Latest Articles about Middle East
Saudi al-Qaeda Leader al-Awfi Slain in Medina…
Among the six al-Qaeda militants killed during police raids in the cities of Medina and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia yesterday was Salih Muhammad al-Awfi, supposed leader of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Al-Awfi gained some notoriety in the Western media after numerous reports of his... MORE
Al-Qaeda vs. the Iraqi Constitution
Al-Qaeda in Iraq has been active in a campaign to warn off Iraqis from voting on the constitution. The jihadi forums have carried the latest visual offerings from the Media Division of [Abu Mus'ab al-Zarqawi's] Organization of al-Qaeda in the Land of the Two Rivers.... MORE
…as Another Qaeda Leader Arrested in Turkey
The arrest of an alleged top figure in the Turkish division of al-Qaeda following the failed plan to attack Israeli tourist cruiser ships, promises analysts a windfall of information on the present structure of the international Islamist terror organization. According to the Turkish daily al-Zaman,... MORE
RUSSIA’S REGIONS: NEVER-ENDING RESHUFFLING WITH DIMINISHING RETURNS
Russian President Vladimir Putin may be having second thoughts about his decision to cancel regional elections and appoint governors with only pro forma confirmation by respective parliaments. Just a year ago, the plan appeared to offer a perfect solution to the multiple problems of federalism,... MORE
RUSSIAN-CHINESE WAR GAME MEANT TO BOOST BILATERAL PARTNERSHIP
As Russian troops started their first joint military exercise with China, the war game is seen as a manifestation of the Moscow-Beijing bilateral "strategic partnership." But at the same time, Russia's simultaneous northern war game appears intended as a demonstration of Moscow's strategic military might.... MORE
RUSSIA’S UPS AND DOWNS IN THE KOREAN NUCLEAR NEGOTIATIONS
The most recent session of the six-power talks over North Korean nuclearization finally got down to serious negotiations. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Alexeyev, head of Russia's delegation, confirmed afterward that the draft statement of principles is 95% complete. What remains, he said are several... MORE
RUSSIAN MILITARY EVACUATING COMBAT HARDWARE FROM GEORGIA ON SCHEDULE
On August 15, the Russian military completed the first round of evacuation of combat hardware from Georgia. On that day, a convoy of wheeled combat and transport vehicles -- the fifth overland convoy this year thus far -- crossed the border at the Larsi checkpoint... MORE
Abu Mus’ab al-Suri and the Third Generation of Salafi-Jihadists
The decimation of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood in 1982 had many long-term implications, the most pernicious of which was the emergence of a particularly extreme form of Syrian Salafism. At the center of this is Mustafa Setmariam Nasar, better known as Abu Musab al-Suri (the... MORE
The History of Political and Militant Islam in Syria
The rise of political Islam in Syria can be traced to the 1940s, when a Muslim group called al-Gharra entered parliament, creating an Islamic Bloc to oppose the secular and civilian regime of President Shukri al-Quwatli. In 1944, its leaders presented a long list of... MORE
MOSCOW DODGES IRAN’S NUCLEAR OFFENSIVE
The European troika (France, Germany, and the UK) was clearly taken by surprise last week by Iran's determined drive to resume its uranium enrichment program. Their proposal, delivered to the impatient new leaders in Tehran in early August, was far from convincing, but they had... MORE