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Egypt’s military ruler will hold talks with political leaders on Sunday after next month’s presidential election was thrown into further turmoil with the disqualification of key candidates. Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi will meet the heads of political parties and groups to discuss major developments five weeks ahead of the first presidential election since a popular uprising ousted long-time leader Hosni Mubarak last year, the state-owned Al-Akhbar reported.
Heavy explosions, rockets and gunfire rattled Kabul Sunday as Afghanistan’s Taliban launched their largest co-ordinated attack in 11 years with multiple strikes targeting Western embassies, the NATO force’s headquarters and the parliament building.
Pakistan’s Taliban movement, which is close to al Qaeda, said it was behind the brazen assault by militants armed with rocket-propelled grenades and AK-47 assault rifles.
U.N. peace monitors are due to start their mission in Syria on Monday to oversee a shaky ceasefire undermined by persistent violence and the shelling of the opposition stronghold of Homs by forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad. The ceasefire is part of a broader peace plan brokered by international mediator Kofi Annan, but it looked increasingly under threat throughout the weekend as the government vowed a crackdown on a wave of “terrorist attacks” in Syria.
The U.N. Security Council authorized the deployment of up to 30 unarmed observers on Saturday in the first resolution on Syria the 15-nation council managed to approve unanimously since the uprising erupted in March 2011.
(Reuters) – Gulf Arab states will meet in Qatar on Tuesday to discuss a territorial dispute between the United Arab Emirates and Iran over a small island in the Strait of Hormuz that both claim, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) said on Sunday. The UAE recalled its ambassador from Tehran on Wednesday after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited Abu Musa island, 60 km (40 miles) off the UAE, as part of a tour of Iran’s Gulf coast, a visit described by the UAE foreign minister as “a flagrant violation of the UAE’s sovereignty.”
(AP) — The Afghan capital awoke Monday to a second day of explosions and heavy gunfire as Afghan-led forces worked to defeat insurgents holed up in one building in the heart of the city and another near parliament.As darkness turned to dawn, Afghan-led forces fired one rocket-propelled grenade after another into a building in the center of the city where insurgents began their attack on Sunday in the capital and three eastern cities. The Taliban’s boldest and most complex assault in years lasted more than 17 hours.
Tunisia’s government is marking the 10th anniversary of the al-Qaida bombing attack that killed 21 people at the synagogue on the island of Djerba.
Israeli President Shimon Peres is awaiting a reply from the White House on his plea for clemency for Jonathan Pollard. Peres’ letter, sent Monday, cited Pollard’s reportedly severe health situation in requesting that he be released.
Denmark’s prime minister has urged Bahrain to release a jailed activist with dual citizenship, saying he’s in “very critical” condition after a two-month hunger strike.
Bahrain plans clamp on hiring expats. ‘The majority of our workforce is expatriate and they are increasing, especially with the suspension of the LMRA fees due to losses suffered by businesses in Bahrain during the unrest,’ said Humaidan.
Syria’s 4-day-old cease-fire appeared to be quickly eroding Sunday, with regime forces firing dozens of tank shells and mortar rounds at neighborhoods in the opposition stronghold of Homs, hours before the arrival of a first team of U.N. truce monitors. Assad accepted the truce deal at the prodding of his main ally, Russia, but his compliance has been limited. He has halted shelling of rebel-held neighborhoods, with the exception of Homs, but ignored calls to pull troops out of urban centers, apparently for fear of losing control over a country his family has ruled for four decades. Rebel fighters have also kept up attacks, including shooting ambushes.
A top Afghan official says one of the militants arrested during the latest attacks on Kabul and three other cities has told authorities the al-Qaida-linked Haqqani network was behind the assaults. Interior Minister Besmillah Mohammadi told reporters on Monday that a total of 36 insurgents were killed during the attacks in Kabul and three other cities in eastern Afghanistan. He says one other insurgent, who was arrested in Nangarhar province, confessed to the police that Haqqani network, based in Pakistan, launched the attacks.
Taliban militants armed with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades battled their way into a prison in northwest Pakistan on Sunday, freeing 380 prisoners, including at least 20 described by police as very dangerous insurgents, authorities and the militants said. The raid by more than 100 fighters was a dramatic display of the strength of the insurgency gripping the nuclear-armed country.
(Reuters) – Key ship insurer the China P&I Club will halt indemnity coverage for tankers carrying Iranian oil from July amid tightening Western sanctions against Iran.
An Iranian Energy Ministry official says the country will increase electricity exports to neighboring Turkey by twofold in the next two months.
The three most prominent and divisive front-runners in Egypt’s presidential elections indicated Sunday they were appealing their exclusions from presidential elections scheduled for next month—demanding a reversal of decisions that are likely to stoke popular outrage across Egypt’s political spectrum.
Farouq Sultan, a judge who leads the commission, said Saturday night that Muslim Brotherhood candidate Khairat al-Shater, former intelligence chief Omar Suleiman and hard-line Islamist preacher Hazem Abu Ismail were among 10 candidates barred from running.
Yemeni military officials say an unmanned U.S. drone targeted a vehicle carrying seven al-Qaeda members south of the capital of Sanaa, killing all of them. Two officials say the drone fired a missile at the vehicle on Saturday in the town of al-Zahar south of Sanaa. It was heading to the southern province of Abyan where al-Qaeda militants and government forces are fighting. Witnesses said the vehicle turned into a charred skeleton along with its passengers.
The Muslim Brotherhood said Sunday that it will fight the banning of its candidate for president that has thrown Egypt’s move toward elected civilian rule into disarray and threatens a return to massive street protests. Brotherhood’s lawyer, Abdel-Moneim Abdel-Maksoud, said Sunday that the exclusion does not comply with applicable laws. Shater was disqualified because of a previous criminal conviction. The group is continuing with Shater’s campaign until the election judge issues a final verdict.
A senior Iranian commander on Sunday warned Arab rulers to avoid joining a US-Israeli project for deploying a missile shield in the Persian Gulf.
Members of the Toronto-area Iranian community are demanding that a former head of their homeland’s national bank be sent back to Tehran to face questioning in a $2.6 billion fraud.
An Iranian official accused of involvement in the torture of protesters while in custody has resigned from his post after parliament threatened the government with impeachment, Iranian media reported.
Iran’s Central Bank has announced that the electronic information of 3 million customers of 10 Iranian banks have been compromised. These banks now require their customers to change their ATM pin numbers before they can access their account. This has caused a rush to the ATM machines by the worried customers.
Tehran and six world powers finally resumed talks and found at least enough common ground to agree to meet again next month.
Israel is banning entry to hundreds of protesters planning to demonstrate in the West Bank next week. Aside from turning back newly arrived activists at Israeli airports, the country is also ordering foreign airlines to eject passengers from flights.
The ship, which had been chartered by a Ukrainian shipping company, was delivering weapons to Syrian President Bashar Assad, who has been coping with 11-month-long mass protests against his rule.
The decision to go ahead with the Grand Prix on April 22, 2012, givesBahrain’s rulers the opportunity they are seeking to obscure the seriousness of the country’s human rights situation. The decision was announced on April 13 by the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) and the Formula One Teams Association.
Registration for presidential candidates closed Sunday amid a flurry of last-minute additions and possible eliminations that laid bare persistent doubts that Egypt’s ruling military regime intends to oversee free and fair elections.
A group claiming affiliation with activist hacker collective Anonymous says it has hacked 2,725 emails belonging to Tunisia’s ruling Ennahda party, including those of the prime minister, in the latest challenge to the Islamist-led government.
“Stop the killing. We want to build a Syria for all Syrians.” These were the words on the banner that Rima Dali held in front of the Syrian Parliament in Damascus on Sunday, April 8. Activists say she was arrested right after that.
(UPI) – The U.S. government plans to use massive surveillance before making the call on striking Iran, an intelligence source told The Washington Post.
American diplomats say the U.S. and its Western allies will call for the immediate closure of Fordo, Iran’s underground nuclear facility.
Iran on Sunday rejected demands the West is reportedly to submit at talks due to take place in days, saying it will neither close its Fordo nuclear bunker nor give up higher-level uranium enrichment.
Iran must immediately close a large nuclear facility built underneath a mountain if it is to take what President Obama has called a “last chance” to resolve its escalating dispute with the West via diplomacy.
Hosni Mubarak’s former vice president and spy chief Omar Suleiman will have the behind-the-scenes backing of Egypt’s ruling generals and the state media’s endorsement bid to succeed his longtime mentor for the nation’s highest office, according to officials with firsthand knowledge.
“Iran strongly rejects any U.S. plan in respect to Syria” the Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, announced.
The deadline for registering as a presidential candidate has passed in Egypt, ahead of the country’s first post-revolutionary polls.
(Bloomberg) – The United Nations effort to end the violence in Syria unraveled as the regime differed with envoy Kofi Annan over terms of a cease-fire and opposition groups reported 59 more people killed.
