fears a
massive return would threaten
the state of Israel and its 5.7
million Jewish population.
Top Islamic Jihad leader
Mohammed al-Hindi urged
all Palestinians, Arabs and
Muslims to back the resistance
and be ready for the next
Children were among the
Gaza protesters and carried the
keys to homes their relatives
had lost after the creation of
Israel. An estimated 700,000
Arabs were expelled from
their homes.
In a message to mark the
anniversary, Erakat insisted
that the refugees, who together
with their descendants now
number 4.7 million, have the
right to return.
“In other conflicts, refugee
rights have been honored
and respected, including the
right of return, restitution
and compensation. In stark
contrast, however, Israel
refuses to even recognize the
Echo | May 2010
Palestinian right of return,
thus continuing to deny the
refugees’ basic rights.
“No state is above the law,”
Erakat said.
And he insisted that the
creation of a Palestinian state
with annexed east Jerusalem
as its capital “is a must.”
His remarks come days
only after Israel marked
the 43rd anniversary of the
capture of east Bait ul-Maqdis
(Jerusalem) and a defiant
speech by Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu
vowing to pursue settlement
construction there.
“You can’t flourish in a
divided city and a flourishing
city can’t be divided or
frozen,” Netanyahu said.
“We will continue to build
and develop ourselves in
Jerusalem.”
The Palestinians have
warned that continued
construction in Jewish
settlements in annexed
Arab east Bait ul Muqaddas
(Jerusalem) will torpedo
newly launched indirect
peace talks which are being
brokered by the United
States. elderly refugees could be already slipped away, or at
Hamas supporters in heard recounting to their best is fading fast.
Lebanon also marked the grandchildren and great- “Definitely the fight for a
anniversary with hundreds of grandchildren the tale of their two-state solution is obsolete,”
Palestinians gathering both exodus. says Meron Benvenisti, a
in Beirut and in the south, Meanwhile, as negotiators former Israeli deputy mayor of
where they made their way to begin indirect talks with occupied Bait-ul-Muqaddas
Maroun al-Ras village near the ultimate aim of creating (Jerusalem) and veteran
the Israeli border. a Palestinian state next to observer of Palestinian-Israeli
Some protesters Israel, voices on both sides are relations.
peered across the frontier warning that the opportunity Creating a sovereign
through binoculars, and for a two-state solution has Palestinian state living at

Echo | May 2010 15

 Middle East
peace alongside Israel has been the centrepiece
of international diplomatic efforts for years,
but swathes of illegal Jewish settlement
dissecting the West Bank and East Bait-ul-
Muqaddas (Jerusalem) have made that goal
look increasingly unviable.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party dislikes
the prospect of Palestinian statehood, but the
premier conditionally endorsed the idea for
the first time last June.
Benvenisti envisages some form of
federation comprising Israel and the Palestinian
territories.
“The only solution that can work in
these conditions is powersharing and soft
16
boundaries,” he said at a recent briefing.
“Meaning not sovereign borders, and the
creation of a system of powersharing that
would satisfy the ethnic demands of both
sides.”
To most Israelis, the idea of sharing a state
with the Palestinians is a non-starter.
“The raison d’etre of the state of Israel is
a Jewish state, there is no room (in it) for the
other side,” says Ron Pundak, an architect of
the 1993 Oslo agreement between Israel and
the Palestinians.
But Pundak has little faith that the fledgling
indirect talks will bring Palestinian statehood
and an end to the conflict any closer.
“It’s an exercise in futility, a waste of time,”
he said.
Some on the right, including in the Likud,
publicly advocate passing control of the West
Bank and Gaza Strip back to Jordan and
Egypt, which administered them from 1948
until 1967.
But Egypt and Jordan seem unlikely to
oblige. Neither will the Palestinians, the
original inhabitants of the Israeli-occupied
land, which also includes East Bait-ul-
Muqaddas (Jerusalem).
Arguing for an Israeli-Palestinian federal
state, Benvenisti says the two-state plan can
no longer meet the aspirations of what have
over the years become separate Palestinian
societies.
The West Bank [including East Bait-ul-
Muqaddas (Jerusalem)] and the Gaza Strip are
separated by about 35 kilometres (22 miles) of
Israeli-controlled-territory and Israel maintains
draconian restrictions on who may cross.
In Palestinian East Bait-ul-Muqaddas
(Jerusalem), illegally occupied by Israel since
1967, 270,000 Palestinians live in a limbo
where they are classed as Israeli residents but
are not citizens.
In addition, there are nearly 1.3 million
Palestinians who took Israeli citizenship
after Israeli occupation of the Palestinian
territories in 1948 -- known as Arab Israelis --
Echo | May 2010

but complain they are treated as second class
citizens.
“The Israeli Palestinians have nothing to do
with (the two-state plan),” said Benvenisti.
Moreover, Hamas, now controlling the
West Bank, is opposed to the talks because of
the Israeli betrayal of the Palestinian cause in
the past.
At the same time a study finds Israeli
neglect, discrimination against Palestinians in
occupied East Bait-ul-Muqaddas (Jerusalem).
Most Palestinians in occupied East Bait-ul-
Muqaddas (Jerusalem), including three out of
four children, live below the poverty line, an
Israeli rights group said on Many 10, accusing
Israel of neglect and discrimination.
“A unified Bait-ul-Muqaddas (Jerusalem)
does not exist,” the Association for Civil Rights
in Israel (ACRI) said in a report released as
the Jewish state begins celebrations to mark
the 43rd anniversary of its 1967 occupation
of Palestinian East Bait-ul-Muqaddas
(Jerusalem).
“The truth is, two cities exist side by side,”
the report said, challenging Israel’s claim that
it unified the Holy City after occupying the
Palestinian territory in a move slammed by the
international community.
Seventy-five percent of Palestinian children
in occupied East Bait-ul-Muqaddas (Jerusalem)
live in poverty compared with 45 percent of
the city’s Jewish children, the report said.
“Over 95,000 children in East Bait-ul-
Muqaddas (Jerusalem) live in a perpetual state
of poverty,” ACRI said.
Despite the rampant poverty, only 10
percent of occupied East Bait-ul-Muqaddas
(Jerusalem)’s 300,000 Palestinians have
access to social services, it added.
The neglect extends to just about every
sector of life in the Palestinian sector, and
ACRI blamed this on the authorities.
“Israel’s policy for the past four decades
has taken concrete form as discrimination
in planning and construction, expropriation
of land, and minimal investment in physical
Echo | May 2010
Middle East
infrastructure and government and municipal
services,” the report said.
The office of Nir Barkat, the Israeli mayor
of Bait-ul-Muqaddas (Jerusalem), said it had
no immediate comment on the report.
Israel has expropriated more than one-
third of occupied East Bait-ul-Muqaddas
(Jerusalem) land which was privately owned
by Palestinians, on which it has built more
than 50,000 units for illegal Jewish settlers.
Virtually no permits for Palestinian housing
construction have been issued for decades,
there is a shortage of about 1,000 classrooms
and rubbish collection is sporadic at best, as
are postal services, the report said.
The annual budget allocation per elementary
school child in occupied East Bait-ul-Muqaddas
(Jerusalem) was 577 shekels (152 dollars)
compared with 2,372 shekels (627 dollars) in
west Bait-ul-Muqaddas (Jerusalem).
About 160,000 Palestinian residents have
no suitable and legal connection to the water
network and 50 kilometres (30 miles) of main
sewage lines are lacking, the report said.
At the end of 2009 approximately 303,429
Palestinians lived in East Jerusalem, which
has been under illegal Israeli occupation since
1967.
17
 Middle East

World’s
Largest
Head-dress
Marks
Palestinian
‘Catastrophe’
Giant keffiyeh
highlights UN
Resolution 194 on right
of Palestinians to return
to their homes.

