Equal wrongs

Dr Munjed Farid Al Qutob's description of the Taleban, Hamas and Iran as "today's enemies" (Letters, 11 January) is welcome, though he does not enlighten us as to what he means by our need to "engage with" them if, as seems self-evident, they resemble 1930s Germany rather more than they do his Mandela example; and many might query the merits and longer-term consequences of Menachim Begin and Yasar Arafat receiving the Nobel Peace Prize.

But what is the specific "predicament of Muslims around the world" (eg, in Turkey, Indonesia or in the United States for that matter) which is not caused by other Muslims or which does not also affect non-Muslims? And can he not agree that "the ills of western societies such as discrimination, bigotry and social inequality" are equally, if not more, evident in Muslim societies?

JOHN BIRKETT

Horseleys Park

St Andrews