Rebels in Syrian city are surrounded, braced for assault

This city of 35,000 is largely empty. Seven miles from the Lebanese border, Qusayr is the last rebel stronghold in this part of Syria. | 03/03/12 22:08:27 By - David Enders

Syria splits along sectarian lines, shaking Mideast

Resting in a safe house south of the shell-battered city of Homs, Syrian rebel Abu Abdo at first framed the conflict convulsing his country as a war between the Sunni Muslim majority and the authoritarian regime of President Bashar Assad. | 03/02/12 18:28:37 By - David Enders and Jonathan S. Landay

Obama tries to reassure Israel about U.S. stand on Iran

Iran's nuclear ambitions will take center stage Monday when President Barack Obama meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu amid rising global fears that Tehran is pursuing nuclear weapons. | 03/02/12 17:52:49 By - Lesley Clark

Rebel ammo runs low as Syrian government presses attack

Commanders of the militia that's fighting against the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad say they're running low on ammunition here and won't conduct any offensive operations until they find a way to resupply. | 02/29/12 19:04:24 By - David Enders

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 18:34:51 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 17:49:59 By - Hannah Allam

U.S. military receives remains of last soldier missing in Iraq

The U.S. military has recovered the remains of the last U.S. service member missing in Iraq, ending a nearly six-year ordeal involving shadowy militants and a tragic love story, his family said Sunday. | 02/26/12 09:51:05 By - Hannah Allam

Egypt trial threatens future of U.S. pro-democracy NGOs

A trial set for Sunday in Egypt of at least 16 Americans could have far-reaching implications for the pro-democracy movement that has been sweeping the Middle East. | 02/24/12 19:28:12 By - David Goldstein

Syrian troops apparently halt Homs shelling as some wounded are evacuated

Syrian Arab Red Crescent workers rescued a small number of wounded civilians Friday from the hard-hit Baba Amr neighborhood of the city of Homs as representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Syrian government negotiated over a ceasefire that would allow still larger evacuations. | 02/24/12 18:41:21 By - David Enders

'Top levels' of Syria regime responsible for war crimes, U.N. says

As the city of Homs shuddered Thursday from another day of Syrian army bombardments, U.N. investigators held regime officials and military commanders "at the highest levels" responsible for "crimes against humanity and other gross human rights violations" against civilians and opposition groups. | 02/23/12 18:52:03 By - Jonathan S. Landay

Assad commits nearly all his forces in race to crush uprising, experts say

Syrian President Bashar Assad is now using most of his regular ground forces in an intensified drive to crush the uprising against his family's four-decade-long rule in what could be a critical test of his minority-run military's cohesion, according to U.S. officials and experts. | 02/22/12 19:34:02 By - Jonathan S. Landay

Egypt's high court delays Mubarak verdict until June

Egypt's highest court said Wednesday that a verdict in deposed President Hosni Mubarak's murder trial won't be issued until June, presumably to prevent any disruption to presidential elections now scheduled for May. | 02/22/12 18:29:54 By - Omnia Al Desoukie

Yemenis fear there'll be no change with new president

When voting ends here Tuesday in early presidential elections, there's no doubt that something historic will have taken place: Ali Abdullah Saleh, who's ruled here for 33 years, no longer will be president, becoming the fourth veteran leader toppled over the course of the Arab Spring. | 02/20/12 18:42:58 By - Adam Baron

Divisions in Arab League hobble efforts to resolve Syria crisis

The Arab League's sharp internal divisions over how hard to push for regime change in Syria are hampering its ability to lead negotiations toward resolving the crisis, analysts said Monday. | 02/20/12 17:27:08 By - Hannah Allam

Southern Yemen's election boycott hints at trouble ahead

Yemenis will head to the polls Tuesday in a one-candidate election that's expected to make Vice President Abdo Rabbu Mansour Hadi the first president from southern Yemen since the country's two halves were unified in 1990. | 02/18/12 16:33:45 By - Adam Baron

With Egypt in turmoil, Israel builds fence to keep out trouble

Sparks flew across the desert sand as Mohammad Omar welded barbed wire to the top of a 16-foot fence that winds its way across the Israeli-Egyptian border. Against the brown and tan landscape, the gleaming white metal of the fence stands out, an ominous warning to those attempting to cross into Israel. | 02/17/12 15:14:03 By - Sheera Frenkel

Top U.S. intelligence officials confirm al Qaida role in Syria

Al Qaida's Iraqi affiliate appears to have infiltrated Syrian opposition groups and was likely responsible for recent suicide bombings in Damascus and the industrial capital of Aleppo, senior U.S. intelligence officials told Congress Thursday. | 02/16/12 19:12:18 By - Jonathan S. Landay

One year into revolution, Libya is beset by uncontrolled militias, rights abuses

Thousands of euphoric Libyans filled Tripoli's main square in September to hear Mustafa Abdul-Jalil's first speech since rebel forces chased Moammar Gadhafi from the Libyan capital. | 02/16/12 15:43:24 By - Hannah Allam

Egypt sets presidential elections for May amid rising tensions

Egypt will hold its first presidential elections since Hosni Mubarak's ouster in May, a month earlier than previously scheduled, as part of an accelerated transition to civilian rule demanded by revolutionary political factions, state news media and officials said Wednesday. | 02/15/12 18:06:51 By - Omnia Al Desoukie and Hannah Allam

Syria sets referendum for Feb. 26 as refugees flock to Lebanon

Syrian state media announced Tuesday that the country would hold a referendum Feb. 26 on a new constitution even as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees predicted that ongoing fighting in that country would drive growing numbers of Syrians to seek refuge inside Lebanon. | 02/15/12 15:09:39 By - David Enders

