Latest Articles about Middle East
Yemen and the U.S.: Different Approaches to the War on Terrorism
Following the introduction of a new two-year plan to eliminate religious-based political extremism in Yemen, President Ali Abdullah Saleh made an official visit to Washington from April 30 to May 3. While in the United States, President Saleh discussed security and counter-terrorism efforts with President... MORE
NO COMMITMENT TO NABUCCO MEANS PREFERENCE FOR GAZPROM
Austria’s OMV company, leader of the Nabucco pipeline project, initially conceived it almost a decade ago to bring Iranian gas via Turkey and the Balkans to central Europe. With subsequent political developments shelving this and other gas projects in Iran, OMV has considered options in... MORE
Jihadi Website Advises Mujahideen on Equipment to Bring to Iraq
On April 19, the jihadi website alfirdaws.org posted an in-depth article on the necessary equipment for the mujahideen in Iraq. The information was in response to a posting by a user who inquired about the most important equipment a fighter must prepare before joining the... MORE
Latest al-Zawahiri Tape Targets American Society
In an hour-plus videotaped interview broadcast on May 5, al-Qaeda deputy chief Ayman al-Zawahiri answered questions from an unnamed interviewer from al-Qaeda's video arm, al-Sahab Productions. The topics addressed covered the range of issues usually focused on by al-Qaeda leaders in videos, including Iraq, Afghanistan,... MORE
Hezbollah Reacts to Israel’s Winograd Report
Israel's recent release of the preliminary findings of the Winograd Commission, an independent government-appointed initiative led by former judge Eliyahu Winograd that was convened to investigate Israel's failures in its summer 2006 war against Hezbollah in Lebanon, may spell the political demise of Israeli Prime... MORE
ROSNEFT WINS KEY YUKOS ASSETS IN EASTERN SIBERIA
Russia’s state-run Rosneft energy company has snagged key Yukos assets in Siberia, enabling the company to overtake the privately owned Lukoil in terms of oil production capacity and become Russia's largest oil company. The move has also increased the government's clout in the country's oil... MORE
U.S. PLANS TO ATTACK IRAN FROM MANAS DENIED
On May 3 Marie Yovanovitch, U.S. Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan, denied reports that the Manas base near Bishkek is being used to store nuclear weapons for a possible attack on Iran. Yovanovitch commented on the “ridiculous” nature of these allegations, which suggested that the U.S. military... MORE
DOES PUTIN HAVE AN ARMS CONTROL AGENDA?
The wave of loud protestations in the West against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “moratorium” on implementing the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty (1990/1999) has temporarily subsided, as the concerned parties hope to receive clarifications on that unprecedented step at the May 10 meeting of... MORE
NATO AND U.S. RALLY SUPPORT FOR ESTONIA
Responding to Russia’s bullying of Estonia (see EDM, April 27, May 1, 3) the U.S. White House has invited Estonian President Toomas Ilves to meet with U.S. President George W. Bush on June 25 in Washington. The invitation itself, and the announcement’s timing in May,... MORE
MUKHU ALIEV’S CLAN COMES TO POWER IN MAKHACHKALA
Dagestan elected a new parliament on March 11. As with other regions of Russia, the Kremlin wanted to guarantee a victory for the two pro-Kremlin parties, United Russia and Just Russia. First, the authorities focused all of their efforts on preventing opposition parties from winning... MORE