Latest Articles about Middle East
In the Aftermath of Iraq’s Provincial Elections, Part Two: Shi’a Militancy Takes a Blow from al-Maliki’s Mainstream
Iraqis cast their votes on January 31 in new provincial council elections whose outcome could shape Iraq's balance of power and set the tone for the upcoming general elections in December 2009. With 440 seats contested in 14 provinces, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's Dawalt al-Qanon... MORE
In the Aftermath of Iraq’s Provincial Elections, Part One: A Dangerous Year Ahead for Iraqi Kurds
Some ominous signs have appeared for northern Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) following the January 31 nationwide provincial elections. If the elections offer an indicator of the national mood of Iraq, then in this case Iraq's Arabs seemed to show a growing preference for Iraqi... MORE
BRIEFS
EGYPTIAN ISLAMISTS URGE AL-QAEDA TO DECLARE A TRUCE Al-Jama'ah al-Islamiyah (JI - The Islamic Group), once one of Egypt's most feared Islamist terrorist organizations, has issued a statement urging al-Qaeda to observe a ceasefire to better assess the intentions of the new Obama administration in... MORE
Balochi Nationalists Intensify Violent Rebellion in Iran
The conflict between Iranian security forces and ethnic Baloch insurgents led by the Jondallah (Soldiers of God - an obscure militant group also known as the People’s Resistance Movement of Iran) that has been raging in Iran’s southeastern province of Sistan-Balochistan since 2003 is experiencing... MORE
Reviving the Iraqi Ba’ath: A Profile of General Muhammad Yunis al-Ahmad
The U.S.-led invasion of Iraq not only toppled Saddam Hussein, but it also put an end to three and a half decades of political domination by the Ba’ath party over Iraq. Despite a proliferation of political parties and militant organizations eager to take or at... MORE
Al-Zarqawi’s Legacy Seen in Trial of Jordanian al-Qaeda Cell
On January 27, 2009, the trial of a Salafi-Jihadi group was launched in Amman, Jordan. The twelve Jordanians, all of Palestinian origin, were members of a group charged with carrying out attacks with Molotov cocktails on a Christian church and cemetery. According to Jordanian authorities,... MORE
Al-Awda Party and the Ba’athist Dream of Return in Iraq
Iraq’s al-Awda party first emerged in the weeks following the demise of Saddam Hussein’s Ba’athist regime in 2003. Al-Awda means “the return” in Arabic, in this case the “return” of the Ba’athists. In those days, pro-Ba’athist graffiti appeared in some areas in Iraq, with slogans... MORE
Rocket Attacks from Lebanon Threaten Dangerous Escalation of Gaza War
Israel’s invasion of Gaza and the ensuing humanitarian catastrophe has raised concerns about the potential for a dangerous escalation in regional hostilities. On January 8, three Katyusha rockets fired from southern Lebanon struck Nahariya, a city located in northern Israel, approximately 8 km from the... MORE
A Mujahideen Bleed-Through from Iraq? Part Four – The Case of Palestine and Israel
As discussed earlier in this series of articles, the entry of Sunni mujahideen from Iraq into Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon has been a fairly visible process and tracking it – at least in outline form – is an achievable task. Likewise, the goal of the... MORE
Kadyrov Performs the Hajj Pilgrimage
Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Muzdalifah, near Mecca, in Saudi Arabia on December 9. Ziyad Sabsabi, the Russian Federation Council member representing Chechnya, also took part in the meeting and told Interfax that Kadyrov and Abbas “unanimously noted... MORE