Foreign Affairs committee  Terrorism is first and foremost a tool that is used to maximize the symbolic impact of otherwise limited capacities to act. It's not new and it's not solely associated with Islamic fundamentalists. Anarchists in Russia used the equivalent of roadside bombs to assassinate Alexander II in the middle of the 19th century. Successfully fighting terrorism has a lot more to do with criminal investigations than with all-out military operations.

Foreign Affairs committee  There is space to exploit the traditional tensions within the Taliban movement, between their national aspirations to power on the one hand and their transnational alliance with Islamic extremists on the other. Efforts need to be made to prise away those who are not hard-core radical extremists Issue number three is governance. It's important that Afghanistan have an effective government of integrity, which is seen as such by Afghan citizens.

Iran  Speaker, the Baha'is of Iran have been persecuted throughout their history. With the triumph of the Islamic revolution in 1979, the persecution has been systematized. More than 200 Baha'is have been executed or killed, hundreds more have been imprisoned and tens of thousands have been deprived of jobs, pensions, businesses and educational opportunities.

National Defence committee  Canada should keep a close watch on the Pakistani government's actions and inactions. The issues of democratization and decentralization, Kashmir, and radical Islamic militancy will all directly affect Afghanistan. If we want our efforts to bear fruit, we need to be mindful of these complex realities and make good use of our diplomatic assets.

Foreign Affairs committee  It will have a variety of effects, but on the whole, it will be a cause of celebration among the extremist Islamic jihadist community in the world.

Foreign Affairs committee  The reason they can do that is because there is considerable legal capacity in Afghan society, but it is capacity to administer sharia as interpreted by the Islamic clergy, not to administer the state law, which also exists. But in the history of Afghanistan there have been governments that have created relatively powerful judiciaries based on state law.

Foreign Affairs committee  It's actually a bigger problem there. In South Waziristan right now, the area has a large number of fighters from the Islamic movement of Uzbekistan who are allied with al-Qaeda. For the local Pashtun tribes, I don't know what their private opinions are, but many of them are organized militarily to support the Taliban and are now actually fighting against the Uzbeks from al-Qaeda because they have worn out their welcome.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Once again, there are different Irans that we speak to. The aspiration of some people in Iran is to spread the Islamic revolution, first throughout the Shiite majority areas in Iraq and Lebanon and then perhaps in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere. The aspirations of others may be a very kind of secular, political realist view of what Iran needs in order to defend its interests in the region.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I'll need to fill in the blanks. Well, the elections are a complete writeoff, because although it's called the Islamic republic, it's not a republic and it's not a democracy. When people are electing officials, they only have a certain group of people they can vote for, and it's mostly fundamentalist right wing clerics who are in power.

Arab and Lebanese Communities  As a result of their efforts, Montreal now plays host to events such as the Lebanese festival, which gathers together almost 80,000 people from all over for four days. We are also seeing the rise of institutions such as the Lebanese Islamic centre, the Muslim cultural centre of Montreal, the Antiochian Orthodox Church in Canada and the Muwahiddun Druze community. In the spirit of unity and respect for differences, these leaders are putting an end to counter-productive views and fostering the kind of communication that is vital to allaying fears and discovering the beauty of the other, who is, essentially, our neighbour.

Presence in Gallery  I would like to draw to the attention of hon. members the presence in the gallery of the Hon. Chaudry Amir Hussain, Speaker of the National Assembly of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

National Defence committee  On opium, I agree, and many militaries agree, that simply destroying crops is going to drive farmers into the arms of the Taliban, but the Afghan government is very clear that they wants drugs removed from the country. They believe it is very un-Islamic to do this, so it is their desire. It is a democratic country, so we have to support their views. Second, if you do it as part of the comprehensive strategy with alternative livelihoods, effective law enforcement, effective justice, and a prison system, then you can actually do it, and that's what they want.

National Defence committee  Al-Qaeda had 3,000 fighters, of course, from at least 13 Arab countries. The Taliban also hosted Islamic extremist groups from Russia, Pakistan, China, Burma, Iran, Central Asia, and several countries of the Far East, all of whom fought for the Taliban while carrying out operations in their own countries.

Foreign Affairs committee  The elected Government of Afghanistan wants nothing to do with this. It is their country, and the President has stated clearly that this is counter to Islam—

Foreign Affairs committee  On models, it is important that you understand the world we live in now, one that seems to be dominated by ideologies, by fundamentalisms regardless of what they are—Hindu fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalism, Christian fundamentalism. In terms of human rights, these ideologies have spawned a concept of cultural relativism, which is something that is very important for everyone to understand in terms of how damaging it can be.