L
ebanese and Palestinian activists on
May 16 marked the “catastrophe” of
Israel’s creation on their land by set-
ting a record for the world’s largest keffiyeh,
or Arab head-dress.
The 6,552-metre (21,496-foot) chain of
scarves was laid out on the grounds of the
Sport City Stadium in Beirut to mark what
Arabs call the Naqba, the “catastrophe” of
Israel’s creation in historic Palestine in 1948.
The feat, overseen by a Guinness World
Records official, breaks a previous entry of a
2,932-metre (9,619-foot) scarf set in Spain in
August 2009.

18 Echo | May 2010


We want to affirm
that Resolution
194... calling
for the return of
Palestinians to
their land must be
implemented.
More than 100 volunteers
placed the giant scarf to form
the number 194, signifying
the 1948 United Nations
Resolution that grants
Palestinians the right to
return to their homes.
“A group of independent
Palestinian and foreign
activists got together to
reach that record,” said
Jamal Kurdi, a member of
the Campaign 194 group
that organized the record-
breaking event.
Echo | May 2010
“On the anniversary of
the Naqba we want to affirm
that Resolution 194... calling
for the return of Palestinians
to their land must be
implemented,” he said.
A sign next to the giant
keffiyeh, which was made
with more than 6,500 scarves
stitched together, read: “194.
We will return.”
Some 4,000 people
marched in Gaza City to
mark the Naqba, in response
to a joint appeal by Hamas
Middle East
and Fatah, the two principal
Palestinian political parties.
In the West Bank, sirens
wailed through the Israeli-
occupied territory as residents
marked a minute’s silence.
More than 760,000
Palestinians -- estimated
today to number 4.7 million
with their descendants --
were pushed into exile or
driven out of their homes
in the conflict that followed
Israel’s creation 62 years
ago.
19
 South East Asia

Unrest in Thailand

W
ho and what is causing the Thailand
confrontation?
The following questions are
normally asked about the cause of confrontation
in Thailand. Answer to these questions sheds
light on the nature of the unrest in the Southeast
Asian country.
What are the origins of this confrontation?
Put simply, Thailand’s rural poor are
protesting for the right to have a greater say
in the government of their country. The
move is being resisted by the Bangkok elite
– the wealthiest families, the military, the
bureaucrats – who have controlled Thailand’s
affairs for generations.
Although the issue is complicated by the
influence of people such as the former prime grew out of a loyalty to Thaksin, it has become
minister Thaksin Shinawatra, at the heart of broader than him, with its leaders claiming
the conflict lies a struggle for, or a defense of, their campaign is about bringing a more
a greater say in the running of the country. representative democracy to Thailand.
Who are the redshirts? While Thaksin’s face is still on much of their
The redshirts are drawn largely from monochromatic merchandise and his billions
Thailand’s rural poor, mainly from the north are still bankrolling many protests, he does
and north-east of the country. They are the not appear by videolink very often anymore
electoral majority. Many are still supporters of – nor is he mentioned by the leaders in their
the fugitive Thaksin. Although their movement speeches very much. The movement has now

20 Echo | May 2010

 South East Asia

begun to draw in city students

and members of Bangkok’s
burgeoning elite.
They regard the current
government as illegitimate
because it never won an
election and was brought to
power by a parliamentary
election – engineered by the
military – after the redshirts’
party was dissolved for
electoral fraud and kicked out
of parliament.
Who is pulling the strings?
The redshirts are an
informal movement, with
no real leadership structure
or chain of command. Their
leaders are an eclectic lot.
They include:
Weng Tojirakarn – a
medical doctor and former
member of the communist
party, he is one of the most
eloquent of the redshirt
leaders.
Veera Musikapong –
former member Thaksin’s
Thai Rak Thai (Thais love
Thais) party, which was
dissolved. He helped set up
the redshirts on TV channel
People TV.
Arisman Pongruangrong
– a 1980s pop star-cum-
political activist, he famously
avoided arrest during these
protests by escaping from a
Bangkok hotel, climbing out
the window and down a rope
ladder.
Seh Daeng – Renegade
army major general,
also known as Khattiya
Sawasdipol, who headed the
redshirts’ paramilitary arm the

Echo | May 2010 21

 South East Asia

black-clad “guards”. Accused by the government

of ordering grenade attacks all over Bangkok, he
was shot by a sniper on May 15 and remains in a
coma in hospital.
Who are the yellowshirts?
The yellowshirts, or People’s Alliance for
Democracy, are the reds’ opposition. They
represent the ruling class in Bangkok, known as the
amataya, or elite. They are the wealthy families,
the military and the bureaucrats, who have long
exerted a huge influence on Thai politics.
They wear yellow because they claim also to
represent the interests of the monarchy (yellow
being the Thai king’s “color”). In 2008 they seized
both the airport and government house, but in this
current standoff, the yellowshirts are nowhere.
They flirted with the periphery of this current
impasse, but have never become significantly
involved.
What are the chances of a compromise
solution?
At the beginning of the second week of May,
the chances looked good; the government had of-
fered the redshirts an early election in November
and the reds had said they agreed “in principle” to
the “reconciliation roadmap” offered by the prime
minister. But negotiations foundered over de-
mands from the reds that Thailand’s deputy prime
minister be arrested for ordering troops to move
on protesters on 10 April, when 25 people were
killed.
The government then withdrew the offer of
an early poll, and sent troops in to surround the
protesters, cutting off their supplies of food, water,
electricity, and fuel. Violence broke out again, and
the two sides are now as far apart as they have
been for this entire two-month political standoff.
Does Thailand have a history of political
violence and uncertainty?
Most definitely. The current Thai king, who
is 83, has sat on the throne for 63 years, during
which time he has witnessed more than 15 coups,
16 constitutions and 27 changes of prime minister.
Although the current bloodshed is the worst in two
decades, it is not unprecedented: Thai democracy
has been unstable for generations.

