The female air force pilot whose missions against Isis were dubbed 'boobs on the ground' has reportedly been disowned by her family and labelled an 'ingrate'.
Mariam Al Mansouri's participation in F-16 bombing raids for the UAE was celebrated in the West, but an anonymous statement claiming to be from her family 'disowned' her for 'taking part in the brutal international aggression' against Syria.
It also expressed support for the Islamic State, saying 'we are proud of the Sunni heroes in Iraq and the Levant'. The brutal terrorist group's original name was the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or Isil.
THE STATEMENT IN FULL
In the name of God All Merciful.
'O ye who believe! Take not your fathers or your brethren for friends if they favour disbelief over faith. Those of you who taketh them for friends are wrong-doers.' [Quranic verse]
'Renouncement of Mariam Al Mansouri:
'We the Mansouri family in the United Arab Emirates hereby publicly declare that we disown the so-called Mariam Al Mansouri as well as anyone taking part in the brutal international aggression against the brotherly Syrian people, starting with our ingrate daughter Mariam Al Mansouri.
'We hereby remind the Muslim nation all over the world of its duty to defend the causes of the nation [meaning the Islamic nation], and we urge them to take up the jihad [holy war] for the sake of God to support the blessed Syrian revolution against the descendants of Ibn Al Alqami.' [Sunni Islamist insurgents refer to the Shi'a as 'alqami' - a reference to Mu'ayyad al-Din Muhammad Ibn al-Alqami, a Shi'ite minister in the last Abbasid caliphate, who purportedly assisted the Mongols in conquering Baghdad in 1258.]
'We call upon all factions and battalions operating on the Syrian battleground to unite and join efforts and forces towards the single objective of overthrowing the monstrous Assad regime perched on the pure and blessed Syrian land.
'Al Mansouri family, in the UAE and abroad, takes this opportunity to declare its support for the blessed Syrian revolution and to all free men defending their rights everywhere in the world.
'Our family is proud of all free men who defend their cause and of all those who take up arms to defend the honour of their nation [The Islamic Nation}. We are proud of the Sunni heroes in Iraq and the Levant and all those who take up the banner of righteousness wherever they may be. We may not know them, but God knows them and would champion them.
'We ask our countrymen not to burden us with the consequences of the actions of the so-called Mariam Al Mansouri. All the honourable members of our family have agreed to this statement.
'Al Mansouri family.'
The statement also expressed support for the Syrian revolution, according to the Palestinian Wattan news agency.
It said: 'We the Mansouri family in the United Arab Emirates hereby publicly declare that we disown the so-called Mariam Al Mansouri as well as anyone taking part in the brutal international aggression against the brotherly Syrian people, starting with our ingrate daughter Mariam Al Mansouri.
'We ask our countrymen not to burden us with the consequences of the actions of the so-called Mariam Al Mansouri.'
It continued: 'We call upon all factions... on the Syrian battleground to unite and join efforts and forces towards the single objective of overthrowing the monstrous Assad regime.
'Our family is proud of all free men who defend their cause and of all those who take up arms to defend the honour of their nation [the Islamic Nation]. We are proud of the Sunni heroes in Iraq and the Levant and all those who take up the banner of righteousness wherever they may be.'
It's not clear whether the views expressed in the statement represent those of the entire family or indeed if it is genuine.
The Mansouri tribe has some influential members, including the country's economics minister, but it's also very large – the second biggest in Abu Dhabi, the capital of UAE, so it certainly can't be assumed that the views expressed in the statement are representative of the whole group.
The statement could well have been made anonymously out of fear of punishment, as voicing dissent against the UAE government can result in imprisonment.
If true, the statement won't represent the first time the Mansouri family has been linked to extremism.
In January this year high-profile lawyer Mohammed al-Mansoori was jailed for allegedly trying to set up an 'international' branch of the controversial Muslim Brotherhood in the UAE, according to the BBC.
Major Mansouri, from Abu Dhabi, made a remarkable rise through the ranks of the UAE air force. She joined it in 2007 and is now a squadron commander.
She is one of eight children and has a degree in English literature.
The UAE is known to have the most liberal views on women's rights in the Middle East and Mansouri said that she was treated as an equal by her commanding officers.
She told Deraa Al Watan magazine: 'Everybody is required to have the same high level of combat competence.'
She says that her nearest relatives are supportive of her role in the air force.
There was also no difference between men and women with regards to training and assignments, she said.
'Everybody is required to have the same high level of combat competence,'
Earlier this week Fox News host Eric Bolling apologised for calling Major Mansouri's missions as 'boobs on the ground'.
It comes as Britain, Belgium and Denmark on Friday joined the U.S.-led coalition of nations that are launching airstrikes on Isis.
The European politicians flatly described the moves as critical to security on home soil, arguing that facing down terrorists has become a matter of urgency.
Prime Minister David Cameron made a passionate plea for action in drastic terms - noting that the militants had beheaded their victims, gouged out eyes and carried out crucifixions to promote goals 'from the Dark Ages.'
'This is about psychopathic terrorists that are trying to kill us and we do have to realize that, whether we like it or not, they have already declared war on us,' he said. 'There isn't a `walk on by' option.
There isn't an option of just hoping this will go away.'
Cameron told a tense House of Commons during more than six hours of debate that the hallmarks of the campaign would be 'patience and persistence, not shock and awe' - a reference to the phrase associated with the invasion of Iraq.
That unpopular intervention has cast a shadow over the discussions because critics fear that Europe will be drawn into a wider conflict, specifically taking on the Islamic group's fighters in Syria.
British MPs voted 524-43 for action after being urgently recalled from a recess. Belgian lawmakers also overwhelmingly approved, voting 114-2 to take part, despite widespread concerns that more terrorism may follow in their homeland as a result.
The White House said in a statement that it welcomed the countries to the coalition.
'These decisions - along with those by Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Qatar to participate in airstrikes against ISIL in Syria - demonstrate the clear commitment of the international community to take action together against these terrorists,' the statement reads..
No comments:
Post a Comment
What are your thoughts on this post?