Middle East Monitor - The Latest from the Middle East
April Guest Writer
News from Africa
Opposition Algerian presidential candidate sure he will beat Bouteflika
Algerian opposition candidate Ali Benflis yesterday reiterated his certitude that he will win the upcoming presidential elections slated to take place on Thursday.
Armed group kidnap Jordanian ambassador to Libya
The Jordanian ambassador to Libya was kidnapped by masked gunmen in Tripoli, the Libyan Ministry of International Cooperation and Foreign Affairs announced today.
Tunisian president sacks Chief of Military Justice
Tunisia's interim President Moncef Marzouki yesterday sacked the Director of Military Justice a few days after the Military Court of Appeal sentenced several former regime officials on charges of killing protestors during the 2011 revolution which ousted former President Zine El-...
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News from the Middle East
Iraq shuts down notorious Abu Ghraib prison
The Iraqi government announced on Tuesday that it had shut down Baghdad's central prison, formerly known as Abu Ghraib, and transferred all the facility's prisoners to detention centres in the central and northern provinces, citing security reasons.
Syrian regime refers three women to counter-terrorism court
Media adviser to the Syrian Opposition Coalition Bahia Mardini said she was alarmed by the Syrian regime's decision to refer three Syrian women to the counter-terrorism court.
Occupation closes Al-Aqsa gates during Passover
Israeli forces arrested two young men and closed the gates of Al-Aqsa Mosque yesterday morning amid high tension.
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News from Europe and Russia
EU: Syrian elections 'parody of democracy'
EU Foreign Affairs Ministers said on Monday that the planned Syrian elections would be a "parody of democracy" if carried out only in areas under the regime's control.
Germany's Air Berlin suspends flights to Sharm Al-Sheikh, Egypt
Germany's second largest airlines, Air Berlin, announced Monday it suspended its flights to the Egyptian Red Sea resort Sharm Al-Sheikh until 30 April due to the deteriorating security in the region.
25 countries attend London anti-BDS meeting
The UK capital hosted this week a secret meeting attended by 20 countries to counter international calls for boycotting Israel, the UPI reported Friday.
Tunis regains $40 million deposited by former officials in Swiss banks
The Tunisian government has succeeded in regaining around $40 million from money smuggled out of the country by the former regime, and into Swiss banks reports have said.
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News from Asia, the Americas, & International Organisations
New campaign seeks to suspend Israel's FIFA membership
American and Arab sports activists in the United States have launched the Red Card Israeli Racism campaign calling for Israel to be expelled from the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) on the grounds of Israel's repeated violations of Palestinian athletes' rig...
US should save Egypt from a looming solvency crisis, think tank
A report by the Council on Foreign Relations suggested that Egypt is close to experiencing an economic deadlock and that the US must intervene to rescue Egypt from impending insolvency.
Carter says Israel possesses more than 300 nuclear warheads
Israel possesses more than 300 nuclear warheads, former US President Jimmy Carter told MSNBC last week.
US angry with Israel's 'neutrality' over Ukrainian crisis
US officials expressed anger over Israel's policy of "non-interference" with the Russian annexation of the Crimea; Israel's Haaretz newspaper reported.
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Latest In-Depth Articles
The forbidden visit
Ever since the signing of the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty in 1979 it has been the position of the Coptic Church under Pope Shenouda III that, "There will be no visits to Jerusalem under the occupation under any circumstance." Indeed, that there should be, "No entry into Palestine with an Israeli visa" and, "There will be no trips to Jerusalem unless we go with our Muslim brothers after we have liberated it."
Has the third Arab liberation movement failed?
Three diplomats sat in the French consulate in Beirut in May 1916 while the First World War raged and agreed on a secret plan to divide the Middle East among their countries. They represented Britain, France and Imperial Russia. After the Bolshevik Revolution in October 1917, Russia withdrew from the scheme. Britain and France stayed committed and soon after the end of the war, divided the countries among themselves under what is known as "Sykes-Picot Agreement". The Arabs, who had been promised freedom by the British, revolted and were eventually placated with the creation of the Emirate of Transjordan (now Kingdom of Jordan) and Kingdom of Iraq to be ruled by the sons of the leader of Arab...
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MEMO Commentary & Analysis
Britain's Brotherhood inquiry: Another blow to democracy?
A week after over 500 anti-coup protesters were sentenced to death by Field Marshall Abdul Fattah Al Sisi's regime in Egypt, the British Prime Minister David Cameron has launched an inquiry. But, it's not the inquiry one might expect, an inquiry into human rights abuses in Egypt by the military regime; it is in fact an inquiry into the Muslim Broth...
DEBATE by Ben White
The real delegitimisation: Apartheid Israel targets Palestinian citizens' political activism
Last week, Palestinian activist Muhammad Kanaaneh was due to address Tel Aviv University students at an event marking Land Day , a commemoration of the bloody state repression of anti-land expropriation protests in 1976. However, following pressure by right-wing Zionist activists, university authoriti...
INQUIRY by Asa Winstanley
Israel's doomed 'lawfare' strategy
A report in the Jewish Chronicle last week stated that a "secret conference" had been held in London whose aim was to combat the "delegitimization of Israel". The three-day event was reportedly held amid heavy security and was attended by representatives of Israel's spy agencies and by Israeli Strategic...