Egypt accuses U.S. of using NGOs to thwart revolution

Only days after a visit by the Pentagon's top general to smooth testy relations with Egypt's military rulers, the state news service on Monday released a months-old report that accuses the Obama administration of funneling cash to pro-democracy groups in Cairo after it was caught off guard by the uprising last year against longtime U.S. ally Hosni Mubarak. | 02/13/12 16:31:44 By - Omnia Al Desoukie and Hannah Allam

Arab League seeks joint U.N peacekeeping force for Syria

The Arab League voted Sunday to seek a joint U.N. peacekeeping force for Syria as regional diplomats met in Cairo to discuss their dwindling options for stopping the bloodshed in a nearly year-old uprising against President Bashar Assad. | 02/12/12 23:21:57 By - Omnia Al Desoukie

U.S. officials: Al Qaida behind Syria bombings

The Iraqi branch of al Qaida, seeking to exploit the bloody turmoil in Syria to reassert its potency, carried out two recent bombings in the Syrian capital, Damascus, and likely was behind suicide bombings Friday that killed at least 28 people in the largest city, Aleppo, U.S. officials told McClatchy. | 02/10/12 21:46:51 By - Jonathan S. Landay

Egypt vows to press NGO case despite U.S. threats

Egypt's government won't back off its criminal investigation of American and other civil society workers even if the U.S. withdraws its financial aid, Egypt's military-appointed prime minister said Wednesday, in a case that could spell the end of one of the United States' closest Arab alliances. | 02/08/12 17:02:02 By - Omnia Al Desoukie

U.S. Gen. Dempsey heads to Egypt with relations on line

With $1.3 billion in annual U.S. military aid and a three-decade relationship hanging in the balance, U.S. officials said Tuesday that Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, would travel to Egypt to press for the criminal charges against at least 16 American nonprofit workers to be dropped. | 02/07/12 19:05:57 By - Nancy A. Youssef, Jonathan S. Landay and Hannah Allam

Fury over soccer deaths leads to new clashes, threats to Egypt's government

Thousands of angry sports fans besieged the Egyptian Interior Ministry on Thursday to avenge 74 deaths in riots over a soccer match the previous night, as political forces seized on the tragedy to renew demands for the ouster of the military-appointed interim government. | 02/02/12 07:05:33 By - Hannah Allam and Omnia Al Desoukie

Arab monitors were unprepared for Syria, report shows

The Arab League's mission to monitor the bloodshed in Syria was doomed from the start, with some observers seemingly oblivious to the gravity of their assignment and others lacking the expertise to do the job, according to a leaked internal report. | 02/01/12 17:05:43 By - Hannah Allam

U.S., allies mount pressure on Syria at U.N.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton led a high-wattage diplomatic push Tuesday to persuade the U.N. Security Council to endorse an Arab plan for Syrian President Bashar Assad to step down, but she couldn't break the steadfast objections of Russia and China. | 01/31/12 19:41:35 By - Nancy A. Youssef

Egypt's crackdown on U.S. groups finds support at home

The scenario is familiar to Egyptian political activists: Authorities harass pro-democracy groups, raid their offices, ban employees from travel and threaten criminal charges to smear them as foreign agents. | 01/31/12 17:55:52 By - Hannah Allam and Nancy A. Youssef

Egypt boosts aid to wounded protesters, but many still suffer

Egypt is stepping up efforts to treat thousands of wounded revolutionaries, but many of the injured say they've yet to receive compensation and feel their sacrifices for democracy are going unnoticed by the transitional government. | 01/30/12 16:33:00 By - Mohannad Sabry

With violence rising, Arab League suspends Syria mission

The Arab League suspended its Syria observation mission Saturday, saying it was too dangerous to continue, as battles between security and opposition forces raged just outside the capital, Damascus. | 01/28/12 18:31:39 By - Hannah Allam

Egyptians argue over fate of charred Mubarak party building

A year ago this week, flames swallowed the headquarters of now-deposed President Hosni Mubarak, a scene shown on live television that made the revolution real for millions of Egyptians. | 01/26/12 18:27:30 By - Hannah Allam

Egypt bars U.S. workers from travel, escalating crackdown

Egypt has barred at least 10 American and European civil society workers — including the son of a senior Obama administration official — from leaving the country in a sign that the ruling generals are extending their crackdown on foreign pro-democracy groups. | 01/26/12 17:33:18 By - Hannah Allam

Where Egypt toppled Mubarak, a modest candidate makes his own run

Chanting "Down with military rule," hundreds of thousands of Egyptians converged on Tahrir Square on Wednesday for the anniversary of the revolt that ended Hosni Mubarak's authoritarian rule and left the country in the hands of a few entrenched generals. | 01/25/12 19:06:07 By - Hannah Allam

Egypt's revolutionaries see little progress a year after revolt

A year ago, Tahrir Square was a carnival of unity — Egyptian protesters stood Christian with Muslim, Islamist with leftist, women with men, rich with poor — for the common cause of bringing down Hosni Mubarak's authoritarian regime. | 01/24/12 14:04:18 By - Hannah Allam

Young activists go online to promote Middle East peace

Jewish and Arab activists on Monday held the first day of a two-day virtual peace conference to promote peace between Israelis and Palestinians. The event is hosted by YaLa-Young Leaders, an online group of around 40,000 that uses social media technology to promote peace and development in the region. | 01/23/12 19:05:24 By - Kelsi Loos

1st Parliament session shows Egypt's new political landscape

Egypt's first elected Parliament since the ouster of Hosni Mubarak took office Monday, with several lawmakers tweaking their oaths of office or wearing sashes to reflect the newfound power of Islamists and the disenchantment with military rule since the popular uprising a year ago. | 01/23/12 17:22:27 By - Hannah Allam

After a year of Arab upheaval, Islamists are biggest winners

In the year since the wave of revolts that brought down three Middle Eastern rulers and left two others tottering began, the ascension of the Islamists has emerged as the dominant narrative. The United States and other Western powers - along with Arab liberals and religious minorities - are watching with alarm as conservative Muslim politicians have filled the power vacuums left by the rebellions in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya. | 01/19/12 17:45:31 By - Hannah Allam

