Middle East Focus: Of Sorcery, Mullah Omar, and a Texas Salafi

Arabia Deserta

Of Sorcery, Mullah Omar, and a Texas Salafi

“An African sorcerer under arrest has confessed that he executed a feat of magic that kept a young Saudi man from visiting his family for 11 years. He did it because of a dispute between his brother and the Saudi man. He also confessed to distributing magical amulets and potions that inspire love and cause their users to become free of debt…

“A court has authenticated the confession and has forwarded his case full of potions and amulets to the headquarters of the Society for Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (PVPV or religious police) in Taif so that they can disable the magic of its contents…

“For eleven years the young man had only sporadic contact with his family, but it was noted that after the arrest of the African sorcerer, the young man intensified his contact with his family.”

I always enjoy these news items because you can only get them in some Middle East media (and I suppose some African media). They are hardly ever covered by the N Y Times or the W Post.

Not even such strong believers in sorcery as the Washington Times or the New York Post cover these stories. They are relevant for the war on terror (if indeed it is still going on): remember, if sorcerers exist in Saudi Arabia, you can bet your bippy (look it up) that Mullah Omar of the Taliban believes in them. I wonder if Dick Cheney really believed in sorcery (not magic, he would never believe in magic). It seems the only Republican politico who believed in some magic was Mark Sanford: apparently the rest of them had to pay for 'it'. G W Bush probably did believe in sorcery: he was the consummate American Wahhabi.
Cheers
mhg
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