Skyscrapers and splendid new minarets and mosques coexisted in Tunis, the capital of the United Islamic States of Maghrib. There were few such cities in North Africa - the other ones that could be termed "comparable" were al-Qahirah, Al-Iksandriyah, Benghazi, al'Jaza'ir, Fas and Ad-dar Al-Bayda'.
Comparable. That's all they would ever get. And even the comparability was... marginal, at best. It is always like that - one city is a capital, others are provincial.
Generations pass. The lifespan of an average Maghribi is, officially, 75, but many of them died early in 2010s, from diseases and from disturbances... and from Jihad. The Holy War started by Hasan Kemal cost many, many lives. A new generation grew up. They forgot that once, Tunis was not so glamorous. That once, there was no peace in Maghrib. That once, awful diseases and humiliating poverty ruled supreme here.
That once, there was no Islamic Revolutionary Party, and that once, the Islamic States of Maghrib were not united...
Forgot? Well, not exactly. Though the days of Jihad were far gone and seemed very ancient to most, memories of the past did pass on from generation to generation. And far from all of the restless youths of al-Qahirah, Benghazi, al'Jaza'ir and Ribat (the latter being, ever since its destruction in 2046 by the IRA - Islamic Revolutionary Army - a small, impoverished town) liked the way it is. Separatism ran especially deep in Morocco, which only recently was subdued, but it was the dream of many enough Egyptians, Libyans and Algerians to restore their countries and to perhaps have THEIR city be a capital - not of UISM, but of a country of their own.
Separatism was, however, not serious - just some talking, talking that rarely developped into anything important. Ever since Khalid al-Tumart, the Moroccan terrorist, was gunned down by an IRA helicopter, the separatists were subdued. There were other threats to UISM gathering...
---
They gathered in an old underground army bunker, one of those that was soon to be scrapped. They made sure that nobody and nothing is listening - they had the power to do so. Power granted by the government that they wished to overthrow.
"Abu has gone too far this time." - said the tall, large-moustached man, dressed, as most others, in the olive uniforms of the IRA.
"Yes, yes... Give a mortal man power, and see how it changes him." - said a short man, with bitterness in his voice.
"No sentimentalities are allowed." - coldly pronounced the first man - "We are soldiers, remember this. We made an oath to protect the States, the Union and the Party, but we never made an oath to protect Abu. He is a threat to the States, to the Union and to the Party with his tyranny and his insane foreign policy. He will get us into a war with the world..."
"Cut the rhetoric, friend!" - said another one, the only one in the khaki uniform of the Revolutionary Guard - "We all know that he is a threat. We all know that it is our duty. But if you expect us to charge after you into the palace and shoot everybody we notice... you're out of luck."
"I never proposed that."
"You intended it." - smirked the third man. He had a black eyepatch.
The first man shook his head. Then, the fourth one spoke. He was also in an olive uniform. He looked entirely ordinary. He was a new one.
"But we must act, comrades! Abu not only wages an opportunistic, provocative foreign policy - he is also perverting Hasan Kemal's ideals. In the place of stable Islamic socialism, he is creating a plutocratic stronghold of imperialistic interests." - the fourth man's voice sounded very... ridicilous. The others barely restrained laughter, even the first one.
"What bold rhetoric!" - said the short man with disdain - "And may I ask you, comrade Zayid, as to what allows you to say this to elder members of the Circle?"
"I am not "Zayid"." - smiled the fourth man - "I am not even a soldier of the IRA. I am John Barrels, a representatives of the United States of America. I am here to announce to you my support for your movement. If you were to launch a coup d'etat within the coming year, you would receive all sorts of support from my government."
And silence spread throughout the complex. Suddenly, the fourth man didn't seem as ridicilous.
---
Usually, Abu (or shall we call him Mohammed al-Bariq?) trusted Khalid, his IRG general (a.k.a. head of secret police). But in some matters, Abu could only trust himself. Allah guided him well thus far. Hopefully, it would continue this way, but...
Abu sighed. It was hard. Hard, bad old times, and now it was little better - it was even worse, for instead of open battle there were now intrigues and subversions, with his best friends turning away from him.
But Abu persisted. Mostly, as said before, he trusted Khalid, who rooted out corruption and treason in the UISM. Yet now, he could only rely on himself. And on Allah.