Kuwait’s real gross domestic product (GDP) is predicted to grow by 4.5 percent in 2012 on increase in oil production and increased government spending, according to a report by Global Investment House (Global).
Bahrain has urged all Bahrainis who hold another nationality to inform the General Directorate of Nationality, Passports and Residence (GDNPR) about their dual citizenship.
(Reuters) – Syria on Sunday demanded written guarantees insurgents will stop fighting before it pulls back troops under the terms of a U.N. peace plan, and a rebel leader said the initiative was doomed. “The regime will not implement this plan. This plan will fail,” Free Syrian Army (FSA) chief Riad al-Asaad told Reuters.
FSA leader Asaad said his group had not been asked to deliver written guarantees to end violence. “We have given our word that if the regime commits to the plan then we will too,” he said. “We are honest.” “Nobody has asked us for anything written. Nobody has discussed with us handing over our weapons. We will never hand over our weapons.”
Nuclear talks between Iran and six world powers, including the United States, are slated to begin Friday in Istanbul, Iranian state media said Sunday.
Nigeria has been producing between 2.0 and 2.4 million barrels per day, and any significant boost beyond that appears out of the question for now. “So we are not going to be able to, in the immediate, fill up such gaps,” Ajuonuma said, referring to any sudden cut in output from Iran.
The International Energy Agency estimates that exports from Iran could plunge by about 800,000 barrels per day to one million barrels per day in the second half of the year after the tighter Western sanctions go into force.
(AP) — Iran is promoting a conservative cleric close to its supreme leader as a possible successor for the aging spiritual leader of Iraq’s Shiites, a move that would give Tehran a powerful platform to influence its neighbor, according to figures close to Iraq’s religious leadership. The 81-year-old spiritual leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, is one of the most influential figures in Iraq, revered by its Shiite majority as well as by Shiites around the world. In the years after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion and fall of Saddam Hussein, he was strong enough to shape the new Iraq, forcing American leaders and Iraqi politicians to revise parts of their transition plans he objected to.
In his first public comments since being nominated by the Brotherhood on March 31, Khairat al-Shater played down fears of a clash between the powerful Islamist movement and the army generals who have ruled Egypt since Mubarak was ousted last year.
In an interview with Reuters on Sunday, the 61-year-old millionaire businessman denounced former intelligence chief Omar Suleiman’s eleventh-hour decision to seek his former boss’s job. Mubarak made Suleiman vice president just before losing power.
(Reuters) – Hosni Mubarak’s former intelligence chief said his bid for the presidency does not have the support of Egypt’s military rulers and accused Islamists of sending him death threats, an Egyptian newspaper reported on Monday. Omar Suleiman, 74, announced his candidacy on Friday and showed he still wields political clout by collecting around 72,000 signatures of eligible voters in one day, more than twice the 30,000 required. The deadline for submitting signatures was Sunday.
Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood has warned the government it will not support an IMF loan unless the terms are changed or it moves aside and allows a new administration to oversee how the funds are spent, its candidate for president said on Sunday. The government has been negotiating a $3.2 billion loan with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to help it avert a balance of payments crisis caused by the political and economic turmoil of the last year, and an IMF technical team is now in Cairo.
An explosion hit the Egyptian pipeline carrying gas to Israel and Jordan on Monday for 14th time since the uprising against President Hosni Mubarak began last year, security sources said. The blast took place in the northern Sinai at the entrance of the Mediterranean coastal town of Al-Arish. Residents in the city told Reuters they had heard the sound of the explosion.
The Libyan general prosecutor’s office is investigating foreign and domestic oil companies over their past operations in the country, which is recovering from a civil war that ended with the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi, the Wall Street Journal reported. The office is probing Libyan and foreign operators in the country for possible financial irregularities, the body’s deputy head, Abdelmajeed Saad, told the newspaper.
Yemen’s main airport reopened on Sunday, a day after gunmen loyal to the nation’s ousted president seized the facility in the capital Sanaa in a brazen challenge to the new government’s authority, officials said. Supporters of former Yemeni leader Ali Abdullah Saleh attacked the airport on Saturday, shooting up a surveillance tower and sending tanks and armored vehicles to occupy the tarmac. Their action followed a military shake-up in which key commanders loyal to Saleh were fired.
(Reuters) – Saudi Crown Prince Nayef is expected to return to Saudi Arabia next week, a month after travelling to the United States for medical tests, a Saudi official told Reuters on Saturday. Prince Nayef, who is about 78 years old, went to Cleveland in March for “scheduled medical tests”, Saudi state television said at the time. He left a clinic there after a few days.
Afghanistan and the United States reached a deal on Sunday to curb night raids on Afghan homes, giving Kabul a veto over the operations despised by most local people and clearing the way for a wider pact securing a U.S. presence. Night raids on suspected militants have helped fan rising anti-Western sentiment ahead of a withdrawal by most Western combat troops to be completed by 2014, but are backed by NATO commanders as a key anti-insurgent tactic.
The United States released satellite images on Friday that it said showed Syria has artillery poised to hit residential areas and has moved some forces from one town to another despite calls for a withdrawal. Robert Ford, the U.S. ambassador to Syria, posted the commercial satellite images on Facebook in what seemed an effort to pressure Syrian President Bashar Assad to pull back forces as called for in a peace plan devised by former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
Former Iraqi member of parliament Mishan al-Juburi, 54, is accused along with his son Yazen, whose company allegedly failed to fulfil a contract to provide food for Iraqi forces guarding oil installations.
A new ranking puts Dubai among the top 5 financial centers for new office openings this year, among the likes of Singapore, Hong Kong, London and Shanghai.
In Egypt, 23 candidates have filed their nominations for the upcoming Presidential elections as the nomination process ended yesterday. The candidates include former Arab League chief Amr Moussa, Muslim Brotherhood’s Khairat el-Shater, Salafist Abu Ismail, former Brotherhood member Abdel Moneim Abul Fotouh, former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq and former intelligence chief Omar Suleiman.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Lebanon record the highest number of billionaires, while 2012 welcomes newcomer Morocco to the billionaires club, Forbes Middle East said Sunday in its report on the Arab billionaires ranking.
Syrian security forces summarily executed over 100 – and possibly many more –civilians and wounded or captured opposition fighters during recent attacks on cities and towns, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.
The top US diplomat for the Middle East said Wednesday that Iran and Al-Qaeda are exploiting political uncertainty in Yemen and the region as a whole to expand their influence. “Iran operations are similar to those (of) Al-Qaeda,” Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman told reporters in Sanaa, a day after talks with Yemeni President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi.
An Iranian oil official said Tehran had proposed to set up a joint operating company with Iraq, which could have been registered in the British Virgin Islands. But he said that following Washington’s pressure, Baghdad offered to bring in a private Iraqi contractor rather than a state concern, fearing the latter could breach U.S. sanctions. Iran maintained that no existing private Iraqi contractor was large enough to handle such project, making the proposal unviable.
(Reuters) – A widely expected ban on European insurance cover for Iranian oil exports from July 1 is threatening to curtail shipments and raise costs for major buyers such as Japan and South Korea, insurance industry sources say.
(Reuters) – Japan’s imports of oil from Iran fell 27.3 percent in February from a month earlier, customs-cleared data showed on Thursday, as the third-biggest buyer of Iranian crude complied with U.S. demands to curb purchases.
(Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrives in Saudi Arabia on Friday for talks to weigh limited options available to end the violence in Syria and launch a “strategic forum” with Gulf allies against a backdrop of growing tensions with Iran.
Three rockets exploded around Baghdad on Thursday despite a massive security operation as Shi’ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki hosted the country’s first Arab League summit in two decades. “The blast happened close to the Iranian embassy. The windows of the embassy have been shattered, but there are no casualties,” a senior Iraqi security source said.
The only high-ranking Gulf Arab leader at the talks was the emir of Kuwait, but his presence was a sign of progress in Iraq’s often tense relations with Sunni neighbors. The summit was twice delayed because of clashes between Baghdad and Gulf governments over a crackdown on Shi’ite protesters by Bahrain’s Sunni leadership, with the aid of fellow Sunni monarchies Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates.
(Reuters) – Iran backs a U.N.-sponsored peace plan for Syria that calls for the withdrawal of troops that are crushing an uprising but does not demand the removal of Tehran ally President Bashar al-Assad, its foreign minister said on Wednesday. Iran backed popular uprisings that removed leaders in Egypt, Libya and Yemen but has steadfastly supported Syria, a rare ally in the Arab world which is largely suspicious of Tehran’s ambitions for greater regional influence.
Turkey hosted a conference of Syrian dissidents on Tuesday and will host a “Friends of Syria” meeting of mostly Western and Arab countries on Sunday.
