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	<title>The Straits Times Blogs &#187; Zackaria Abdul Rahim</title>
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		<title>Post 9/11 Romeo and Juliet?</title>
		<link>http://blogs.straitstimes.com/2008/11/08/post-9-11-romeo-and-juliet/</link>
		<comments>http://blogs.straitstimes.com/2008/11/08/post-9-11-romeo-and-juliet/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 08 Nov 2008 16:30:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Zackaria Abdul Rahim</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[From Around The World]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[religion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[terrorism]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Zackaria Abdul Rahim waxes romantic about Omar Osama bin Laden's plight. ]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>If a rose is called sh*t, would it still smell as sweet?</p>
<p>Those of use who studied R&amp;J for O-level literature would probably remember the quotable:</p>
<p>"What's in a name? That which we call a rose</p>
<p>By any other name would smell as sweet""</p>
<p>Juliet was lamenting that Romeo's family name was the only reason why they could not be together.</p>
<p>Now, I think that Jane Felix-Browne would probably wish her husband's family name had been Montague, or even Capulet, it wouldn't have mattered.</p>
<p>As long as it's not Osama bin Laden.</p>
<p>The 52-year-old British woman made headlines in 2007 when she married 26-year-old Omar Osama bin Laden, one of the 19 kids fathered by the founder of Al-Qaeda terror network.</p>
<p>They couldn't live happily ever after in her expensive home in Cheshire, as the British Home Office denied him a spousal immigration visa. And on Tuesday, his application for political asylum in Spain was denied by the Spanish Interior Ministry.</p>
<p>The romantic in me weeps for them, for after all, his only apparent fault seems to be his family name.</p>
<p>I was again reminded by another R&amp;J quote when Juliet asked, "Wherefore art thou Romeo?"</p>
<p>If Romeo were not a Montague (the enemies of the Capulets), they probably could have lived together happily ever after.</p>
<p>But, then, the realist in me wonders: Could anyone blame the British and Spanish authorities?</p>
<p>If he had applied for residency in Singapore, would the local authorities grant his application? Even if he promises to inject millions of dollars into the economy?</p>
<p>Unlike the story of R&amp;J, the story of O&amp;J carries greater significance beyond their families and themselves. I think while it's unfortunate that Omar shares a name linked to the world's most wanted terrorist, I don't think his visa and asylum applications were rejected on the basis of his family name alone.</p>
<p>It has been reported that Omar had asked his father to abandon terrorism. But, it has also been reported that he had trained at an Al-Qaeda camp in Afghanistan, and his views on 9/11 and his father seem ambivalent, at best.</p>
<p>The carnage caused by his father's Al-Qaeda terror network's "war" against the modern world makes the Montague-Capulet family feud read like a nursery rhyme.</p>
<p>So, would anyone dare to take a chance on him by allowing him to sink roots in their backyard?</p>
<p>I feel sorry for Omar and Jane, I really do. But, the harsh realities of today's security climate cannot be ignored.</p>
<p>After all, with their combined family wealth, I am very sure that Omar and Jane&nbsp;- unlike Romeo and Juliet&nbsp;- could live happily ever after &hellip; anywhere &hellip; elsewhere.</p>
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