Who is Kazi Mahmood

After leaving school he became the correspondent for the high flying Africa Now magazine, covering Mauritius (where he is born) for the London based publication. Africa Now grew into an important magazine in Africa but its fortunes changed when it was taken over by the Shehu Shagari (then President of Nigeria) team. Africa Now was forced to foreclosure but the BBC and African Business were already in the limelight.  He spent 10 years with African Business, writing on the Indian Ocean Islands economic and business sectors.

With the BBC he focussed more on stories of human interest, politics and cultural issues. He travelled the Indian Ocean, reporting for the BBC and writing for Africa Confidential (www.africa-confidential.com). Africa Confidential was more on investigative journalism and commentaries on the political-economic situation in Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles and Reunion Island. The Islands of the Comoros too were widely covered for the Africa Confidential.

In Mauritius, he covered 2 major elections in 1987 and 1991 baffling the BBC Network Africa staff with accurate results. He still has close contacts with the political class in home Island, where at least one of his school friends is now Minister of Housing. Ashraf Dalull, Minister of Housing has a lot on his hands but he has all the prayers of his supporters to back him.

His relationships with the political parties in Mauritius were great (for the Labour Party) of which he has been a member since 1976 thanks to former vice-President of Mauritius Robin Ghurburrun., in opposition to the Movement Militant Mauricien (MMM) and at war with the Party Mauricien Social Democrat (PMSD). He is still a member of the Labour Party and is still registered as a journalist by the Information Department in the Ministry of Information in Mauritius. He had many friends in the party (Movement Socialist Mauricien – MSM) of former Prime Minister Anerood Jugnauth – currently President of Mauritius.

He had special contacts with the then Vice President of Mauritius, Robin Ghurburrun who was also a vice president of the Labour Party. He believes the Labour Party will do much more for Mauritius in the future.

Fascists and Berengists

He interviewed the Mauritian Prime Minister, Sir Anerood Jugnauth for the BBC Network Africa. Also interviewed most of the major Ministers in the Mauritian government between 1987 to 1992, including the brilliant Finance Minister of Mauritius Vishnu Lutchmeenaraidoo. He sees Vishnu as a potential Prime Minister for Mauritius in the future. His relationship with the 'eternal' Leader of the Opposition Paul Berenger turned sour after Berenger imposed conditions for an interview for the Africa Now. He refused to interview the most popular politician in Mauritius for Africa Now but made amends when he interviewed Berenger accompanied by Catherine Watson (the wonderful lady from London) who introduced him to the BBC.  The interview will become an important element in the relationship between Kazi and Berenger. Berenger was very popular among Muslims but started to lose his popularity which began with Kazi’s revelation about his statements regarding the Muslim Personal Law (MPL) in Mauritius. This was prior to Kazi joining the BBC Network Africa and Berenger had insulted Islam and the Muslims (who were largely his supporters in those days in 1985) in the interview when he was asked a question by Kazi on the Muslim Personal Law (MPL).

Ten years later, in 1997, the issue of the Muslim Personal Law in Mauritius became the bone of contention between Berenger and Kazi, making the headlines in pro-Muslim tabloids and stripping Berenger of his air of invincibility in the process. The entire press in Mauritius, even the 'white' owned presses condemned Berenger for his dangerous comments regarding the MPL.  Since then, Berenger has lost his political capital in Mauritius - which was mainly composed of the 17% of Muslim votes. The 1994 battle of words between Kazi and Berenger erupted after Berenger had lambasted Minister Abdul Razak Peeroo (an MPL high ranking member). Berenger never denied what he said in the taped conversation with Catherine Watson and Kazi Mahmood and this has probably contributed to Berenger's unpopularity among the Muslims in the long run. The recent victory of the Labor Party in Mauritius was hailed by Kazi Mahmood as a historical victory that can help change Mauritius and gear it into a new future.

Berenger eventually became Prime Minister of Mauritius between the year 2003 and 2005 the year in which he lost the elections to a unified Labor Party headed by Nuvin Ramgoolam. Kazi hailed the fact that Berenger became PM as a major push for the consolidation of democracy in the country.

In Mauritius he undermined what he called the 'fascist' politics of former vice-Prime Minister Harish Boodhoo, predicting his removal as VPM 2 months before Boodhoo was eventually removed from his posts by Aneerood Jugnauth.

IT and Computers

In Malaysia, forced to do business (in the IT line) selling computers, introducing the IT systems to small business communities and helping others learn what computers are about. It is only after 6 years in Malaysia that he decided to takes up the job of Press Correspondent in 1999 with the www.islamonline.net website. Islam Online was very first Muslim news website that employed journalists and correspondents (paying full time salaries for their work indeed). The 'reformasi' in Malaysia became the focal point of the stories covered for Islam Online. His criticism of Tun Mahathir Mohamad's handling of the Anwar Ibrahim case made Anwar the icon for the readers of Islam Online. He interviewed Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, Party Keadilaan leader and wife of Anwar Ibrahim for Islam Online. He also interviewed Tuan Guru Abdul Hadi Awang, the Party Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) leader. The PAS Secretary General, youth leaders of the PAS and members of the Keadilaan were also interviewed as well as Selamat Haschim the bereaved leader of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and leaders of the Gerakan Aceh Merdeka (GAM).