(UPI) – Turkey’s prime minister was expected to tell Iran’s president the Syrian government will change, so backing the Assad regime is futile, a Turkish official said. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, visiting Tehran, was expected to urge President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Thursday to reverse his steadfast support of embattled Syrian President Bashar Assad, arguing that regime change in Syria was inevitable and inescapable, a senior Turkish official told Israel’s English-language Ynetnews Web site.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has praised the Syrian leadership’s handling of the year-long uprising in which over eight thousand have died, saying Tehran would do everything it could to support its closest Arab ally.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Thursday that arming anyone in Syria could lead to a “proxy war.” Maliki made his comments during a speech at an Arab League summit in Baghdad, adding that diplomacy and a “serious national dialogue” are the only ways to stop the year-long violence in Syria. “Based on our experience in Iraq, the option to arm either side of the conflict will lead to a regional and international proxy war in Syria,” Maliki said.
Lieutenant General Dahi Khalfan Tami, Chief of Dubai Police, has spoken out against the use of Twitter to criticize the UAE government, calling for legal action to be taken against offenders, Gulf News reports.
(AP) – President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and other Iranian officials are expected to discuss Tehrans disputed nuclear program and the crisis in Syria with visiting Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Erdogan arrived in Tehran on Wednesday from South Korea, where he attended a nuclear security summit and also held talks with President Barack Obama.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak have formed an unexpected bond on the matter of Iran’s threat and in considering what must be done about it.
India could yet be exempted from tighter US sanctions on buyers of Iranian crude, and New Delhi would like to be judged on the size of term deals with Tehran which begin in April, the International Energy Agency’s executive director told Reuters last week.
Former defense chief Shaul Mofaz has unseated former diplomat Tsipi Livni as head of Kadima, Israel’s largest opposition party, results of a leadership vote showed on Wednesday.
All but one of Syria’s opposition groups agree at a meeting in Istanbul to unite behind the Syrian National Council reports BBC world.
Hosting an Arab summit that demands Assad stop violence places Iraq in a delicate position, because of the Baghdad government’s close ties to Iran. The preliminary meetings began Tuesday, and the leaders arrive for their summit Thursday.
(Reuters) – Iran expects to reopen talks with world powers over its disputed nuclear program on April 13, state news agency IRNA quoted Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi as saying.
The Obama administration sanctioned an Iranian airline for allegedly ferrying machine guns and munitions into Syria to help President Bashar al-Assad put down a rebellion against his rule.
Some 100 businessmen from Turkey have frozen their businesses in Syria and returned home following Ankaras call for Turkish nationals to leave the violence-hit country, said the head of a regional business association.
Syrian National Council President Burhan Ghalioun has said he would meet with all opposition blocs to discuss reform of his party.
Turkey is in negotiations with several nations to build a nuclear power plant announced at a summit Tuesday.
American diplomat stresses the need for free and fair elections, details some of the changes introduced in the electoral code, and urges the government, opposition and civil society to ensure the proper conduct of the May vote in Armenia.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Tuesday that Moscow will do everything in its power to persuade Iran and North Korea to return to talks on their nuclear programs.
Total Jordan opened four new service-stations located on the Airport Road , as well as in Hay Nazzal, Russyfeh, and Bayader in Amman, bringing the number of Total service-stations up to 17 across Jordan.
The US has responded cautiously to Syria’s sudden acceptance of a United Nations peace plan, wary that president Bashar Assad’s regime may use its apparent willingness to compromise as cover to press on with a year-longpolitical crackdown.
Syria accepted a cease-fire drawn up by U.N. envoy Kofi Annan on Tuesday, but the diplomatic breakthrough was swiftly overshadowed by intense clashes between government soldiers and rebels that sent bullets flying into Lebanon.
A Yemeni security official says a Saudi diplomat has been kidnapped in the country’s south.
(Daily Star Lebanon) – Three Syrian soldiers died in clashes with rebels in the central province of Homs on Wednesday, an activist group said, just a day after President Bashar Assad said he has accepted a U.N. plan to resolve the country’s crisis.
(UPI) – U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Syrian President Bashar Assad must prove he is committed to U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan’s peace plan.
The international motor racing body, the FIA, is emphatically denying that the controversial Bahrain Grand Prix, scheduled for next month, will be cancelled because of continuing disturbances in the Gulf kingdom reported the Guardian UK.
In a bid to save the CIA’s drone campaign against al Qaeda in Pakistan, US officials offered key concessions to Pakistan’s spy chief that included advance notice and limits on the types of targets but the offers were flatly rejected reported Pakistan news service.
Pakistan opposition parties are moving to block the reopening of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) supply routes into neighboring Afghanistan ahead of crucial deliberations to set new terms of engagement with the United States.
Ahmad Wali Siddiqui, a German-Afghani who is alleged to have been a member of al-Qaeda, said on both Monday and Tuesday during his trial that Iran harbored al-Qaeda terrorists.
(IPS/Al Jazeera) – Ilker Basbug, Turkey’s former army chief, has gone on trial on charges of leading a terrorist group accused of plotting to overthrow the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The number of Syrian citizens taking shelter in Turkey on Wednesday stood at 17,655, Turkish semi-official Anatolia news agency quoted the Prime Ministry Disaster and Emergency Management Directorate (AFAD) as saying.
(UPI) — Clashes between Turkish police and members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, in southeastern Turkey left five officers dead, officials said. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a statement Wednesday Turkey will continue fighting terrorism, which he called a threat to the country’s unity and its citizens’ security.
The United States added an Iranian cargo airline, three officials from Irans Revolutionary Guards and a Nigerian trading agent to its Iran sanctions blacklist on Tuesday, on evidence they had conspired to funnel illicit weapons shipments to Syria.
A standoff between Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood and the country’s military rulers deepened Tuesday as dozens of non-Islamist politicians said they would boycott the writing of a new constitution because Islamists dominate the panel selected to draft the document.
Leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood met Tuesday to decide whether the group should field its own candidate for president, a proposition that would require the Islamist group to abandon a pledge to back an outside candidate. But the meeting broke up late Tuesday without reaching a consensus, said Mahmoud Hussein, the Brotherhood’s secretary general reported NY Times.
(ANTARA News/AFP) – Arab League Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi arrived in Baghdad on Sunday ahead of this week`s Arab summit in the Iraqi capital, the first to be held here in more than 20 years. “This is a summit for Iraq,” Arabi said in remarks aired on state broadcaster Iraqiya TV.
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani has called for a national conference on April 5 aimed at bridging sharp political differences in the country, a statement from his office said on Sunday. “After intensive consultations with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, and parliament speaker Osama al-Nujaifi” and other political leaders, “Talabani, decided to call for the national meeting to be held on Thursday, April 5, 2012,” a statement on the presidency website said.
For the first time, the head of state of a country hosting an Arab League summit is a Kurd, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani.
The US has paid $50,000 (€37,687) in compensation for each Afghan killed and $11,000 for each person wounded in the shooting spree allegedly committed by a US soldier in southern Afghanistan, an official and a community elder in the country said.
Egypt’s newly empowered Islamists have tightened their grip, giving themselves a majority on a 100-member panel tasked with drafting a constitution that will define the shape of the government in the post-Hosni Mubarak era.
Washington believes Iran is working with rebels in northern Yemen and secessionists in the country’s south to expand its influence at the expense of Yemen’s Gulf neighbors, the US envoy to Sanaa was quoted as saying yesterday.
Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian president, warned yesterday that Kofi Annan represented the last chance for avoiding a civil war in Syria and offered the UN-Arab League envoy Moscow’s full support. Russia, a key ally of Al-Assads regime recently sent fighter jets to Syria.
The number of people killed by the Syrian army forces in Syria on Sunday has risen to 66, including three children and five army defectors, the Local Coordination Committees said.
Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) head Fereidoon Abbasi said his country is willing to work with Russia on more nuclear power plants, reports said Sunday.
Oil prices fell slightly toward $106 a barrel Monday in Asia as investors mulled how much the conflict over Iran’s nuclear program might disrupt global crude supplies.
Barack Obama has urged North Korea “to have the courage to pursue peace” while warning Iran that time is running out over its nuclear stand-off. Reported by Sky News.
More than 3000 temporary jobs are set to be created by his year’s Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix, in addition to hundreds of other job opportunities stemming from other events held at the Bahrain International Circuit (BIC), said a top official.
German Iranians and German Jews on Sunday criticized ZDF for broadcasting without objection an interview in which Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad denied the Holocaust. The interviewer was also slammed for failing to raise the repression of Iran’s democracy movement.
US president reiterates position on Tehran’s nuclear issue after talks with Erdogan on eve of nuclear summit in Seoul. President Obama said diplomatic channel is closing.
