Jeddah, Asharq Al-Awsat—Saudi Arabia’s Interior Ministry has issued a list of suspects wanted in connection with an attack on a Shi’ite mosque in Dammam in the Eastern Province, offering a reward of 5 million Saudi Riyals to information leading to the arrest of the 16 suspects. “Following an i
Washington DC and Riyadh, Asharq Al-Awsat—Yemen’s internationally recognized government has agreed to attend peace talks in Geneva with the Iran-backed Shi’ite Houthi movement in a bid to resolve the crisis currently gripping the country, Foreign Minister Riyadh Yassin said on Tuesday. Speaking to A
Baghdad, Asharq Al-Awsat—Saudi Arabia has appointed Thamer Al-Sabhan as its ambassador to Iraq—he is the first Saudi ambassador to Iraq in a quarter of a century. Sabhan was confirmed as Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Baghdad in a ceremony at the royal palace in Jeddah which saw a number o
Al-Jazeera’s televised interview with Al-Nusra Front leader Abu Mohammad Al-Golani has garnered controversy over whether the media should grant time and space to figures linked with terrorism. However, this is something that has taken place throughout the history of journalism. For example, Western
Beirut, Asharq Al-Awsat—Lebanese Prime Minister Tammam Salam has cautioned that now is not the time for political bickering among his country’s parties and that consensus is desperately needed to steer Lebanon away from crisis. The small Mediterranean republic has been without a presiden
[inset_left]A Bazaar Life: The Autobiography of David Alliance By David Alliance with Ivan Fallon The Robson Press, 448 pages London, 2015[/inset_left] According to conventional wisdom, Iran and Israel are mortal foes locked in a deadly struggle to the bitter end. However, David, Lord Alliance, whos
Zurich, Reuters—Blatter resigned as FIFA president on Tuesday, four days after being re-elected to a fifth term. The 79-year-old, announced the decision at a news conference in Zurich, six days after the FBI had raided a hotel in Zurich and arrested several FIFA officials. He was re-elected af
The two terrorist attacks targeting mosques in Al-Qadeeh and Dammam in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia prove—if proof were ever needed—that the Kingdom is fighting a real war. Even before Operation Decisive Storm was launched in Yemen, Iran’s leaders were scrambling to issue one thr
Riyadh, Asharq Al-Awsat—A crucial meeting between Yemen’s rival political forces to end the ongoing crisis in the Arabian Peninsula state is set to take place in Geneva within the next two weeks, informed Yemeni political sources told Asharq Al-Awsat. The talks, which will be the first of thei
Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan, AP—Militants attacked a remote guesthouse and killed nine Afghans working for a Czech charity on Tuesday, as a new report by Brown University warned that almost 100,000 people have been killed in Afghanistan since the 2001 US-led invasion overthrew the Taliban regime and
Sana’a, Asharq Al-Awsat—UN Special Envoy to Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed has reached a “flexible agreement” with the Shi’ite Houthi movement that would see them hold talks with Yemen’s government in order to resolve the crisis in the country, sources told Asharq Al-Awsat on Sunday. Houthi leaders
After one week of targeting innocent worshippers at the Imam Ali mosque in the city of Qatif in Saudi Arabia, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) carried out another attack in the Kingdom, this time on the Al-Anoud mosque in Dammam, the capital of its Eastern Province. But the difference betw
Paris, Reuters—France authenticated on Monday a video that shows a Frenchwoman taken hostage in Yemen appealing to President Francois Hollande and Yemen’s exiled leader to help her and it said it was doing all it could to secure her release. The video, seen by Reuters, shows Isabelle Prime, a
Anbar, Asharq Al-Awsat—Iraqi government forces and Sunni and Shi’ite volunteer militias have made strategic gains on the outskirts of the city of Ramadi from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the head of the Anbar police force said on Saturday. “The joint forces comprising the Iraqi army,
Beirut, Asharq Al-Awsat—Clear signs are emerging of a dramatic U-turn in Russia’s policy toward the regime of Bashar Al-Assad in Syria, with Moscow even beginning to consider a “future without Assad” for the country, sources have told Asharq Al-Awsat. Moscow, along with Tehran, is one of the biggest
It is no coincidence that in some Western countries, whose constitutions clearly stipulate protecting freedom of expression and political affiliation, neo-Nazi groups are banned without exception, both in terms of adherence and practice, and that those who violate this law are punished. Though it ma
Sana’a, Asharq Al-Awsat—UN Special Envoy to Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed is seeking to secure a new ceasefire in the country and restart peace talks between the government and the Houthi movement, informed sources told Asharq Al-Awsat on Saturday. The sources said all sides have agreed “in princip
Yangon, Myanmar, AP—Myanmar rejected as unbalanced comments made by several Nobel Peace Prize winners calling for an end to the persecution of Rohingya Muslims. The Nobel laureates including South Africa’s Desmond Tutu, Iranian human rights activist Shirin Ebadi and former East Timor President
Beirut, Reuters—A Syrian air force raid killed at least 59 civilians at a market in a town held by Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants in northern Syria on Saturday, according to a monitoring group. The strike on the town of Al-Bab, northeast of the city of Aleppo, used barrel bombs—ste
Since the emergence of the terrorist Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), we have heard one refrain of politspeak be repeated at any and every meeting between Arab and Western officials, particularly US officials: “The two sides agreed on the need for coordination in the fight against ISIS,” or s
