Dammam, Asharq Al-Awsat—Saudi Arabia is well-known for its silence and use of soft diplomacy, but its silence has limits. If Saudi Arabia’s policy is based on non-intervention in the affairs of Gulf States then Riyadh views others interfering in its own internal affairs as an unbreakable “red
Cairo, Asharq Al-Awsat—Libya’s Interior Minister Omar Al-Zanki said on Monday that the decision by Libya’s internationally recognized parliament to reinstate him is binding on interim Prime Minister Abdullah Al-Thani, who sacked him in February for criticizing a top army general. “I never aban
Sana’a and Aden, Asharq Al-Awsat—Members of Yemen’s cabinet who were released by Houthi rebels on Monday will resume their ministerial duties from the southern port city of Aden, Yemeni interim President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi has said. The Houthi movement now in de facto control of the country on M
Salah Al-Din and Baghdad, Asharq Al-Awsat—The tomb of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein was left all but destroyed on Sunday as Iraqi forces continued an offensive to recapture his hometown Tikrit from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). The tomb, which lies north of Tikrit at the villag
London, Asharq Al-Awsat—The first impression one gets when flicking through the catalogue of Christie’s auction of Modern & Contemporary Arab, Iranian and Turkish Art is that the huge index contains the acquisitions of an entire museum. Not only was the catalogue enormous but the lots on offer w
Jerusalem, AP—Israelis were voting in parliament elections Tuesday after a heated three-month campaign that focused on economic issues but ended with a dramatic last-minute pledge by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state. Netanyahu’s comments mar
Islamabad, Reuters—Pakistan hanged 12 male convicts on Tuesday, an Interior Ministry spokesman said, the largest number of people executed on the same day since an unofficial moratorium on capital punishment was lifted in December. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif lifted a de facto moratorium on capital
His face was smooth, the signs of imminent manhood yet to appear on his unblemished features, just like any other boy of his age. Even his eyes, which he had tried to empty of any sign of feeling, betrayed a childlike innocence, one squarely at odds with the barbaric act he was about to commit. [&he
Riyadh and London, Asharq Al-Awsat—Saudi Arabia on Monday once again defended its judiciary and human rights record, in response to recent comments by Sweden’s foreign minister that have led to a diplomatic rift between the two nations, and warned it could reconsider aspects of its relationship with
Lausanne, Reuters—US Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif held four hours of nuclear talks on Monday in the Swiss city of Lausanne before the Iranian delegation headed to Brussels for meetings with European ministers. “We’re obviously in crunch time
Erbil, Asharq Al-Awsat—President of The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Massoud Barzani on Sunday told a meeting of leaders of Sunni tribes based west of Mosul that citizens who backed the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) will not be allowed back into liberated areas. “I would like my mess
Moscow, Reuters—More than 45,000 Russian troops as well as war planes and submarines started military exercises across much of the country on Monday in one of the Kremlin’s biggest shows of force since its ties with the West plunged to Cold War-lows. President Vladimir Putin called the Navy
Sharm El-Sheikh, Asharq Al-Awsat—Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi on Sunday wrapped up the Egypt Economic Development Conference (EEDC) which garnered total investments of 175.2 billion US dollars in three days, but said his country needed at least another “200–300 billion dollars” in o
Sana’a, Asharq Al-Awsat—Yemen’s Houthi movement released Prime Minister Khaled Bahah and all cabinet members on Monday, ending an almost two-month house arrest imposed on the ministers by the Shi’ite movement now in de facto control of Yemen, a Yemeni government spokesman said. In a statement
Even the most optimistic of Egyptian officials could not have expected the Egypt Economic Development Conference (EEDC) to succeed the way it has. In one fell swoop Egypt has now officially exited this period of political isolation, delivering a stunning blow to the naysayers and gloom merchants who
Sharm El-Sheikh, Asharq Al-Awsat—Egypt and the United Arab Emirates on Saturday signed a deal to build Egypt’s new administrative capital, east of the existing capital Cairo. The agreement to build the new, as-yet unnamed capital was signed between Egypt’s Ministry of Housing and Capital City Partne
Baghdad, AP—Dozens of fighters with the militia loyal to radical Shi’ite cleric Moqtada Al-Sadr left Iraq’s capital on Sunday to take part in an offensive to capture Tikrit from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group. Men from Iraq’s Peace Brigades left to the Shi’i
It’s been decades since optimism reigned in Egypt as it did yesterday after the announcement of giant development and construction plans heralding a “new Egypt”. Amid the positivity, there was no mention of the words “Muslim Brotherhood” and there was no talk of the absurd audio leaks, a
Lahore, Reuters—Bombs outside two churches in the Pakistani city of Lahore killed 14 people and wounded nearly 80 during Sunday services, and witnesses said quick action by a security guard prevented many more deaths. A Pakistani Taliban splinter group claimed responsibility. Islamist militants in P
Beirut, Asharq Al-Awsat—Muhammad Tawfiq Al-Assad, cousin of President Bashar Al-Assad and believed to be one of the founders of the Syrian regime’s infamous Shabiha militias, has been assassinated in the village of Qerdaha, the country’s main Alawite stronghold and the Assad family’s spiritual home.