ElBaradei slams military as he quits Egypt presidential race

The prominent Egyptian presidential candidate and Nobel laureate Mohammed ElBaradei made a surprise withdrawal from the race Saturday, dealing a blow to young supporters who'd counted on him to guard their revolution from the country's new military and Islamist leaders. | 01/14/12 16:21:45 By - Mohannad Sabry

Another Iranian nuclear scientist killed; Israel blamed

An Iranian scientist working at a key nuclear facility in that country was killed Wednesday in Tehran, the latest act in what appears to be a widening covert effort to disrupt Iran's nuclear program. | 01/11/12 16:22:36 By - Sheera Frenkel

Syria's Assad slams protesters, Arab League in 2-hour speech

In his first public speech since June, Syrian President Bashar Assad showed no signs Tuesday that he was willing to compromise on his crackdown on anti-government protesters, promising an "iron hand" even as his country veers dangerously close to civil war after 10 months of protests and violence. | 01/10/12 17:54:18 By - Hannah Allam and Mohannad Sabry

Ex-rebel official hopeful about Libya's transition

As fighting among militias in Libya continues, the country's former finance and oil minister said Thursday that a strong presidential system was crucial to provide stability following the ouster of Moammar Gadhafi. | 01/05/12 18:11:31 By - Rachel Roubein

Egyptian activists worry Islamist-led parliament will go easy on military

Egyptians completed voting Wednesday in the final round of parliamentary elections, with little suspense over the results: When final tallies are announced Jan. 13, Islamists are assured a majority through the steamroller parties of the Muslim Brotherhood and the more fundamentalist Salafists. | 01/04/12 15:03:36 By - Hannah Allam and Mohannad Sabry

Israelis, Palestinians meet in Jordan for 1st time in a year

Israeli and Palestinian officials met Tuesday in Jordan's capital, Amman, in the first attempt at peace talks in more than a year. As expected, there were no breakthroughs. | 01/03/12 16:15:39 By - Sheera Frenkel

Divisions emerge between Islamists in Egypt

Islamist parties are the top two vote-getters after the first two phases of elections for Egypt's new parliament, but despite fears of a hard-line coalition, serious divisions have erupted between the two main Islamist groups before the parliament has even been seated. | 12/30/11 16:24:45 By - Mohannad Sabry

Egypt crackdown escalates, with raids on 17 rights groups

Egyptian authorities on Thursday raided the offices of 17 domestic and international human rights and pro-democracy organizations, including several that receive U.S. government funding, in a sharp intensification of the military's crackdown that recalled the tactics of the country's ousted authoritarian president, Hosni Mubarak. | 12/29/11 19:09:27 By - Mohannad Sabry and Jonathan S. Landay

Extremists' jeers at 8-year-old the last straw for Israelis

Thousands of Israelis poured into this Jerusalem suburb Tuesday night in a protest against religious extremists who've targeted women and enforced strict division of the sexes in public life. | 12/27/11 17:17:09 By - Sheera Frenkel

Egypt's women protest despite brutal military attacks

This week, thousands of Egyptian women protested in Tahrir Square against military generals who silently watched their soldiers lead assaults on female protesters. The female protest came despite an apology published on the official Facebook page of the ruling military council, a failed attempt to defuse public anger that backfired. | 12/23/11 16:14:35 By - Mohannad Sabry

Palestinian residents of Bethlehem fear Israeli expansion

Israel plans, within the coming months, to construct a circle of Jewish settlements around the city as well as to complete work on a section of the imposing Israeli-West Bank security barrier that essentially will surround Bethlehem. | 12/22/11 16:18:01 By - Sheera Frenkel

Egyptian military defends crackdown on demonstrators

The Egyptian military on Monday defended its harsh crackdown on protesters, saying soldiers are trying to protect government buildings, and it accused private news organizations of colluding with those it says are attacking government property. | 12/19/11 18:50:12 By - Mohannad Sabry

Battles rage as Egypt counts ballots

Egyptian soldiers hurled rocks, cement bricks and glass plates at protesters as the two sides battled in a second straight day of post-election violence that's left at least nine people dead and some 300 injured, according to official figures. | 12/17/11 17:26:38 By - Mohannad Sabry

For Palestinians, prison time is a badge of honor

As Israel prepares to release 550 Palestinians on Sunday in the second stage of a prisoner exchange deal with the Islamist Hamas movement, many Palestinians already are calling it an empty gesture, because historically prisoners whom the Israelis have freed are likely to be rearrested on similar charges. | 12/16/11 17:24:49 By - Sheera Frenkel

Jewish attacks prompt Israeli debate: Who's a terrorist?

A young man calling himself Yehudi Tzadik — "righteous Jew" — picked up a rock and rolled it around in his hand, as if considering pitching it at a police car parked nearby. | 12/15/11 16:41:44 By - Sheera Frenkel

In Egyptian canal city, voters lean toward Islamists

Sheikh Hafez Salama, 86, won't say which party he voted for Wednesday in the second round of Egypt's parliamentary elections, but it's a safe bet that he picked fellow Islamists. | 12/14/11 15:20:33 By - Hannah Allam

Egypt's military rulers to decide fate of Guantanamo returnee

Adel el Gazzar emerged from his eight-year detention at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, with one leg, no U.S. charges against him and zero chance of returning to his native Egypt, where he was sure to have been locked up again by then-President Hosni Mubarak's regime. | 12/11/11 14:57:14 By - Hannah Allam

Israeli travel ban cuts studies short for Palestinians

For more than a decade, Emal Abu Aisha has run a women's center in the Gaza Strip that provides women with training and classes to improve their education. But Abu Aisha, 42, said she'd been denied that opportunity herself. | 12/08/11 14:53:08 By - Sheera Frenkel

