Quote:Hope so. We have much to talk about. Although we still are trying to pull our country back together , we are confident we can do this.  We are coming out of isolation and want to be part of Majatra again.
 
And we share a lot with the Kafuris. We are two of the very few Ahmadi majority nations so we face some of the same problems. How to have Israi and Abadi live in peace.  How to keep radical clerics from convincing citizens they can overrule the laws of the nation and they are above the law.  How to keep international  terrorists from infiltrating and invading and how to defeat those who make it in.
 
And there are the culturally backward clinging to the old ways and avoiding integration into the broader community and seriously resisting education.
 
Further, we are two of the locations of immense oil reserves. Coordination of oil policy could be extremely beneficial to both of us.  There have always been foreign interests wanting to take over those oil reserves by allowing a few of our citizens to become enormously wealthy while relegating the rest to poverty.  Much to discuss here.
 
And we would like to discuss mutual economic and security opportunities. We do realize the landscape of both has changed and we need to be cautious and surefooted on this new terrain.

Quote:We are going to try something the Hizb Muasisiun tried when they were in charge many years ago.  We recognize there is a problem but think it is manageable.  The minority Abadi believe the Israi are always favored, their own beliefs and wishes are stifled, and the system always works against them. They also tend to think the Dufazi may be banned or massacred and their clergy jailed.
 
 The Israi believe the Abadi are always ready to have their version of religion trample on the law common to all citizens and to form paramilitary units and religious thought police to violently threaten them.
 
My office has been talking to the Abadi Grand Ayatollah of Abu Yacub and the Israi Grand Mufti of Dar as-Salam about reviving the Hizb Muasisiun idea of a Grand Iman of Bab -al-Mira, the holiest city in all Ahmadism.  Our nation by law recognizes Ahmadism as the state religion.
 
The idea is the Grand Iman would be the head of the Ahmadi Church of Badara.  Chosen for seven years by first the Grand Ayatollah and then the Grand Mufti.  We believe this would show the government supports both Abadi and Israi and engender some mutual respect and trust.  It worked  to some extent many years ago and we believe it is worth trying now.

Quote:Obviously opinions differ, but this is my opinion. I know it is different from that of my sister, our current Finance Minister, who is struggling to bring order out of the chaos in healthcare and retirement benefits left by the preceding regime when it dissolved.
 
But the issue I find most intractable is the Bedwi. Generally trying to bring them into the system and specifically not having another generation of their offspring go uneducated.
 
Not a new issue. They were on the land and in the hills on their camels herding their sheep and goats before our ancestors arrived.  And about the same amount are still there. They generally are not in their tents and caves anymore but in settlements with a few more amenities  of civilization.
 
Governments have taken two approaches – they don’t want their children in school so impliedly we do not have to educate them. Or they are citizens the youngest of which are entitled to an education whether their parents want them to have it or not.
 
When governments get prosperous or enlightened, the latter approach is tried. When they go isolationist or tyrannical the former prevails as there is no revenue for educating the Bedwi even when anyone wants to do so.
 
We are emerging from a period of serious decay but believe we are in a position to try to give these children their right to an education.  Which is no easy task.  Most of their parents do not see the need. So do we send out transport and agents to haul their children away either daily or for months?
 
Or do we try to have educational outposts in their settlement villages some of which are far more  transient than our usual villages and towns.  With more agents to try and win over the settlements by becoming part of the community and helping with services perceived as helpful.  Getting certain groceries, sending out mail, repairing electronic devices, providing veterinary care, that sort of thing.
 
Which is what we are going to try.  Because we think it is the right course. But let me tell you, we really need to be prepared for disappointment because it has been an uphill climb for thousands of years.

Quote:Certainly an excellent question.  There are number of members of Majlis who want them to return.  Most notably most of my associates in the Working Institutional Group (WIG).
 
We need to remember parties and the head of state and head of government were abolished because they were perceived as the cause of corruption.  And there was corruption. Perceptions notwithstanding, fragmenting the government caused more corruption.
 
And the Justice Ministry is prosecuting corruption where we find it. So we are making progress.  But the question is do we really want to bring back something people think needed to be eliminated as an effort to control corruption.
 
