Islamism in Europe

Jag befinner mig nu under fredagen på magasinet Neos brännande aktuella seminarium Islamism in Europe, ett evenamang jag kommer att ha anledning att återkomma till. I väntan på det finns det mer aktuellt bloggande hos Henrik Alexandersson, Dick Erixon och självfallet Neos blogg - som alla mer eller mindre livebloggar evenemanget.

Två svenska talare har tyvärr hindrats att delta på grund av våldsamheterna i Irak. Svenske forskaren Khalid Saleh, som ju arbetar för den kurdiska regionen i Irak, har blivit förhindrad att komma på grund av ett terrordåd riktat mot inrikesministeriets byggnad i Erbil. Saleh ska ha klarat sig oskadd, men andra ska tragiskt nog ha dödats. Dessutom kan den modige svenske journalisten Salam Karam inte lämna Baghdad på grund av säkerhetsläget. Sorgligt.

Hittills - nu är det lunchrast - har frågan om islamism i Sverige ännu inte berörts. Men det kommer, förhoppningsvis.

Apropå det. I förbigående noterar jag att Etiopien ännu en gång uttalat sig om de svenskar som hålls fångna misstänkta för att ha stridit med islamisterna i Somalia.

Det är somaliska Shabelle Media Network som intervjuat Etiopiens sändebud i Somalia, Fiseha Shawel:

Shabelle: Many suspects were sized during the fighting between Ethiopian troops backing the Somali forces and the Islamic fighters. Where are these prisoners held and when will they be on a court dock?

Shawel: The prisoners that have been caught in the fighting are in the Somali government custodies and as the transitional government was readying the court processes the defendants will face trial soon. But I can assure you that the prisoners are Islamists—Al-Shawab groups that were the strong forces of the Islamic Courts and we are still pursuing other Al-Shawab fighters that are active in their fight against us and the government.

Shabelle: there are more prisoners snatched from Somalia and deployed to Addis Ababa. When will those either be released or tried?

Shawel: First of all, I want to make one thing clear. There are no Somali inmates that were moved out of Somalia to Ethiopia. The Somalis captured in the fighting are in the Somali interim government’s jails. We have in Ethiopia the foreign terrorists that are internationally wanted. We believe they hail from 23 countries including America, Sweden, Australia, Britain, Lebanon, Yemen, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and many other countries. Some of them were in the forefront of the war. We will release those who are not extremists and keep the hardliners. Some of the prisoners whose governments have embassies in Addis Ababa are being cared for by their governments which made contacts with Ethiopia. They will all be tried in the future.

Shabelle: The international human rights agencies have been very much concerned about the wellbeing of the prisoners that include children in Addis Abab jails. How do you react to that?

Shawel: The children whose terrorist parents in Addis Ababa penitentiaries are between three and two years old and we have them separately in places that are not prisons. There are some people who are assigned to nursing them. Also young persons under the age of 18 are well taken care of in special places. They have everything in life. They have food, shelter and anything they need. But they are separated from their parents.

Som vanligt när man tar del av budskap från den Etiopiska regimen ska man ha i åtanke att Etiopien på inget sätt är ett demokratiskt föredöme eller på annat sätt pålitligt sanningsvittne i konflikten. Men det kan vara värt att notera att sändebudet benämner fångarna som "internationellt efterlysta terrorister".