Sectarian war back in Lebanon 21 May 2012 Lebanon is currently going through an unprecedented level of sectarian tension which has not been seen since the signing of the Taef Agreement in 1989 that ended 16 years of bloody conflicts of the Lebanese civil war. Shortly after the deadly clashes [...]
Taliban reject safe passage agreed at trilateral moot * Spokesman says decision of trilateral forum a US tactic to make jihadis surrender By Imdad Hussain link http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012%5C04%5C29%5Cstory_29-4-2012_pg7_3 ISLAMABAD: Afghan Taliban on Saturday rejected the trilateral forum agreement in Islamabad to give a safe passage to terrorists willing to talk [...]
The Grand Prix, Western Hypocrisy and the Gulf States By Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey April 21, 2012 “Information Clearing House” — Let us be perfectly clear. Qatar has emerged as the main western puppet State in the Gulf, while Bahrain receives favoured treatment despite a despotic crackdown on activists and Saudi Arabia, despite having a [...]
Is the Arab Spring a movement leading to more freedom and equal rights? Not for women, according to Amal al-Malki, a Qatari author who is very concerned about the rights of women in the Arab world. She is largely skeptical of recent developments and says, if anything, the Arab [...]
THE ROVING EYE The fast and furious Sunni revenge By Pepe Escobar And the winner is … the Gulf Counter-revolution Club (GCC), also known as Gulf Cooperation Council. Their collective celebration party is this weekend’s Bahrain Formula 1 Grand Prix – complete with buckets of Moet and Ferraris oozing by. [...]
THE ROVING EYE We want war, and we want it now By Pepe Escobar It was deep into the night, somewhere over Siberia, in a Moscow to Beijing flight (BRIC to BRIC?) when the thought, like a lightning bolt, began to take hold. What the hell is wrong with those Arabs? Maybe [...]
Demonstrators protest against Syria‘s President Bashar al-Assad. Photograph: Handout/REUTERS Gulf states warned against arming Syria rebels Saudi Arabia and Qatar urged not to supply weapons to rebels for fear of undermining UN efforts to end crisis Ian Black and Julian Borger guardian.co.uk, Thursday 5 April 2012 19.18 BST Article history Saudi Arabia and Qatar are being urged not to supply weapons [...]
Hamid Karzai told visiting Leon Panetta that all foreign soldiers should be pulled out of Afghanistan‘s villages. Photograph: Michael Reynolds/EPA The Taliban have suspended talks with the US, saying in a statement that they were presented with unacceptable demands. The move leaves the west’s political strategy for Afghanistan in tatters days after a US soldier’s massacre of 16 civilians [...]
Syria: NATO countries are already militarily active in Syria – an overview BY SUSANA AL HALABI – MARCH 9, 2012 – POSTED IN: SIDEVIEWS British and French Special Forces operate in Syria. NATO acts against international laws. Currently, there are two calls for peace circulating with a good response about Syria and Iran. Both are calling for an [...]
King Abdullah (R) meets with Khaled Meshaal (L) and Sheikh Tamim at the Royal Palace in Amman [Reuters] Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal is in Jordan on his first official visit since he was forced to leave in 1999 for what authorities called “illicit and harmful” activities. The trip on Sunday by Meshaal, who was accompanied by Qatar‘s [...]
Ex-Taliban militants surrender under a US-backed Afghan amnesty in Herat. Peace moves with the Taliban appear to have stalled over the transfer of Guantánamo prisoners. Photograph: Jalil Rezayee/EPA You may wonder just how obvious it has become that Guantanamo is set to be the place where those against the idea of endless war to support [...]
Initial report by Arab League observers claims monitors were harassed by the Syrian government and its opponents. Arab ministers meeting in Cairo have given observers in Syriathe green light to continue their mission, despite a barrage of criticism and calls for their withdrawal.The Arab ministerial committee on Syria “has decided to give Arab League [...]