Video: Egypt's uprising loses steam

The numbers of protesters in Tahrir Square have dwindled. The first round of parliamentary elections took some of the steam out of Egypt's second uprising. (Video by Jihan Hafiz, Real News Network) | 12/07/11 19:15:26 By -

Yemen forms unity government, but Saleh's fate still unclear

Yemeni Vice President Abed Rabbu Mansour Hadi formed a new, 35-member unity government, state media reported Wednesday, a key step in a Western-backed agreement to secure President Ali Abdullah Saleh's exit from power while putting an end to months of demonstrations and unrest. | 12/07/11 17:21:52 By - Adam Baron

Saudi dissidents turn to YouTube to air their frustrations

The Arab Spring has yet to touch down on the sands of Saudi Arabia, and advocates face an uphill battle mobilizing an apathetic general public that seems to accept the country's all-powerful monarchy. Now, however, young Saudi videographers are using YouTube to air a series of video reports that reveal the underside of life in the world's biggest oil producer. | 12/04/11 15:54:14 By - Roy Gutman

As expected, Islamists take lead in Egypt's first voting round

Islamists appeared poised to play a leading role in Egypt's first Parliament since the ouster of Hosni Mubarak, according to partial election results released Friday from the first round of polling earlier this week. | 12/02/11 18:55:18 By - Hannah Allam and Mohannad Sabry

Egypt's parliament isn't Muslim Brotherhood's first win this year

With results of the first round of parliamentary polling due Friday, Egyptians are preparing for what partial tallies show will be a sweeping win for the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist political force that was the archenemy of deposed President Hosni Mubarak. | 12/01/11 19:11:39 By - Hannah Allam

Tahrir protesters bitter over Egypt's successful first vote

The irony of Egypt's successful parliamentary vote is this: With every vote cast, chances dimmed for Tahrir Square protesters' demand for immediate civilian rule. | 11/29/11 17:31:52 By - Mohannad Sabry

Election shows Islamists truly are Egypt's best-organized force

It rained here on election day, but the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party was prepared: Its election workers, sometimes a half-dozen men or more at each polling station, sported matching neon yellow raincoats and baseball caps bearing the party logo. | 11/28/11 17:55:41 By - David Enders

Video: Egypt uses U.S.-made tear gas against protestors

In Cairo, Egyptian government forces unleash a powerful form of U.S.-made tear gas against protestors. (Video by Jihan Hafiz, Real News Network) | 11/28/11 16:12:10 By -

After days of chaos, Egypt's first post-Mubarak vote goes smoothly

Defying predictions of violence and chaos, Egyptians flooded polling stations Monday to cast ballots in the first elections since the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak. | 11/28/11 10:41:11 By - Hannah Allam and Mohannad Sabry

No joy in Egypt as voters head to first post-Mubarak elections

Millions of Egyptians will vote Monday in the first election since the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak, but the mood is somber rather than celebratory in a country that's more divided and politically unstable than at any time in recent memory. | 11/27/11 18:38:27 By - Hannah Allam and Mohannad Sabry

Yemen's first post-Saleh vote won't be much of a contest

Yemen's new prime minister said Sunday that both the ruling party and the country's largest opposition coalition would nominate the country's current vice president to be their candidate in the upcoming election to pick a successor to President Ali Abdullah Saleh. | 11/27/11 18:18:15 By - Adam Baron

Yemen presidential vote set for Feb. 21; Saleh returns home

Vice President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi on Saturday set Feb. 21 as the date that Yemenis will go to the polls to select at new president to replace Ali Abdullah Saleh, who agreed last week to step down after 10 months of protests against his rule. | 11/26/11 16:46:54 By - Adam Baron

Bombings in Baghdad claim at least 15 lives as U.S. drawdown continues

At least 15 Iraqis were killed and 41 others wounded in two separate incidents in the Iraqi capital Saturday, police said | 11/26/11 10:21:22 By - Laith Hammoudi

Thousands of Egyptians press demand for military council to step down

Egypt on Friday appeared on the cusp of a protracted battle for control of the country’s once-promising revolution, with military rulers and protesters staging rival demonstrations and showing preferences for different prime ministers. | 11/25/11 20:33:00 By - Hannah Allam

Turkey doesn't budge on demanding apology from Israel

Turkey sees no possibility of resuming full diplomatic relations with Israel unless Israel apologizes and pays damages for the deaths its commandos caused last year aboard a Turkish ship that was trying to run Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip, Turkey's foreign minister said Friday. | 11/25/11 16:11:53 By - Ipek Yezdani

Egypt’s ruling generals: Elections will go on despite violence

Egypt’s beleaguered military council said Thursday that it would press ahead with a parliamentary election Monday, though it acknowledged “many violations” by security forces whose efforts to clear out protesters backfired and triggered a wider uprising just days before the landmark vote. | 11/24/11 11:17:06 By - Hannah Allam and Mohannad Sabry

A defiant Saleh agrees to step down as Yemen's president

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh on Wednesday transferred power to his deputy and agreed to leave office within 90 days, bringing to a climax 10 months of often bloody political wrangling that has left his impoverished nation economically crippled and on the verge of anarchy. | 11/23/11 18:09:34 By - Adam Baron

South Sudan and Sudan at loggerheads over oil talks

The South Sudanese government has seized what had been Sudan's share of the south's oil production and has decided to build a new pipeline that would not cross through Sudanese territory, the latest sign that the two former war foes are unlikely to resolve by negotiation the issues created when South Sudan became an independent country this summer. | 11/22/11 18:31:34 By - Alan Boswell

