Commander Qasem Soleimani killing divides Sunni-Shia world

New Delhi: As much as the troika of Turkey, Malaysia and Pakistan have been portraying itself as the champion of Islam and the Muslim world, the killing of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander Qasem Soleimani has exposed the historic Shia-Sunni sectarian faultline once again. Though the general population among Sunnis, who constitute around 90 percent of the Muslim population, have expressed sympathy for Iran following the killing of Soleimani, except for Malaysia, no other Sunni country has come forward to stand publicly by Tehran against the US.

Iran has termed the January 3 killings of Soleimani and its other military officers as "state terrorism" and has threatened to retaliate against the US.

While the Shia Iraq's Parliament passed a resolution in protest against the killings, asking the US to withdraw its forces from the country, Saudi Arabia, the leader of the Sunni Islamic nations, asked for "self-restraint" and didn't hesitate to blame Iran for "terrorism" in West Asia.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who aspires to assume the leadership that Saudi Arabia enjoys in the Muslim world, has offered to de-escalate tensions between Washington and Tehran.

Erdogan recently attended an Islamic summit hosted by the Mahathir Mohamad government in Kuala Lumpur and criticized Saudi Arabia for arm-twisting Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and holding him back from attending the conference.

Pakistan initially remained silent, but later supported the de-escalation of tensions and dialogue between the two countries after having negotiated a deal with the US itself.

In exchange for its support for the US airstrike against Iran, Pakistan secured resumption of the military to military cooperation with America.

Among the Sunni dominated countries, only Malaysia has come out in support of Shia Iran. Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad described the killing of Soleimani as immoral and illegal. On Tuesday, he urged Muslim countries to unite to "protect themselves against external threats".

In what is probably his last term, Mahathir (94) has been the staunchest voice of Muslim political unity. (IANS)

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