22 Echo | May 2010

 South East Asia

Echo | May 2010 23

 World of Islam

Leading
Intellectual:
French Anti-burka
Law ‘Won’t Work’
Tariq Ramadan says
‘restricting freedom’ not the
right way to make women stop
wearing niqab

F
rance’s proposal to ban the burka
is not the right way to get Muslim
women to stop wearing the full
veil, one of Europe’s leading Muslim
scholars Tariq Ramadan said in Wash-
ington on April 28.
“The French... are responding to the
burka, the niqab by restricting freedom
and I think that’s not going to work,”
Ramadan said during one of his first
visits to the United States since a travel
ban imposed on him by the administration of President George
W. Bush was lifted.
“We have to be very cautious not to translate every sensitive
issue into a legal issue,” said the professor of Islamic studies at
Oxford University.
“Don’t go that direction, speak more about education,
psychology, changing mentality. It takes time but... for me, we
can do the job as Muslims by saying the burka and niqab are not
Islamic prescriptions,” he said.
President Nicolas Sarkozy has declared the burka not
welcome in France.
France’s National
Assembly will begin debate
in early July on a bill banning
Muslim women from
wearing the full veil, Prime
Minister Francois Fillon told
lawmakers in France on April
26.
A final draft of the
legislation outlawing the
face-covering veil from all
public spaces as well as
state institutions was to be
approved by the cabinet on
May 19, said aides to Fillon.
Ramadan also had a

24 Echo | May 2010

message for his fellow Muslims about how to deal with those Ramadan has also been
who lampoon religious figures. banned from traveling to
“To ridicule religion is part of the Western culture,” Ramadan several countries in the
said. Middle East and North Africa,
“When we had this cartoonist in Denmark and even here now including Egypt, and Syria.
with this new story about the cartoon (Southpark), let’s just take Those travel bans were
some intellectual distance from this. imposed because he had
“Take a critical distance but let the people understand around “disagreed with the authorities
you even if it’s legal, you don’t like it. React by saying I don’t there,” he said.
like this, this isn’t me, I am not laughing at religion,” he said. Ramadan is currently a
Swiss-born Ramadan had been all set to take a teaching professor of Islamic studies at
position at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana in late 2004 Oxford University in Britain,
when he was abruptly denied a visa to come to the United States president of a Brussels-based
to work. think-tank, the European
The travel ban, which US authorities eventually pinned to Muslim Network, and the
Ramadan having donated money to a Swiss charity that helps author of more than 20 books
Palestinians, was lifted earlier this year. on Islam.

Echo | May 2010 25

 World of Islam

Egypt:
Nuclear-free
Mideast Key to
Settling Iran
Standoff

26 Echo | May 2010


J
ust few days before the nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)
review conference in New York,
Egypt said establishing a Middle
East nuclear-free zone was the key
to resolving the nuclear standoff with
Iran.
“Success in dealing with Iran
will depend to a large extent on
how successfully we deal with the
establishment of a nuclear-free zone”
in the Middle East, Egypt’s UN
Ambassador Maged Abdel Aziz told
a luncheon briefing with reporters in
New York.
“We refuse the existence of any
nuclear weapons in (the Middle East)
whether it is in Iran or whether it is in
Israel,” he added.
Egypt presented a working paper
at the NPT review conference,
which opened on May 3, urging
implementation of a 1995 resolution
calling for establishment of a nuclear-
free Middle East.
The paper called on NPT members
to “renew their resolve to undertake,
individually and collectively, all
necessary measures aimed at the
Echo | May 2010
World of Islam
prompt implementation of the
resolution, including the accession by
Israel to the treaty as soon as possible”
as a non-nuclear weapon entity.
Israel should also place all its
nuclear facilities under the full scope
of International Atomic Energy
Agency safeguards, it adds.
He expressed hope that Israel,
widely believed to have an arsenal
of several hundred nuclear bombs,
would take part in the NPT review
conference which ran from May 3 to
28.
Abdel Aziz said setting up a Middle
East nuclear-free zone would be a
“good step”.
Israel is not party to the NPT in order
to avoid international inspections.
The US, meanwhile, has politicized
Iran’s nuclear case baselessly accusing
Iran of using its uranium enrichment
program as a cover to acquire nuclear
weapons. Tehran insists its nuclear
program is entirely peaceful and
geared toward electricity generation.
Iran is a signatory to the NPT and all its
installations are under the inspection
of the International Atomic Energy.
27
 World of Islam
Reflecting high level thinking in the
Saudi government
F
ormer Saudi intel-
ligence chief Prince
Turki al-Faisal faulted
on May 16 the US and Eu-
ropean approach in trying to
halt Iran’s alleged efforts to
build a nuclear weapon.
“The discussions on Iran’s
nuclear ambitions started off
Saudi Blasts US
Double-standards
Over Nuclear Mideast
on the wrong foot. The carrot
and stick approach does not
work,” he said.
For one, he said, the US
and Europe have had double-
standards in dealing with
Iran on the one hand, and
other nuclear countries on the
other.
“You cannot ask Iran to
28
play on one level while you
allow Israel, India, Pakistan,
and North Korea to play on
other levels.”
Turki said a successful
strategy toward Iran requires
even-handedness, a “universal
nuclear security umbrella”
for the countries in the area,
and “a good military option”
against any regional country
which does not cooperate.
He said US Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton had
undermined efforts to move
toward a regional nuclear-free
zone, after the UN Security
Council’s five permanent
members recently expressed
support for the idea.
“Alas... Clinton then
voided the issue of its value by
stating that the conditions do
not yet exist for establishing
the zone,” he said.
“Why, then, did she join
the other members of the P5
in issuing their statement?”
Turki said he hoped US
President Barack Obama
“will find the way to correct
his secretary of state’s
nullification of making our
area free of weapons of mass
destruction.”
The ex-ambassador to the
United States also challenged
Washington to produce
Echo | May 2010
 World of Islam

You cannot ask Iran to

play on one level while
you allow Israel, India,
Pakistan, and North Korea
to play on other levels

results in just-started Middle before diplomats, Turki a central role in Saudi-

East peace talks.
“The Arab world has
given (US President Barack)
Obama until September to
get things done,” Turki, also
a former Saudi ambassador to
Washington, told an audience
of businessmen, journalists
and diplomats.
“It is not enough to talk
the talk. He has to walk the
walk,” he said.
“If he does not succeed ...
then I ask President Obama to
do the morally decent gesture
and recognize the Palestinian
state that he so ardently
wishes to exist.
“He can then pack up and
leave us in peace and let the
Palestinians, Syrians and
Lebanese negotiate directly
with the Israelis. No more
platitudes and good wishes
and visions, please.”
In a speech in Riyadh
said US-led NATO troops
had irrevocably alienated
the Afghan people and had
no hope of rebuilding the
country.
“What Afghanistan needs
now is a shift from nation-
building to effectively
countering terrorists,”
Turki told the Arab News
conference.
Obama “should not be
misdirected into believing
that he can fix Afghanistan’s
ills by military means.”
“Hunt down the terrorists
on both sides of the Afghan-
Pakistan border, arrest them
or kill them, and get out, and
let the Afghan people deal
with their problems.
“As long as GI boots
remain on Afghan soil, they
remain targets of resistance
for the Afghan people.”
Turki, who has long served
Afghan relations, scolded
Washington’s handling of
relations with Kabul.
“The inept way in which
this administration has dealt
with President (Hamid)
Karzai beggars disbelief and
amazement.
“Both sides are now filled
with resentment and a sour
taste in their mouths,” he
said. “How can they both get
out of that situation? I don’t
know.”
The chairman of the King
Faisal Center For Research
and Islamic Studies, Turki
has no official position but is
believed to often reflect high
level thinking in the Saudi
government.
He is the brother of Foreign
Minister Prince Saud al-
Faisal, and analysts speculate
he could become foreign
minister when Saud retires.