Tens of thousands in Cairo's Tahrir Square call for Tantawi to go

Tens of thousands of anti-military protesters streamed into downtown Cairo’s iconic Tahrir Square on Tuesday as the nation waited anxiously for the head of the embattled ruling military council to break his silence on unrest that threatens to derail next week’s elections. | 11/22/11 09:55:47 By - Hannah Allam and Mohannad Sabry

Crisis intensifies as Egypt's government resigns

Egypt's civilian Cabinet resigned Monday to protest the military's harsh crackdown on demonstrators as an uprising against the ruling military council swelled into a third day of running battles in downtown Cairo. | 11/21/11 20:39:22 By - Hannah Allam and Mohannad Sabry

Syrian rebel group claims attack on ruling party office in Damascus

Rocket-propelled grenades reportedly struck a Damascus office of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s Baath Party before dawn Sunday, the first attack of its kind in the capital since an anti-government uprising began last spring. | 11/20/11 07:48:58 By - Hannah Allam

Two dead, hundreds injured as protests rock Egypt

Spreading protests in Egypt kill one and injure hundreds, bringing instability to the nation poised to conduct elections. | 11/19/11 15:35:12 By - Hannah Allam and Mohannad Sabry

Kansas City lawyers tried to sign Gadhafi as client

A father-and-son lawyer team with offices in Springfield and Kansas City tried in April to sign late Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi as a client. The two had joined forces with an eclectic international collection of people with careers in the law and foreign relations. They approached Gadhafi’s regime as the American Action Group. They listed first among their membership Randell K. Wood, a lawyer who earned his law degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and had a long-standing practice in Springfield. Wood lobbied for the Libyans in the late 1980s for the removal of U.S. sanctions. | 11/18/11 19:44:25 By - Scott Canon and David Goldstein

Palestinians board Israeli settler buses to protest travel restrictions

Six Palestinian activists were arrested Tuesday when they attempted to enter Jerusalem on buses designated for Israelis alone. The group was hoping to bring attention to Israeli restrictions on Palestinians' freedom of movement in the West Bank by invoking the spirit of American civil rights activists who rode buses in the South in the 1960s in protest racial discrimination. | 11/15/11 17:51:14 By - Sheera Frenkel

Egypt's Islamists reach out to liberals as elections near

Shadi Taha, clean-shaven, in a black suit and spit-shined shoes, drew curious stares one recent evening as he sat among local men at a rundown cafe in this industrial Cairo suburb. | 11/15/11 16:57:07 By - Hannah Allam

Anti-settler groups say new Israeli law targets them

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has thrown its support behind a series of bills that left-wing political groups say are intended to weaken them by severely limiting their funding. | 11/14/11 19:42:05 By - Sheera Frenkel

Arab League suspends Syria, calls for talks on transition with Assad opponents

The Arab League on Saturday suspended Syria's participation and warned of political and economic sanctions. | 11/13/11 10:36:43 By - Hannah Allam and Mohannad al Sabry

Palestinians concede that bid for U.N. statehood will fail

Palestinian officials admitted Thursday that their bid for statehood in the United Nations in all likelihood has failed. A U.N. Security Council committee that's been considering the Palestinian application for recognition as a member state is expected to issue a final statement Friday saying that it had been unable to muster majority support for the bid. The committee released a draft statement earlier this week that made the same point. | 11/10/11 17:16:54 By - Sheera Frenkel

U.S. lawmakers push to keep pressure on Syria's Assad

The United States and the rest of the international community need to increase pressure to oust Syrian President Bashar Assad and develop a comprehensive strategy to assist in forging democracy in the country once he's gone. | 11/09/11 19:04:58 By - William Douglas and Shahid Ali Panhwer

Egyptians fear violence, prolonged military rule as elections near

Fair and transparent elections were a core demand of the thousands of protesters who toppled President Hosni Mubarak last winter, but now that the moment has arrived, many Egyptians are more anxious than eager. | 11/09/11 18:08:12 By - Hannah Allam

As peace hopes fade, so do Israel's memories of Yitzhak Rabin

A dozen students on a field trip stood in front of the Yitzhak Rabin memorial in Tel Aviv on Tuesday to mark the anniversary of the former prime minister's assassination. | 11/08/11 17:47:57 By - Sheera Frenkel

Israelis anxious over expected report on Iran nuclear program

Over the last week, Israelis have been stocking up on water, laying in canned goods and other supplies and in general preparing for a conflict that many worry may not be far off. Others have taken even more dramatic steps, renewing or securing non-Israeli passports that would allow them to flee the country for elsewhere in the event of a conflict. | 11/07/11 18:04:06 By - Sheera Frenkel

Can N.C. State alum Abdurrahim el-Keib re-engineer Libya?

When Abdurrahim el-Keib was a graduate student at N.C. State University, like many a future political figure he kept late hours, toiling night after night to put his lofty thoughts into inspiring words that might incite future generations to action. El-Keib, who was elected Monday as Libya's new prime minister by a national transitional council, is an electrical engineer with expertise in power distribution systems. "Technocrat," the international media is calling him, not politician. | 11/03/11 07:21:54 By - Jay Price

Kenyan forces gathering for push to seize port from Somalia's Shabab

Three weeks into their offensive against Somalia's Shabab Islamist militia, Kenyan forces are preparing for what's likely to be a decisive battle for the southern Somali port of Kismayo, which could either end Shabab's dominance in the region or add fuel to Somalia's decades-long civil war. | 11/02/11 15:00:32 By - Alan Boswell and Mohammed Yusuf

U.S cuts funding as UNESCO recognizes Palestine

UNESCO, the United Nations cultural agency, accepted Palestine as a full member on Monday, angering the United States, which announced that it would cut off funding to the international body. | 10/31/11 17:07:41 By - Sheera Frenkel

For many Israeli 'settlers,' their suburban home is just a place to live

To real estate agents, there's little difference between the homes they sell in Gilo, this sprawling neighborhood of high-rises and spacious streets, and those they offer just a few miles away in Jerusalem's Malcha neighborhood. But Gilo isn't part of Jerusalem. Instead, it's risen up on land Palestinians believe should be part of any future Palestinian state. | 10/26/11 16:24:11 By - Sheera Frenkel

