Latest Middle East News
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Rafsanjani may be out of Irans elections as Guardian Council vets older candidates
Rafsanjani, who is seen by many as too old to run Iran yet again. AFP Photo The overseers of the upcoming Iranian election have said that they will ban those who are "physically weak" from running, which is a former Iranian president. "A person who is able to work only a few hours a day can't be approved," Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei, spokesman of the Guardian Council said on ...
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Tensions rise as Israeli jets bomb Syria again
ISRAELI jets bombed Syria yesterday, rocking Damascus for hours and sending pillars of flame into the night sky in what a Western source called a new strike on Iranian missiles bound for Lebanon's Hezbollah. Local people reported massive explosions and internet video showed the capital's skyline lit by flashes. Syrian opponents of President Bashar Assad rejoiced at Israel's third ...
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Blog In the hills of Syrias Alawistan
Above the Syrian coastal town of Tartous, groups of Alawite men and boys were amassing at different landings along a road that winds higher and higher, away from the Mediterranean and into the hills. We saw them assembling as we traveled the same path, taking advantage of a day off to get out of the city. On this new spring Sunday, they were waiting for the corpses of Alawite soldiers - ...
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Washington sells US$2b more arms to Oman
(1 hr 34 mins ago) US Secretary of State John Kerry will help ink a major estimated US$2.1 billion proposed deal with Oman to supply a US-made air-defense system to the Gulf nation, officials said. One of the main focuses of Kerry's trip to Muscat was to applaud the signing of a letter of intent between Oman and US manufacturer Raytheon ahead of talks on the final contract, they told ...
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Rabbi Abraham Cooper From Sudan to North Korea and Syria A Plea to President Obama to Activate His Atrocities Prevention Board
Co-authored by Professor Samuel Totten "In remembrance lie the roots of redemption; in forgetfulness the roots of destruction." That Judaic theme has inspired museums, international memorial days, and not a few politicians to invoke "Never Again" when the specter of genocide rears its horrific head. Yet while millions may draw inspiration and hope from survivor's ...
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Op Ed on Hamas website Assad regime no less evil than Israel
A regime that has been murdering its own people in the tens of thousands and utterly destroying Syrian towns and villages in order to keep a specific family or sect in power doesn't deserve our sympathy or solidarity. Even in the best possible circumstances, this regime is not less evil than Israel. We condemn the Israeli bombing, but the Assad regime isn't blameless ...
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Excerpts Fatah-Hamas agree to form Palestinian unity government.
Excerpts: Fatah-Hamas agree to form Palestinian unity government. IAEA-Iran nuclear talks fail again. Proposed Syrian peace talks May 15, 2013 +++SOURCE: Saudi Gazette 15 ...
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Egyptian army ready to release kidnapped soldiers in Sinai source
The Egyptian army sent more troops to Sinai Peninsula on Monday, getting ready for a possible military operation to release the seven kidnapped soldiers, a military source told Xinhua.On Thursday, a group of militants abducted seven military recruits in North Sinai's Green Valley, some 20 km away from the governorate's capital of Arish."More soldiers entered Sinai today under ...
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Syria’s Idriss warns Lebanon to restrain Hezbollah
Supporters of Hezbollah and relatives of Hasan Faisal Sheker, an 18-year-old Hezbollah member, carry the coffin during his funeral in Nabi Sheet near Baalbeck May 20, 2013. ...
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Hezbollah role in Syria grows more prominent
Hezbollah fighters in their military uniform, foreground, carry the coffin of Hezbollah fighter Hassan Faisal Shuker, 18, who was killed in a battle against Syrian rebels in the Syrian town of Qusair, during his funeral procession in his hometown of Nabi Sheet in the eastern Bekaa valley, Lebanon, Monday May 20, 2013. (AP ...
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Tlass brothers emerge with new Syria transition plan
BEIRUT: The Tlass brothers have re-emerged on the Syrian opposition scene with a new transition initiative from one and a possible nomination for a defense role in a ...
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Russia Assad foes must attend talks without terms
Sergey Lavrov said Monday it was crucial for Syrian opposition envoys to engage in peace talks without setting preconditions, apparently referring to demands for President Bashar Assad’s removal. Lavrov also reiterated ...
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‘War on mosques’ now daily part of Iraq strife
Ihsan al-Shammari told AFP. "It is a war on mosques." Iraqis have lived with near-daily violence since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of the country that toppled dictator Saddam Hussein, and militants still attack both security forces and civilians almost each day. Now, they have set their sites on mosques as well. In one of the deadliest attacks, two bombs exploded near ...
