DOHA, Qatar: Increase in efforts to create rift among Shia-Sunni Muslim brethren in the Middle East and its effect on Islam’s image will be under the spotlight at the next Doha Debate scheduled on April 29.

According to Doha Debates chairman Tim Sebastian the issue has acquired global significance.

Speaking for the motion will be Prof Juan Cole, author of ‘Informed Comment’, one of the most influential blogs on the Middle East. He is the Richard P Mitchell distinguished Professor of History at the University of Michigan.

He will be joined by Ali Shukri, a retired Jordanian general who was a military and intelligence adviser to the late King Hussein for more than 20 years.

Opposing the motion is Imam Sayid Hassan al-Qazwini who leads North America’s largest mosque – Detroit’s Islamic Centre of America. It is also the oldest Shia mosque in the US. He was born in Karbala, Iraq, to a family of scholars and religious leaders.

Also against the motion is Hisham Hellyer, associate fellow at the Centre for Research in Ethnic Relations at the University of Warwick. He is a research consultant and policy analyst who has worked with the UK government’s Home Office on tackling extremism and radicalization.