The Muslim Brotherhood, the main Islamist force that emerged after the Arab Spring, is plotting to take over Gulf states, Dubai’s police chief said in remarks reported on Sunday.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is set later this week to launch a new diplomatic drive aimed at ending the bloodshed in Syria, making visits to Saudi Arabia and Turkey as Damascus complained to the United Nations that armed “terrorist groups” in Syria have been receiving weapons from Lebanon. Al-Assads regime routinely labels opposition to his regime “terrorists”
Syria’s opposition groups begin talks in Turkey on Tuesday to provide an alternative to Al-Assads regime, as international peace envoy Kofi Annan is expected to hold talks with Chinese leaders in Beijing. The US, EU and many Arab nations have been pushing for a replacement to Al-Assads regime. Al-Assad maintains close regional allies such as the Hezbollah and Iran. Iran is itself under pressure due to international sanctions and a domestic pro-democracy movement.
Bahrain is facing economic uncertainty. Failure to act will have serious consequences for those who lose their jobs and their families and a long-term affect on the country’s psyche, said Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) second vice-chairman Abdulhameed Al Kooheji.
Turkish media has emphasized the declaration by the PKK’s de facto leader Murat Karayilan that “If Turkey intervenes against our people in western Kurdistan, the area will turn into a battlezone.” Western Kurdistan is the name the Kurds call eastern Syria, inhabited by more than two million Kurds. Turkey now blames Syria for using the PKK as an additional arm, allowing members of the organization to roam freely in its territory with weapons and permitting them to carry out terror acts in Turkish territory reports Haartz.
US President Barack Obama has departed for Seoul, South Korea, for an international summit on keeping nuclear materials out of the hands of terrorists.
The United States defended the record of the UN Human Rights Council on Friday, saying that the international organization had taken “robust action” against human rights abuses. The US State Department statement came amid increased controversy over the Council after it established a fact-finding mission to probe the effects of settlements on Palestinian human rights. The move drew condemnation from Israeli political authorities, with Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman on Friday announcing that he was considering withdrawing the Israeli ambassador to the UNHRC and severing ties with the body.
Investigators have found no signs the suspected gunman behind a deadly string of attacks in southern France was under orders from al-Qaeda or any militant group, a top French official said Friday.
The United Nations Human Rights Council on Friday adopted a resolution demanding that the Syrian Government cease all violence, protect its people, and put an end to widespread and systematic abuses such as the killing and persecution.
Dozens of Libyans were arrested on Friday for attacking Libyas Istanbul consulate, demanding financial aid to pay for treatment they received in Turkey after being injured in the Libyan unrest. Police arrested nearly 70 Libyan protesters.
(Agencies) – Syrian forces bombed towns and clashed with rebels in several regions Friday as activists said thousands staged anti-regime protests and the European Union slapped sanctions on the country’s First Lady.
As activists are planning to lead a Global March to Jerusalem next Friday, Israel has warned neighboring countries that it would forcefully respond to attempted breaches of its borders. The Global March to Jerusalem initiative aims at getting over one million participants.
(UPI) – Israel is to send diesel fuel to the Gaza Strip Friday in response to a critical fuel shortage, sources told Ynetnews. The Palestinian Authority is to pay for about 118,877 gallons of fuel.
Republican Lawmaker, Representative Kay Granger, stated Friday that she will be releasing $147 Million to the Palestinian Authority headed by Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank after she withheld the money since August of last year in protest to the Palestinian National Unity deal. It remains unclear if the funds will be released due to another hold put by a different lawmaker.
The United States and Turkey have announced plans to provide “non-lethal” aid such as communications equipment and medical supplies to Syrian rebels, and will urge other key allies to do the same.
Tunisians are likely to vote for their first full post-revolutionary parliament in just under a year’s time, a government official told Reuters on Saturday.
US envoy to Sanaa tells ‘al-Hayat’ that Washington believes Tehran working with Shi’ite Muslim rebels in northern Yemen to build its influence at expense of Yemen’s Gulf neighbors. Washington believes that Hezbollah and Hamas are helping their backers in north Yemen.
(Reuters) – Turkey could still get a waiver over sanctions which the United States plans to implement on countries buying oil from Iran despite not being named on a list of exempted nations released by Washington.
The Syrian army has used civilians as human shields during arrest and combat operations in rebel- held towns and villages, Human Rights Watch said.
International peace envoy Kofi Annan was expected to head to China on Monday after asking Russia to back his mission to end fighting in Syria despite Moscow’s differences with Western and Arab states over who is to blame for the conflict, as a rights group accused the Syrian regime of using human shields as reported by Al Arabiya.
Iraq relies on oil exports for 95 percent of its revenues, and the uncertainty in the market stemming from the conflict between the West and Iran over its controversial nuclear program has helped support global crude prices but past year has seen 4% decline of output.
(AP) – The commander of a powerful Libyan militia said Sunday he has withdrawn from the country’s main airport, while some of his men remained behind to give the government another chance to either hire them or take over security.
(ANTARA News/AFP) – Baghdad will host an Arab summit from March 27-29, the first time such a gathering has been held in Iraq in more than 20 years. Here are key issues facing the Arab world:
- The Syria crisis
Monitors say that more than 9,100 people have been killed in Syria`s brutal attempt to repress an uprising against President Bashar al-Assad and his regime.
The uprising began as protests but has now shifted to armed conflict between rebel and pro-regime forces. Despite international efforts to curb the violence, it shows no sign of abating.
The Arab League voted on November 12 to suspend Syria, one of its founding members, over its crackdown on dissent, and has attempted to broker a solution to the unrest.
The small, wealthy emirate of Qatar sits at the head of an Arab League committee dealing with events in Syria, and is leading calls for armed intervention in the conflict there.
- Consequences of the Arab Spring
The December 2010 self-immolation of a Tunisian street vendor sparked protests that forced Tunisia`s long-time dictator from power and inspired uprisings across the Arab world that toppled autocratic rulers in Egypt, Libya and Yemen, and others that are still ongoing such as in Syria and regular protests in Bahrain.
The Arab world is still struggling with the fallout.
- Iran`s nuclear program
Tensions are high over Iran`s controversial nuclear program, which Tehran insists is for civilian purposes, while much of the West accuses Iran of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons.
Iran has warned that it will strike back in the event of an attack by the US or Israel, and has threatened to disrupt shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a Gulf choke point for global oil shipments.
- Arab League reforms
Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi has proposed a series of structural reforms aimed at strengthening the League and improving mechanisms for the implementation of its decisions.
- The economy in the Arab world
Oil-producing states continue to benefit from high oil prices, but others suffer from economic crises including from the collapse of tourism because of Arab Spring protests. Countries in the region also face problems related to water and food shortages.
Mauritania said it arrested former Libyan intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senoussi, one of the most prominent figures from the ousted regime of Moammar Gadhafi and wanted by the International Criminal
An Indian court issued on Saturday an arrest warrant against another Iranian suspect in an attack last month on an Israeli diplomat in New Delhi.
(Reuters) – Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Friday lashed out at the United States for failing to fully cooperate with an investigation into the massacre of 16 Afghan villagers by a U.S. staff sergeant and questioned whether only one soldier could have been involved.
The IRGC’s new network—named Basir, or “Perceptive”—is a domestically built, secure telecommunication channel that will allow its highest-level officers to communicate and command brigades in the case of an attack, the guard’s newspaper, Sobhe Sadegh, reported last week.
The IRGC began expanding its multi-billion dollar empire—which stretches from construction to energy and agriculture—to telecommunications in 2009, when it purchased 50% shares of Iran’s national telecommunication company, effectively allowing it direct supervision on surveillance and censorship.
Japan, South Korea and global ship insurers are lobbying European Union (EU) officials to revise planned sanctions against Iran to allow Europe’s insurance market to continue to cover Iranian oil shipments to Asia, government and industry sources said. An EU oil embargo due to take effect in July to stop its members from importing Iranian oil would also stop European insurers and reinsurers from indemnifying vessels carrying Iranian crude and fuel anywhere in the world.
On Friday, UANI called on President Obama and U.S. Congress to impose an international banking blockade on Iran, and sanction all Iranian financial institutions in order to stymie efforts by the Iranian regime to utilize non-sanctioned banks to circumvent efforts to sever Iran from the international financial system Iran general urges Afghans to fight US.
A senior Iranian military commander has urged Afghans to use force to kick American troops out of their country.
Haaretz Sunday quoted unnamed military sources saying hundreds of Hezbollah operatives were trained in Syria and Iran to use surface-to-air missiles, a move that threatens to change the balance of power in the region and Israel’s air supremacy.
Egypt’s parliament met on Saturday to decide on the criteria for selecting members of a 100-person assembly charged with writing a new constitution, a process crucial for charting out the future of democracy in the country.
Saudi Arabia is delivering military equipment to Syrian rebels in an effort to stop bloodshed by President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, a top Arab diplomat said on Saturday. “Saudi military equipment is on its way to Jordan to arm the Free Syrian Army,” the diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The conflict in neighboring Syria has put Hezbollah, the staunch regional resistance movement, in a tough spot. Despite praising the Arab Spring democracy movement in many other countries, Hezbollah and its leader Nasrallah are standing by the Assad regime, even as it kills thousands of its own people to preserve power.