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Iran election overseers add further caveats
TEHRAN: Iran’s election overseers said Monday they would bar candidates who are physically weak from running in next month’s presidential election, a reference to a former leader seen as a threat to hard-liners. Former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani’s entry in the race scrambled the equations because of his popularity, reputation and potential to draw voters away from ...
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Pharmaceutical production in Syria slashed
DAMASCUS: Syria’s pharmaceutical industry once catered to 90 percent of the population’s needs, but a shortage of foreign currency has brought production to a near halt, a pro-regime daily reported Monday. The central bank previously provided local industries with foreign currency at preferential rates to help finance the import of raw materials. But the bank has now put an end to ...
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Kuwait stocks extend rally UAE markets slip off highs
bourse extended sharp year-to-date gains in heavy trading Monday, while profit-taking weighed on bourses in the UAE and other markets were mixed. Kuwait’s index rose 1.3 percent to hit a fresh 46-month high, trading 111 million dinars ($387.9 million). Companies owned by one of Kuwait’s largest merchant families rose after a favorable court ruling. Kuwaiti newspaper reports said ...
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Middle East expert set for talk at Israel Today Forum
VIRGINIA BEACH Middle East peace expert David Makovsky will speak about leadership and current events in the Middle East on Thursday at the Israel Today Forum, presented by the Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater. Makovsky is the senior fellow and director of The Washington Institute's Project on the Middle East Peace Process and previously worked as ...
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The Lede Complete Text of Israel’s Report on the Muhammad al-Dura Video
A frame from a video shot in Gaza in September 2000 showed Jamal al-Dura attempting to shield his son Muhammad, 12, during a gun battle between Israelis and Palestinians. As my ...
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Hezbollah guerrillas step up for Syria’s Assad lose 30 in fighting
Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas have fought their biggest battle yet for Syria's beleaguered president, prompting international alarm that the civil war may spread and an urgent call for restraint from the United ...
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UPDATE 2-Kerry visits Oman for arms deal signing talks on Syria Mideast
Mon May 20, 2013 8:46pm EDT By Arshad Mohammed SHANNON, Ireland May 21 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry flies to Oman on Tuesday for Raytheon Co's signing of an estimated $2.1 billion arms deal and to consult on Syria and Iran, U.S. officials said. Oman is expected to sign a letter of intent to purchase a ground-based air defense system that would help protect against cruise ...
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Ten Years After US Invades Iraq Israel Eager to Take the US Into Round Two
Ten years after the US invaded Iraq in 2003, another Middle East war looms large between the West and Muslim states. Signs point to the strong possibility that Israel, and its US Zionist supporters, remain determined, first, to draw the US into the Syrian Civil War, and second, to lead Israel in a joint attack against Iran. All from the skies, of course. Boots on the ground have not served ...
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12 kidnapped policemen killed in western Iraq
Twelve kidnapped policemen were killed and four were wounded in overnight clashes between the abductors and the Iraqi security forces in Anbar province, a provincial police source said on Monday.The Iraqi army and police forces carried out a joint operation on Sunday night in the desert area between Baghdad and Jordan to free kidnapped policemen, and the troops clashed with their kidnappers, the ...
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Hezbollah ups the ante helps rout Syrian rebels near Lebanons border
Members of Lebanon's Hezbollah carry the coffin of their comrade Fadi Mohammed al-Jazzar during his funeral in southern Beirut on May 20, 2013. At least 23 members of Lebanese militant group Hezbollah have been killed fighting alongside regime troops in the Syrian town of Qusayr, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. (STR/AFP/Getty ...
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95 killed in Syrias al-Qussair battles report
A total of 95 people, including 23 Hezbollah members, have been killed in an intense fighting in Syria's central city of al-Qussair over the past 48 hours, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said ...
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India opens exit door for workers in Saudi Arabia
DUBAI: India on Monday started verification and issuance of emergency certificates allowing its citizens to leave Saudi Arabia following concerns over a new labour policy in the Gulf kingdom. The schedule announced is for the delivery of the first batch of 12,000 emergency certificate applications received at the Indian embassy in Riyadh and nearly 3,000 in Saudi's Eastern Province. The ...
Egypt Digest
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Egypt's oil industry is growing rapidly
Egypt has, in recent years, made immense gains in terms of economic performance. The country has long been the economic powerhouse of North Africa and Africa in general (second only to South Africa and Nigeria) and has taken great steps to reverse the highly-centralized economy inherited from President Gamel Abdel Nasser.
The oil and gas sector has long been one of the major strengths in the Egyptian economy, along with other natural resources such as minerals, gold and natural gas. Read more
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