A recent letter writer lamented that the Aga Kahn had not denounced the terrorist incidents involving the embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania, the bombing of the USS Cole, the destruction of the World Trade Center and many other incidents, and again concern was expressed about the Ismaili mosque being built in our county.

Another wrote that she had never heard any Muslim leader stand up and denounce terrorist attacks (and to invite me to leave the country).

To some extent, I blame the Muslim community for these displays of appalling ignorance. I urge moderate Muslim leaders to be much more forceful in their denunciations and to demand to be heard on television and in print. I would also urge President Bush and his administration to continue even more strongly to promote Muslim voices in the fight against the jihadists.

The terrorist attacks cited by the recent letter writer were all carried out by Wahabbi Sunnis, and even a brief and cursory review of the writings and speeches of the Aga Kahn would provide numerous instances of his denunciation of terrorism carried out by these Islamic extremists.

These denunciations of terrorism have continued for over a decade in numerous statements and speeches but, because the Aga Kahn lives in Switzerland and France, they have received very little news coverage in the U.S.

Of particular interest to the recent letter writers may be his January 2002 CNN interview with Judy Woodruff in which the Aga Kahn recalled with horror the 9/11 attacks and says that he very quickly believed that those attacks, and the bombing of the USS Cole and the embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania were the work of Osama bin Laden. In the same interview he expressed strong support for the U.S. mission in Afghanistan and diplomatically suggested that action there should have come sooner.

The Aga Kahn’s strong and virulent denunciations of the Wahabbi Sunni terrorist’s actions have come at great cost to him and his Ismaili followers.

Ismailis are now under continued attack from Sunnis in Pakistan, and many of the Aga Kahn’s facilities have been fire-bombed, including a horrific attack by the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi in December 2004.

Extremists regularly call for harm to befall the Aga Kahn, accuse him of blasphemy and denounce his lineage in the vilest terms.

A recent Asia Times article reported that the Ismailis in Pakistan had been targeted by al Qaeda and the Taliban resulting in many deaths and savage attacks against them.

In spite of this, the Aga Kahn has given $9 million to start establishing secular schools in Pakistan, in opposition to the Islamic madrassa system there. USAID has joined with him in support of the new schools.

He has donated $2 million to the new U.S.-backed government in Afghanistan and has strongly supported the U.S. there after warning that Afghanistan had been “... abandoned by all, conquered by the Taliban and turned into an immense international terrorist training camp.”

His backing of the U.S. policies has again led to unspeakable atrocities being committed against the Ismailis in Afghanistan.

Every year, Human Rights Watch’s annual reports are replete with attacks, arrest and torture aimed at Ismailis in Saudi Arabia. A Saudi Ismaili cleric gave a one-sentence quote to the Wall Street Journal in 2003 saying, “We love our country, but we believe that the government is making a mistake against us.” For this quote, he was sentenced to flogging and to seven years imprisonment. Another Saudi Ismaili cleric was sentenced to 1,500 lashes for practicing “sorcery.”

To suggest that the Aga Kahn or the Ismailis should apologize for the actions of Sunni jihadists is breathtaking.

Incidentally, when the U.S. embassy was bombed in Tanzania, many of the survivors were treated in a nearby hospital built by the Aga Kahn.

Jeff Carter
Peachtree City, Ga.