Actual Good News From Pakistan
The Jamestown Foundation, a blazing-hot terrorism-focused think tank, just emailed me this:
“„In a surprising move, a group of Pakistani clerics best known for their hardline views on Islam’s role in society have gathered to issue a fatwa condemning suicide bombing and the current trend of individuals or organizations declaring jihad against the state at any moment they feel appropriate. Brought together under the umbrella of the Mutahidda Ulema Council (MUC), the conference agreed “only the state has the authority to call for jihad, and individuals or groups are not authorized to do that” (Daily Times [Lahore], Oct. 16).
These guys are rather undesirable characters. Jamestown reports that the meeting included representatives of Sunni terrorist groups that have gone after Shiites. They also want “an immediate stop to military operations in the Bajaur and Swat frontier districts, an alliance between Pakistan and Iran, and the public revelation of any secret deals made between former President Pervez Musharraf and the United States.”
None of these are great ideas, from the U.S. perspective (with the exception of that last one). Still, their rejection of suicide bombing is so important because they’re a nefarious lot. You don’t make peace with your friends, after all.