Echo | May 2010 29

 International
Unrest in
Kyrgyzstan
K
yrgyzstan unrest
casts light on U.S.
policy in the region
Political unrest resurfaced
this week in this Central
Asian country, raising fresh
questions about U.S. foreign
policy in the region.
On Thursday and Friday,
opponents of the interim rulers
stormed regional government
headquarters in the southern
part of the country. A month
ago, violent protests toppled
Kyrgyzstan’s government,
leaving 84 protesters dead.
If the protests this week
spread to Bishkek, the fallout
could again raise questions
about the future of the U.S.-
30
leased Manas Air Base, a
major logistical hub for the
war in Afghanistan.
It is the second time in five
years that political instability
has put the strategic U.S.
military base at risk. While
some analysts say that the
presence of U.S. forces in the
region is key to maintaining
some semblance of security,
others argue that the U.S.
focus on the base has blinded
it to serious human rights
abuses in the region.
“U.S. policy here is the
base,” said Paul Quinn-Judge,
the Central Asia Project
director for the International
Crisis Group, who lives in
Bishkek.
The U.S. opened Manas in
2001, choosing Kyrgyzstan
for its strategic location near
Afghanistan as well as its
seemingly stable leadership.
Since then, however, two
successive governments have
been knocked from power in
violent revolutions.
In 2005, protesters angered
by alleged vote-rigging in
parliamentary elections
stormed the presidential
compound and ousted Askar
Akayev, a former Communist
who took power after the
fall of the Soviet Union.
His successor, Kurmanbek
Bakiyev, threatened to shut
Echo | May 2010

down Manas before later
relenting, and was ousted in
a nearly identical revolution
last month.
Also in 2005, security
forces in Uzbekistan, a
regional U.S. ally, opened
fire on protesters, killing
thousands of civilians,
by some estimates.Islam
Karimov evicted the U.S.
from a key base that was
being used for the war in
Afghanistan.
Many on the streets
of Bishkek say they see
American policy in the region
as driven by military interests
at the expense of democracy.
The U.S. pays $60 million
Echo | May 2010
a year in rent to Kyrgyzstan.
The current one-year lease —
signed after Kyrgyz officials
won a substantial increase
from $17 million a year —
expires in July. Some say
the jobs and money the base
brings to the country are too
important to give up, but
others are angry about U.S.
support for Bakiyev and
the millions of dollars he is
thought to have siphoned for
himself and family members
from U.S. contracts.
“It’s very sad because
the Central Asian people
are very welcoming to the
Americans and expected the
Americans to come in after
International
9/11 and foster democracy
and it just didn’t happen,”
said Ahmed Rashid, a Central
Asia expert who has written
extensively about the region.
“These countries in Central
Asia had an enormous
amount of goodwill toward
the Americans, which has
largely been wasted in this
obsession with using Central
Asia purely in the fight for
Afghanistan.”
As the West focuses on
Afghanistan, al-Qaida has
grown in Central Asia,
especially in the volatile
Fergana Valley, a region that
spans parts of Kyrgyzstan,
Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
31
 International
Don’t Take Offence
at Our Coalition;
Its Aims are Liberal
By: Nick Clegg
A
Lib-Con deal was
the only responsible
choice. And our
shared aim is to build a fairer
society by a radical dispersal
of power.
The third runway at
Heathrow has been cancelled.
ID cards have been scrapped.
There will be no more child
detention. And reform is now
under way to make taxes
fair for millions of ordinary
people.
These are some of the
early achievements of a
government that had its first
cabinet meeting just two
days ago. A new government
but, more important, a new
kind of government: plural,
diverse; a Liberal Democrat-
32
Conservative coalition
that defies the rules of old
politics.
I know the birth of this
coalition has caused much
surprise, and, with it, some
offence. There are those on
both the left and right who
are united in thinking this
should not have happened.
But the truth is this: there
was no other responsible
way to play the hand dealt
to the political parties by
the British people at the
election. The parliamentary
arithmetic made a Lib-Lab
coalition unworkable, and it
would have been regarded
as illegitimate by the British
people. Equally, a minority
administration would have
been too fragile to tackle
the political and economic
challenges ahead.
So, given that the people
told us, explicitly, that they
didn’t want just one party
in charge, we had a duty to
find a way for more than one
party to govern effectively.
And we have.
That’s the pragmatic
analysis. But what I think
has surprised all of us in the
government this week is the
strength of the agreement on
principle, too. No government
– whether it’s a coalition
of parties, or a coalition
of rivalries as in the Blair-
Brown governments – is able
to survive without a core set
of common assumptions and
Echo | May 2010
 International

Echo | May 2010 33

 International
aspirations.
David Cameron and I
both understand that this
government’s unifying
realization is that power
must be dispersed more
fairly in Britain today: from
the Whitehall centre to
communities; into the hands
of patients, parents and
pupils in our public services;
protecting the rights and
freedoms of people from
arbitrary state interference;
mobilizing social mobility
through greater fairness in
34
the tax and school system. In
short, distributing power and
opportunity to people rather
than hoarding authority
within government.
That is why this
government will transform
the tax system, allowing
people on low and middle
incomes to keep more of the
money they earn. By making
cuts elsewhere in government,
we will be able to provide
the financial support for our
“pupil premium”, helping
thousands of children who
We can also start
to build a new
economy, just as we
clear up the mess
left behind from the
collapse of the old.
still don’t get the individual
support they need in school.
Education is everything in
the creation of a truly mobile
society.
We will open up
opportunity in our economy,
too. The immediate challenge
is to tackle the looming
deficit. Unpopular decisions
will have to be taken in the
months and years ahead to
fill the black hole in our
finances. The challenge for
the government will be to
do so while always seeking
to protect the vulnerable,
frontline services, and
confidence in our economy.
But we can also start to
build a new economy, just
as we clear up the mess left
behind from the collapse
of the old. George Osborne
and Vince Cable will be
developing plans to reform
our broken banking system,
so that bank lending supports
Echo | May 2010
 International

George Osborne and

Vince Cable will be
developing plans to
reform our broken
banking system, so that
bank lending supports
the real economy and
banks no longer take
unjustified risks.

the real economy and banks

no longer take unjustified
risks. Instead, we will
support sustainable growth,
balanced across all industries
and across all regions, and
promote the green industries
that are so essential for our
shared future.
We will oversee the radical
dispersal of power away from
Westminster and Whitehall
to councils, communities I call that agenda liberalism. questions that lie ahead.
and homes across the nation. Others may have other names While we will be open about
So that, wherever possible, for it, but whatever terms our differences, we also
people make the call over you prefer, this is our best know that our strength –
the decisions that affect guarantee of a fair society. the strength now needed to
their lives. And, crucially, That is the case I have deliver the change needed in
the relentless incursions argued my whole political Britain – depends on being
of the state into the lives life. Yes, as the coalition the sum of our parts. And
of individuals that has moves ahead there will be from our different traditions
characterized the last 13 bumps and scrapes along the we can pursue one simple,
years ends here. From rolling way; there has already been shared aim: this will be the
back excessive surveillance, significant compromise from government that re-empowers
to ending the criminalization both sides and there will of the British people.
of innocent people, we will course need to be more. And, This article was published
restore and protect our hard- no, we do not yet have all of by the Guardian on 14th
won civil liberties. the answers to the inevitable May.

Echo | May 2010 35

 International

Shanghai Expo
2010 Opens
36 Echo | May 2010
 International

Asians Welcome pavilion was officially the pavilion authorities.

Iranian Pavilion opened during a ceremony The Iranian pavilion
where Shabestari, Iranian consists of Ancient,

T
diplomat in Beijing, Contemporary and Future
he Iranian pavilion Nazeri, Iranian consul in sections, as well as the
in Expo 2010 was Shanghai, Akbarpur Higher business part decorated
opened for visitors Iranian Representative with valuable Iranian
on Saturday May 1 st . The in Shanghai Expo rugs. All sections enjoy
Public Relations and participated along with facilities for visitors.
Information Office of many other visitors. Reportedly more than
the Culture and Islamic The gathered crowd 4 thousand people have
Relations Organization during the first hours was visited Iranian pavilion
reported that Iranian so great that astonished during the first day.