Abu looked through the documents, lists, reports, and so forth. Next year...
"When exactly?" - he muttered aloud.
---
"We will strike at 7 o'clock. The intercomm station will be taken by your men, Comrade Teliq. I will organize anti-American riots, to distract their attention." - the big day was to come tomorrow, so General Farid, the ideologist of the "Free Maghrib", was very nervous - "Comrade Barrels, we talked it over before, I believe."
The American nodded.
"The People's Jihad pledge their support to this cause. We have negotiated a special arrangement with the Americans - they are not our main enemy, Russia is. Bin Laden was wrong when he betrayed the Americans - but we will make up for it." - said the quiet Jihadist, Ahmad Bakhir.
"Indeed. Comrade Bakhir, are we to expect your support?"
"I will be a liason officer. The People's Jihad will assist you in staging the riots. We will also be something of a reserve for the coup... You can trust us. Abu is a traitor, he refused to support our cause. Hopefully, you will..."
"...discretely, yes. At first, anyway." - Farid assured him - "We should make international public opinion turn against Russians - us supporting "terrorists" might be detrimental. Russians will think that the coup has brought an appeasing, moderate government to power - and then, we shall strike."
"Anyway, we strike tommorow, at 7 o'clock. Remember your aims..."
---
The sun was rising. Muezzins (not all of whom were humans) called the Faithful to pray. After the prayers, the city was awakening. Abu liked to watch the view of his city from the window of his office. This time, however, he didn't come there - a double came instead.
He had more important things to do. He went into the old, revolutionary basement that was now still secretly used for coordination purposes of the IRG. Khalid was already there.
"Abu al-Bariq, it will begin soon..."
"I am aware. Turn on the intercomm."
News: riots in Kazakhstan, search for Indian astronauts continues. Science: buggies. Economy: Bariya is rising. Sport...
Weather: cloudless over Russia. Rain and thunder over Moscow, however...
---
"Unexpected heavy thunder was reported in Moscow." - said Sharih, surprised by the text. Something was wrong here...
Meanwhile, gunfire begun in the streets.
---
"Death to the Yankee exploiters!" - shouted one of the provocators, leading the mob. The mob was gathered previously, in the slums.
Shouts, Molotov cocktails, panic...
Nobody came. Only American embassy guards begun firing dum-dum bullets. Farid realized that something was wrong and rushed towards the presidential palace.
---
"DEATH TO THE TYRANTS!" - shouted Shabar, the IRG officer. He and ten other revolutionaries, including the American and Jihadist liasons, were assaulting the presidential palace. So far, so good... There was occasional gunfire, but the resistance was paralyzed.
Up the stairs, to the cabinet...
"There he is!" - shouted Shabar and fired at the hated tyrant Abu, who looked... stunned. He never looked stunned before. Shabar laughed as the tyrant collapsed, bleeding and shouting.
"Excellent - now to the-"
Suddenly, the Jihadist cut at Shabar's right hand with a knife, whilst the American jumped away and begun firing at the other revolutionaries. All over the palace, the warned and prepared Guards charged out, killing or capturing the revolutionaries. Shabar was taken alive - the knife was drugged. He was brought away for interrogation.
---
Meanwhile, elsewhere Teliq and his troops were similarily caught within the intercomm station and apprehended by Guards. They nonetheless severed communications, temporarily - just in case.
---
"Comrades! What the Shaitan is going on?!" - asked Farid upon noticing a few of his revolutionaries, bloodied and panting heavily, trying to regroup.
They all looked shocked themselves. Finally, one of them spoke.
"They knew! They were ready, they killed the others!"
"Damnit... Don't panic! Where is Comrade Bakhir?"
"They killed him too!"
"Damn... what about the intercomm?" - he asked himself, and tried to contact the Jihadist conspirative quarters. Nothing. There was no contact.
Farid noticed IRG troops closing in on them. After offering some resistance, his revolutionaries, his well-trained soldiers, the cause of his life surrender. Farid aimed carefully and shot himself in the head.
---
Excerpts from the interrogation protocol of Lieutenant Shabar
[...]
Shabar (S): Alright, all is lost. I'll talk.
Khalid (K): At last. Who of these people were involved in the plot?
S: All of them... though-
K: Do you confess to planning a military coup with the goals of assisting our country's external enemies?
S: I do. I see my-
K: Which external powers exactly?
