A spring day in Mosul in 1995 and male and female college students are picnicking in Iraq’s second city. Most of the girls aren’t wearing hijabs. Those who can remember this will be struck by the change that came about by 2002. By then, not wearing hijab was enough to tarnish a young woman’s reputation. How the city turned socially conservative in just a short period of time is yet another facet of Mosul’s takeover by Islamists.
Islamists became a very real presence in the city in the early 1990s. They exploited the people’s anger at economic sanctions and their frustration with the Baath regime. They mainly comprised affluent doctors, pharmacists and merchants, all of whom were influenced by the Muslim Brotherhood. The economic sanctions did not affect these well-off “practising Muslims” but when Saddam Hussein launched his “Faith Campaign” – teaching the Quran at school and building an Islamic university – it seemed the right time to make a bid for influence.
Saddam was seen as attempting to win over the religious camp, which gave the Brotherhood sympathisers a new platform to speak out. It was obvious that the Islamists were organising and gaining traction and many secretly wondered why Saddam seemed to be turning a blind eye and indirectly endorsing their activities. These included new school shoes and school books for the children of the many families impoverished by years of sanctions.
Unsurprisingly, many people saw the Islamists as a ray of hope in hard times. They also worked hard to strengthen ties with Mosul’s high society. Islamists set an expensive fashion – building private mosques and undertaking trips to Mecca. It became the rage and the city’s socialites thought it a novel way to spend ostentatiously.
Meanwhile, the Islamists used language that equated secularism with “immoral westernised values”. With the ongoing “Faith Campaign” fully backed by Saddam, the Islamists’ agenda confusingly also appeared to have the regime’s approval. Even though these Brotherhood sympathisers were not Baathists, they cannily offered no public criticism of the ruling party. In private, however, the talk was all about the deterioration of the Arab states and Iraq in particular because their government were not religious.
As their influence continued to grow, they started on phase two of the plan – a culture war against non-Islamists by stigmatising certain acts.
The list of taboos included failing to show up at the mosque for Friday prayers, socialising with people of the opposite sex, attire that did not conform to Islamic principles and the failure to affirm that Islamic rule was the way forward for Mosul and for Iraq. People who committed such “offences” were accused of being atheists, westernised or Baathists.
In the immediate aftermath of the Baath regime’s fall, most Iraqis were cautiously optimistic even though their country’s future seemed unclear. But by mid 2003, things took a different turn. I witnessed nearly 500 women led by Dr Samia Mahmood, a well-known gynaecologist, shouting Islamist slogans in front of American Humvees. They were not protesting against the US occupation, but against a liberal Kurdish woman with some influence within US military circles. The doctor and others chanted: “No God but God! No, no to westernisation”.
Having stigmatised any association with the US occupiers, they also managed to hijack Arab-Sunni representation within the first US-formed municipality council. Several Islamists, who were already respected members of Mosul society, managed to achieve pivotal administrative positions in institutes of higher education.
In a politically astute move, the Islamists argued against the reappointment of Baathists to key bodies. They had been pardoned during the de-Baathification campaign and were able to resume their duties, but the Islamists were vociferous in their opposition. I remember incredulously hearing a member of the Islamic Party of Iraq justify his opposition to a Mosul university professor. “The Shiites are going to vote for the Shiites, the Kurds will vote for the Kurds, but the Sunnis might vote for him”.
It was a cynical and sectarian approach and carried within it the multiple contradictions inherent in the Islamists’ strategy – appearing to work with the new government in Baghdad and the coalition forces, while promoting a partisan discourse against “the Persian influence” and cheering the language of “resistance” against the American occupation.
The callous campaign obviously extended to women. For example, in the mid 1990s, a prominent Islamist wrote a story which implied that if a woman was raped she had best become a suicide bomber and attack the infidel.
That was then and recent conversations with people in Mosul indicate that the season of radicalisation may have run its course now that ISIL – the most extreme version of Islamist – has declared even members of the Islamic Party to be heretics.
Rasha Al Aqeedi left Mosul 18 months ago and now lives in Dubai. She is a researcher at the Almesbar Studies and Research Centre
Tree of Hell
Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla
Director: Raed Zeno
Rating: 4/5
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
The lowdown
Bohemian Rhapsody
Director: Bryan Singer
Starring: Rami Malek, Lucy Boynton, Gwilym Lee
Rating: 3/5
ICC men's cricketer of the year
2004 - Rahul Dravid (IND) ; 2005 - Jacques Kallis (SA) and Andrew Flintoff (ENG); 2006 - Ricky Ponting (AUS); 2007 - Ricky Ponting; 2008 - Shivnarine Chanderpaul (WI); 2009 - Mitchell Johnson (AUS); 2010 - Sachin Tendulkar (IND); 2011 - Jonathan Trott (ENG); 2012 - Kumar Sangakkara (SL); 2013 - Michael Clarke (AUS); 2014 - Mitchell Johnson; 2015 - Steve Smith (AUS); 2016 - Ravichandran Ashwin (IND); 2017 - Virat Kohli (IND); 2018 - Virat Kohli; 2019 - Ben Stokes (ENG); 2021 - Shaheen Afridi
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Ways to control drones
Countries have been coming up with ways to restrict and monitor the use of non-commercial drones to keep them from trespassing on controlled areas such as airports.