Echo | May 2010 37

 International

Special Symbols of Pavilion by various media, some even

Iranian Pavilion Figures presented by the claiming a visit by over 5
authorities of Shanghai Expo thousand people, none of
2010 show that over 550 these numbers are true and the
Beautiful building thousand people have visited correct statistics are presented
with mihrab-like curves the fair during the first three below.
symbolizing worship of the days of May. Before the opening of
Creator The Public Relations and the Expo 2010, Chinese
Clean water designed as Information Office of the authorites claimed more than
traditional pools symbolizing Culture and Islamic Relations 70 million people will visit
purity and cleanness Organization reported despite it during the six months and
Positioning of colored different figures presented at least 400 thousand people
glasses on the roof through
which light passes symbolizing
love and brightness
Manifestations of Iranian
border guards symbolizing
peaceful coexistence of
different Iranian tribes during
all historic ages
Building a quarter of earth
symbolizing Iran as one of
four great civilizations
Performing traditional
music symbolizing kindness
in Iranian society
Model of "33-pol" in
Isfahan symbolizing Iranian
great power in discovering
natural rules and lawfulness
Model of Silk Road
symbolizing transnational
and universal view of Ancient
Iranian society
Weaving a rug by visitors
during six months of Expo
symbolizing cooperation
The Saadi Poem of " Of
One Essence is the Human
Race, Thusly has Creation put
the Base" in three language
of Farsi, English and Chinese
symbolizing justice and
equality
Visitors Statistics of
Shanghai Expo and Iranian

38 Echo | May 2010


will visit it every day.
But the number on the
opening day was declared
to be 300 thousand which is
not reliable like many other
statistics.
The number on the second
day was declared 240 thousand
people which was expected
to be more considering the
weekend and May 1st official
holiday. Although some
Echo | May 2010
media reported 550 thousand
people for the first three
days.
So during normal days
fewer visitors are expected
to show up and with an
optimistic estimation 200
thousand people will visit
daily which add up to 36
million during the whole six
months.
Contrary to numbers
International
declared for Expo visitors
which were exaggerated,
the numbers for Iranian
pavilion (5000 daily) are
underestimated.
Based on accurate
numbering on the main gate
of Iranian pavilion, about
250 to 300 visitors entered
the gate every 10 minutes.
This crowd continued from
9am to 5pm and during
these 8 hours, about 24500
to 26000 visitors has entered
the Iranian pavilion which
means between 735 to 780
thousand people will visit
Iranian pavilion monthly
adding up to 4100000 to
4700000 visitors for the
Iranian pavilion in Shanghai
Expo 2010 during the whole
period of six months.
Some Turk Muslims
Visit Iranian Pavilion
Some Turk Muslims from
Istanbul visited the Iranian
pavilion in China Expo 2010
on May 3rd. they visited all
parts of the pavilion and took
pictures.
Visitors Crowded in
Iranian Pavilion
Figures show that more
than 7 thousand people visit
the Iranian pavilion in China
Expo 2010 every day. They
are from different countries;
among them also there are
Iranians who have traveled to
visit our pavilion.
39
 International

Iran Present 34 High Tech in

China Expo 2010
The Director for Technology and
Innovation in the Presidential Office
for Science and Technology declared
the presentation of 34 Iranian high
tech achievements in medicines,
microelectronics, nanotech, and new energy
resources, in China Expo 2010.
Dr. Hussein Salar Amoli said: Iran will
participate in China Expo 2010 with three
sections of Ancient, Contemporary, and
Future Iran centered around scientific and
technological development, as for example
in Ancient section, ancient Iranian scientists
will be presented.
Also 34 high tech achievements in Considering space limit, we plan
medicines, microelectronics, nanotech, and substitutions in three phases to present all
new energy resources will be presented in our new models, he added.
the Contemporary section, he added. Salar Amoli said: for the purpose of
He said: during six months holding these substitutions we ask all ministries
of China Expo 2010 which focuses on of Science, Health, Treatment and
introducing different countries in cultural, Physics Education, Agricultural Jihad,
scientific and economic aspects, more than Telecommunications, University Jihad,
100 million people are expected to visit the parks and educational centers, …, to send
Expo of whom we expect 10 million to visit their models for us so the best selected ones
the Iranian pavilion. will be presented in nest phases.
June 11th has been selected as the Day
of Islamic Republic of Iran and we hope to
have better presentation of our technological
achievements in this day, he added.

The Tehran Singing Group will

Perform in Shanghai Expo
The Tehran Singing Group headed by
Milad Omranlu will Perform in Shanghai’s
Art Fair (Expo).
This group will travel to China to
participate in the country’s Asia Olympics
in July and during their stay, they will have
two programs in the Iranian pavilion.
Milad Omranlu said: we have not decided

40 Echo | May 2010

 International

is underway for development of international

and economic relations during Shanghai
Expo 2010.  
About the effects of Expo on our
international relations he said: we have
invited all pavilions, local and foreign high
authorities, and ambassadors to visit our
pavilion on Iran Day during the Expo on June
11th, when we have planned for some serious
talks with them.
The Iranian Consul has focused his
programs, through the Ministries of the
Foreign Affairs and the Culture and Islamic
Relations, on more extended international
interactions and activities, he added.
About the economic and trade effects of
this international fair, he said: the common
Iran-China Chamber is seriously active in
about the method of our programs and it
this fair where trade relations with other
will depend on the atmosphere of the Fair
countries are considered too. We have a 400
but surely we will perform pieces chosen
square meters space for trade section where is
for the Olympics.
the Iran-Chian Chamber.  
Iranian Research on We received the Best Prize during the
Pharmaceutical Effects of designing and preparation of pavilions, he
Saffron in Shanghai Expo  said.
He added, now the best decorated pavilions
Some results of Iranian research on are for China, Saudi Arabia, Australia, and
pharmaceutical effects of Saffron will be Austria.
presented during Shanghai Expo.
The Chairman of Iranian Saffron
Development and Export Fund, Ali Shariati
Moghadam said: there have been previous
studies on pharmaceutical effects of Saffron
including anti depression and anti cancer
effects which were presented internationally.
But previous works have been limited and this
time we plan to have a more comprehensive
research on pharmaceutical effects of
Saffron.
 
