Circles associated with al Qaeda reported Wednesday, May 18 that the Egyptian Saif el Adal (Sword of Justice) had been named interim operations chief of the organization. debkafile’s counter-terror sources say that naming Osama bin Laden’s most experienced terrorist operations mastermind underlines al Qaeda’s current focus on avenging his death at the hands of US […]
The U.S. State Department reports countries in the entire Middle East, and some countries elsewhere, are riddled with human rights abuses. In its annual government-mandated report, the State Department said that government repressions of political freedoms were rampant. The report, which has been submitted each year for the past 35 years, cited actions by police and […]
The “no-fly” zone in Libya set a precedent for possible action in Syria, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, but instead, the Arab League has targeted Israel. The Arab group, which includes the Palestinian Authority as a full member, has called on the United Nations to send airplanes from foreign countries to keep Israel for retaliating for […]
Bahrain is targeting two types of travelers its government has apparently singled out for “special processing” at the country’s sole international airport. Those who appear to be journalists and travelers of Lebanese origin are being stopped by immigration officers, according to a report published by the online Asia Times. “The Kingdom of Bahrain’s new greeting […]
With some fifty people shot dead in protests in Yemen’s capital of Sanaa last Friday, security forces are gathering in force to meet this Friday’s protests, Reuters reports. This Friday’s protest, during which protesters will continue to call for the immediate resignation of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has ruled the fractious, tribal county of […]
The largely Sunni-Arab nation of Kuwait is suing a Shiite newspaper over its use of the term “invasion” to describe the deployment of Saudi forces in Bahrain to assist in quelling protests there, the Associated Press reported on Tuesday. “So far we have not received official notification, though we heard that we have been referred […]
Britain is about to change its libel laws. This development rates as world news for a few reasons: Britain will no longer be the favored site for “libel tourism,” which will have an impact on publications covering topical issues such as terrorism and those who fund it. Secondly, it demonstrates that when the United States changes […]
The American reversal and sudden support for a No-Fly zone in Libya plus after Defense Secretary Robert Gates and influential portions of the American defense establishment had trashed it, requires explanation. Why was a policy that could have been extremely more effective in ousting Libyan autocrat Morman Qaddafi a few weeks ago now resurrected after […]
Foreign ministers from the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council pledged $20 billion in financial aid in Bahrain and Oman on Thursday, the Associated Press reports. Growing protests in Bahrain and Oman have shaken the other members of the GCC, raising concerns the political earthquake rocking the Middle East will affect key OPEC members. Global oil prices […]
In the never-ending quest amongst Middle East studies academics to demonize Israel, a trendy new approach has appeared: employing the Holocaust. A recent lecture co-sponsored by UCLA’s Center for Near Eastern Studies, “Traumatic Memory Discourses in Israel: Holocaust History, Territory and Self-Critique,” fit the pattern. It was delivered by Joseph Rosen, a postdoctoral fellow in Montreal at […]
