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| Arabia |
| Yemen Salafists Form Political Party |
| 2012-03-15 |
| [An Nahar] Representatives of Yemen's ultra-conservative Salafist community agreed on Wednesday to form a political union, they announced at the end of a two-day conference. "The conference has decided to form a political entity -- Yemen's Al-Rashad (righteousness) Union," they said in a statement. A committee was appointed to prepare for a congress that would formally establish the new Salafist party, which distinguishes itself from Yemen's main Islamist Moslem Brüderbund Al-Islah (reform) party. The Salafists ...Salafists are ostentatiously devout Moslems who figure the ostentation of their piety gives them the right to tell others how to do it and to kill those who don't listen to them... , who espouse an austere form of Sunni Islam that seeks a return to practices that were common in the early days of the faith, have yet to set a date for the meeting. They said they would take part in future elections, and called for dialogue with al-Qaeda, northern Iranian catspaws, as well as southern separatists, in order to "guarantee Yemen's unity." The move signals the first involvement into politics by Yemen's Salafists, who until now been represented only by religious associations and charities. It comes after Islamists rose to power in Tunisia and Egypt following popular uprisings that ousted autocrats. The hardliners also stated their support for "Syrians against the tyranny of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad's Trampler of Homs... regime." |
| Posted by:Fred |