Best Preparation Timing and
Design Expo Prize for Iran
 
The Advisor of the Executive Manager of
the International Fair said: extensive planning

Echo | May 2010 41

 International
Various Sections of
Iran Pavilion
Iranian National
Laser Science and
Technology Center
T
he Iranian National
Laser Science and
Technology Center has
initiated extensive programs
aimed at better utilization of
laser technology.
The main goals include
providing for Iranian
essential needs (Industry and
Physics), introducing the
laser technology and utilities
to Iranian industries. This
Center has participated in
China Expo 2010 with two
of its newest research and
technology achievements
which could compete with
their foreign counterparts.
These achievements
are presented to introduce
42
the capabilities of Iranian
young scientists as well as
the nation’s scientific and
technological potentials.
Narrow Disc Laser
Machine which has a
powerful emission and is only
produced in a limited number
of countries.
This machine was finalized
from research phase only
during three years.
The other machine is the
Fiber Laser which is also one
of the most moderns tools in
the world.
However the achievements
of the National Laser Science
and Technology Centre is not
limited to these two machines
and the center has developed
many tools to provide for
the needs of Iranian industry
including the metal cutting
and disease welding tools,
as well as illness treating
tools like laser cutting tool
for kidney-stones. This
Center has the potential to
compete with similar centers
in modern countries through
its skilled and expert human
resource.
Using Kaixin001.com
to Advertise Iranian
Pavilion
The Iranian pavilion has
prepared for its introduction
in this social network site
which works like Twitter
and has more than 4 million
visitors every day.
The Japanese have also
used this site to promote their
pavilion.
Foreign Visitors Pleased
with Expo
Echo | May 2010
 China Expo 2010 was
open to ordinary visitors on
May 4th who could buy their
tickets at the entrance gates.
Until 14 o’clock of the first
day more than 130 thousand
people have entered that
equals the whole visitors of
previous day. 3.5 million
Foreign tourists are expected
to visit China Expo 2010.
Most tourists have said
they are most eager to see
the pavilions of their own
country, China, and West
European and American ones.
They describe the Expo as a
Universal Village. Authorities
have provided the number of
962010 to give information in
12 languages where manuals
are also distributed among
visitors.
Echo | May 2010
First Expo Meeting
on Information and
Urbanization
in Nin Bu
The First Expo Meeting
will be held in Nin Bu
in Je Jian province in
southeastern China on the
subject of Information and
Urbanization.
Issues like urban
management and life in
current economic situation
and the future of urban
regions considering
the technological,
telecommunication, and
information developments
will be discussed.
Until now 65 figures
including authorities,
scientists, and businessmen
have confirmed to take
part or give lecture at the
meeting.
Fairs, meetings and
cultural activities are the
main three parts of the
Shanghai Expo 2010. On
the sidelines of Expo, one
discussion meeting and 6
other gatherings with the
main subject of Expo will be
held in Nin Bu, Su Jueo, Wu
Shi, Nan Jin, Shao Shin, and
Han Jueo.
First Nations’ Day
for Albania
The first Nations’ Day
was held for Albania on
May 5th.
43
 International

Visitors on this day

could not only watch
traditional singing and
dance of Albania but
also know their culture
by visiting through their
pavilion, Xinhua News
Agency reported.
The Republic of
Albania is in southeastern
Europe on the coast of
the Adriatic Sea of the
Balkan Peninsula with a
population of more than 3
million.
100 nation days are
expected to be held during
the six months of Expo.

Low Carbon
Criteria Met in
Shanghai Expo
Low carbon standards
were considered during
preparation and opening
of Shanghai Expo, John
Chuan, head of Environment
Preservation Organization in
Shanghai said on Wednesday
May 5th.
During a news conference
he said since the early
preparations of this Expo and
finding the location for it,
272 polluting factories were
closed and during pavilion
buildings, new technologies
like solar energy were used
and economical use of water
and energy has always been
in mind.
The motto for the Expo
2010 is “better city, better
life”.
More than 33 Million
Expo Tickets Sold
The Tickets Center of the
Shanghai Expo 2010 reported
that until Wednesday May 5th
a total of 33 million and 110
thousand tickets have been
sold including 23 million
and960 thousand individual
and 9 million and 150 thousand
group tickets. Considering gift
tickets for urban families of
Shanghai, the total visitors
have reached 40 million.
Though the Expo will last
for 184 days, the authorities
suggest that those who have
tickets should consider visiting
the fair in a proper time since
most of these vast ticket holders
decide to visit at last days, the

44 Echo | May 2010


Expo will be overcrowded, a
Press Spokesman for Shanghai
Expo Office said.
Shanghai Expo
Opportunity for
Developed Australian
Trade with China
Australian businessmen
are happy with enthusiastic
Echo | May 2010
Chinese visitors toward their
products. One of them said due
to high prices for Australian
Jewel stones, he did not
expect a great sellout in China
but such interest of Chinese
visitors has encouraged him
to open a permanent shop in
Shanghai.
“This is the first time
that this sort of jewel stone
is presented in Shanghai.
International
Our company has brought
the most valuable stones
because we knew Chinese
are fond of Mode and there
are modern shop centers in
this city. We hope to use the
Expo opportunity to enter the
Chinese market. After the
Expo we plan to open a jewel
stone shop in Shanghai. We
expect many Chinese to meet
jewel stones of our country”,
he said.
Iranian Consul Visits
Venezuelan Pavilion
Preplanned by the Iranian
consulate in Shanghai, on
the second day of China
Expo 2010, May 2nd, the
Iranian Consul participated
in the opening ceremony
of Venezuelan pavilion
along with Mr. Akbarpur,
the Executive Director and
Mr. Habibi the Financial
and Official Director of the
International Fairs Company.
The Venezuelan Minister of
Tourism and vice-Minister
for Foreign Affairs also
participated in the ceremony
along with many other
authorities.
Omani Ambassador
to Beijing Visits
Iranian Pavilion
The Omani Ambassador
to Beijing visited Iranian
Pavilion in China Expo 2010
along with the country’s
consul in Shanghai on May 3 rd.
45
 the Ambassador received comprehensive explanation
during his visit after which he had a meeting with
the Executive Director of the International Fairs
Company, Akbarpur.

Some Syrian Authorities Visit

Iranian Pavilion
Some Syrian Authorities from their Ministries
of Economy, Trade, and Tourism visited the
Iranian pavilion in China Expo 2010 on May
3 rd. they visited all parts of the pavilion and
described it as very rich in contents.
Some Turk Muslims Visit Iranian
Pavilion

Some Turk Muslims from Istanbul

visited the Iranian pavilion in China
Expo 2010 on May 3 rd. they visited
all parts of the pavilion and took
pictures.
Some Xinjiang Muslims Visit
Iranian Pavilion

Some Xinjiang Muslims fluent

in Turkish and Arabic visited the
Iranian pavilion in China Expo
2010 on May 3 rd. they visited
all parts of the pavilion.
Visitors Crowded in
Iranian Pavilion

Figures show that

more than 7 thousand
people visit the Iranian
pavilion in China Expo
2010 every day. They
are from different
countries; among
them also there are
Iranians who have
traveled to visit
our pavilion.

46 Echo | May 2010

Iran Present 34 High Tech in China Expo 2010
The Director for Technology and Innovation in the
Presidential Office for Science and Technology declared
the presentation of 34 Iranian high tech achievements in
medicines, microelectronics, nanotech, and new energy
resources, in China Expo 2010.
Dr. Hussein Salar Amoli said: Iran will participate
in China Expo 2010 with three sections of Ancient,
Contemporary, and Future Iran centered around
scientific and technological development, as for
example in Ancient section, ancient Iranian
scientists will be presented.
Also 34 high tech achievements in medicines,
microelectronics, nanotech, and new energy
resources will be presented in the Contemporary
section, he added.
He said: during six months holding
of China Expo 2010 which focuses on
introducing different countries in cultural,
scientific and economic aspects, more
than 100 million people are expected to
visit the Expo of whom we expect 10
million to visit the Iranian pavilion.
Considering space limit, we
plan substitutions in three phases
to present all our new models, he
added.
Salar Amoli said: for the
purpose of these substitu-
tions we ask all ministries
of Science, Health, Treat-
ment and Physics Educa-
tion, Agricultural Jihad,
Telecommunications,
University Jihad,
parks and educa-
tional centers, …,
to send their mod-
els for us so the
best elected ones
will be presented
in nest phases.