Israel-Egypt prison swap will free jailed American

One week after the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners gained freedom for an Israeli soldier, Israel's cabinet agreed Tuesday to another swap, this time with Egypt to win the release of an American-Israeli law student who has been in Egyptian custody since June 12. | 10/25/11 17:46:48 By - Sheera Frenkel

53 bodies found in Libya raise more questions about fighters

Fifty-three bodies discovered over the weekend were those of loyalists of former Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi who appeared to have been executed after capture, the latest in a string of extrajudicial attacks attributed to revolutionary fighters from the western city of Misrata, a human rights group said Monday. | 10/24/11 17:01:41 By - Hannah Allam

Moammar Gadhafi's dead. Now what for Libya?

With the death Thursday of Moammar Gadahfi, Libya's de facto leaders now face the challenge of preserving the fragile unity they enjoyed while the deposed dictator was on the run as they begin transforming their war-battered nation into a democracy after 42 years of tyrannical one-man rule. | 10/20/11 19:36:15 By - Jonathan S. Landay

Lindsey Graham says GOP opposed Libya mission because Obama was president

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., hailed the death of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi Thursday but chastised Congress for its hesitance to assist anti-Gadhafi Libyan rebels and for criticizing President Barack Obama’s use of U.S. military resources to assist in air strikes. | 10/20/11 14:37:04 By - William Douglas

Video shows Gadhafi was alive when captured in Sirte

Fugitive Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi died Thursday from wounds sustained during capture near his hometown of Sirte, according to reports that were confirmed by Libyan transitional authorities and independent journalists. Amateur video broadcast on TV channels showed Gadhafi's purported corpse. Another showed him seemingly alive, but wounded. | 10/20/11 08:27:22 By - Mohamed Albuaishi and Hannah Allam

Shalit's condition leaves Israel second-guessing delay in his release

One day after Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit returned home after five years in captivity in the Gaza Strip, a deep sense of dissatisfaction settled over Israel Wednesday as questioning began of why it took so long for negotiators to win his release. | 10/19/11 18:40:56 By - Sheera Frenkel

Israeli soldier Shalit probably spent years under ground, doctors say

After five years in Palestinian custody, Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit came home Tuesday to adoring throngs and questions about his long years of captivity. Doctors said he was malnourished and that he probably had spent much of the last five years in solitary confinement below ground. | 10/18/11 19:18:45 By - Sheera Frenkel

Kenyan troops press assault on Somalia al Qaida group

Kenyan troops and tanks pushed 50 miles into Somalia on Monday and Kenyan aircraft bombed suspected terrorist positions in the first stage of a military campaign intended to destroy the Islamist insurgent group al Shabab. | 10/17/11 19:08:01 By - Alan Boswell and Mohammed Yusuf

For Israel's Shalit, freedom will start a long road to recovery

Dr. Mickey Zeifa knows better than most what captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit will face when he is released Tuesday. While much of Israel prepared to celebrate Shalit’s return in a prisoner exchange that will see 477 jailed Palestinians also go free Tuesday, Zeifa prepared to welcome a new member to his support group — Awake at Night — whose members are Israeli soldiers who were captured or held hostage in the line of duty. | 10/17/11 18:35:18 By - Sheera Frenkel

Rabin memorial defaced to protest Israel-Hamas prisoner swap

An Israeli man who lost five family members in the 2001 suicide bombing of a Jerusalem pizza restaurant on Friday defaced the memorial to Israel's assassinated Prime Minster Yitzhak Rabin as tension continued to mount here over next week's Israel-Hamas prisoner exchange. | 10/14/11 17:01:03 By - Sheera Frenkel

Israeli victims of violence feel mixed emotions on prisoner swap

While a celebratory atmosphere has settled over much of Israel in anticipation of the release next week of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit after more than five years of captivity, for some families, the upcoming prisoner exchange is a bitter reminder of all they've lost. | 10/13/11 17:33:49 By - Sheera Frenkel

Libyan rebels abuse, torture prisoners, rights group says

Libyan revolutionary forces are holding more than 2,500 detainees in makeshift prisons where they're subjected to beatings and languish without charges, the human rights advocacy group Amnesty International said Wednesday. | 10/12/11 18:53:33 By - Hannah Allam

Bitter enemies Hamas, Israel both win in prisoner swap

A prisoner swap that will exchange one hostage Israeli soldier for 1,027 jailed Palestinians was being hailed Wednesday as a victory for both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the leadership of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, a supreme irony in a world where Israel and Hamas have vowed to destroy each other. | 10/12/11 18:13:42 By - Sheera Frenkel

Israel, Hamas agree to huge prisoner exchange

Israeli and the Palestinian group Hamas agreed Tuesday to a vast prisoner exchange that would free Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in return for the largest release ever of Palestinians held in Israeli jails. | 10/11/11 18:40:15 By - Sheera Frenkel

With Gadhafi on the run, focus turns to Sahara's Tuareg

Stragglers on the march to modernity, swords at their sides, the nomadic Tuareg of West Africa, long a footnote in world affairs, may be about to take a more central role in counter-terrorism policy, thanks to the ouster of Libya's former leader Moammar Gadhafi. | 10/11/11 17:46:31 By - Alan Boswell

Tally of Coptic protest violence in Cairo: 22 dead, 327 injured

At Cairo's Coptic Hospital, 22 bodies lay in the morgue early Monday, silenced witnesses to what everyone agrees was the worst outbreak of violence to wrack this tense city since President Hosni Mubarak was forced from power eight months ago. | 10/10/11 19:36:26 By - Mohannad Sabry

