For those just tuning in, I am using the phrase “tiny minority of extremists” ironically, in view of the many times we heard it after 9/11 to refer to the Islamic jihadists. Here is fresh evidence that they are anything but a tiny minority: “‘Islamist win’ in key Saudi poll,” from the BBC, :
Islamist-backed candidates have taken a commanding lead in Saudi Arabia’s first municipal election, in Riyadh, according to preliminary results.
The poll is part of an official plan to bring elements of democracy to the Gulf kingdom, with 1,800 candidates vying for 592 seats in 178 councils.
Later rounds will be staged in other parts of the kingdom over a period of two months.
In Riyadh, 650 candidates have been fighting for just seven seats.
Women are excluded from the polls and only some 148,000 of 400,000 eligible men have registered to vote in Riyadh.