witness - updated

UPDATE: Narrative development:

1) Establishment press downplays the development, 2) prepares to conflate peaceful developments in the Islamic world with terrorism?, and 3) throws flowers at the Malaysian government.

Financial Times shorter: How cute. It's a small scale endeavor unlikely to work, but it will be good for gold.


VOA shorter: Thank goodness the Indonesian authorities are cracking down on these ideological terrorists and keep up the good work! Phew!! Kiss kiss hug hug from terrorism expert Rohan Gunaratna.

Keyword: sharia. A word that has been sufficiently loaded in The West to have 1000% bad connotations.

Also see: Analysis: Alleged Bali mastermind untouchable until now.

Madsen: 'CIA involved in Jakarta bombings' via aangirfan.



Analysis from Mineweb, a different audience:

"A Malaysian state has introduced Shariah-friendly gold dinars and silver dirhams as a local currency medium. Will the idea spread in the Muslim world?"

With only $630,000 worth of gold and silver coins minted so far the effect on the precious metals markets is insignificant, but, should the idea catch on across much of the Islamic world - not exactly U.S. dollar-friendly societies for the most part - then it could have an enormous effect.  Hugely populous nations like Indonesia and Pakistan, as are swathes of Africa and the CIS, are mainly Muslim, and there would likely be considerable appeal for the idea across the Middle East, where doubts have been expressed of late of holding currency reserves in U.S. dollars amid nervousness of where the dollar is headed given the huge extent of the money supply increases in the U.S. itself.
The idea, if it gained traction - and that's obviously a very big ‘if' - would lead to a huge inflow of gold and silver to these nations financed by their dumping of increasingly devalued dollars - and could also lead to the Muslim oil exporting nations asking for their black gold to be paid for in yellow gold and silver - a demand which Western nations may have a hard time in meeting.  One can certainly see the idea appealing to Iran, although whether it has the wherewithal to implement such an idea is perhaps unlikely.
It obviously remains to be seen whether the idea will catch on.  Most Islamic-governed states are too attuned to a form of Capitalism to overly rock the boat, but this isn't to say that some disaffected nations might not dip their toes in the water.  What it does bring home, though, is that traditionalist Islamic teaching does support money of intrinsic value and there could well become a greater trend throughout the Muslim world to return to a form of gold and silver standard, although most Muslim countries are too far down the fiat currency road to easily reverse this.

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See: heads up -- with updates.

So Malaysia's central bank tells the Malaysian state government of Kelantan what they can and can't do. And guess what? The central bank says they can't use their new currency.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — A Malaysian state's attempt to revive use of gold and silver coins common in early Islamic societies has run afoul of the country's central bank, which said Friday that local governments have no authority to issue their own currency.  ...The coins came into circulation Thursday and can be purchased at various locations in Kelantan. ... But the plan hit a snag when Malaysia's central bank said in a statement later Friday that the ringgit remained "the only currency that is the legal tender for payment of goods and services in Malaysia." The bank said it "has the sole right under the law to issue currency in Malaysia." It was not immediately clear how the bank planned to block the use of the coins for transactions.

Let's notice, shall we?

Let us witness for our fellow human beings in Malaysia, the central bank of Malaysia telling them what they can and cannot do for money.

"We have over 1,000 shops that have signed up to our campaign and agreed to accept the dinar and dirham for the purchase of goods," State Economic Planning, Finance and Welfare Committee chairman Husam Musa said. ..."The response has been very positive and all the coins which were worth a total of RM2.0 million have been sold out at the launch today," said Husam.

...

There has been a long debate in Malaysia, a Muslim-majority country with large ethnic Chinese and Indian communities, to introduce the coins as legal tender nationally. Former premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, whose administration promoted a moderate form of Islam that emphasised economic and scientific development, shot down the proposal to use the Islamic currencies. But his predecessor, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, was an advocate of the dinar system and urged Muslim countries to use it as a trade instrument.

The debate has died down since current Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak came to power last year.

Public support. CHECK.
Coins minted at the Islamic Mint in Dubai. CHECK. 
Coins sold out at launch. CHECK.

One more reasons given for the continued insane rise in Wall Street has been the flow of money out of the Asian countries into the U.S. markets in search of a safe haven. The Islamic Gold Dinar was officially launched on 07th Nov 2001 by Islamic Mint. The gold coins are now available in all the seven emirates of United Arab Emirates through branches of Thomas Cook Rostamani Exchange Company and Dubai Islamic Bank, who have jointed forces with Islamic Mint for the launch.

The State Government of Kelantan, the northeast Sultanate of Malaysia has officially adopted the Islamic Dinar as its economic policy. This means that Islamic Dinar will circulate through the hands of hundreds of thousands of people in a physical form. It seems possible that as word of this movement travels among Muslims, demands to open accounts and begin using this measure of exchange could grow very rapidly in the Muslim world.

Thomas Cook is a UK travel company. The Al Rostamani International Exchange (ARIE) Company has been doing foreign exchange in the UAE for about thirty years.

