Middle East
Latest stories
European Parliament Head: Referring Assad to ICC Something Possible

Referring embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to the International Criminal Court is “something possible,” European Parliament chief Jerzy Buzek said on Sunday.

In an interview with the U.S.-funded, Arabic-language Radio Sawa, Buzek noted that the international community was “definitely seeking to aid the Syrian people,” but noted that “there is a difference between the Syrian issue and the Libyan issue.”

W140 Full Story
Qatar Suggests Saudi, Iran Meet over Envoy 'Plot'

Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani proposed on Sunday that Saudi and Iranian officials should meet over the alleged Iranian plot to kill the Saudi envoy to Washington, state media said.

"I think that the best and easiest way to solve this issue is for the two sides to meet," Sheikh Hamad, who also holds the foreign affairs portfolio, said after meeting Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi, QNA state news agency said.

W140 Full Story
Blogger Remanded in Custody over Deadly Copt Clashes

The military prosecutor's office on Sunday remanded in custody a blogger accused of inciting violence during an October 9 demonstration by Coptic Christians in Egypt's capital, a rights group said.

Alaa Abdul Fattah was remanded in custody for 15 days, Gamal Eid, head of the Arab Network for Human Rights Information, told Agence France Presse.

W140 Full Story
2 Syrians Dead as China Urges End to 'Dangerous Situation'

China's Middle East envoy Wu Sike cautioned Syria during a visit to Damascus of the dangers of a government crackdown on dissent that he said "cannot continue," he told reporters in Cairo on Sunday.

Wu said that he "affirmed to senior officials in Syria of the danger of the situation and that it cannot continue," during his visit to Damascus on Thursday.

W140 Full Story
Khamenei: Iraqi 'Resistance' Forced U.S. Pullout

The Iraqi people's "unified resistance" forced the United States to pull its military out of their country, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said Sunday.

The national defiance "which finally resulted in America being forced to withdraw from Iraq is a golden page in the history of this nation," Khamenei told the visiting head of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, Massoud Barzani, according to his office.

W140 Full Story
Israeli Woman Gets 4.5 Years for Leaking Army Secrets to Media

A Tel Aviv court on Sunday jailed a young Israeli woman for four-and-a-half years for spying and leaking classified military documents to Israel's Haaretz newspaper, officials said.

A transcript of Sunday's ruling obtained by Agence France Presse said Anat Kam was given 45 days to appeal the sentence, which comes on top of the time she had already spent under house arrest since December 2009.

W140 Full Story
Yemen's Qaida Denies Death of Media Chief

Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula denied on Sunday the death of its media chief in a suspected U.S. drone strike earlier this month, a statement distributed to the public in Yemen's southern Shabwa province said.

Yemen's defense ministry announced on October 15 that Ibrahim al-Banna was among at least seven militants killed in a triple raid that also claimed the life of the teenage son of slain U.S.-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaqi.

W140 Full Story
Mubarak's Trial Postponed to Dec. 28

The trial of ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak which was due to resume on Sunday has been postponed following demands for the appointment of a new judge, state-run news agency MENA reported.

A new hearing has been set for December 28, MENA said.

W140 Full Story
Kuwaiti Opposition Steps up Pressure on PM over Bribes

Kuwait's opposition has requested a meeting with the country's ruler to press for the removal of Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammed al-Ahmed al-Sabah over alleged corruption, MPs said Sunday.

The decision came following a meeting by 19 opposition MPs in the 50-member parliament Saturday night to "study specific steps that would ensure changing the prime minister," MP Faisal al-Muslim said.

W140 Full Story
Activists Urge Arab League to Freeze Syria Membership

Syrian activists on Sunday urged the Arab League to freeze the country's membership in the 22-member organization over the deadly crackdown on pro-democracy protests.

The Syrian Revolution 2011, one of the motors of the dissent, made the appeal after almost 100 people died Friday and Saturday in the bloodiest two days of the uprising against President Bashar Assad's regime.

W140 Full Story