U.N. slams abuse of emergency law
NEW YORK — Despite diplomatic maneuvering designed to block any review of its human rights record, a United Nations special rapporteur has told the U.N. Human Rights Council that proposed changes in Egypt's constitution "would create a permanent legal state of emergency." Egyptian students protested the Emergency Law recently...
IN PICTURES: ‘Day of Rage’ clashes between Palestinians and the Israeli military
March 19th, 20100 A Palestinian schoolgirl walks past Israeli border police officers on her way home from school during clashes between Israeli troops and Palestinian stone-throwers in the Shuafat refugee camp in the West Bank near Jerusalem March 16, 2010. Palestinians mounted violent protests in Jerusalem on Tuesday and President Barack Obama's...‘Day of rage’ engulfs Palestine
Palestinians hurl rocks at Israeli soldiers at Atara checkpoint, north of the West Bank city of Ramallah, March 15, 2010. Israeli troops injured at least seven Palestinians during a confrontation in the occupied West Bank on Monday, Palestinian medical sources said. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman View more photos of clashes on the...
Iraq PM’s bloc pulls ahead in vote tally
March 19th, 20100 Journalists monitor a screen showing the fractional results of national election in Baghdad, March 15, 2010. Early results from the March 7 parliamentary vote show Shi'a Arab Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's State of Law bloc ahead in seven of 18 provinces, while strong Sunni Arab support has propelled the secularist Iraqiya list...
Yemen to free Houthi rebels
March 19th, 20100 Yemen has come under heavy international pressure to end the northern war and focus on fighting al-Qaeda, whose Yemen-based wing claimed responsibility for a failed attack on a U.S.-bound plane in December. Supporters of the separatist Southern Movement march in an anti-government protest in the Radfan district in southern...
Elections bring joy and uncertainty
March 13th, 20100 WASHINGTON (IPS) — The holding of Iraq's third parliamentary elections on Sunday has generated a sense of satisfaction in Washington, but there is a feeling of anxiety about how the post-election negotiation process to form a new government might proceed. Officials count parliamentary election ballots at the tally center in...Al-Azhar Sheikh dies in Saudi Arabia
Sheikh Mohammed Sayed Tantawi, Sunni Islam's most senior religious figure, has died during a visit to Saudi Arabia. Sheikh Mohammed Sayed Tantawi The 82-year-old Egyptian, who had previously undergone heart surgery, suffered a heart attack as he boarded a flight early Wednesday morning, Egyptian television said. He was...The rape of Luxor
The quaint old city of Luxor in southern Egypt has long been a destination for scholars and archaeologists as well as tourists. The obvious reason for this is that modern Luxor is also the site of ancient Thebes with its famous temples of Luxor and Karnak, as well as the fabled Valley of the Kings where the storied rulers of antiquity...Hizbullah chief warns against Israeli-U.S. spies
BEIRUT — Hizbullah chief Hassan Nasrallah warned the Lebanese government on Monday against sharing telecommunications information with the United States, saying any such move would be tantamount to collaborating with Israel. Nasrallah The Shi'a leader also called for any Lebanese citizens convicted of spying for Israel...Chained to smoking in the Arab world
CAIRO (IPS) — Arab governments have stepped up efforts to curtail tobacco use, but initiatives have met stiff resistance from the region's smokers. "This is a challenging region taking into consideration the social acceptance of tobacco use, the diversity in cultural concepts, and new trends such as women's liberalization — all...Arab League backs Middle East talks
Arab states have agreed to a U.S. proposal for indirect Palestinian-Israeli talks, the Arab League secretary-general has said. The foreign ministers of Arab states agreed to give the diplomatic initiative a four-month window at a meeting in the Egyptian capital, Cairo. Amr Mussa, the Arab League chief, said after two days of talks:...
Iraq elections: 6,000 candidates running for 325 parliament seats
March 6th, 20100 Six thousand candidates from 80 political entities are vying for seats in Iraq's parliament. For the first time, voters can vote for the specific candidate and their political movement of choice, as opposed to a system of proportional representation. Ahead of the March 7 vote that aims to rid Iraq of sectarian divisions, there has been...