And in WIG, while most favor allowing political parties again, most also realize it might really anger the voters.
 
But to answer your question, it is very unlikely an amendment will be introduced allowing political parties again unless the Chancellor, who is part of the Free Radical Supper Club faction in the Majlis, indicates he is behind it.  And he has been silent to date.

Quote:Interior Ministry’s Internal Security Unit (ISU), our secret police, reported that the Free Brigade leadership in the town of Disuyana had decided to oppose efforts to retake the Port of Medaft on the coast northeast of Al’Buqiyaa.  Military intelligence from Lodamun confirmed entrenchments were being made on the highway southwest of Medaft, and it appeared there were quite a few light trucks and armed men headed in that direction.
 
Accordingly, two battalions of 1st Division infantry, and their divisional reconnaissance company began their march from Al’Buqiyaa to Medaft with a few attack helicopters for air cover and some divisional artillery in support.. The ISU reported that most of the Free Brigade defenders were armed with rifles and ammunition acquired from the Badaran Armed Forces at one time or another, that they had  a whole lot of small trucks, quite a few grenade launchers, a whole lot of submachine guns and a fair amount of anti tank rocket launchers.
 
The trucks carrying Free Brigade militia came from behind their entrenchments to challenge the head of the marching infantry column which thereupon deployed.  Accordingly we sent two squadrons of NDN – A -10 from Al’Buqiyaa subsonic close ground support gunships  and two squadrons of BMA  Saeqah fighter bombers armed with bombs. The NDN A- 10’s shot the trucks up badly destroying most while the BMA Saeqehs concentrated their bombs on the still entrenched militia which were also pounded by some divisional artillery.
 
Being destroyed in detail with no decent targets for a response took its toll, and the Free Brigade defense shortly collapsed with those who could get away fleeing in disorder and those who could not surrendering. 
 
We sent our two battalions of armor into Medaft first which was then occupied by elements of 1st Division.  Those two battalions of tanks then proceeded to Abu Yacub to the northeast. Both Medaft and Abu Yacub were undefended.
 
A squadron of attack helicopters reported Disuyana, Free Brigade Headquarters, was devoid of militia, so it too was occupied by elements of 2nd Division.  The ISU has reported when the defense of Medaft by Free Brigade militia collapsed, the leadership invoked “Plan B” which seems to be immediately dispersing and returning to usual professions in most cases  of assassins, burglars, armed robbers, drug traffickers, protection racketeers, bouncers, money launderers and book makers.
 
The ISU believes the Free Brigade leadership felt it was fun while it lasted but it was time to stand not on the order of their going but go at once.

The Defense Minister can report that the Muhafaza of Al'Baharia is now controlled by the military and is being returned to civilian control as that proves viable.

Quote:Really quite well to date.  Particularly with respect to trade which has vastly increased. We  need good trading partners and they are certainly that.  So we are off to a good start.
 
We have a lot in common although we recognize an underlying difference – they are majority Abadi and we are majority Israi. We hope our experience with trying to keep the peace domestically by reinstituting a Grand Iman as head of the Ahmadi Faithful will be helpful as will the Kafuri experience with Solentia.
 
We both want Ahmadism to be a religion of peace not a hotbed  of feuding sects. Working together we believe we can help this happen in Majatra.
 
A formal State Visit by the new Kafuri government is planned and we welcome it.  Well, our new government will welcome it.  We too are having elections, but I can speak for the Majlis on this subject.  It can show Terra we are determined to work together for the good of Majatra and convince the doubters among us that this is possible.
 
In future, we do want to address two other areas. One is petroleum; between us we have a  huge portion of the total oil reserves of all Terra. To date we have favored continuing to keep our production at a moderate and stable level so as to make income therefrom predictable so we can plan our budget with that cushion. We recognize that there are other approaches and look forward to discussion perhaps in one of the oil producers’ organizations.
 
Second, from our perspective the national security issue is pulling Jumhuriiat al-Badara back together after a good portion fell into anarchy. But we are optimistic on this score and soon will be able to address the larger  questions of Majatran security.  We are small, quite small in fact, but we want to be responsible and do our share.

