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 […]
Fresh clashes have erupted in N.W.F.P and 23 Taliban fighters were killed, and the administration had to impose curfew to control the situation. The situation in N.W.F.P has been deteriorating for years now and despite the very best efforts by the army, the terrorists are getting stronger and more confident. They are also increasing their […]
WANA, Aug 27: At least 23 Taliban and two soldiers were killed, while 20 militants and seven soldiers were injured on Wednesday after clashes broke out in different areas of South Waziristan. Sources said that the Taliban attacked a checkpost in Tiarza, 3km off Wana on Tuesday night. The security forces countered the attack, killing […]
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 […]
After his heady nights of rough and tumble in the Caucusus, Putin has left Medvedev holding the baby. That is the argument of at least one Russian commentator, writing in the popular mainstream web newspaper Gazeta ru. Vladimir Milov believes that Putin has avoided any public spotlight since his high profile control over the war […]
During the 1970s plane hijackings became a somewhat regularly recurrent phenomenon. In a post-9/11 world, however, such instances have become rare to the point of anachronism. Tuesday's hijacking of a Khartoum-bound plane from the town of Nyala in southern Darfur thus provided a bizarre twist to events in that troubled area. Hijackers attempted to divert […]
Robert Mugabe's latest gambit in Zimbabwe is to prepare to form a new government with or without the support of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). The wily tyrant continues to insist that he is interested in continuing the power-sharing discussions, but in reality he was never interested in either discussion or sharing power. […]
Eight of the judges sacked last November by former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf have been reinstated. They took their oaths at the governor's house in Karachi. Reports say seven or eight more may be sworn in next week. Mr Musharraf sacked some 60 judges, including Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, but some were restored later. Former […]
PESHAWAR – Peshawar-based United States Consul General Lynne M Tracy survived an attempt on life here on Tuesday morning. "Two persons boarding Land Cruiser opened fire on the bullet-proof vehicle of the top American diplomat at Rehman Baba Road, University Town, Peshawar," remarked SHO Arshad Khan. He added that the US Consul General was accompanied […]
Russia's recognition of Ossetia and Abkhazia baffled me. On this blog, I have frequently tried to show alternative, Russian perspectives on matters that seem otherwise to be common sense, above debate, to Western audiences. But I just cannot see any benefits this move will bring. On the contrary, by uniting the traditionally friendly OSCE, pragmatic […]
The head of Georgia's Parliament, David Barakidze, says his country is being targeted for “regime change — by economic means,” and is appealing to the United States and other countries for major economic assistance. In an interview from Denver, where he is lobbying leading delegates to the Democratic National Convention, Barakidze said Russian forces had […]
Asif Ali Zardari, the leading contender for the presidency of nuclear-armed Pakistan, was suffering from severe psychiatric problems as recently as last year, according to court documents filed by his doctors. The widower of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto was diagnosed with a range of serious illnesses including dementia, major depressive disorder and post-traumatic stress […]
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 […]