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said the Taliban would be opening a political office in Qatar [EPA] New York, New York - Once upon a time they favoured Dubai – their smuggling Mecca. Now the Taliban go-to destination of choice will be Doha. So the Taliban will open a political office in Qatar to be engaged in negotiations [...]
Doha in Qatar: the Taliban say they have reached an agreement with the Qatari government and other ‘relevant parties’ about the opening of an office but did not say when it would happen. Photograph: Alan Copson/Getty Images The Taliban have said they are prepared to open a political office inQatar for the purpose of negotiations “with the international [...]
Karzai Will ‘Allow’ Taliban Office in Qatar Insists Other Nations Need ‘Permission’ to Negotiate by Jason Ditz, December 26, 2011 | Print This | Share This | Antiwar Forum Saying that they will “allow” the Taliban to set up an office in the nation of Qatar, the NATO-backed Hamid Karzai [...]
Sadr Calls for New Elections in Iraq After Coalition Collapse Crisis Talks Expected This Week by Jason Ditz, December 26, 2011 | Print This | Share This | Antiwar Forum Having lost the major secularist Iraqiya Party as well as both major Kurdish blocs,Prime [...]
US Report on Pakistan Attack Blames NATO for Failures Pakistan Formally Rejects US Report on Killings by Jason Ditz, December 26, 2011 | Print This | Share This | Antiwar Forum Less than a week after insisting that the attack on a Pakistani military base was “appropriate” [...]
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) – The premier of the Hamas-run government in the Gaza Strip is to depart via Egypt on Sunday for the first time since the enclave came under siege. Haniyeh is scheduled to visit Egypt, then Sudan and a number of other countries, according to sources in Gaza. The tour could include Turkey, [...]
Palestinians rally in the West Bank city of Ramallah in a show of support for the people of Gaza and Syria on Aug. 21, 2011 (MaanImages/Stringer) NEW YORK (Ma’an) — Hamas has ordered the departure of nearly all its staff at its Damascus headquarters by next week following pressure from Turkey and Qatar, a US [...]
The International Trade Union Confederation is condemning the decision by the United Nations to hold next year’s climate change conference in Qatar, a Gulf nation known for its restrictive labor laws. Migrant workers comprise 87 percent of Qatar’s workforce — none of them are allowed to form or join labor unions. [...]
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi sitting in a plane in Zintan after his capture. Photograph: Ismail Zitouni/Reuters Saif al-Islam Gaddafi: what next for Libya and the west? With calls for his transfer to the international criminal court, Saif’s treatment will be an important test for Libya’s changing profile reddit this Ian Black, Middle East editor guardian.co.uk, Saturday 19 [...]
It is estimated that 10% of Libya‘s oil infrastructure was very badly damaged during the war As far as the Europeans are concerned what could possibly be better than Big Oil shipping oil across the Mediterranean to ports in Italy and elsewhere. Nothing could be easier as the planet coughs and wheezes its way to [...]
Libya‘s interim leader, Mustafa Abdel Jalil (left), at the ‘friends of Libya’ group meeting in Qatar. Photograph: Karim Sahib/AFP/Getty Images reddit this Reuters in Doha guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 26 October 2011 12.11 BST Article history Nato should stay involved in Libya until the end of the year to help prevent Gaddafi loyalists from leaving the country, interim [...]
Poster for ‘The Time That Remains,’ a film by Elia Suleiman. By Regan Doherty DOHA (Reuters) — The Arab Spring of pro-democracy uprisings features prominently — both directly and more subtly — in the selections at the third annual Doha Tribeca Film Festival, kicking off in the Qatari capital this week. The festival, launched [...]
NABLUS (Ma’an) — Israeli forces have denied the wife of a released prisoner who was exiled to Qatar permission to cross the Allenby Bridge to ahead of her journey to meet her husband, a rights group said. Ahmad Al-Bitawi, a researcher at the international solidarity foundation for human rights, said Abdul Hakim Aziz Hanini’s [...]