At least 19 dead in Egypt church protests

A march by Coptic Christians turned deadly when protesters clashed with government forces in central Cairo, leaving at least 19 people dead and more than 200 injured in one of the bloodiest days in Egypt since the fall of Hosni Mubarak. | 10/09/11 19:33:31 By - Mohannad Sabry

Six weeks after Gadhafi's fall, Libya's rebels can't get their story straight

Libya's interim rulers were busy this week: They cheered the imminent fall of Moammar Gadhafi's hometown, ordered trigger-happy revolutionary fighters out of the capital, formed a new caretaker Cabinet and announced the discovery of 900 corpses in two mass graves. Only problem was, all those moves turned out to be premature, exaggerated or patently false. | 10/06/11 18:33:21 By - Hannah Allam

'End is in sight' for Libya mission, NATO says

NATO defense ministers said Thursday that the alliance would end its six-month mission in Libya once deposed leader Moammar Gadhafi can no longer mount attacks against civilians — a point that they suggested was imminent even though Gadhafi has evaded capture. | 10/06/11 16:53:28 By - Nancy A. Youssef

NATO chief says Libya mission doesn't hinge on Gadhafi's capture

Former Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi doesn't need to be captured or killed for NATO forces to end their mission in Libya, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Wednesday. | 10/05/11 16:24:52 By - Nancy A. Youssef

Libyan civilian toll from NATO bombings still unknown

When late-night NATO airstrikes rained down on this hardscrabble farming village, Majar, then-leader Moammar Gadhafi's propaganda machine kicked into overdrive. | 10/04/11 18:19:59 By - Hannah Allam

Family tells of terror from armed Gadhafi loyalists in Sirte

Militiamen loyal to Moammar Gadhafi swarm the streets of Sirte, brandishing rocket-propelled grenade launchers and passing out heavy weapons, including belt-fed machine guns, to anyone who's willing to fight. The electricity's been cut off since August, and those with generators are suspected of listening to news from the outside, marking them as disloyal. | 10/03/11 16:39:40 By - Hannah Allam

Arab Spring increases pressure on Israel to negotiate, Panetta says

In the face of the regime changes brought by the Arab Spring, negotiating with the Palestinians is all the more important for an “increasingly isolated” Israel, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Sunday en route to the Middle East. | 10/02/11 20:13:11 By - Nancy Youssef

American Samir Khan killed in U.S. attack in Yemen along with Awlaki

Samir Khan, who left his northeast Charlotte home for Yemen and became editor of an al Qaida-linked web magazine, was among the militants reported killed Friday in a U.S. air strike in Yemen. | 09/30/11 11:43:18 By - Steve Lyttle

Egypt's angry political groups say they'll boycott elections

In a major setback on Egypt's path to democracy, dozens of the country's political parties and movements announced Thursday that they'll boycott the first parliamentary elections scheduled since former President Hosni Mubarak's government collapsed seven months ago. | 09/29/11 19:20:39 By - Mohannad Sabry

A reporter in Libya wonders about lessons of war

Before I left for Libya to cover Moammar Gadhafi's flight from Tripoli and its aftermath, my roommate in Cairo remarked that I didn't look excited to be going. "I'm not sure what else I can learn about war," I said. | 09/28/11 15:28:03 By - David Enders

Egyptian military sets dates for elections, and the reaction is dismay

Egypt's ruling military council on Tuesday announced a long-awaited schedule for selecting a new civilian government that foresees parliament holding its first session on March 17, 2012, more than a year after the toppling of former President Hosni Mubarak. | 09/27/11 19:18:53 By - Mohannad Sabry

Read what Tantawi is alleged to have said at Mubarak's trial

The following transcript appeared on Egyptian social media sites, which claimed it was testimony by Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, the chairman of Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, at the trial of former President Hosni Mubarak on charges Mubarak ordered the killing of protesters seeking an end to his rule. The questions were asked by Judge Ahmad Refaat, who had banned coverage of the testimony. There was no official confirmation or denial of the legitimacy of the transcript. McClatchy special correspondent Mohannad Sabry translated. | 09/27/11 18:18:44 By -

Bellicose talk as Turkey debuts a warship

Turkey officially accepted delivery of its first domestically manufactured warship Tuesday at a ceremony that underscored the country's push to become a regional power. | 09/27/11 16:51:44 By - Ipek Yezdani

Egyptian women, long allowed to vote, see little progress from revolt

Thousands of Egyptian women fought in the 18-day uprising that unseated longtime President Hosni Mubarak. They hurled stones at pro-regime attackers, delivered meals to hungry protesters, and drew global attention to the struggle through their blogs and Twitter accounts. | 09/26/11 16:33:51 By - Hannah Allam

Misrata demand for leading role in transition roiling Libya's politics

Few Libyans dispute that the western city of Misrata suffered devastation and fielded the best fighters in the battle to topple Moammar Gadhafi's regime, but how those sacrifices are rewarded is one of the main debates stalling the next phase of an interim government. | 09/26/11 06:21:06 By - Hannah Allam

Six explosions in Karbala province kill 10

BAGHDAD, Iraq — A chain of six explosions, involving car bombs, motorcycle bombs and roadside bombs was unleashed on the center of the Shiite pilgrimage city of Karbala Sunday, killing 10 civilians and wounding at least 70, Iraqi police said. | 09/26/11 06:10:23 By - Laith Hammoudi

Yemen's President Saleh addresses nation for first time since return

President Ali Abdullah Saleh addressed the Yemeni people Sunday for the first time since returning to the increasingly volatile nation, calling for direct elections but not making any direct pledge to step down. | 09/26/11 06:07:59 By - Adam Baron

Yemen's Saleh shows no signs of stepping down in TV address

President Ali Abdullah Saleh addressed the Yemeni people Sunday for the first time since returning to the increasingly volatile nation, calling for direct elections but not making any direct pledge to step down. | 09/25/11 20:21:53 By - Adam Baron