Libya is determined to try former spy chief Abdullah Senussi who was arrested in Mauritania, the justice minister said Sunday, as France and the International Criminal Court also seek his extradition.
“Our courts are very good, even excellent, especially in Tripoli and we are able to carry out his trial according to international standards,” Ali Hmeida Ashur told AFP.
Iraq moved on Sunday to diversify its oil export routes to reduce the impact of a potential closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran on Baghdad’s oil-dependent income, as well as the world economy. The plans, recommended by parliament’s energy and economics committees,
Iraq on Sunday also come forward to offer “substantial quantities” of crude oil to Sri Lanka, as the island desperately looks for alternatives to Iranian crude. Iran supplies nearly 92 percent of Sri Lanka’s imported crude.
Tehran has blocked a UK Foreign Office website in Iran as part of its “ever-tightening stranglehold of censorship”, the foreign secretary says.
The United States is likely to impose sanctions on India, and other Asian countries if they fail to meet the American demand to cut oil imports from Iran.
(CNN)- Demonstrators rallied Saturday in Morocco’s capital, demanding the North African nation reform its rape laws following a teenage girl’s suicide after her father said a judge mandated that she marry her alleged rapist.
France submitted to the Security Council on Monday a Western-drafted statement supporting U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan’s peace efforts in Syria and sending a strong message to Damascus to end violence against protesters, European diplomats said.
SANAA, Yemen: Thousands of Yemeni airmen succeeded Monday in pressuring the country’s new president to dismiss the commander of the air force, according to a statement by the group reported Arab news.
Turkey has asked the Syrian government to locate two of its nationals, working journalists, who have gone missing in the war-torn country.
Turkish President Abdullah Gül welcomed Moroccan Foreign Minister Othmani in Ankara on Monday. Turkey has praised Morocco’s peaceful political transformation at a time of political unrest sweeping across the Arab world.
(AP) – The prospect of Saudi Arabia sending women athletes and officials to the Olympics for the first time has increased following talks with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on a list of potential female competitors for the London Games.
Syria’s ally Russia added its voice Monday to rising calls for a truce so aid can be sent to violence-hit cities after deadly clashes rocked a district of the capital near the heart of the embattled regime.
A Russian military unit has arrived in Syria, according to Russian news reports, a development that a UN Security Council source told ABC News was “a bomb” certain to have serious repercussions.
Israel views the threat posed by a nuclear-armed Iran with greater urgency than the rest of the world, Israel’s defense minister said Monday. Ehud Barak also reiterated recent Israeli assessments that Iran’s nuclear program is on the verge of becoming strike proof.
The U.S. government on Monday urged Iraq to respect a UN resolution that bans arms export from Iran and stop Iran’s possible arms shipments to Syria via its airspace. According to a statement issued by the State Department.
Bahrain’s Shiite-led opposition expressed readiness for dialogue with authorities to end the political deadlock in the Sunni-ruled kingdom.
The Syrian authorities briefly detained 11 members of one of Syria’s most moderate opposition groups, which has opposed the use of violence in the year long uprising.
Two “terrorist explosions” struck security targets in Syrian capital Saturday morning, killing a number of civilians and security forces, the state news agency said.
The trial over those accused of a big financial crime is being held in Iran. About 18 people are accused of misappropriating bank funds to the amount of $ 2.8 billion, Trend reported with reference to “Fars” agency on Saturday.
The United States has threatened to impose sanctions on India if it fails to reduce its purchases of Iranian oil, according to a media report citing unnamed Obama administration officials. “If India fails to cut Iranian imports sufficiently, Obama may be compelled to bar access to the US banking system for any Indian bank processing oil payments through Iran’s central bank,” the unnamed US officials were quoted as saying.
Not even a month after Azerbaijani counterintelligence services arrested Iranian agents planning terrorist attacks against Israeli diplomats and prominent members of the Jewish community, a network of 22 more Iranian agents were arrested.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al- Maliki confirmed that his country won’t be a passage for arms from Iran to Syria, Maliki’s office said.”Iraq does not allow its land and airspace to be a passage for arms in any direction.”
Syrian rebels ignited a new front Friday outside the capital, Damascus, in the first significant fighting there since regime forces swept over the suburbs weeks ago. The clashes highlight the shifting nature of Syria’s conflict, with rebels lying in wait.
UN / Arab League Joint Special Envoy Kofi Annan briefed the UN Security Council from Geneva on Friday about his upcoming humanitarian fact-finding mission to Syria.
Afghanistan’s president called for U.S. and other foreign forces in Afghanistan to leave villages in the country and move to larger bases instead, according to Hamid Karzai’s office.
U.S. funding for Egyptian military to resume, senior administration officials say The Obama administration intends to resume funding for Egypt’s military, despite congressional restrictions and objections from human rights groups.
The Egyptian Football Association (EFA), acting on instructions of the interior ministry, has cancelled the rest of this season’s league matches.
Iran has stepped up its efforts to monitor, filter and block content on the Internet by forming a separate legal body to deal with online censorship.
Israel on Friday took its concern about Iran’s nuclear programme to one of Iran’s main partners, China, and hinted it could launch a preemptive attack on the Islamic Republic despite repeated calls by China to allow diplomacy.
Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest oil exporter, is booking the most tankers in years to supply the U.S., a sign the kingdom is fulfilling a pledge to compensate for a decline in Iranian sales, according to Dahlman Rose & Co.
Syria’s Kurds appear divided and unsure whether to join the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad as they marked the anniversary of bloody clashes between the Kurdish minority and security forces in 2004. Syria’s Kurds live mostly in the north-eastern border region with Iraq and Turkey, and make up 10-15% of the population.
Protesters demonstrating outside of the Yemeni capital of Sana’a are demanding that outgoing president Ali Abdullah Saleh, as well as many of his compatriots, face trial.
Political campaigns and international issues have a way of garnering human interest across the social networks. March 15th, 2011, anti government protests started in Syria and thus ensued constant violence between the government of Syria and protestors.
With financial sanctions against it getting tighter and tighter and the drums of war beating louder and louder, Iran appears to be getting proactive — at least on the food front. As Reuters reports, Tehran is busy stockpiling grain in anticipation of the sanctions’ effect on daily life. Food shipments are not targeted under western sanctions aimed at Iran’s disputed nuclear program, but financial measures have frozen Iranian firms out of much of the global banking system.
US imports of Saudi oil hit 1.5 million bpd in the first 10 weeks of 2012, up 300,000 bpd from the fourth quarter of 2011 (FILE).
Thousands of opposition supporters rallied in Bahrain on Friday to mark the one-year anniversary of the military raid on the capital’s Pearl Square, the epicenter of last year’s Shiite uprising in the Gulf kingdom.
Muslim Brotherhood says Turkey should lead in Syria. Mohammad Riad Shakfa, leader of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhoo, has said he would give priority to any initiative led by Turkey, a country that he described as the region’s most powerful player, in finding a way out of the “chaos” in Syria.
A source in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has claimed that the Emirates’ judiciary is still refusing to accept legal cases on behalf of the seven political reformists who were stripped of their citizenship last month.
Egypt’s Islamist-dominated parliament unanimously voted in support of expelling Israel’s ambassador in Cairo and halting gas exports to the Jewish state. The motion is largely symbolic, because only the ruling military council can make such decisions.
Hundreds of Egyptians rallied in Cairo today to protest the recent acquittal of a military doctor charged with forcing “virginity tests” on female activists. Protesters carried pictures of Samira Ibrahim, the young female activist who went public about the tests.
While participating in a panel on freedom of expression, Muslim Brother and MP Helmy al-Gazzar said that all citizens should be guaranteed the right to practice their own faiths.“Islam provides freedom of Religion,” he said.
(UPI) – Both parties to the conflict in Syria should lay down their arms in an effort to find a political solution to the conflict, the leader of Hezbollah said.
A member of the Muslim Brotherhood announced a decision to formally back a presidential candidate in Egypt, a decision that goes against the movement’s pledges.
Khairat el-Shater, a leader of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood and an alleged advocate for moderation and modernization, says that recent elections have proved that Egyptians want an explicitly Islamic state.
The International Monetary Fund on Saturday urged donors to meet their aid pledges to the Palestinian Authority, warning that unless funding was forthcoming it would be forced to cut public wages and social benefits to address a deepening fiscal crisis.
Gaza militant group Islamic Jihad seeks to create a balance of terror with Israel, a senior member of its military wing has told AFP in an exclusive interview.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s suggested humanitarian buffer zone for refugees in Syria could prove a turning point in the conflict.
Egypt denied Friday a U.S. arms shipment headed to the Suez Canal would be unloaded in the country.
Witnesses say thousands of Libyans at a rally in an eastern city to press for an autonomous region came under attack by armed men wielding rifles and knives.
