The International Herald Tribune reported last week that the US is turning security control over the Anbar Province to Iraqi security forces. As you may remember, Anbar has been a violent area in the past, once serving as a stronghold for Sunni insurgents. This is a big development for the both countries, as Anbar is […]
Finally, Lebanon's army has a Commander in the person of Brigadier General Jean Kahwaji. The position has been vacant since General Suleiman was elected as a consensus President in May. NOW Lebanon reports: Shortly before the session convened, Defense Minister Elias al-Murr said General Kahwaji, who was commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces' 12th brigade, […]
Yesterday, the UAE's Islamic Affairs Authority opened its official fatwa center, which provides religious rulings in English, Urdu and Arabic. UAE residents can obtain fatwas over the toll-free phone line or via SMS (text message). The center is the first of its kind; it is now the only place in the UAE authorized to issue […]
The army is under attack from more than one side. A Lebanese officer was killed on Thursday when a military helicopter came under fire in southern Lebanon. First Lieutenant Samer Hanna was killed when gunmen opened fire on the helicopter, which was flying over the village of Tilal Soujoud in southern Lebanon. The Lebanese army […]
Khalil al Anani, visiting scholar at Brookings’ Saban Center, published this op-ed in al Ahram Weekly last week. The piece asserts that it's educational to look at the internal dynamics of Islamist parties when assessing the degree to which they have internalized democratic ideals. Some Islamist parties, like the Justice and Development party in Morocco […]
Faisal Yafai has a piece up at commentisfree advocating that Islamic feminists return to secular arguments, as the religious rhetoric they have adopted in the recent past is not serving them well. It is an interesting piece, but he fails to make the case that it's better to have only one kind of feminism among […]
The editorial board of the Saudi based English-language Arab News takes a stance against families giving away their sexually immature daughters in marriage on both Islamic and human rights grounds. This editorial is no doubt a response to the divorce hearing (upcoming) in a Saudi court on a marriage between an 8 year old girl […]
Dexter Filkins, the NYT's Baghdad correspondent of 2003-2006 and author of the forthcoming book The Forever War answers questions at Baghdad Bureau, the blog of the Times’ … Baghdad bureau. Naturally the purpose of the Q and A is to promote his book, and he certainly makes a few comments to that effect, but generally […]
Secretary Rice has been a frequent traveler to Israel/Palestine in the recent past (17 times in the past 2 years), and she is now in the middle of another visit in an attempt to broker an agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians by the end of 2008. Read her remarks with Israeli Foreign Minister […]
Hello all, my name is Susan and I am the new Middle East blogger at FPA. You can refer to the About page to see the list of places that I lived/studied. I am replacing Brian, who has moved on from FPA to a new job, so I will be writing daily about news and […]
Not a day goes by without something happening in Lebanon. It is more of X said that, Y said the other, Z cursed all. I believe that for the next few months this will be the status quo. Hizballah arrested people in dahyeh. Again. Remind me not to carry a camera in dahyeh. Prince Talal […]
During the past few days I have had the chance to meet very interesting individuals. As soon as WSN [World Security Network] publishes the interviews I will add the links here. One of the things that I observed is that in Lebanon people always talk of details, of fixing this issue, fixing that issue, and […]
Stephen Biddle, Michael E. O’Hanlon and Kenneth Pollack have a plan for withdrawing from Iraq. Their article, published in the September/October 2008 Issue of Foreign Affairs states that Democratic and Republican goals can both be met through a withdrawal timeline. They argue that serious draw downs should not occur until after the Iraqi national election, set […]
The Salafi freezed the agreement with Hizballah. Sheikh Hassan Shahhal, who signed the understanding on Monday with Hizbullah's Ibrahim Amin al-Sayyed, declared freezing the agreement pending “appropriate circumstances that allow its implementation.” Sheikh Hassan made the announcement after a meeting with leaders of Salafi factions presided over by their highest authority Dai al-Islam al-Shahhal who […]
In less than one hour Hizballah will sign at As-Safir Hotel in Beirut an agreement with the Salafi movements. I don't reject the idea, but I wonder if its going to work. In other news, Egypt will deliver energy and gas to Lebanon. The discussions between Lebanese and Egyptian officials resulted in the signature of […]