DUBAI: Exploding buildings, booby-trapped cars and bloodied victims are making their debut on Arab satellite television in daring dramas that deal with Muslim extremists in Al Qaeda’s main breeding ground.

The shows’ producers say they are another battleground in the war on home-grown religious terrorism, which many Middle East governments are confronting by crackdowns and media campaigns.

“Al Tareeq Al-Waer”, or “The Rugged Path”, and “Al-Hur Al-Ayn”, or “The Beautiful Maidens”, have been airing during the holy month of Ramazan, a time of peak viewing in the Middle East.

They both deal with intransigent interpretations of Islam, such as the one espoused by Saudi-born Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, and the social problems that push some to extremism.

Ali al-Ahmed, head of Abu Dhabi TV, which produced “The Rugged Path”, said that extremists had the loudest voice today so it was vital to give moderates a channel to air their views.

“This is everybody’s problem and as Arabs we have to talk about it. We can’t consider it as just a passing phenomenon that will quietly end after some time,” Ahmed said.

Millions of Arabs and Muslims were shocked and puzzled that the Sept 11, 2001, attacks in the United States were carried out by Arab nationals, born and bred in the Middle East.

After Al Qaeda turned its attention away from the West to attack Arab and Muslim cities, the need to understand the roots of radicalism assumed extra urgency in the region.

In “The Rugged Path”, a community is torn apart when some members wage a violent campaign to remove their “infidel” rulers and install “just Islamic rule”, in a reference to insurgencies against pro-US governments in Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Iraq.

The story takes place against a backdrop of actual events. As in real life, the Arab-Israeli conflict, US-led occupation of Iraq and US jailers’ mishandling of the holy Quran at Guantanamo Bay prison camp affect the characters’ lives and feed their anger.

“There is real suffering in the Arab world and we need to expose it,” said Jordanian Jamal Abou Hamdan, the show’s writer.

“There is rage in Arab and Muslim societies but it is being channelled in a wrong way. This repression builds up and explodes and youth have become susceptible to brainwashing.”

“The drama is...a call for resisting, not only violence and military occupation of land, but also an occupation of souls with injustice and oppression.

Analysts say lack of free expression, high unemployment and poverty are fuelling discontent and terrorism in the Arab world.

“Al-Hur al-Ayn” is based on an Al Qaeda bombing of a housing compound in Saudi Arabia, which killed mostly Arab and Muslim expatriates.

The title refers to the holy Quran’s mention of beautiful maidens in paradise. Some extremists believe that, if they die as martyrs, they will be rewarded and meet such maidens.

Syrian director Najdat Anzour says his show aims to wipe out any support for militants’ calls for jihad among viewers who might be sympathetic towards Al Qaeda’s anti-US agenda.

“It is speaking to all generations and especially hesitant people caught at crossroads. The programme can’t affect those who have already chosen their paths,” Anzour said.

In one scene, a moderate cleric tells worshippers, including a would-be militant, that the goal of jihad is to protect society in the case of a clear threat against it.

Another character says jihad is not the killing of civilians, but the struggle to become a better Muslim.

The soaps have received acclaim from most of viewers.

“By discussing extremists’ views on religion, they’ve exposed them as terrorists who have nothing to do with Islam,” said 31-year-old Nermine Zohdi, an environment specialist.

However, their controversial content has raised the anger of others. A Saudi newspaper reported that some actors in “Al-Hur Al-Ayn” received death threats.

Last year, Hamdan’s series “The Road to Kabul”, which dealt with Afghanistan’s Taliban, was pulled off air after militant threats. Channels at the time said it was cancelled for technical reasons.—Reuters