I’ve mentioned the Islamic group Hizb-ut-Tahrir in this blog before, and I will again.  Hizb-ut-Tahrir is one of the many banned Islamic groups in Central Asia and elsewhere in the world.  This video announces the world conference of Hizb-ut-Tahrir which begins on August 12, 2007–a scant two weeks from now.

This 4 to 5 minute video announces the conference, but it does much more than that: one sees the reach of Hizb-ut-Tahrir around the world, some of its popular demonstrations, which are organized and appear, for the most part, to be peaceful–the exception being some arrest scenes.  It is also a potent view into the charismatic nature of the organization–a charisma that does have a real power which we all must acknowledge.  Presumably, since Uzbekistan's name appears on many of the banners, the footage comes in the wake of the Andijan Massacre.  Much, though not all, of the video is in English and it has a rousing music track.

After viewing this video, I encourage people to check out the organization at its Web site.  I am also linking to two executive summaries by the International Crisis Group.  These lead to full reports, if you find that the summary piques your interest.

The first one, dated 2003, discusses Islamism in Central Asia.  The second one was prepared in early 2006, and is geared toward understanding Islamic sites on the Internet, most directly about the Iraqi insurgency.  This report talks about violent as opposed to non-violent groups like HuT, but it is useful in more generally describing how the U.S. and other countries fail to understand the nature of dialogue between a Muslim world public, and Islamic Internet offerings.  It's always good to know what's going on in the world–in fact, it's quite necessary.