S: United States of America and People's Jihad.
K: And Russian Federation.
S: No, not the Russians.
K: Confess peacefully, please.
S: Alright, the Russians as well, though-
K: Was the ASTD involved?
S: Yes!
K: You lie.
S: I do - but you keep asking absurd-
K: Reasonable. Reasonable. Were Sudanese Christian militants involved as well?
S: There was a separate agreement with them...
K: I see.
[...]
---
Official Statement of the UISM Foreign Ministry.
The rumors of the failed military coup d'etat in UISM are correct in principle, though most details have little to do with truth. Rumors of Russian or American involvement are, as far as we (the government) know, unfounded, in spite of the attempts of the captured consirators to shift blame to foreign powers. Nonetheless, it is requested that all assistance is granted to our investigations in this regard, in the spirit of international cooperation.
The People's Jihad has fully proven that it cannot be trusted by its involvement in the coup, which most probably had as a goal a creation of a hardline radical "Jihadist" government within UISM. We officially denounce them and their methods, and are willing to work together with the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan, Indonesia and other nations harmed by the People's Jihad activities against this organization.
The failed coup was led by members of the UISM military, who now await execution for treason. They will be replaced by loyal officers. A more thorough counter-intellegence will be put in place, to ensure that nothing like this happens again.
Casualty figures are estimated at 150 or so dead, 725 or so wounded on both sides and amongst the civilian population.
No connections between the xenophobic riots and the coup attempt has been discovered as of yet.
The Tunis intercomm has recently gone back online.
Zayid Gamal Yassir, Foreign Minister of the UISM.
---
"Greetings, Abu Mohammed al-Bariq."
"Greetings, Ismail Ali." - said Abu in his fatherly voice. "John Barrels" clearly felt the aura of greatness around this man. This invincible man - "But enough with the formalities. You have carried out your duty well, and you will be awarded - privately, ofcourse, for publicity is not allowed for you people. You lucky people..."
Abu was in a good mood, smiling. He has triumphed once again, and ensured peace and order in his country... And yet, this greatest Muslim ruler of the modern age still found time for individuals.
"Your praise alone is award enough." - said Ismail Ali.
"No need for this modesty - you did well today. I am but a coordinator - not even the Prophet could have achieved much without his followers. The Maghribians are a great people, with exceptions, but a great people nonetheless. Now... I want to know your honest opinion. After all, you are likely to be affected by the decision that I am about to make... are we going on the right path?"
Ismail Ali was taken aback by the question, but quickly recovered - "Ofcourse we are..."
"Generally, you probably think so." - mused Abu aloud - "But what about details? What about our foreign policy?"
"It is most admirable." - said Ismail Ali - "You are doing a great service to the cause of Islam, confronting the Imperialists..."
But Abu shook his head.
"Are we? We are retreating. We - the Muslims - are losing Kazakhstan, Southern Sudan..."
"In the name of peace!" - said Ismail Ali.
"No, it will not bring peace. Russians, Black Christians - they regard it as a sign of weakness. And we... we are trying to cooperate with them, to persuade them not to expand into Muslim lands. Ismail Ali, I want you to understand this - we will soon have to cooperate with Russians against fellow, if badly misguided, Muslims - the People's Jihad."
"They are traitors, o Abu - and it is only fitting that we use Russians against them, preventing their alliance..."
"There can be no alliance between them. The People's Jihad is trying to make a stand against everybody who isn't Muslim. Such a policy will lead to failure - but not only their failure. It will also discredit the cause of worldwide Islam, like Al-Qaeda did in the early 21st century."
Ismail Ali read about Al-Qaeda, and had no definite opinion about them - Abu understood that, ofcourse. There was no formed opinion in the UISM textbooks neither. "Misguided idealists" is the most common definition...
"The People's Jihad are traitors - they are traitors by definition, only they were subconscious traitors before that. And traitors... will be executted. Ismail Ali, you will be one of the force that we intend to form against the People's Jihad. Hopefully, it will be able to cooperate with Russians, but its hard to say what they will decide yet. Regardless... Ismail Ali, will your conscience bother you if you were to slay the Faithful alongside Christians?" - Abu finished his monologue, and then added - "Mine does."
"It will be hard." - Ismail Ali finally admitted - "But for the Homeland, I will do it. All you have to do is give me the order."