Officials marked the anniversary of the 1988 gassing of thousands of Kurds by handing local authorities the rope used to hang Saddam Hussein’s henchman who ordered the attack.
The foreign ministers of Tunisia, Egypt and Libya say their countries plan to increase border controls and boost cooperation to fight terrorism, drug running and organized crime.
The US said it is concerned about Iranian cargo flights over Iraq to Syria, saying it has warned Iraq they might contain arms that could be used by Damascus to crush protests.
Lebanon’s Druze chief Walid Jumblatt openly sided with the anti-regime camp in Syria on Friday as he marked the 35th anniversary of his father’s assassination, which he has blamed on Damascus.
The French military experience in Algeria 50 years ago has left an indelible mark on a new generation of US officers, who have tried to apply the lessons of the conflict to the fight against insurgents in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Fifty years after losing the Algerian war, France is still suffering fallout from a conflict that shamed its armed forces and fuels bitter political rows even in its latest election battle.
Algerias opposition Rally for Culture and Democracy elected its spokesman Mohcine Belabbas as its new leader at a conference in the capital.
Rumors of a papal trip to Lebanon have been confirmed by the head of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, which will welcome Pope Benedict XVI at the start of his Sept. 14-16 visit.
In latest video, Ayman al-Zawahiri asks Pakistanis to follow example of Muslims in Egypt and Tunisia.
The UN and Arab League envoy on Syria, Kofi Annan, says he is sending a team to Damascus to discuss setting up a new international monitoring mission. After briefing the Security Council about his peace efforts, Annan renewed calls for an end to fighting.
Iran rejects claims of cleaning up secret nuclear works at military site.
Iran executed some 670 people last year, most of them for drug crimes that do not merit capital punishment under international law and more than 20 for offenses against Islam.
Iran stands fully behind Syria and blames the United States and Arab nations for the bloody unrest shaking its ally, media on Monday quoted a deputy foreign minister as saying. “The Islamic Republic of Iran underlines its total support for the Syrian people and government,” reported by Al Arabiya.
(AP) — The UN refugee agency say 230,000 Syrians have fled their homes since the outbreak of violence last year. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees’ coordinator for Syria says 30,000 people have already fled to Turkey,
Syria is laying landmines near its borders with Lebanon and Turkey, along routes used by refugees to escape the violence, Human Rights Watch reports.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has issued a decree for parliamentary elections to be held on May 7th.The poll will be the first under the new constitution approved by a referendum in February. But the move has been rejected by opposition groups,.
(AP) – Saudi Arabias oil minister says his country and other oil exporters are ready to offset any shortfalls in supply because of market volatility _ an apparent reference to showdowns with Iran over its nuclear program. Ali Al-Naimi made the comments during a major oil conference in Kuwait where he was scheduled to speak alongside Iranian oil minister Rostam Ghasemi.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has appeared in parliament for an unprecedented grilling by lawmakers dissatisfied with his performance, Iranian media has reported. Ahmadinejad was accompanied by a number of cabinet ministers to the special session, Fars news agency reported.
Egyptian artists condemned on Tuesday Cairo University’s decision to ban the screening of the Oscar-winning Iranian film “A Separation”. It is alleged that Islamist students were behind the decision as they believe the movie spreads Shiite and atheist ideas, according to a report in Ahram
The United States has asked Russia to warn Iran it has a last chance in negotiations expected in April to avoid military strikes against its nuclear program a report said Wednesday.
(Reuters) – China’s Premier Wen Jiabao said that Beijing has no favorites in the Syrian crisis and that he is “deeply pained” by the suffering of the Syrian people.
The United States on Tuesday labeled as “ridiculous” a plan announced by Syria embattled President Bashar al-Assad to hold parliamentary elections May 7 in the violence-wracked nation.
Pakistan’s army chief General Ashfaq Kiani has cemented his control over the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) with the appointment of close confidant Lt Gen Zaheer ul-Islam to lead the country’s spy agency.
The Islamist group, which controls the Gaza Strip, is undergoing “fundamental change,” according to analysts and the statements of its senior leaders. Hamas leaders say there are divisions among the ranks as they try to grapple with where to push the movement reported NPR.
Five Al-Qaeda militants were killed in an air strike on their car in Yemen’s Bayda province on Tuesday after deadly unrest there, and with the air force blasting jihadist positions in nearby Abyan, security officials said.
Human rights group Amnesty International says the Syrian regime is using systematic torture against its opponents.
Israel and militants based in the Gaza Strip agreed to a truce Tuesday, ending a four-day cross-border battle whose intensity and resolution highlighted shifting regional dynamics. The cease-fire was brokered by Egypt, which has served as a negotiator between Israelis and Palestinian militants in the past.
Jordan’s opposition Islamists on Tuesday accused Syria’s regime of “genocide,” urging Arab League action to stop the killing.
Syria has planted landmines near its borders with Lebanon and Turkey, along routes used by refugees fleeing the strife-torn country, Human Rights Watch (HRW) charged yesterday.
Mohamed Emad Eddin, a leader of the Freedom and Justice Party, has threatened to expel young members of the Muslim Brotherhood if they support Abdel Moneim Abouel Fotouh in the presidential election.
In a highly controversial move, the head office of the National Assembly approveda modification made to the petition filed against the incident in which the Parliament was stormed, setting free lawmakers complicit in the event that took place.
Egypt’s new Parliament, in its first legislative act since convening in January, passed a law yesterday increasing by more than threefold the proposed compensation to families of protesters killed in the country’s popular uprising.
A Salafi leader has for the first time spoken openly on Monday about a possible deal between the Salafi Nour Party and the military over a particular candidate in the upcoming presidential election reported he website of the state-run daily Al-Ahram.
Secretary of State said Monday that the U.S. would judge newly empowered Islamist parties in the Arab world by their deeds rather than their names.
A spokesman for President Nicolas Sarkozy of France denied a suggestion by Mediapart that the campaign received illegal financial support from Col. Muammar Gaddafi.
The Syrian army has recaptured most of the northern rebel stronghold of Idlib, pushing hundreds of military defectors out of a major base they had held for months.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki heads Wednesday to Kuwait in a bid to boost ties still strained by Saddam Hussein’s 1990 invasion of the emirate.
Arab League chief says the Syrian regime’s killing of civilians amounts to crimes against humanity and is calling for an international inquiry.
Iraq is deploying an unprecedented number of security forces to protect the capital for an upcoming meeting of the Arab world’s top leaders.
The Libyan capital will elect its local council by May 5 in its first poll since the ouster Gaddafi, the deputy chairman of the Tripoli council announced.
Nine northern African countries including Libya, Algeria and Egypt agreed Monday to work together to secure their borders.
The new Islamic-dominated parliament has been preparing to approve a resolution to reject U.S. military aid to Egypt.The People’s Assembly has urged the Cairo government to stop accepting U.S. military aid to Egypt.
The Anonymous hacktivist group has hacked websites belonging to Tunisian. Hizb Ettahrir, an Islamist in Tunisia, wants to introduce Salafist laws.
Iranian MP Ahmad Tavakoli has announced that if President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad does not reduce the frequency of his “errors, replacing him should not be delayed.”
Azerbaijani Defense Minister Safar Abiyev has said that his country, under no circumstances, will allow any country to use its soil against Iran. Abiyev made the remarks during a meeting with Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi in Tehran on Monday.
Two Israeli naval vessels passed through Egypt’s Suez Canal on Tuesday, headed from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea, Israeli and Egyptian sources said.
The United States is pressing Saudi Arabia to boost oil output to fill a likely supply gap arising from sanctions on Iran, Gulf sources told Reuters, adding that such an increase is unlikely before July.”There were talks held between Saudi and the US.
A number of countries, including Qatar and Saudi Arabia, are supporting militant groups in Syria and bear responsibility for the bloodshed in the country, Sana news agency reported citing Minister of Information Adnan Mahmoud.“
(UPI) – It’s too early in the development of a natural gas pipeline planned from Iran to Pakistan to state what action the U.S. government would take, an official said.
(Reuters) – Iraq began loading oil from a long-awaited new floating Single Point Mooring (SPM) platform in the Gulf on Thursday, two sources at the state-owned South Oil Company said, in a breakthrough that could substantially boost its exports.
Russia is still not flinching in the face of Western and Arab pressure to change its stance on the Syria conflict and its defiance may yet increase as Vladimir Putin heads back to the Kremlin.
(Reuters) – Candidates in what is being billed as the first free presidential election in Egypt’s history were given their first chance to register on Saturday, more than a year after Hosni Mubarak was ousted from office.
Every Friday, bearded men in shin-length robes demonstrate in Tunisia’s capital against perceived insults to Islam in a country once known for its aggressive secularism. They have occasionally turned violent, attacking people savagely.
(RIA Novosti) – Russian contracts in Libya signed under the rule of Muammar Gaddafi will be re-examined, Libyan Prime Minister Abd al-Rahim al-Keeb said during his visit to Washington.