Echo | May 2010 47

 International

June 11th has been of Saffron including anti pharmaceutical effects of

selected as the Day of
Islamic Republic of Iran
and we hope to have
better presentation of our
technological achievements
in this day, he added.
The Tehran Singing
Group will Perform
in Shanghai Expo
The Tehran Singing
Group headed by Milad
Omranlu will Perform in
Shanghai’s Art Fair (Expo).
This group will travel to
China to participate in the
country’s Asia Olympics in
July and during their stay,
they will have two programs
in the Iranian pavilion.
Milad Omranlu said: we
have not decided about the
method of our programs
and it will depend on the
atmosphere of the Fair but
surely we will perform
pieces chosen for the
Olympics.
Iranian Research on
Pharmaceutical Effects of
Saffron in Shanghai Expo
depression and anti cancer
effects which were presented
internationally. But previous
works have been limited
and this time we plan to
have a more comprehensive
research on pharmaceutical
effects of Saffron.
Currently a research
group with members from
Iran Physics University,
Mashhad Pharmaceutics
University and the Japan
Saibai University are
working on pharmaceutical
effects of Saffron and some
parts of this research will be
presented during six months
of Shanghai Expo.
We will show films
and entertain our gusts
with saffron foods beside
gatherings and meetings on
Saffron, he added.
Best Preparation
Timing and Design
Expo Prize for Iran
The Advisor to the Executive
Manager of International Fair
said: extensive planning is
underway for development of
international and economic
relations during Shanghai
Expo 2010.
About the effects of
Expo on our international
relations he said: we have
invited all pavilions, local
and foreign high authorities,
and ambassadors to visit our
pavilion on Iran Day during
the Expo on June 11th, when
we have planned for some
serious talks with them.
The Iranian Consul has

Some results of Iranian

research on pharmaceutical
effects of Saffron will be
presented during Shanghai
Expo.
The Chairman of Iranian
Saffron Development and
Export Fund, Ali Shariati
Moghadam said: there
have been previous studies
on pharmaceutical effects

48 Echo | May 2010


focused his programs,
through the Ministries of
Foreign Affairs and Culture
and Islamic Relations, on
more extended international
interactions and activities, he
added.
About the economic
and trade effects of this
international fair, he said: the
common Iran-China Chamber
is seriously active in this fair
where trade relations with
other countries are considered
too. We have a 400 square
meters space for trade section
which is the Iran-Chian
Chamber.
We received the Best Prize
during the designing and
preparation of pavilions, he
said.
He added, now the best
decorated pavilions are
Echo | May 2010
for China, Saudi Arabia,
Australia, and Austria.
Opening of Trade
Development Section
There were reports that
after arrival of representative
of the Iranian Trade
Development Organization
as well as the Iranian Trade
Attaché to the Shanghai Expo
2010, a section of Iranian
pavilion was prepared and
opened as the Section of Trade
Development Organization.
The Iranian Trade
Development Organization
is the greatest authority for
development of country’s
non-oil exports and now seeks
to utilize its section inside the
Iranian pavilion to promote
trade possibilities among
International
Chinese and non-Chinese
visitors. Their activities
include:
A 4-minute film about
trade, economy, technology,
engineering and tourism
capabilities of Iran.
Presenting trade
information including
information on better
export companies, export
communities, investment in
Iran, and trade informative
centers of Iran through CDs
and PC presentations, as
well as introducing the Site
of Iranian Trade Attaché to
Beijing in Chinese language.
Presenting Iranian Trade
information in Chinese
language through a brochure
including introduction
of Trade Development
Organization, introducing
the organization’s portal,
presenting technological
and engineering capabilities,
introduction of better export
companies of 2009 along with
a CD of these information.
Presenting books and CDs
on trade and foreign business
potentials in Iran.
Opening of Iran
Section in Expo
Online Site
Based on a preplanned
program, the Iranian pavilion
was emptied for some minutes
so the Expo photographers
could took necessary photos
to open the Iran section in the
Expo’s site which will include
a 360o view of the pavilion.
49
 Thought
Imam Khomeini’s
Political Thought
From jurisprudential
point of view
By: Mehdi Goljan (PhD)
I
mam Khomeini belongs
to the usuli approach.
The Shia thought from
the very beginning, under
the influence of the teachings
of infallible Imams, tended
towards rationalism and
theologians like Shaikh
Mofid and his disciples
continued this approach.
Rationalism in Shia thought
became profounder with
the contribution of Farabi,
Avicenna and Khawja
Nasiruddin Tusi through
their practical philosophy.
In the early decades of the
major occultation of the
Twelfth Imam, the rationalist
discussions of Shaikh Mofid
(355-436) led to the formation
of the Baghdad School and
his disciple, Shaikh Tusi
(385-460), according to
Abulqasem Gorji, founded
50
ijtihad mutlaq (individual
inference). Rationalism has
been a dominant trend in
Shia school of jurisprudence
except for two short period:
one, in the early centuries
when the Qum Ikhabari
School was known by Shaikh
Sadduq (died 383 hegira) and
the second time, during the
Safavid era when thinkers
such as Mohammad Amin
Astarabadi (1036 hegira) tried
this trend. Overall, the anti-
rationalist Ikhbari approach
has not had a significant
place in Shia thought.
Vahid Behbahani rejected
their claims and revived the
rationalist tendencies in Shia
jurisprudential school which
culminated in the efforts of
the renowned jurisprudent
Shaikh Mortada Ansari.
Imam Khomeini is
connected to Shaikh Mortada
Ansari through his teachers
and belongs to this school of
jurisprudence. With regard to
political thought, Shiism has
connected religion to politics
through the doctrine of
Imamat. With the beginning
of the era of occultation of
the Twelfth Imam different
discourses emerged on
political life during the time
of occultation. The Shias
were politically isolated until
the time of the Safavid when
a Shia state was established.
During the period of political
isolation, the jurisprudential
approaches mainly focused
on the ways to confront the
oppressive rulers and hence
the works on responsibility
of the ruler, management and
leadership of the society by
the jurisprudents were scanty.
Echo | May 2010

