Syrian President Bashar Assad gave a rare public speech Sunday as violence continues to rage across his country. Contrary to expectations that Assad would reveal a compromise aimed at solving the conflict, the embattled ruler called instead for a “full national mobilization” to fight his enemies. Assad did term his initiative a peace plan,
The Islamic Jihad terrorist group has vowed to fight Jews if they return to Egypt, saying they deserve to be killed, the Egyptian daily Al-Masry Al-Youm reported Thursday. The Islamic Jihad called on the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party’s Essam al-Erian to resign from his role as advisor to the president and apologize to
U.S. President Barack Obama is set to nominate former Nebraska senator Chuck Hagel as Secretary of Defense, according to various reports. The move signals that the Administration intends to continue the Middle East policy that could be described as "speak softly and carry an even softer stick" vis-à-vis the resurgent Islamist threat. "Key Democrats
Sources revealed to Al Arabiya early Saturday that fighters from al-Qaeda and the armed Ansar Dine extremist group, running a convoy of 100 vehicles loaded with weapons, were heading toward Mali’s northern town of Moti. The convoy moved Thursday morning from the Islamist-held town of Timbuktu towards Mopti, in a step seen to express
Egyptian ambassador to Cyprus, Menha Mahrous Bakhoum, has appeared in a video swearing at and slapping a police officer at Larnaca airport, claiming she was subject to verbal and physical humiliation by airport security despite her diplomatic standing. The incident reportedly took place on Saturday. A day later Cyprus Foreign Minister Erato Kozakou Marcoullis
Long before he was elected as Egypt's president, Mohammed Morsi rejected negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority and referred to Jews as "apes and pigs". The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) has translated and uploaded comments by Morsi, a member of Hamas's parent movement the Muslim Brotherhood, which he made in 2010
Egyptian security forces found anti-tank missiles in a warehouse in Egypt’s northern Sinai on Friday, in a region south of Arish city. According to a security source, the missiles were supposed to be shipped to Gaza through underground tunnels. He described the missiles as being 75 centimeters long, with a two kilometer range.
Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood has been accused of taking 10 billion Egyptian pounds (U.S. $1.5 billion) from the American government, according to claims by Egyptian lawyers. An immediate investigation into the accusation was ordered by Prosecutor General Talaat Abdallah on Thursday. The lawyers, Mohamed Ali Abd al-Wahab and Yasser Mohamed Sayab, filed the complaint
Taliban commander Mullah Nazir, who sent men to fight NATO troops in Afghanistan, was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Pakistan along with five loyalists, local security officials said Thursday as reported by Reuters. Maulvi Nazir Wazir, also known as Mullah Nazir, an important commander from the Wazir tribe, was killed on Wednesday
Iran's nuclear weapons program remains the number one threat over Israel, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said on Thursday. Speaking to Israeli ambassadors and consuls at the conclusion of their annual gathering in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said, "The number one threat has been and remains Iran, our commitment has been and remains to prevent Iran from