When Al Jazeera announced it would establish an office in Caracas, the US embassy was reportedly alarmed [EPA] If past diplomatic cables are any indication, the Obama White House may be interested in perpetuating the ongoing US propaganda war in Latin America. According to classified correspondence recently released by whistle-blowing outfit WikiLeaks, Washington saw Venezuela [...]
In the first episode of Meltdown, we hear about four men who brought down the global economy: a billionaire mortgage-seller who fooled millions; a high-rolling banker with a fatal weakness; a ferocious Wall Street predator; and the power behind the throne. The crash of September 2008 brought the largest bankruptcies in world history, pushing more than 30 million people into [...]
Calling themselves the ‘Friends of Libya,’ 63 world leaders met in Paris on Thursday to discuss the country’s future. Among them, the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani. Al-Thani admits that Muammar Gaddafi could not have been toppled without NATO, but he did point out the Arab League could have done more. Qatar [...]
AMY GOODMAN: Libyan rebels have consolidated their grip on the capital of Tripoli by capturing Muammar Gaddafi’s main compound, a hugely symbolic victory that appears to put an end to his 42-year-long rule, but the whereabouts of Gaddafi remain unknown. He spoke Tuesday night on a poor phone connection to a Syrian-based television channel. MUAMMAR GADDAFI: [translated] [...]
Report: Qatar backs UN recognition bid Published today (updated) 04/08/2011 15:22 DOHA, Qatar (Ma’an) — The minister of state for international cooperation in Qatar said Wednesday that the Gulf emirate would support a Palestinian bid for recognition of statehood at the UN in September. Addressing a gathering of an Arab Peace Initiative sub-committee in Doha, [...]
Qatar has sent at least 200 tonnes of aid, including medical supplies, to help Libyan opposition forces since foreign support began to arrive. The Qatari air force showed Al Jazeera a cargo plane bound for Libya containing computers, printers, rice, milk and sugar. The main cargo on the plane were a military police unit and some intelligence personnel. [...]
Britain and France ‘using Qatar to arm Libyan rebels’ Anthony Loyd in Benghazi, Hugh Tomlinson in Doha Gazing down from a huge billboard outside the Libyan rebel headquarters in Benghazi, the image of Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, the Emir of Qatar, surveys the square. Below him are the words: “Qatar, history will always remember [...]
Libyan rebels loaned £800m in fight to force Gaddafi’s departure Western and Arab governments pledge funds and fuel at Abu Dhabi meeting on Libya’s future Share33 Xan Rice in Tripoli, Ian Traynor in Brussels and Ian Black, Middle East editor guardian.co.uk, Thursday 9 June 2011 20.20 BST Article history Libyan rebels seized full control of the disputed [...]
The secret life of Arabia By Pepe Escobar To follow Pepe’s articles on the Great Arab Revolt, please clickhere. As the Arab Spring turns into summer, the counter-revolution is winning. Tyrants – but not systems – are down in Tunisia and Egypt. The Libyan “revolution” is a sham: North Atlantic Treaty Organization air war plus [...]
Libyan who claims she was raped by Gaddafi troops deported from Qatar As Nato continues strikes on Tripoli, US expresses concerns for the safety of Iman al-Obeidi Share10 Associated Press in Tripoli guardian.co.uk, Friday 3 June 2011 18.35 BST Article history Iman al-Obeidi who claims she was raped by Gaddafi’s troopsis in Benghazi after [...]
Al Jazeera’s War on Gaddafi Submitted by Stephen Lendman on Sat, 2011-04-23 08:41 Media Al Jazeera’s War on Gaddafi – by Stephen Lendman Based on its recent Libyan and Gulf states reporting (or lack thereof), Qatar-based Al Jazeera’s credibility appears extremely compromised. A previous article said the following: Overall, its Libya misreporting has been deceitful, [...]
Libyan rebels receive boost of support from international community Arab world and western ministers issued unanimous call for Gaddafi to step down, saying regime had ‘lost all legitimacy’ Share39 Ian Black in Doha guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 13 April 2011 21.22 BST Article history WIilliam Hague and Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani at the Libya Contact Group [...]