Artillery and tanks pound northern opposition strongholds in Syria, as UN envoy Kofi Annan meets with Bashar al-Assad in Damascus.
Iraq gears up to host Arab League Summit. Syria is expected to be high on the agenda for conference that Baghdad last hosted in 1990 after invading Kuwait.
Anti-American unrest over the burning of Korans, along with an Afghan government plan to abolish private security companies, has muddled the plans and projects of private aid groups, officials say.
Boosting exports from India to Iran would not only help right lopsided trade but also deepen ties between the two countries, a major Indian delegation said on Saturday at the start of a five-day visit.
French foreign minister Alain Juppe said on Saturday he was pessimistic over the chances of a U.N. Security Council resolution on Syria, after he and other EU foreign ministers discussed further sanctions on Bashar al-Assad’s government.
(VOA) – Syrian troops and tanks launched new assaults on the cities of Idlib and Homs, even as Syria’s embattled leader was promising to support what he calls “any honest effort” to bring peace to the country.
(AP) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Saturday that his government is not “protecting any regimes,” defending his country’s stance to Arab leaders angry over Moscow’s blocking of international pressure on Syria’s president.
(Reuters) – Syria has begun pre-emptively withdrawing ambassadors from Europe because it fears EU members will expel them in response to President Bashar al-Assad’s ruthless crackdown on an uprising, Arab diplomats said.
Arab and Russian foreign ministers met in Cairo on Saturday over Syria, amid splits over how to move forward to resolve a crisis that has left thousands dead in a year.
A year into the uprising in Syria, senior U.S. intelligence officials described the nation’s president, Bashar al-Assad, on Friday as firmly in control and increasingly willing to unleash one of the region’s most potent militaries.
Turkey and Tunisia said their nations are opposed to any force from outside the region intervening in Syria, but warned that no government could survive by using violence against its people.
(ANSAmed) – Yet another insult to the national flag has been carried out by Salafis in Tunisia, who replaced it with their own black standard on the mausoleum which (on the Djellaz hills) celebrates one of the most widely-revered Sufis.
Tunisia’s transition to democracy has put it on track to repeat Turkey’s own success in balancing secular democracy and political Islam, said President Abdullah Gül during a diplomatic visit to Tunisia.
Dozens of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters were killed in a pair of airstrikes in the southern Yemeni cities of Jaar and Al Baydah over the past 24 hours. The strikes are suspected to have been carried out by US aircraft.
The Pentagon is planning to restart programs that would fund military training and equipment in Yemen, nearly a year after they were shut down because of escalating chaos in the embattled country.
A top U.S. intelligence official had talks in Algiers Saturday ahead of a regional security conference, the official APS news agency reported. Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence Michael Vickers discussed the security situation and U.S.-Algerian cooperation.
Israel is to begin construction soon on a vast detention facility in the Negev desert to house the thousands of immigrants that cross illegally into Israel from Egypt every year as reported by Independent.
(AP) — Protesters outside the U.S. Embassy in Cairo supporting the Egyptian military’s crackdown on international pro-democracy groups clashed Friday with demonstrators rallying against the country’s military leadership. Dozens of people were injured.
The Iranian minister of communication and technology accused Western nations of using the internet as a tool for spying and spreading corruption, Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency reported on Saturday.
In a bid to pressurize Iran into giving up its nuclear weapons ambitions, the Chairman of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee said a naval blockade of Iranian oil exports should precede a U.S.-Israel joint military action against the Islamic nation.
The US has asked Pakistan to abandon the Iran gas pipeline project and counselled Islamabad to explore alternative energy sources.
Turkey is expected to host the meeting between Iran and G5+1 (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany) in Istanbul in early April, Hurriyet Daily News reported on Friday.
The appointment of a new Saudi ambassador to Iraq may not signal a thaw in relations between the two countries, writes Salah Nasrawi.
Sweden’s role in assisting Saudi Arabia to construct an advanced arms factory able to produce anti-tank missiles has left many frustrated over the Scandinavian country’s role in the ultra-conservative Gulf Kingdom.According to reports in Riyadh,
Tens of thousands of Bahrainis demonstrated outside the capital Manama yesterday to demand urgent political reforms, a year after the Gulf Arab state crushed an uprising, witnesses said.
The Saudi foreign ministry has directed all its diplomats abroad to not wear their national dress in public places or go out late at night.
Four generals who had defected from the Syrian army arrived in Turkey Friday, Anatolia news agency reported, citing local Turkish sources. The four were among some 10 high-ranking army officers stationed in cities including Damascus.
Amr Moussa, a former Egyptian foreign minister, was head of the Arab League until he stepped down in mid-2011 to run as a presidential candidate. He told the BBC that Egypt had been “left in total disarray” and his goal was to rebuild the country. He is seen a moderate.
Witnesses say that at least 23 people were killed when Somali insurgents attacked Ethiopian troops near the two countries’ joint border.Residents in Yurkud village say Saturday’s battle lasted several hours.
In Lybia “The Muslim Brothers established this party. We are a national civil party with an Islamic reference…we have Islamists and nationalists,” said Al-Amin Belhajj, the head of the founding committee for the newly announced Justice and Construction Party.
(AFP) – Several hundred people, many of them close to Tunisia’s dominant Islamist Ennahda party, called for the state television’s output to be cleaned up in a demonstration Friday outside its studios.
Six major powers – the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany Tuesday agreed to accept Iran’s offer to resume talks on Tehran’s nuclear program.
The five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany have agreed to a proposal from Iran to resume talks on Tehran’s nuclear program. EU foreign-policy chief Catherine Ashton, who is the contact person for the group, announced on March 6 she had responded to a February letter from Iranian nuclear negotiator Said Jalili proposing new discussions.
Tribal leaders and militia commanders declared oil-rich eastern Libya a semiautonomous state, a unilateral move opponents fear will be the first step toward outright dividing the country. The head of Libya’s interim leadership warned of a foreign-inspired plot to break the country up.
The U.S. is proposing a new Security Council resolution demanding an end to violence in Syria that tries to take a more balanced approach in an effort to get Russia and China on board.
The slaying of nearly 200 Yemeni soldiers by al-Qaida militants in a brazen weekend attack poses the first major test to the country’s newly elected president, who has vowed to crush the terror network.
PM Nouri al-Maliki fired two senior security officials in the western Anbar province after militants disguised as police killed at least 27 members of the security forces.
As Syria continues its crackdown on dissent and rebel factions, and amid widespread condemnation, Venezuela under Hugo Chavez an ally of Irans hard liners and Syrias Al Assad will ship diesel to the country.
Syrian forces have bombed a bridge close to the Lebanese border, cutting off a key evacuation route for those wounded in the violence and for refugees trying to flee.
Syrian Deputy Oil Minister Abdo Hussameldin has announced his defection on YouTube, becoming the first high-ranking civilian official to abandon Assad.
Ayatollah Khamenei today issued an order to establish a Supreme Council for Cyber Space and also appointed its members. Iranian media report that Iran’s Supreme Leader called on all government bodies to cooperate with the new council.
There is growing concern over the fate of jailed blogger Mehdi Khazali, who has reportedly been on hunger strike over his detention for some 60 days. His defiance has turned him into a hero of Iran’s opposition movement, and Khazali vowed to continue his strike until he is released.
An earthquake hit Iran’s Bushehr province early this morning, Iranian media reported.
Residents of frontier Syrian cities like Quseir are abandoning their homes and fleeing into Lebanon. Forces now ‘cl.eaning’ the Homs neighborhood of Bab Amro will push toward the border to crush scattered rebel remnants.
At a Senate hearing, defence secretary Leon Panetta and Republican senator John McCain argue for and against US military action in Syria . Unverified intel leaks, video clips indicate members of Assad’s sect, Shi’ites pledging loyalty to opposition.
Mustafa Abdel-Jalil, head of the Transitional National Council, said he could not use force against tribal leaders who are moving toward semiautonomy for their oil-rich eastern region.
Fatah official says talks over formation of unity gov’t will remain on hold until Hamas allows elections commission in Strip.
Special training center for Syrian revolutionaries operating in Libya with the support of the authorities, Russian UN envoy tells Security Council: The export of revolution turning into the export of terrorism.
Senior UN chief in Syria Valerie Amos for talks aimed at securing access to deliver supplies and evacuate wounded from devastated areas.
The leader of Libya’s NTC says calls for a federal state structure from oil-rich Cyrenaica will be resisted with force if necessary.
Three of five Islamist parties running in Algeria’s elections in May announced Wednesday they were forming an alliance to jointly field candidates. The “Green Algeria Alliance,” made up of the Movement for the Society of Peace (MSP), Ennahda, and the el-Islah (reform).
Co-founder of the search engine giant Google hosts the Israeli president at the company’s headquarters.
A new trial of democracy activists begins in Cairo on Thursday, after the previous judges dropped out and the foreign defendants left the country when a travel ban was lifted.
