Al-Qaeda’s branches in Yemen and North Africa on Tuesday issued an unprecedented joint statement calling for jihadists in Iraq and Syria to unite against the common threat from a U.S.-led coalition, AFP reported. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) urged their “brothers” in Iraq and Syria to
A bomb blast beside Egypt’s foreign ministry killed three policemen on Sunday, including a key witness in a trial of deposed Islamist President Mohammad Mursi. The blast, the worst attack in Cairo for months, killed two police lieutenant colonels and a recruit, Reuters news agency quoted the foreign ministry. Ajnad Misr, the Islamist
Jordan arrested a senior member of the country's Muslim Brotherhood on Tuesday on charges of "incitement" against the authorities, AFP reported. Mohamed Said Bakr, a member of the Brotherhood's consultative council, was detained for 15 days by prosecutors after criticizing the government at an event marking the end of the conflict in Gaza, a
Six Egyptian police officers were killed and two others wounded by an explosive planted underground near the Gaza border town of Rafah in the Sinai Peninsula on Tuesday, in the second such attack in the town in recent weeks. According to an Egyptian security official the bomb was hidden under the asphalt of a
Despite the high-profile and shocking nature of the so-called "Islamic State" and its push through Iraq and Syria, the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad is still responsible for the majority of war crimes being committed in that country, according to the author of a special UN report into the Syrian civil war. With no
The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) has released a video of an imam in Gaza who was filmed during a Friday sermon while brandishing a gun and saying that weapons were the Palestinian Arabs' only means to establish a caliphate. MEMRI noted that the cleric, Sheik Iyad Abu Funun, was released to the
Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Monday said his country had rejected a U.S. request for cooperation against the “Islamic State” (IS) because Washington has “dirty hands”. “Right from the start, the United States asked through its ambassador in Iraq whether we could cooperate against [IS],” Khamenei said in a statement on his
Mohammed Badie, top leader of Egypt's outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, was sentenced to life in jail along with 14 others Monday on charges of murder and inciting violence during clashes near Cairo last year, Reuters reported. The session had been summoned for witness statements but the judge surprised journalists and others present by issuing a
According to Bethlehem-based news agency Ma'an, Palestinian Authority (PA) chief Mahmoud Abbas will ask French president Francois Hollande to recognize the “state of Palestine” when Abbas meets Hollande in France Friday. According to the report, Abbas will then ask additional European countries to recognize “Palestine” even before he heads for the annual United Nations General
“Global Zionism” is apparently behind the jihadist terrorist organizations - at least according to a senior Egyptian cleric. Sheikh Ahmad Al-Tayyeb, the Grand Imam of al-Azhar and president of al-Azhar University, which is considered a prestigious Sunni Islam title, made the comments in a statement that aired on Egypt’s Channel 1 on September 8.