"Drones vary in size and some can be as big as a small city car - so imagine the impact of one hitting an airplane. It's a huge risk, especially when commercial airliners are not designed to make or take sudden evasive manoeuvres like drones can" says Saj Ahmed, chief analyst at London-based StrategicAero Research.
New measures have now been taken to monitor drone activity, Geo-fencing technology is one.
It's a method designed to prevent drones from drifting into banned areas. The technology uses GPS location signals to stop its machines flying close to airports and other restricted zones.
The European commission has recently announced a blueprint to make drone use in low-level airspace safe, secure and environmentally friendly. This process is called “U-Space” – it covers altitudes of up to 150 metres. It is also noteworthy that that UK Civil Aviation Authority recommends drones to be flown at no higher than 400ft. “U-Space” technology will be governed by a system similar to air traffic control management, which will be automated using tools like geo-fencing.
The UAE has drawn serious measures to ensure users register their devices under strict new laws. Authorities have urged that users must obtain approval in advance before flying the drones, non registered drone use in Dubai will result in a fine of up to twenty thousand dirhams under a new resolution approved by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai.
Mr Ahmad suggest that "Hefty fines running into hundreds of thousands of dollars need to compensate for the cost of airport disruption and flight diversions to lengthy jail spells, confiscation of travel rights and use of drones for a lengthy period" must be enforced in order to reduce airport intrusion.
Fifa%20World%20Cup%20Qatar%202022%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EFirst%20match%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENovember%2020%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFinal%2016%20round%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDecember%203%20to%206%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EQuarter-finals%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDecember%209%20and%2010%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESemi-finals%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDecember%2013%20and%2014%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFinal%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDecember%2018%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
SNAPSHOT
While Huawei did launch the first smartphone with a 50MP image sensor in its P40 series in 2020, Oppo in 2014 introduced the Find 7, which was capable of taking 50MP images: this was done using a combination of a 13MP sensor and software that resulted in shots seemingly taken from a 50MP camera.
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APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits
Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Storage: 128/256/512GB
Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4
Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps
Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID
Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight
In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
Price: From Dh2,099
Joker: Folie a Deux
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson
Director: Todd Phillips
Rating: 2/5
Set-jetting on the Emerald Isle
Other shows filmed in Ireland include: Vikings (County Wicklow), The Fall (Belfast), Line of Duty (Belfast), Penny Dreadful (Dublin), Ripper Street (Dublin), Krypton (Belfast)
The nine articles of the 50-Year Charter
1. Dubai silk road
2. A geo-economic map for Dubai
3. First virtual commercial city
4. A central education file for every citizen
5. A doctor to every citizen
6. Free economic and creative zones in universities
7. Self-sufficiency in Dubai homes
8. Co-operative companies in various sectors
9: Annual growth in philanthropy
A%20QUIET%20PLACE
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
GREATEST ROYAL RUMBLE CARD
The line-up as it stands for the Greatest Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia on April 27
50-man Royal Rumble
Universal Championship
Brock Lesnar (champion) v Roman Reigns
Casket match
The Undertaker v Rusev
Intercontinental Championship
Seth Rollins (champion) v The Miz v Finn Balor v Samoa Joe
SmackDown Tag Team Championship
The Bludgeon Brothers v The Usos
Raw Tag Team Championship
Sheamus and Cesaro v Bray Wyatt and Matt Hardy
United States Championship
Jeff Hardy (champion) v Jinder Mahal
Singles match
Triple H v John Cena
To be confirmed
AJ Styles will defend his WWE World Heavyweight title and Cedric Alexander his Cruiserweight Championship, but matches have yet to be announced
The specs
Engine: four-litre V6 and 3.5-litre V6 twin-turbo
Transmission: six-speed and 10-speed
Power: 271 and 409 horsepower
Torque: 385 and 650Nm
Price: from Dh229,900 to Dh355,000
Tips for job-seekers
- Do not submit your application through the Easy Apply button on LinkedIn. Employers receive between 600 and 800 replies for each job advert on the platform. If you are the right fit for a job, connect to a relevant person in the company on LinkedIn and send them a direct message.
- Make sure you are an exact fit for the job advertised. If you are an HR manager with five years’ experience in retail and the job requires a similar candidate with five years’ experience in consumer, you should apply. But if you have no experience in HR, do not apply for the job.
David Mackenzie, founder of recruitment agency Mackenzie Jones Middle East
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The Little Things
Directed by: John Lee Hancock
Starring: Denzel Washington, Rami Malek, Jared Leto
Four stars
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