The case against 43 defendants — 16 Egyptians and 27 foreign nationals — in which the activists were accused of receiving illicit foreign funds to operate unlicensed NGOs, caused a crisis in relations between the United States and its close ally.
As Libya’s prime minister said the world should help the Syrian people to obtain their freedom, Russia on Wednesday accused Tripoli of helping to train Syrian rebels to carry out attacks on Damascus government targets.
Key Senators pressed the head of the Pentagon on why the U.S. is not being more aggressive in trying to help rebels in Syria. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and Joint Chiefs Chairman Martin Dempsey both insisted that Syrian air defenses make the prospect of airstrikes — like those used in Libya — very difficult. They also said the opposition in Syria is too fractured to risk sending in arms, which could end up in the hands of extremists.
The UN is preparing a massive food aid plan designed to provide for 1.5 million Syrians in areas affected by the ongoing violence. This comes as Kofi Annan urges the Syrian opposition to cooperate with the authorities to help end the crisis.
A UNESCO commission Thursday condemned the violence against civilians in Syria but did not remove the embattled nation from its human rights committee, as the U.S. and other nations had hoped.
Syria’s deputy oil minister announced his defection in an online video that emerged Thursday, making him the highest ranking official to abandon President Bashar Assad’s regime since the country’s uprising erupted a year ago.
UN humanitarian aid chief Valerie Amos visits Syria in an attempt to convince authorities to help ease restrictions on aid reaching civilians in areas affected by fighting.
Kofi Annan, UN and the Arab League special envoy on Syria is against military interference in the countrys affairs as any military attempt would only make the situation worse, he stated after meeting with the Arab League Secretary General Nabil Al-Arabi in Cairo.
Kofi Annan, the UN-Arab League special envoy on Syria, said on Thursday he would urge President Bashar al-Assad and his foes to stop fighting and seek a political solution to the conflict, drawing angry rebukes from dissidents.
The Kuwait budget airline slashed its services to turmoil-hit Syria by nearly 67 percent. Kuwait’s low-cost carrier Jazeera Airways has reduced the number of flights it operates in and out of Syria.
Turkey’s Parliament marked International Women’s Day on Thursday by approving a package of laws aimed at better protecting women and children from abuse.
(AFP) – Libyan militias who helped oust Gaddafi have promised to turn over to the interim government strategic sites, such as airports and border crossings, that they have held since capturing them in last year’s uprising. The commitments were made as the government in Tripoli struggles to exert its control over the country, and as Libya’s proposed national charter was unveiled at a conference in Misrata ahead of June elections to a constituent assembly that will finalise a new constitution.
Libyan Prime Minister Abdurrahim El-Keib, speaking to reporters after meeting U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Washington backed his nations decision to first recognize Syria’s national opposition council. “We did it because we felt that the Syrian cause is a good cause. It’s people who are raising their voice asking for freedom,” El-Keib said.
Libya’s prime minister on Thursday denied Russian accusations that his country was running camps to train and arm Syrian rebels but expressed strong support for Syrians “who are raising their voice asking for freedom.”
An official report said Bahrain businesses incurred about USD800 million in losses due to the civil unrest Bahrain saw over the past 12 months, local media reported.
(AP) During a sermon last week at Bahrain’s Grand Mosque, the pro-government prayer leader offered sweeping praise for one of the Arab Spring’s counter-revolutions: Gulf rulers bonding together against dissent with powerful Saudi Arabia as their main guardian.
The five permanent U.N. Security Council members and Morocco met behind closed doors on Tuesday to discuss a U.S.-drafted resolution urging an end to the Syrian government’s crackdown on demonstrators.
The Bangladesh government launched a large-scale investigation into the killing of a Saudi diplomat who was shot in Dhaka early yesterday morning.
A very debated issue in the era of social connectivity concerns the impact that new communication tools have on younger generations. The nature of this impact particularly interests the Arab world where an immense and growing number of the many young citizens of the region use social medias (1 million Facebook users only in Jeddah) to connect with others, share knowledge and be heard.
The US Federal Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday offered a rare $1 million reward for information leading to the safe return of its former agent Robert Levinson, who vanished in Iran in 2007 and is believed to be held hostage in the area.
Senior Hamas official says if Israel strikes Iran, Hamas will not take part in fighting, the Guardian reports.
Turkey’s prime minister on Tuesday promised to protect the country’s largest religious minority after 25 houses mostly belonging to Alevi Muslims were vandalized, raising fears for their safety.
A top US general said Tuesday he plans to visit Pakistan in 10 days for talks that he hopes will reopen the border to supply convoys for NATO troops in Afghanistan.
(Reuters) – The Yemeni branch of al Qaeda said Tuesday it attacked a U.S. intelligence officer after U.S. soldiers were sent to the country, whose new leader has vowed to fight the militant Islamist group. In a statement posted on an Islamist website.
Al-Qaeda gunmen have killed a soldier on the edge of Yemen’s southwestern city of Bayda, the Defense Ministry said Tuesday, two days after a massive assault by the extremists in Abyan killed 185 troops, according to the latest death toll.
(Reuters) – President Barack Obama said on Tuesday it was only a matter of time before Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad left office, but added it was a mistake to think the U.S. could take unilateral action there.
The Turkish prime minister called Tuesday for the immediate opening of paths to provide humanitarian aid in neighboring Syria and condemned the regime for its heavy-handed treatment of dissidents, according to news reports.
Syrian troops shelled a southern village and clashed with army defectors holed up inside in violence that killed a 15-year-old boy and five government soldiers, activists said Tuesday. Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad faces growing pressure for blocking humanitarian aid and human rights abuses, with the UN humanitarian chief set to visit the country this week and the broadcast of harrowing pictures said to show torture.
Syria’s two most powerful backers, Russia and China, have started to edge away from their defense of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, while U.S. Senator John McCain called for U.S.-led airstrikes to stop his “savagery.” Russia and China reported Bloomberg.
The head of a group that has government permission to seek to promote religious teachings in Tunisia says he will use persuasion and protest but not violence to encourage Islamic behaviour in one of the Arab world’s most secular countries.
Tourism in Egypt and Tunisia plunged more than 30 percent last year amid the popular upheavals sweeping the Arab world, said Taleb Rifai, secretary general of the United Nations World Tourism Organization.
As the debate on the Tunisian constitution kicked off, Constituent Assembly deputies ventured into one of the most divisive issues of the national debate – Tunisia’s identity and the place of religion reports Euroasia.
(Reuters) – The most senior Algerian official to visit Libya since its revolution promised on Monday that members of Muammar Gaddafi’s family given refuge on Algerian soil will not be allowed to meddle in Libyan affairs.
Libyan Muslim Brotherhood to field legitimate political party in June elections set for post-Gaddafi Libya.
(Jordan Times) – An Egyptian pipeline carrying gas to Jordan and Israel was bombed on Monday, the 13th such attack since president Hosni Mubarak was toppled in 2011, witnesses said.
Egypt is trying jumpstart its economically vital tourism industry by attracting western vacationers again. But the security situation and talk of alcohol and bikini bans are complicating the effort.
The United States is “fully supportive” of the efforts exerted by the Egyptian people to build a democratic system and is looking forward to continue the “strategic partnership” with the incoming government, a top U.S. official told Al Arabiya.
American democracy workers who face charges in Egypt of stoking unrest are meeting with lawmakers on Capitol Hill this week.
Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich called Monday for eliminating the government of Iran if it blocks passage through a key oil route in the Middle East.
The five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council said Tuesday that they have accepted an offer to resume negotiations with officials in Tehran.
Iran says it will allow U.N. inspectors access to a secret military complex where the U.N. nuclear agency suspects secret atomic work has been carried out.
Bahrain is in talks to import an average of 400 million cubic feet per day (cfd) gas from Russia’s Gazprom through a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal expected to open by 2015.
Trade Arabia cited Dr Abdulhussain Mirza energy minister of Bahrain as saying that 21 power stations will be built across Bahrain this year at a cost of BHD 165.5 million. Mr Mirza said that the projects directorate has started operating two 220V stations.
France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy promised on Tuesday that if re-elected his second foreign visit would be to Israel and the Palestinian territories to push a European peace initiative.”I hope that France, and behind France all of Europe, take the initiative so that 2012 can be the year of peace between Israel and the Palestinians,” Sarkozy said, in a television interview on his re-election campaign as reported by France 24.
Moscow denies its refusal to condemn the Assad regime more forcefully was driven by election politics requiring Putin to appear tough.
Former Egyptian vice president Omar Suleiman is likely to declare his candidacy for president before nominations officially begin on March 10, his media coordinator told Al Arabiya on Monday. Marwa Munir said a campaign supporting the former intelligence chief – who was named vice president.
Libyans in east seek federalism. Libya’s political leaders oppose idea, fearing it could lead to a break-up of the country.