Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

Muslims are the First to Be Saved | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Fortunately for Muslims, British security services were successful in foiling the latest terrorist plot. Had they failed, this would have spelled disaster for the Muslim population. Had the planes exploded in mid-air, killing thousands of travelers, this would have brought more pain to Muslims worldwide.

Muslims have suffered a lot from the deeds of extremists and terrorists who have harmed their religion and members of their communities when they attributed their actions to Islam.

The latest plot revealed that terrorism is no longer exclusively Arab. Instead, Arab terrorists and fundamentalists have transferred their ideologies to the United Kingdom and their movements have infiltrated Asian neighborhoods.

As usual, the student tries to outdo his master. If Mohammed Atta carried out an attack with four planes, the Pakistani group sought to bomb ten. Unknown to them, the British and Pakistani security services were hot on their trail.

Many questions need to be answered. The first has to do with the threat posed by Pakistani fundamentalism, which initiated its operations with the London attacks in July 2005. The second is whether the security services can be trusted to remain one step ahead of the terrorists. Will Islam continue to suffer from the actions of extremist elements?

The situation in Pakistan mirrors that of the Arab world, as the regime battles against extremist while, underground, extremist networks, support and propaganda continues to grow.

The Pakistani authorities have exposed terrorist hideouts and foiled their plans. It is believed that it played a major role in uncovering the recent plot, as British officials have indicated. In spite of the security successes, both the British and Pakistani authorities have failed to combat the roots of terrorism and the ideology of fundamentalist movements that openly defy them. Therefore, no matter how many terrorist suspects are rounded up, the problem will remain, as extremist ideology is allowed to spread and obtain financial support.

On the other hand, if no one rushes to protect Islam from extremism, it will remain victim of its sons, as we witness from time to time.