The UN Security Council is preparing to issue a resolution on the Libyan mission recently launched after the signing of the peace agreement in Libya in Morocco today. Diplomatic sources announced that there will be an international resolving towards launching airstrikes on active terrorist organizat
ZURICH—Soccer’s international governing body issued eight-year bans on two of the most powerful men in the game: FIFA President Sepp Blatter and his former heir-apparent Michel Platini for alleged ethical violations. Blatter responded angrily to the decision, saying he felt betrayed by the adjudicat
Washington, Asharq Al-Awsat – Diana Abu-Jaber is an American author and a professor at Portland State University. She was born in Syracuse, New York to a Jordanian father and an American mother. At the age of seven she moved with her family to Jordan for two years. She often writes about issue
Military experts with close ties to military and intelligence leaders in Israel alluded to a Russian collusion which contributed to the successful assassination of the Lebanese Hezbollah leader Samir Kuntar in a raid that targeted him in Damascus on Sunday. One of these experts, Alex Fishman, said t
Most terrorists, regardless of the organizations they are affiliated with, believe that the unified government of Saudi Arabia is blasphemous. They no longer look to it as a legitimate representative of Islam and thus target the Saudi kingdom with terrorism in the name of pledging allegiance to the
All indicators coming from Switzerland say that the first round of Geneva 2 talks on Yemen which concluded yesterday will share the same fate as its predecessor Geneva 1 – a total failure far from the procurement of a real way out of the Yemeni crisis as long as the Houthis continue to pursue politi
Several factors have contributed to the removal of the shadow over Saudi women in both civil and legislative arenas. The struggles revolved around the active role played by females in the Saudi community, which raised hopes of contributing to female achievement in directing those struggles towards g
Tajikistan’s ambassador to Riyadh Sharifi Azamsho Latifzod confirmed that his country is currently studying a proposal submitted by Saudi Arabia to join the Islamic Coalition and combat terrorism. He added that the first step was making required arrangements over ways to fight terroristic organizati
Informed sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Qataris who went missing in southern Iraq last week were kidnapped by armed fighters associated with the Abu al-Fadl Al-Abbas Brigade, a faction of Al-Hashd Al-Shaabi, and that the real number of people abducted at the beginning was 39, of which 26 were
A new round of Yemen’s UN-sponsored peace talks concluded yesterday in a Swiss town with poor results. Whilst the UN special envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed expressed cautious optimism and announced an agreement between both parties to resume negotiations next month in an undecided location
After days of issuing the British Report on Muslim Brotherhood, which concluded that the membership of or links to the political group should be considered a possible indicator of extremism, the Former Muslim Brotherhood Spokesman Dr. Kamal al- Hilbawi told Asharq Al-Awsat in a phone call in Cairo,
The talks didn’t lead to any agreement concerning the detainees’ case introduced by the legitimate government, which is considered one of the main issues in the talks. Sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that rebels refused to free the detainees or provide any information about their fate despite the press
Adel Al-Jubeir Saudi Foreign Minister announced that China approved the establishment of an Islamic Military Coalition against terrorism, and expressed its willingness to cooperate. Al-Jubeir’s announcement came after a meeting with Chinese counterpart Wang Yi last Friday on the sidelines of the Int
President of the National Coalition for Syrian Opposition Dr. Khaled Khoja described UN Resolution 2254 as unfair because it put “both the executioner and his victim in the same slot”. He also expressed in a phone call to Asharq Al-Awsat that the Syrian Opposition’s displeasure with the resolution a
Syrian TV reported Sunday that Samir Kuntar was killed. He was a Member activist of the Palestine Liberation Front. Initial reports indicated that his body was recovered from under wreckage of the building he was residing in. Reuters initially cited Syrian state TV as saying that several people had
Though it is still early days, if things continue as they are we may get the least exciting presidential campaign that the United States has offered for decades. Having spent 10 days in the US this month, a visitor was unable to notice any rise in adrenaline on either side of the traditional politic
The leadership of the Iranian army yesterday broke its silence regarding the proposal made by the former president of the Republic and an influential member of the assembly of experts Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani last week regarding the necessity to select a collective leadership rather than just one le
The UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution yesterday endorsing an international roadmap for peace in Syria which includes a ceasefire and negotiations between the regime and the opposition at the beginning of January. The resolution includes the components mentioned in the plan which w
A British government review into Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood published on Thursday concluded that membership and links to the political group should be considered a possible indicator of extremism but stopped short of recommending a ban.Prime Minister David Cameron said in a statement: “Parts o
Former Assad regime Prime Minister Riyad Hijab, who defected to the opposition in 2012, has been elected to lead the Syrian opposition delegation in talks with the regime on Dec.17. The Syrian opposition’s Supreme Negotiations Committee voted for Hijab to take on the role in a meeting in Riyad
