Word: muslimism
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...crossroads between east and west in the desert nation of Turkmenistan, a quiet battle is under way for natural gas, oil and influence, and the U.S. and Europe are losing out to China and the Muslim world. There's a lot at stake: the Central Asian country has the world's fourth-largest reserves of natural gas and substantial oil reserves, putting it in the same energy league as Saudi Arabia, Russia and Iraq. Plus, its position just north of Afghanistan could be hugely beneficial to NATO as it seeks more reliable supply routes to its troops on the ground...
...Turkmenbashi, leader of all Turkmen, and fostered a bizarre personality cult in the country. During his 16-year reign, he renamed the months after himself and his mother, required that all children read his philosophical tome Ruhnama and filled the country with impressive golden statues of himself. Economically, mostly Muslim Turkmenistan remained heavily dependent on its gas sales to Russia, its main source of income...
...prime suspect behind the massacre, who was taken into custody on Thursday, is a member of one of Mindanao's leading Muslim political clans: the Ampatuans. They are close allies of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's administration in Manila and rule Maguindanao, a hardscrabble province in an autonomous area for Muslims. Andal Ampatuan Jr., a Maguindanao mayor in his 40s, was expected to be charged with murder, according to local reports, quoting justice authorities. Ampatuan denies involvement: "The reason I came out is to prove that I am not hiding and that I am not guilty," he told local reporters...
...Monday, on a highway cutting through a banana grove, a large force of gunmen - reports say around 100 - intercepted the convoy of family members and supporters of Buluan vice-mayor Esmael Mangudadatu, also from a prominent local Muslim clan. They were on their way to the provincial capital to file his candidacy papers for Maguindanao's governorship in next year's general elections. It's a position that Ampatuan's father had occupied unopposed since 2001 and which Ampatuan planned to contest to keep the seat in the family. The Mangudadatu group was herded to what appears to have been...
...strong paramilitary force called Cafgu (Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Unit) in Maguindanao while investigating allegations that members were among the gunmen who waylaid the convoy. Cafgu and a clutch of other civilian outfits armed by the security forces have long been used in counter-insurgency operations against Muslim rebels - and were at the disposal of the Ampatuans as part of their armed group. Indeed, another disturbing thread in this tragic episode is the control exercised by local governments generally over the police, especially in deciding key appointments. Four police officers are under investigation for their possible involvement in the Maguindanao...