According to Wikipedia: "On 21 December 2005, Thomas Cook AG sold off Thomas Cook International Markets, a venture which includes 60% of the stake in Thomas Cook India Ltd to Dubai Financial LLC, a part of the Dubai Investment Group (DIG) which manages the financial and real estate interests of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, ruler of Dubai."

We did a post about the sheikhs of Abu Dhabi after Sheikh Ahmed died in the glider crash. The two kingdoms (Abu Dhabi and Dubai) are related via marriage.

Sheikh Mansour [one of the brothers in Abu Dhabi - ed.] is married to Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum's daughter (one of his two wives). Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum is the ruler of Dubai.

What makes Mansour somewhat unique among the numerous bright sons of the late Shaikh Zayed is that he maintains excellent links with both his full-brother Muhammad bin Zayed and his father-in-law Muhammad bin Rashed. At the same time, however, he follows the instructions of his full-brother, while he merely chooses what suits him from among the suggestions of his father-in-law. With Dubai badly in need of financial support from Abu Dhabi, Shaikh Muhammad bin Rashed is gradually learning to accept the fact that Shaikh Mansour usually ignores any advice from the Dubai ruler which is not acceptable to the Abu Dhabi crown prince.  (source: The Importance of Abu Dhabi to the Global Economy and Mansour's Role)

But the two men share a close adviser: Amada Staveley. She has helped them both to purchase UK sports teams, among other investments.

She is hot stuff. She turned down a marriage proposal from Prince Andrew.

It is also worth noting here Dubai's problems and the role of various Rothschild advisers along the way.

So Dubai Financial purchased the Thomas Cook group at the end of 2005.

THOMAS Cook (India) Ltd, the Indian arm of Europe's second-biggest travel company Thomas Cook, is being taken over by Dubai Investment Group for an undisclosed amount. 

Following that, Dubai Financial acquired the license to use the Thomas Cook name in the Middle East.

Dubai Financial (DF), a subsidiary of Dubai Investment Group (DIG) - the global financial investor of Dubai Holding - has obtained the license to use the Thomas Cook brand in the Middle East, in addition to its acquisition of Thomas Cook Overseas Ltd. and Thomas Cook Lebanon S.A.L....Dubai Financial has the licenses for using the Thomas Cook brand for Leisure Inbound and Outbound Businesses, Corporate Travel Management and Financial Services in Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, UAE, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen.

It looks like Dubai Financial had the pieces in place to make the new currency grow very rapidly in the Muslim world.



But everything fell apart for Dubai. And the Malaysian central bank says that Malaysians can't use the new currency, though,  "It was not immediately clear how the bank planned to block the use of the coins for transactions."



That is concerning. What will happen if the Malay people go ahead and use the currency?

Well, what about the current prime minister of Malaysia? Can the Malay people count on any support there? I'm not feeling it.

The Altantuya Shaaribuu's Case: How and Why She was Killed?

This is a report from Arnaud Dubus, a French reporter based in Thailand, which is published in Liberation French newspaper, 5th of March 2009. The English version is as following: (go read...)

Then again, Anwar Ibrahim is another pail of worms.

Then again, Anwar Ibrahim is in "bad decline" for being a notorious "anti-Semite" because he stated that he had “evidence proving that the [Malaysian] government is backing the Jewish lobby in the US and some parties inside Israel.”

http://newledger.com/2010/07/anwar-ibrahim-in-bad-decline/

Evidently Ibrahim is so anti-semitic that B'nai B'rith had to urge US officials to shun him.

http://www.bnaibrith.org/letter52610.cfm

May 25, 2010

The Honorable John F. Kerry, Chairman
The Honorable Richard G. Lugar, Ranking Member
Committee on Foreign Relations
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510
Dear Senator Kerry and Senator Lugar:
On behalf of B’nai B’rith International’s more than 200,000 members and supporters, we write to express our deep concern about the flagrantly anti-Semitic pronouncements of Malaysia’s opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim.
Ibrahim, who spent several years living in Washington, D.C. cultivating a pro-Western image, has nonetheless used his position in the Malaysian parliament as a platform for spreading anti-Semitic propaganda. His frequent criticisms of the government of Prime Minister Najib Razak are infused with anti-Jewish and anti-Israel slanders, such as his April 30 assertion that Israeli spies are “directly involved in the running of the government.” On another occasion he alleged the presence of “Israeli intelligence personnel in the Police IT unit.”
Ibrahim also has said in parliament that the “Jewish-controlled” public relations firm hired by the Prime Minister was attempting to manipulate Malaysia to support U.S. policies. In the run-up to Malaysia’s 2008 elections, he said in an interview with IslamOnline, “I have evidence proving that the government is backing the Jewish lobby in the U.S. and some parties inside Israel.”
In light of the role that Ibrahim has played in the resurgence of anti-Semitic polemics in Malaysian politics, we ask that U.S. officials suspend their ties with Anwar Ibrahim. A purveyor of anti-Jewish hatred such as Ibrahim should not enjoy the measure of legitimacy that a positive relationship with the United States would confer upon him.
Thank you for your attention and cooperation. We look forward to remaining in communication with you about this matter in the near future.
Respectfully,

Dennis W. Glick	Daniel S. Mariaschin
President	Executive Vice President

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Read Blueprint for Disaster.