Quote:A lot of people think we still need some attention being paid to getting government working again and that the oligarchy are the ones who can do that.  And that a check is needed on them and their propensity for corruption by electing some of us.  But there is another factor that has arisen as the election campaign opened.
 
The Interior Minister and Defense Minister are independent delegates in the Majlis more or less hired by the Majlis who seem to be largely unaccountable to anybody. And the General Intelligence Service is certainly not accountable to anybody.
 
Think a con census is developing they should be accountable to the Chancellor. So looking like my brother will not be reelected Chancellor since he allowed this situation to develop.  But think he will be involved in arranging a con census once the Majlis is elected. Looking more and more like we will be getting a de facto head of government notwithstanding the constitution.

Quote:Not exactly. In fact more people look like they are associated with it than before elections. What happened is in the Majlis there developed a clear desire for a chain of command with respect to security forces.  More and more delegates wanted the police, secret police, General Intelligence Service and military to be overseen by someone and the Chancellor became the obvious choice.
 
Finance Minister Mariamne al-Qassem in fact suggested that if the Chancellor office was strengthened to official oversight of other ministries, the perception of that change could be emphasized by having a new Chancellor.  She assured those of us in the Working Institutional Group that her brother was amenable to such a change and agreeable to serving as Religious Affairs Minister.
 
In fact the Free Radical Supper Club peole were not interested in developing a de facto head of government and were much more intersted in holding key watchdog posts.
 
Our Working Institutional Group (WIG) met and four of us were considered. It was felt that I would be the most likely to secure Free Radical support so we talked to rthem, got their support, and I was elected. Former Chancellor Yasser al-Mirza is replacing me as Justice Minister.

Quote:No. Will not say the question will not keep coming up, and things may change. But we are still where the Majlis and the people they represent are deeply suspicious of the central government and its opportunity to abuse power.
 
So any new concentration of power really needs to be seen as actually useful to the Sovereign People.

Quote:It will be in Broumeir, a town to the west of Bab al-Mira.  Interior Minister Bandar Qasabi will represent the Government. Justice Ministry personnel familiar with details of the religious thought police activity will be there to assist.
 
Moqtada al-Dufaz will be there as well with some aides.

Quote:Three reasons.  The GIS is guaranteeing security.  I have given my word and he believes me. In this business if you have that reputation you can arrange a lot.
 
Second, what he seems to want is lawful participation as a political and religious leader in the life of Al’Salmania capitalizing on his standing among the Abadi population not holding some territory in rebellion against reviving Government authority.
 
Third, he knows we can take him.  He knows we know. He knows we do not want mass casualties. We know he knows. So under those circumstances he believes he can salvage something, maybe even a lot.

Quote:The meeting began with an offer for them to be able to operate but stay in the existing law in the future.  We acknowledged that was a good place to start but was not where we could land.  There are three areas that needed to be addressed and we dealt in detail with each.  I was assisted by Justice Ministry personnel.
 
One area was the paramilitary forces known as the Dufazi. After much discussion we dd reach agreement. The Dufazi could continue to exist and hold meetings in Al’Salmania. and carry small arms and use armored personnel carriers.  At their headquarters  in Bab al-Mira they may have machine guns. They are permitted no other weapons at all nor may they purchase weapons from our military.  There is an amnesty for prior actions. Future violations will lead to dissolution and prosecution.
 
The most contentious discussion was on the religious thought police. Agreement was however reached.  The religious thought police is dissolved and no such similar entity operated in the future. Amnesty is generally granted except for criminal activity performed by the medical professional pursuant to advocacy  by that entity or any cleric. 
 
Then there was activity by Moqtada al-Dufaz and his associates. There is an amnesty for past conduct. He can continue as a religious leader and he and they stand for election to  Muhafaza and municipal office and even argue for changes in criminal law.  However, in his case, any advocacy in any form or in any forum including interpreting the Book of Bliss whether public or private of acts amounting to aggravated assault and battery or advocacy of the death of any person or group of persons shall terminate that amnesty upon judicial determination he actually uttered such advocacy.
 
Many will say the Dufazi and their leader got off much too lightly. However, Nashwa is again operating as part of Jumhuriat al-Badara. So say what you will.
 
Do not be fooled. We know who to watch and we are watching.