CORRESPONDENTS

Hannah Allam

Iraq unstable, sectarian, with signs of authoritarian rule

Iraqi leaders are trying their best to prove wrong all the naysayers who predicted that the U.S. military's withdrawal last December would precipitate the country's immediate collapse and de facto annexation to Iran. However, 10 days in Baghdad, after an absence of more than a year, made it apparent that post-American Iraq remains an unstable, deeply sectarian state that's verging on authoritarianism under the veneer of a U.S.-friendly Muslim democracy. | 04/05/12 17:18:00 By - Hannah Allam

Arab summit a symbolic win for Iraq, but with no breakthrough on Syria

Arab leaders who gathered Thursday in Baghdad broke no new ground on Syria or other regional crises, but their summit was still hailed as a success — for returning Iraq to the Arab fold after years of isolating war and occupation. | 03/29/12 17:33:00 By - Hannah Allam and Sahar Issa

Arab leaders expected to back U.N. peace plan for Syria

With its own initiatives having failed, the Arab League is expected Thursday to back a U.N.-led peace plan during a meeting in Iraq, where the crisis in Syria is expected to be the dominant topic. | 03/28/12 17:18:00 By - Hannah Allam

Baghdad hopes Arab League summit stakes its place in changing Middle East

It's a sweet irony for Iraq that the main organizer of this weekend's Arab League summit, an annual gathering of Middle Eastern potentates and diplomats, isn't even Arab. | 03/26/12 19:03:00 By - Hannah Allam

Egypt's famous canal city symbolizes country's struggle for calm

After a bullet narrowly missed his head during last year's anti-government uprising, criminal defense attorney Khaled el Dakroury used his underworld connections to buy a Turkish-made 9mm handgun, just for peace of mind. | 03/22/12 14:50:00 By - Hannah Allam

Mourning Pope Shenouda III, Egypt's Coptic Christians fear for their future

Thousands of Egyptian Christians converged on a landmark cathedral here Sunday to bid farewell to Coptic Pope Shenouda III, a protector and father figure to an ancient minority that's now struggling for a place in the new, Islamist-dominated Egypt. | 03/18/12 16:53:00 By - Hannah Allam

Twin blasts kill 27 in Syria's capital, Damascus

After weeks of punishing defeats in rebellious Syrian cities, anti-government insurgents struck at the heart of President Bashar Assad's regime Saturday with twin bombings in the capital that killed 27 and wounded more than 100. | 03/17/12 16:45:00 By - David Enders and Hannah Allam

Anger over NGO trial threatens Egypt's interim government

Just days after American civil society workers were whisked from Egypt to avoid a politically charged trial, outrage over the case has built into a push this week by the newly seated Parliament to bring down the caretaker government. | 03/12/12 16:26:00 By - Hannah Allam

Egypt's religious hardliners make a rocky debut in Parliament

Only five weeks into their historic foray into Parliament, Egypt's ultraconservative Salafists have earned a reputation as loose cannons for a series of actions that critics might dismiss as comical if it weren't for the group's deep grassroots support. | 03/07/12 17:41:00 By - Hannah Allam

Ending travel ban, Egypt signals NGO case may be dropped

Egypt on Wednesday lifted a travel ban on seven Americans who were on trial with 36 other civil society workers on charges of illegally receiving foreign funds, the first sign that a case that's chilled Egyptian-American relations may be nearing a resolution. | 02/29/12 18:23:00 By - Hannah Allam and Omnia Al Desoukie

Syria says new constitution received overwhelming support

Amid reports of fresh atrocities in the besieged city of Homs, the Syrian government said Monday that an overwhelming majority of voters — 89 percent — had approved a new constitution that's billed as President Bashar Assad's most serious concession yet in the nearly year-old uprising against his rule. | 02/27/12 17:22:00 By - Hannah Allam