JHU SAIS to Host Forum on Political Islam and Terrorism in Central Asia
The Mufti of Uzbekistan, Abdurashid Kory Bakhromov, will be the featured speaker at a forum on "Political Islam and Terrorism in Central Asia" hosted by the Johns Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) on Wednesday, 12/1/1999, at 11:45 a.m.
Bakhromov spent his whole life as an alim, or Muslim religious authority, before being named as Mufti, or highest authority on Muslim law and head of the religious institution in Uzbekistan.
Other panelists for this event sponsored by the SAIS Central Asia-Caucasus Institute include:
Bakhtiar Babazhanov, head of the Department of Islamic Studies at the Uzbekistan Academy of Sciences
John Schoeberlein, director, Forum for Central Asian Studies, Harvard University
S. Enders Wimbush (invited), vice president for International Affairs, Hicks and Associates
The ongoing debate over the strength of extremist Muslim groups in Central Asia was shattered by an unprecedented event. About 1,000 Islamic fighters, mostly from Uzbekistan, invaded the Kyrgyz Ferghana Valley and held the Sokh Valley and some other areas for over two months, before retreating to Tajikistan and, ultimately, to Taliban-controlled Tajikistan. Kyrgyzstan, the most reformist of the Central Asian countries, suddenly faces a crisis of security, as does neighboring Uzbekistan, target of the Islamic thrust. Some aspects of the crisis suggested major support from the Taliban-which had not seemed a menace north of Afghanistan-and the Tajik opposition. The speakers will define this new threat as seen by traditional Muslim men of religion and academic specialists.
The event, open to the public, will be held in the auditorium, located on the first floor of the Rome Building, 1619 Massachusetts Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. Members of the public who want to attend must call (202)663-7721.
For more information, contact Felisa Neuringer Klubes at the SAIS Public Affairs Office at 202.663.5626 or [email protected].