Cairo and Rabat, Asharq Al-Awsat—Libya’s permanent representative to the United Nations has accused Britain of seeking to derail efforts by the internationally recognized government in Libya to persuade the UN to lift an arms embargo preventing the country’s army from obtaining weapons. Speaking to
Brussels and London, Asharq Al-Awsat—New European Union sanctions targeting aides of the Syrian regime prove that President Bashar Al-Assad’s claims of being the last bulwark against jihadist groups such as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in the country are a “sham,” Britain’s Foreign Sec
Baghdad, Reuters—Iraq urged a US-led military coalition on Sunday to use air power to protect the country’s antiquities from Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) fighters looting and destroying some of the world’s greatest archaeological treasures. A government minister said the coalit
Sana’a, Asharq Al-Awsat—Yemen’s President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi on Saturday renewed accusations of coordination between Iran, former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, and the Shi’ite Houthi movement currently in de facto control of Yemen, revealing new details of their involvement in an attempt “
Selma, Alabama, Reuters—With a nod to ongoing US racial tension and attempts to limit voting rights, President Barack Obama declared the work of the Civil Rights Movement advanced but unfinished on Saturday on a visit to the Alabama bridge that spawned a landmark voting law. Obama, the first black U
Salah Al-Din, Asharq Al-Awsat—Iraqi forces have completely cut off Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) communication and supply lines to Tikrit ahead of an expected offensive to retake the city, Lt. Gen. Abdul Amir Al-Zaidi told Asharq Al-Awsat. The Iraqi general, who is commanding the mili
A conflict with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in Iraq was always an inevitability because there are only two possible outcomes: Either you chase them, or they chase you. There is no border demarcation, and no one recognizes the authority of the other. Iraqi forces are now taking the lea
Paris, AP—US and European diplomats said Saturday they are united in their strategy and goal in trying to achieve a nuclear deal with Iran. “We are on the same page,” US Secretary of State John Kerry said after talks with French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius. “We know what
Sana’a, Asharq Al-Awsat—Yemen’s rival political parties are moving closer to reaching an agreement regarding the location of UN-brokered dialogue to end the political crisis that has gripped the country since the Houthi takeover of Sana’a last year, a Joint Meeting Parties (JMP) official
Moscow, Reuters—Two suspects have been detained over the killing of Boris Nemtsov, Russian officials said, a week after he was shot dead near the Kremlin in the most high-profile killing of an opposition figure in years. The Investigative Committee, the state body leading the investigation, na
New York, Reuters—Syria’s envoy to the United Nations says it’s time for the United States and other Western powers to accept that President Bashar Al-Assad is here to stay, and to abandon what he suggested was a failed strategy of trying to split the Middle East into sectarian enc
Amman, Asharq Al-Awsat—There will be no change in the Muslim Brotherhood’s status in Jordan, Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour confirmed following a meeting with the group on Thursday. Ensour met with a number of Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood leaders in Amman to discuss the political fallout of Amm
Cairo, Asharq Al-Awsat—Graffiti documented the Egyptian revolution in Cairo’s streets and squares. Now the art form appears to have spread to the municipality of Aswan, a prominent antiquity and civilization storehouse in southern Egypt. The Sun Colors Festival—launched last month in conjuncti
Bamako, Reuters—Militants killed five people in a gun attack on a restaurant in Mali’s capital in the early hours of Saturday, including a French citizen and a Belgian security officer with the EU delegation in the country, authorities said. Mali’s desert north, where French forces
Riyadh, Asharq Al-Awsat—US Secretary of State John Kerry visited Riyadh on Thursday to ease Saudi and Gulf concerns about an emerging nuclear deal with Iran, with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal characterizing the talks as “fruitful and constructive.” Just one day after wrapping u
Sana’a, Asharq Al-Awsat—The rescue of an Iranian diplomat held hostage for almost two years by suspected Al-Qaeda militants in Yemen is a “serious indication of Iran’s involvement” in the turmoil-stricken Arab state, a senior Yemeni official told Asharq Al-Awsat. The government official, who request
Baghdad, Reuters—Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) fighters have looted and bulldozed the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud, the Iraqi government said, in their latest assault on some of the world’s greatest archaeological and cultural treasures. A tribal source from the nearby city of Mosu
Warsaw, Reuters—Britain’s foreign minister said on Friday the European Union would prepare possible new sanctions on Russia for its involvement in the Ukraine conflict that could be imposed quickly if the Minsk ceasefire agreement is broken. Both Kiev and pro-Russia separatists have accused ea
Sana’a, Asharq Al-Awsat—Yemen has become an arena for foreign powers to settle scores and is on the verge of civil war, Yemeni Socialist Party leader Abdulrahman Al-Saqqaf has warned. In comments to Asharq Al-Awsat, Saqqaf called on Yemen’s rival political powers to set aside their differences
Khartoum, Asharq Al-Awsat—In Sudan, car tires have multiple uses. These rubber rings are employed during riots when they are burned by protesters to block the traffic; or they are used to prop up washtubs by women; poor children turn them into toys to be rolled from one place to another, or they act