The reason was the absence of
practical conditions to discuss
the domain of authority
of the jurisprudents and
establishment of a political
system. Although discussions
about the Wilayat-e Faqi
and representation of the
Infallible Imam can be traced
back to the early centuries
of the occultation, during
this period the Shia scholars
focused mainly on the
modality of interaction with
the oppressive rulers.
With the establishment
of the Safavid Shia state
grounds were prepared for
the discussion of political
conditions during the
occultation. During this
Echo | May 2010
period, two major trends
surfaced: the proponents of
the first one maintained that
there should be a separation
between the political (sultani)
affairs and the canonical or
religious affairs (separation
of state and church); the
advocates of the second
trend maintained that all
qualified jurisprudents are
the appointed representatives
of the Occulted Imam. Some
of the jurisprudents such
as Naraqi maintained that
the key concept in both the
trends was the concept of
Wilaya. The advocates of
the second trend, relying on
jurisprudential arguments
considered the jurisprudents
Thought
as representatives of the
Imam of Time during the
time of occultation and
hence the legitimacy of the
government during the time
of occultation was subject to
their guardianship or at least
their permission. This trend
has been discussed by Kashif
ul Ghita (1106-1228) in his
book Kashif ul Ghita and
Shaikh Mohammadi Najafi
known as the author of Jawahir
in his book Jawahir al-Kalam.
In the School of Shaikh
Ansari (1214-1281 hegira),
there is strong tendency
in negating the political
wilaya (guardianship) of the
jurisprudent, for the Shia
rulers during the time of
51
 Thought
occultation are labeled as
usurping rulers. After the
death of Ansari, the Schools of
Najaf and Samara continued
his political thought.
Mirza Shirazi was the
founder of the School of
Samara. He believed in
jurisprudential monarchy, that
is, commitment of the king to
the jurisprudential teachings
of Islam. The advocates of
this school led by Shaikh
Fazlullah Nouri called for
jurisprudential monarchy
during the constitutional
revolution in Iran.
The School of Najaf
followed a different trend.
52
The advocates of this school
led by the religious leaders
such as Allama Naini
and Akhund Khorasani
supported the Constitutional
Revolution and tried to adjust
Constitutional monarchy
with the jurisprudential
principles. This political
theory of this school is called
the Constitutional monarchy.
This school tries to find
religious, jurisprudential
interpretations for the
doctrines of the modern
world such as legislation,
constitutional monarchy,
majority rule and containment
of political power.
Imam Khomeini was the
outcome of a synthesis of
Najaf and Samara schools
of thought. Hence he may be
termed as the founder of the
Qum School.
Imam Khomeini too, while
believing in the originality
and centrality of Sharia and
the rule of jurisprudents in
the political arena during the
time of occultation, tried to
incorporate modern political
theories in his political
thought. The School of Najaf
while very innovative in
adopting modern concepts,
believed in the usurpative
nature of the rule by other than
the infallible Imam during the
time of occultation. But in
Imam Khomeini’s viewpoint,
Islamic government during
the time of occultation of
the Infallible Imam is the
continuation of the wilaya of
the Infallible
Imam and
hence is quite
legitimate. Overall , Imam
Khomeini owes his method
to the tradition of ijtihad in
Shiism which has provided
for creativity and coinage of
new concepts and elements.
Status of Imam
Khomeini’s discourse
in contemporary
Islamic discourse
The discourse of Imam
Khomeini can be categorized
in the rational-usuli School
of Jurisprudence whose
Echo | May 2010

contemporary representatives
are such revivalists as Seyed
Jamaludin and Allama Naini
who may be termed as
rationalist Islamists.
Seyed Jamaludin left
a profound impact on the
Islamic revivalism which
emerged as a strong discourse
against the one that was trying
to eliminate Islam’s role in
the political arena.
The trend of Islamism is in
contrast with Kamalism that
tried to introduce a secular
system instead of Caliphate
system. Kamalism eliminated
Islam’s role in politics while
Islamism tries to introduce
Islam as the central signifier
of political discourse of the
Muslims in the political arena
and tries to turn Islam into
a superior signifier of the
Echo | May 2010
political order.
Attempts have been made
by the Muslim thinkers to
introduce Islam into political
arena – as political Islam.
However, Imam Khomeini’s
political discourse is the
most integrated logic of
Islamism. It was through
his discourse that Islam
from an isolated opponent
ideology turned into an anti-
suppression movement.
Indeed the establishment
of the Islamic Republic of
Iran was the outcome of
his efforts. In fact even the
Islamist movements that
opposed Imam Khomeini’s
approach gained strength
after the establishment of
the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Although one cannot reduce
Islam to Khomeinism, Imam
Thought
Khomeini was the turning
point and summit of this
movement.
Status of Imam
Khomeini’s discourse
in contemporary
history of Iran
Imam Khomeini has played
a unique role in contemporary
history of Iran. Due to his
role in the transformation
of political system from
monarchy to Islamic Republic
and his leadership of the
revolutionary movement of the
people in 1979, it is necessary
to study him within the
context of the contemporary
Iranian history.
Imam Khomeini is the index
of a new dominant discourse
53
 Thought
called political Islam in Iran.
Hence proper understanding
of the contemporary Iranian
history is not possible
without paying due attention
to Imam Khomeini’s
discourse, for the present
era and the Islamic Republic
system are the heritages of
Imam Khomeini. As, Ernesto
Laclau and Chantal Mouffe
have explained, contrary to
determining nature of the
structure of discourses, some
opportunities are provided
for the emergence of social
actors independent of the
discourses. Regarding the
role of political subjectivity,
Laclau and Mouffe state that
political subjects appear in
54
the form of leaders who have
helped the consolidation of
new discourse to dominate
over the existing discourse
provided that the two
conditions of actability and
validity are in place. Drawing
on this argument one can
explain Imam Khomeini’s
role in the form a political
subject who through his
leadership prepare the
grounds for the domination
of the Islamist discourse and
its victory over the Pahlavi
discourse in Iran. Hence,
Imam Khomeini played an
important role in the realm
of dominant discourses in
Iran.
Another aspect of Imam
Khomeini’s discourse
was its effectiveness
and its influence on the
transformation of Islamic
political thought as well as
establishment of a genre of
political Islam in Iran, which
is based on Shia teachings.
Imam’s discourse brought
about significant changes in
the Islamic political thought,
for it is based on the notion of
guardianship of jurisprudent
(Wilayat-e Faqih). Although
the notion of Wilayat-e
Faqih had existed in the
Shia teachings, it had not
yet been incorporated into
the political-social life of the
Islamic society before Imam
Khomeini. In other words, the
Echo | May 2010
 Thought

jurisprudents had not tried to

run the society on the basis of
Islamic teachings. Moreover,
Imam’s new reading of the
notion of Wilayat-e Faqih
and its synthesis with the
modern doctrines highlighted
Imam’s role in contemporary
political thought in Iran.
In fact, contrary to the
traditional approaches to
the general guardianship
of the jurisprudents in the
time of Occultation of the
Twelfth Imam, which vests
the jurisprudents with the
guardianship of the affairs
of the Islamic society, Imam
Khomeini, relying on the
past Islamic traditions and
through ijtihad based on
the requirements of time
and space and a clearer
interpretation of the new
issues such as the role of the
people in politics laid the
foundations a new political
system in which parliament,
legislation, vote of majority,
political parties, etc. were
allowed to function. This
was the beginning of serious Status of Imam election or selection of Wali-e
change in the Shia political Khomeini’s discourse Faqih, limits of authority of
thought. In fact Imam Wali-e Faqih and religious
Khomeini introduced a new
in contemporary democracy were indeed
reading of Islam. This new discourses of Iran new interpretations of these
reading, while preserving concepts within the framework
the Islamic originality and Today, Imam Khomeini’s of Imam Khomeini’s discourse
keeping its borders with the discourse is very much present that have prepared the
West and with the kind of in the political, intellectual grounds for the emergence of
Islam that boycotts political developments in Iran, for sub-discourses. In sum, Imam
activities, called American his discourse is the root of Khomeini’s discourse, as the
Islam by Imam Khomeini, intellectual political currents in main discourse of political
initiated a revolutionary today’s Iran. The introduction Islam in contemporary Iran,
change in the realms of of such concepts as civil prepared the grounds for these
thought and action. society, basis of legitimacy, developments.

Echo | May 2010 55

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