Latest Articles about Middle East
CORRUPTION IN PUTIN’S SYSTEM BECOMES MURDEROUS
The first week after the September 13 murder of Andrei Kozlov, first deputy chairman of the Russian Central Bank, saw no breaks in the case. Investigators are still examining a range of possible options and do not have a single suspect. The 41-year old official... MORE
TRADE BETWEEN RUSSIA AND CHINA SLOWS DOWN
The Kremlin has repeatedly pledged to boost Russia’s economic ties with China. Recent statistics indicate that bilateral trade is rising, but at a rate slower than previously expected. In the first eight months of 2006, bilateral trade between Russia and China was up 20% year-on-year,... MORE
KIRIYENKO INSISTS BUSHEHR PLANT WILL BE OPERATIONAL BY SEPTEMBER 2007
On Monday September 18, the chief of the Federal Atomic Energy Agency (Rosatom), Sergei Kiriyenko, told reporters in Vienna that Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power reactor will be operational by September 2007 and is scheduled to begin producing commercial electric power in November 2007. Kiriyenko also... MORE
Al-Zawahiri’s September 11 Video Hits Main Themes of al-Qaeda Doctrine
On the fifth anniversary of the September 11 attacks, al-Qaeda's media production unit presented a 70-plus-minute videotape of an interview with second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri [1]. Unlike videos issued to commemorate earlier 9/11 anniversaries, al-Zawahiri's video was not dedicated solely or even primarily to the actions... MORE
Iraqi Sufis Join the Fight Against Coalition Forces
Of all the Islamic trends, Sufism, a mystical branch of Islam, is reputed to be the least prone to violence and more tolerant of other currents within Islam as well as other faiths. This is why the recent announcement by a group of Qadiri Sufis... MORE
RUSSIA CONCERNED BY CHINA’S CHEMICAL POLLUTION
China has pledged sizable investments to prevent pollution of rivers near its border with Russia. However, some Russian officials remained unconvinced. China plans to spend $1.7 billion between now and 2010 to monitor and protect the Songhua River from chemical pollution, Zhou Shenxian, head of... MORE
THUS SPAKE PUTIN: RUSSIA UPHOLDS PRINCIPLE OF EQUALITY IN ENERGY SPHERE
Russia is aggressively seeking to revise the rules of the game on global energy markets. The Kremlin leadership asserts that, in today’s world, energy producers cease to be hapless raw-materials appendages mercilessly exploited by the more fortunate industrialized nations, but act as equals and, on... MORE
IVANOV COMMENT SUGGESTS MOSCOW IGNORING NUCLEAR WEAPONS AGREEMENT WITH WASHINGTON
On Sunday September 10, during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin aboard the Baltic Fleet's flagship, the destroyer Nastoychivy, at the naval base Baltiysk, Kaliningrad, Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov made public that Russia has apparently abrogated a major nuclear arms control agreement. During the... MORE
Mahmud al-Hasani: A Profile of Iraq’s Rising Shiite Leader
The Arabic-language website of the Grand Ayatollah Mahmud al-Hasani, the rising Shiite leader of Iraq, speaks volumes about the man making headlines in Iraq and challenging the cleric-turned rebel Muqtada al-Sadr. All that is known about him is that he is anti-American, anti-Iranian, anti-Sunni and... MORE
Egyptian Gama’a al-Islamiyya’s Public Relations Campaign
In a recent interview conducted by the Dubai-based al-Arabiya news network, Dr. Nageh Ibrahim, senior leader and chief ideological theorist of the Egyptian Gama'a al-Islamiyya (EIG, Egyptian Islamic Group), reiterated the movement's pledge to renounce violence. He also reconfirmed EIG's commitment toward pursuing a peaceful... MORE