The United Nations has reported that Bosnian Grand Mufti Mustaf Ceric is one of the members of a new panel ” entrusted with furthering peace founded on justice, respect for human rights, gender equality and solidarity.” According to the announcement:
18 February 2010 – The United Nations today inaugurated a panel of prominent political, intellectual and religious figures from all regions entrusted with furthering peace founded on justice, respect for human rights, gender equality and solidarity in the context of an increasingly globalized world. “This day marks the beginning of an intellectual journey throughout which we will reflect on ways to trace new perspectives for peace in the 21st century,” UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Director-General Irina Bokova said at the launching ceremony in Paris of the High Panel on Peace and Dialogue among Cultures. The ceremony also marked the launching of the of the International Year for the Rapprochement of Cultures, and the panel will take into account the challenges posed by climate change, management of resources and ethical and economic issues in regard to strengthening peace…..Panel members range from politicians such as former Icelandic president Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, to religious personalities such as Mustafa Ceric, Grand Mufti of Bosnia and Herzegovina, to Wole Soyinka, the Nigerian Nobel Laureate for Literature and France’s Simone Veil, the former president of the European Parliament and honorary president of the Foundation for the memory of the Shoah (Holocaust).
Considered by some to be a leading “liberal” Islamic leader, Mustafa Ceric is tied to the global Muslim Brotherhood through his membership in the European Council for Fatwa and Research (ECFR), headed by Brotherhood leader Youssef Qaradawi and by his participation in the U.K.-based “Radical Middle Way” consisting of a wide range of associated scholars representing the global Muslim Brotherhood. Several earlier posts have discussed Dr. Ceric’s increasing visibility and importance within the global Muslim Brotherhood, noting that Ceric sees himself as a possible future leader of a “European Islam.” Dr. Ceric recently compared the Iranian Revolution with the French Revolution and Iranian media reported that Dr. Ceric recently told former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani in a meeting that he considers Iran a “good friend” of his country.” A post from October 2009 discussed his visit to the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT), an important part of the U.S. and global Muslim Brotherhood.