Hizbullah chief Nasrallah meets Ahmadinejad in Syria
February 27th, 20100 Lebanon's Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah (L) chats with Syria's President Bashar al-Assad (C) and Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (R) while on their way to an official dinner in Damascus February 25,...Dubai hit exposes Hamas’ weaknesses
RAMALLAH (IPS) — Hamas has closed ranks and is licking its wounds following the Jan. 20 assassination in Dubai of one of its top operatives, Mahmoud Al Mabhouh. It is alleged that one of its own was responsible for providing the hit team with vital logistical information. The father of senior Hamas military commander Mahmoud...Opposition grows against Egypt-Gaza barrier
CAIRO (IPS) — Activists and opposition groups are stepping up pressure on the Egyptian government to stop constructing a barrier along the border with the Gaza Strip. Officials say the barrier will prevent cross-border smuggling, but critics say it will seal the fate of the people on the Gaza Strip. Egyptian police take up......
Mideast Christians face uncertain future
February 27th, 20100 Christians in the Arab world who played an important role in developing pan-Arab movements in the 1950s and enriched its culture have serious concerns about their future in the Middle East. Hundreds of thousands of Christians have left and many Christian communities were uprooted. The reasons behind the mass exodus differ from one...Sharing Jerusalem: Key to wider peace
Jerusalem is not just a city in historic Palestine or Biblical Israel. This city arguably holds all the knots of the conflict between Arabs and Israelis. Jerusalem invokes issues of identity, history, demography, borders, refugees, settlements and security. A Palestinian man smokes a cigarette beside Israeli soldiers after......
Nasrallah throws down the gauntlet
(UPI) — Amid growing fears of another Middle East war, Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah has thrown down the gauntlet for Israel by vowing to hammer Ben-Gurion Airport if Beirut's Rafiq Hariri International is hit, as it was in their last conflict in 2006. Lebanon's Hezbollah supporters listen to their leader Sayyed Hassan...Hariri rally ‘marks March 14’s end’
A rally on Sunday marking the fifth anniversary of the assassination of Rafiq al-Hariri, a former Lebanese prime minister, was partly staged to revitalize the waning Lebanese anti-Syrian front, but its conflicting political speeches all but officially declared the end of the March 14 coalition. Lebanese supporters of...Scandals, assassination plan rock Palestinian Authority
RAMALLAH (IPS) - The Palestinian Authority (PA) in Ramallah is fighting a tidal wave of fresh allegations, including sexual harassment, an internal power struggle and embezzlement. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (C) speaks to the media after a cabinet meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah February 15, 2010. Abbas...
Clinton hails Yemen ceasefire, but aid concerns remain
February 20th, 20100 WASHINGTON (IPS) — The ceasefire announced late last week between Yemen's government and Houthi rebels in the northern part of the country is being greeted here as an important initial step toward stabilizing the Arab world's poorest country and reversing advances by al Qaeda's affiliate there. People walk outside the......
Beware the iron wall, the coming war
The Israeli military may be much less effective in winning wars than it was in the past, thanks to the stiffness of Arab resistance. But its military strategists are as shrewd and unpredictable as ever. The rhetoric from Israel that has escalated recently suggests that a future war in Lebanon will most likely target Syria as well. While...Egypt’s wall of shame
Driving parallel to the borderline between Egypt and Gaza, one can spot the machinery behind the conspicuous wall construction project meant to stop ongoing smuggling through underground tunnels. Some 80 meters away from the borderline, there were two cranes and a spiral driller. Four trucks loaded with sand and two with iron......
Development recognized as crucial for stability in Yemen
February 13th, 20100 WASHINGTON (IPS) — Amid growing concerns here over the threat posed by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), a consensus is emerging among U.S. experts that Washington and other donors to Yemen must place at least as much or greater emphasis on promoting sustainable development in the Arab world's poorest country as on...
Shi’a pilgrims targeted as Iraq bombings intensify
February 6th, 20100 A female suicide bomber walked into a tent full of Shi'a pilgrims on Monday, killing at least 46 people and wounding another 100 in the latest attack in the run-up to Iraqi elections next month. Iraqis mourn relatives during a mass funeral for victims of a suicide attack, northeast of Baghdad February 2, 2010. A suicide......