Among the most important leaders interviewed by Kazi Mahmood is the bereaved French President Francois Mitterand during a visit to Madagascar.

He was also involved in the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) IT section at the Umno building with the building of a website www.warisanmelayu.com in the year 2001. The website was short-lived however.

Currently involved in the OIC Today magazine (the non-official magazine of the Organization Of Islamic Conference) he is also the webmaster of www.worldfutures.info and is building a website on Islamic business ethics the www.islam-inc.com

His expertise today is concentrated on analyzing the situation in the Islamic world, and on the impact of the US led war on terror, which he calls a war against Islam instead. He believes there is a clash of civilizations that is taking shape with the US insistence to interfere in the affairs of the Islamic world. World Futures on line or WFOL as he calls it has been instituted to counter the lies which the US is spreading about Islam.

The Tajura Affair

One of the most dramatic affairs that shook Mauritius in the late 1980's did not go without his involvement in the affair when he was made to accompany 70 Mauritian citizens on a trip to Libya. This episode in his career became known as the 'Tajura Affair', due to the complicated matter and the fact that any trips to Libya was shrouded in mystery after the breakdown of relationship between Libya and Mauritius. The affair was considered a national security issue in Mauritius but his intervention in a report to the Mauritius Prime Minister of the time, Sir Aneerood Jugnauth culminated in toning down the impact of this affair in the country. Most of the 70 Mauritians who went to Libya for the official reason of doing tourism in the land of Muamar Khadafi were Muslims, with the exception of 2 of them who were Hindus. The unofficial reason for the trip to Libya was to undergo training (military or not it was not perceptible at the arrival at the military camp which was situated near the capital city of Libya, Tripoli or Trables). Some ministers in Mauritius wanted to see that the 70 members are sent to jail for visiting Libya and for allegedly undergoing military training there. Kazi denied that there were military training and informed the Prime Minister through his report to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) that the members of the group were wrongly thought to be members of a militia. The 20 pages report was read by the Prime Minister in Parliament to dissipate fears that attempts were made to train Mauritians in a bid to overthrow his regime. The report can be checked at the 'Hansards' of the Mauritius Parliament for reference.

Manu Military

Kazi was also active in the Seychelles Island, covering alleged conspiracies by Italian mafias in the young socialist nation. He made several reports on the true economic and political picture of the Seychelles to the BBC and this almost got him into trouble with the regime of Albert Rene. He was however spared from a manu-military sent-off out of the Island after defending his case to the Ministry of Information in the Seychelles. After visiting Lagos, Nigeria in 1992, he was tracked down by members of a 'forgery union' that was targeting the overhauling of huge amounts of cash from innocent people in the UK and in other countries. He wrote some articles that unraveled the truth about the scam and he became the target of the group, but escaped attempts to harm him while he visited Asia in 1992.

Asian Rebel Movements

During his long career, Kazi Mahmood has interviewed many leaders of Mauritius, Madagascar, Comoros Islands, Reunion Islands, France and lately of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines. He had close contacts with the most public faces in the rebel movements in Pattani, South Thailand; in Mindanao, Southern Philippines; in Aceh, Indonesia and Chechnya, Russia. This has helped him understood the reason that has forced the rebel movements in South East Asia turn to military confrontation against the respective regimes in the different countries. In Aceh, the war that was waged against Indonesian forces was a war against injustices committed by a the regime of General Suharto, which had in fact ripped the province of its riches without sharing with the populace. In Mindanao, the rebels fought for their Islamic ancestral rights and lands, which were banished and taken away from them after the Philippines was given its independence from the US. In Pattani, the Muslims are fighting the continued oppression by the regimes of Thai-Buddhists leadership in Bangkok, which is carrying out a systematic campaign to undermine Islam and the Malay-Muslims in their provinces.

Books

Published five books so far in Malaysia. The first being The Light, a book on the names of Allah. The first edition was printed in 1997 by Darul Numan in Kuala Lumpur.

The second book is entitled "Islam Inc." which stands for Islam Incorporated. The book is about the Islamic world and how to revive Islamic business and trade among Muslims. It is published by the OIC Malaysia Chamber of Commerce based in Gombak.

In March 2006 a book on Iran's nuclear program was published. Its title "Iran's Nuke" - Will the U.S. strike?  The book reveals well before hand how the North Koreans will test their first nuke. It is also about why the u.s. May use the Nato - North Atlantic Treaty Organization - to attack Iran in the future. It tells why France may end up being the attacker. It was the first book ever published by World Futures.

World Futures published its second book in April 2007. it is about the War Crimes Tribunal staged by Tun Mahathir Mohamad, former Prime Minister of Malaysia. It was printed by World Futures and distributed to Embassies etc. Its second edition and second version will be printed in January 2008.

In November 2007, World Futures published its 3rd book entitled "The U.S.A. Above The Law, At Home and Abroad". It is about the crimes committed by the U.S. and questions both the American democratic system as well as the war on terror. It is also about genocide committed by the U.S. at home and abroad. The sixth book will be Islamic Economy: Between Capitalism and the Islamic System of Economy will come out soon. Perhaps in January 2009.

All five books are written and edited by Kazi Mahmood. He is married, has a Malaysian son who is 10 years old. He admires Singapore for its professionalism and its frankness but his heart always beat to the tune of Indonesia, the country Kazi loves the most in Asia.

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