Browsing: Middle-East News

Anti-Muslim insults were found on the walls of a mosque in northern Israel on Sunday, a police spokeswoman said. “Insults against Islam… were found on Sunday morning on the walls of a mosque in Baqa al-Gharbiyeh,” she said. The spokeswoman also said…

Economy Minister Naftali Bennett on Sunday proposed that Israel annex parts of the West Bank under its full military control where most Jewish settlers live. “I favour implementation of Israeli sovereignty over the zone where 400,000 (settlers) live…

US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel flew into Kabul on Saturday amid disagreement over whether he would meet the Afghan president, who has refused to sign an accord allowing NATO troops to stay in the country beyond next year. US officials said no meeting…

Oman opposes upgrading the Gulf Cooperation Council to a union of six nations, an idea first mooted by regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia, Muscat’s foreign minister said on Saturday. The union issue is on the agenda of the GCC summit to be held on Tuesday…

Israeli Foreign Minister Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has said Israeli-Palestinian peace talks are unlikely to bear fruit within the envisioned nine-month timeframe but that dialogue should continue. His remarks Friday evening contrasted with…

Fighters linked to Al-Qaeda executed an Iraqi freelance cameraman as he was leaving Syria after a 10-day assignment in rebel-held territory, watchdogs said on Thursday. Yasser Faysal al-Joumaili was shot dead after being stopped at a checkpoint in mainly…

Hezbollah on Wednesday blamed Israel for murdering one of its top leaders near Beirut at a time of soaring tensions in Lebanon linked to the war in neighbouring Syria. The dead man, identified as Hassan Hawlo al-Lakiss, was the group’s most senior figure…

The widow of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said on Wednesday she was still convinced he was poisoned, after French experts ruled out the theory that he had been assassinated. “I’m still completely convinced that the martyr Arafat did not die…

A suicide bomber blew himself up in central Damascus on Tuesday, causing deaths and injuries, Syrian state television reported, with a monitoring group saying at least two people were killed. “A terrorist suicide bomber wearing an explosive belt blew…

Radical Islamist cleric Abu Qatada, deported by Britain in July after a near decade-long legal battle, is to go on trial in Jordan on December 10, judicial sources said Tuesday. “The state security court has set next Tuesday, December 10, as the date…

Taliban insurgents fighting against the US-backed Afghan government expressed their support on Monday for President Hamid Karzai’s refusal to sign a security pact with Washington. Karzai is locked in a public dispute with the US over the security deal…

Syrian rebels, including jihadist groups, have captured the historic Christian town of Maalula north of Damascus, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Monday. Rebels assaulted the town by rolling explosive-filled tyres down the hills onto regime…

Saudi Arabia is satisfied with current crude prices as well as global supply and demand levels, its oil minister said Monday, indicating OPEC will freeze its output ceiling. “The market is in the best position it can be,” Saudi Arabia’s Oil Minister…

A least a million Syrians are going hungry, as fighting and checkpoints prevent aid deliveries, the international Red Cross warned on Monday. “A conservative estimate is a million people without food,” said Simon Eccleshall, crisis management chief…

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has restated his firm opposition to a nuclear deal with Iran during a visit to Rome in which he was set to meet Pope Francis and Prime Minister Enrico Letta on Monday. “It is very easy to receive a pat on the…

Three hooded hackers hunch over their computer screens in the control room at Israel’s new state-of-the-art “Cyber Gym”, where IT and infrastructure company employees train to defend against cyber attacks. The facility, a series of small buildings in…

The Foreign Press Association on Sunday accused the Israeli army of “deliberately targeting” journalists after soldiers fired rubber bullets and threw a stun grenade at photojournalists clearly identified as press. In a statement, the Tel Aviv-based…

Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Sunday accused the United States of halting essential supplies to some Afghan army and police units in order to pressure the country to quickly sign a key security pact. The interruption of fuel and equipment had occurred…

European ambassadors and intelligence officials are making discreet trips to Damascus in a bid to resume contacts with the Syrian regime after years of outspoken support for the opposition, diplomats say. “Since May, little by little, we have begun…

The bodies of 18 people kidnapped hours earlier by men in army uniforms were found abandoned north of Baghdad on Friday, the latest troubling sign of worsening violence in Iraq. The killings come amid a surge in violence that has included multiple attacks…