Author: Sarah Akel

Last June, Metransparent alerted the Bahai community in the US to the case of the three Iranian Bahais imprisoned in…

In Egypt, the official al-Ahram Printing House refused to print an issue of the left wing “al-Badil” because of a…

NEW YORK — Madonna, this is a bit late because I was caught up writing a piece protesting the absence…

CAIRO — In a Muslim country where the numbers of women wearing the veil are rising, and so — by…

When Pervez Musharraf seized power in 1999, he was besieged by American demands that his military stop supporting the Taliban…

Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs James Glassman addressed The Washington Institute’s Special Policy Forum on July…

(Photo: Dalila before and after 7 years in prison) For once, we are hoping Syrian public opinion is wrong! For,…

In February 2008, a four-member Washington Institute delegation visited the Kurdish Regional Government(KRG) in northern Iraq on a fact-finding mission.…

By Farah al-Sweel RIYADH (Reuters) – When Saudi Arabia’s Olympic team appears in Beijing next month, it will be conspicuous…

At the strong urging of the Bush administration, Israel has pulled back from threatening to bomb Iran’s nuclear enrichment program…

Since the 6th of July, Marco Pannella – Member of the European Parliament and President of the Nonviolent Radical Party…

This week, Lebanon’s new national unity government is slated to announce its ministerial statement (bayan waziri), the policy document that…

( New York , July 22, 2008) – The Syrian government should order an independent investigation into the deadly shooting…

last Saturday, exactly one week before Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is due in Paris to meet French President Nicolas Sarkozy…

Hizballah has much to celebrate. With the formation of a national unity government in Lebanon last week, it is now…

The recent decision taken by a French court in Lille, to annul the marriage of a young couple because the…

Rioting at a prison near Syria’s capital killed at least nine inmates Saturday, according to a human rights activist in…

A Libyan well known lawyer, Mr. Daw al Mansoury was kidnapped by « masked thugs » in Tripoli, Libya, at…

How would Arab Christians, Muslims (Sunnis, Shias, Druze, Alawites, etc) and Jews respond to a similar survey if it were…

SANA, Yemen PRESIDENT Ali Abdullah Saleh’s face is everywhere in Yemen. He stares out from billboards, shop windows and living…

I salute the decision of the Turkish constitutional Court to ban the turban from Universities. The turban is not anymore…

The May 25 election of Gen. Michel Suleiman as Lebanon’s twelfth president was a central element of the Qatari-brokered compromise…

Developments in Lebanon are being viewed with great concern in Israel. In the aftermath of Hizbullah’s recent military and ostensible…

Dear Teacher Over the last few days’ things have taken a turn for the worse, this has caused immense pain…

Last May, a fax arrived at the London office of the Arabic newspaper Asharq Al Awsat from a shadowy figure…

** From DEMOCRATIYA Unholy Terror: Bosnia, al-Qa’ida, and the Rise of Global Jihad by John R. Schindler Zenith Press, 2008,…

(New York, May 21, 2008) – The Saudi Interior Ministry should immediately and unconditionally release Matrook al-Faleh, one of Saudi…

On May 21, after five days of mediation, Qatari officials announced a compromise solution to the Lebanese crisis between the…

Since taking over as director of Military Intelligence (MI) in January 2006,Major General Amos Yadlin has not given an interview.…

Nothing less than a titanic clash between two logics is at play in Beirut, and in the larger Middle East.…

President Bush returns to the Middle East this week for the second time in 2008. Initially planned to mark Israel’s…

This week, the democratically elected, pro-Western Lebanese government took the bold and unprecedented decision to confront Hizballah. Since its election…

Once we accept that this week’s alleged labor unrest was only the latest phase in Hizbullah’s war against the Lebanese…

By ALI AKBAR DAREINI TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — A former Iranian president has said that exporting violence to other countries…

On April 25, a second round of voting will determine the remaining eighty-eight seats of the Iranian Majlis. The first…

I have always been fascinated by the language of politicians. They have a special ability to talk without saying anything,…

Much ado has been made of the Israeli security fence isolating the West Bank. When it is completed in 2010,…

On April 8, Egypt held elections for nearly 53,000 municipal representatives. Not surprisingly, participation was abysmal: Egypt’s ruling faction, the…

Academic Researcher and Lecturer in Asian Studies Interview by Rita Ibrahim You have written a great deal about the connection…

[Bigger than the Vatican, awash in cash. How a shrine built a business empire and wields power.] (For an enlarged…

Is it time for the government to withdraw from the European convention on human rights? That’s the question posed by…

Osama bin Laden flew to London in 1986 to help negotiate the purchase of Russian-made surface-to-air missiles to be used…

The Catholic baptism of the well known journalist, Magdi Allam, Egyptian and non practising Muslim, has been criticised and despised…

This weekend, the much-anticipated annual Arab Summit will convene in Damascus. The run-up to the twentieth summit — the first…

President Nicolas Sarkozy’s center-right party got a rebuke from French voters in recent local elections, with leftist parties narrowly beating…

Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb – or AQIM – kidnapped two Austrian citizens in Tunisia on Feb. 22. The hostages…

(New York, March 24, 2008) – Syrian authorities should seek an independent investigation into the March 20 shootings by security…