Upheaval In The Muslim World, 30 Years Ago

1979: Remembering 'The Siege Of Mecca'

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 06:00:00 -0400

Yaroslav Trofimov, a reporter with The Wall Street Journal, talks about the 1979 siege of the Grand Mosque at Mecca in Saudi Arabia. It is the holiest site in Islam, and gunmen held it for two weeks. It was one of the events that gave rise to al-Qaida, and Yaroslav wrote about it in his book The Siege of Mecca.

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1979: Recalling The Soviet Invasion Of Afghanistan

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 06:00:00 -0400

As part of a series of conversations marking 1979 as a seminal year in the Muslim world, Afghan-born Amin Tarzi talks about the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Tarzi is director of Middle East studies at the Marine Corps University in Quantico, Virginia. He was 15 when the Soviets attacked the presidential palace in Kabul, which Tarzi witnessed from a short distance away.

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Remembering 1979 Execution Of Pakistani Politician

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 06:00:00 -0400

Journalist and author Ahmed Rashid talks with Steve Inskeep about the 1979 hanging of a democratically-elected leader in Pakistan. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was overthrown by a general who Islamicized Pakistani society. To this day, Pakistan has been plagued by internal tension between the more radical and the more secular elements of its society.

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Remembering Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution

Mon, 17 Aug 2009 06:00:00 -0400

As part of a series of conversations marking 1979 as a seminal year in the Muslim world, Steve Inskeep talks to Iranian-born journalist Kasra Naji about the Islamic Revolution. Naji was a student in Iran at the time and has been in and out of the country since then. He's a special correspondent for BBC Persian Television in London. He also is the author of Ahmadinejad: The Secret History of Iran's Radical Leader.

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