New try at peace talks after Palestinians ask to join UN

Hours after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas made an impassioned appeal for full U.N. membership for an independent Palestinian state, U.S. and European diplomats on Friday proposed a new round of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks to begin within a month, with the goal of reaching a deal by the end of 2012. | 09/23/11 19:43:35 By - Lesley Clark

Palestinians celebrate Abbas' historic declaration of U.N. bid

The Palestinian bid for U.N. membership may face a certain veto from the United States in the Security Council, but on Friday there was no hint that anyone in the West Bank saw it as anything other than a historic moment. | 09/23/11 17:35:58 By - Sheera Frenkel

President returns to Yemen, unsettling an already tense nation

President Ali Abdullah Saleh unexpectedly returned to the capital Friday morning after more than three months of medical treatment and convalescence in Saudi Arabia in a move that threatened an escalation of violence in this increasingly volatile city. | 09/23/11 09:09:01 By - Adam Baron

Fleeing Syrian activists are finding a haven in Libya

Syrian activists fleeing persecution for taking part in the six-month-old revolt against their government are flocking to Libya, where they face no visa requirements and can find work easily because of the exodus of foreign laborers during the uprising against Moammar Gadhafi. | 09/23/11 04:44:08 By - Hannah Allam

Libya fighters say they've cut key Gadhafi escape route

After fierce battles in desert towns and oases, revolutionary forces now control most of Libya's vast south, making it harder for Moammar Gadhafi's loyalists to flee into neighboring Niger, Chad and Algeria, southern representatives to the interim ruling authority said Thursday. | 09/22/11 18:59:36 By - Hannah Allam

Egypt's military rulers won't lift hated emergency law until next year

Egypt's caretaker military government announced Wednesday that the emergency law that allows it to jail people without charges and try civilians before military courts will not be lifted until the middle of next year. | 09/21/11 18:11:23 By - Mohannad Sabry

For Libyans, photos of the dead recall their sad history

In the main square of this coastal city, portraits of the dead cover every wall. This makeshift memorial is where Benghazi families can, for the first time, share their private heartbreak over the victims of Gadhafi's 42-year rule in the newly renamed Freedom Square. Similar displays are springing up in other cities, grim illustrations to the Libyan story of suffering and, finally, rebellion. | 09/21/11 16:36:37 By - Hannah Allam

Revolutionary unity tested as Libya's ex-rebels face setbacks

A month after jubilant revolutionary fighters seized control of Tripoli, the movement is grappling with military and political setbacks in the struggle to wrest all of Libya from Moammar Gadhafi's loyalists. | 09/20/11 19:19:56 By - Hannah Allam

Obama to Palestinians: Seek goals at negotiating table, not the UN

With his administration and U.S. allies unable to dissuade Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas from pursuing membership at the United Nations, President Barack Obama will make a case Wednesday for reviving the moribund Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. | 09/20/11 19:19:14 By - Lesley Clark

Congressional effort would block Palestinian funding if statehood pursued

Republican U.S. Rep. Kay Granger of Texas, who took over a key U.S. House funding subcommittee in January, has emerged as a behind-the-scenes power player in the Israel-Palestinian Authority face-off that is coming to a head this week at the United Nations. | 09/20/11 19:05:51 By - Maria Recio

Niger town fears Libya turmoil will boost al Qaida group

On the southern edge of the Sahara desert, 600 miles from the Libyan border, residents of this dusty town are worrying that they're about to become another wartime lesson in the law of unintended consequences. | 09/20/11 13:51:11 By - Alan Boswell

U.N. showdown looms as Palestinians press statehood

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas reaffirmed his determination Monday to seek full United Nations membership, spurning the latest attempt by White House negotiators to avoid having to block the move and inflaming anti-American anger in the Middle East. | 09/19/11 19:34:35 By - Lesley Clark, Sheera Frenkel and Jonathan S. Landay

Mother of anti-Gadhafi militant finally talks about her family's fight

This is the price Zeinab Suleiman paid for her family's fight against Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi: five dead sons, two more in an Iraqi prison, a slain brother, three fatherless granddaughters, and too many arrests and raids to count. | 09/19/11 17:22:27 By - Hannah Allam

Death toll tops 50 as clashes continue in Yemen

The Yemeni capital was rocked by violence Monday for a second straight day as government forces clashed with demonstrators and defected soldiers, leaving at least 25 people dead. | 09/19/11 16:38:44 By - Adam Baron

Blast hits home of officer at center of Pakistan's terrorist fight

A suicide bomber driving an explosives-laden car rammed into the house of a senior counterterrorism police official Monday in the southern city of Karachi, killing eight people but not the officer who was the apparent target, officials said. | 09/19/11 15:42:43 By - Saeed Shah

Niger calls for help to monitor its border with Libya

The government of Niger on Friday called for international assistance to track what it said was a huge number of weapons and people that have flooded into the country from Libya in the weeks since the government of Moammar Gadhafi collapsed. It also announced that it would not return Gadhafi figures who've fled here if they might face the death penalty at home. | 09/16/11 19:53:50 By - Alan Boswell

Libyan employees 'saved oil, gas sector,' oil minister says

When Moammar Gadhafi's loyalists fled this sprawling refinery and petrochemical complex in late August, shortly after Tripoli fell, they left behind lethal "forget-me-nots" for the revolutionaries who unseated him. | 09/16/11 17:27:31 By - Roy Gutman

Palestinians to submit statehood bid next Friday

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas formally announced Friday that he will ask the U.N. Security Council to endorse his statehood bid, putting the United States in line for a showdown with the Palestinians and their supporters across the Arab world. | 09/16/11 16:36:06 By - Sheera Frenkel

Regaining confiscated property next fight for many in Libya

Fawzi Darnawi's fight to get back a house that belonged to his father is almost as old as he is. Under former Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's Sultat al Shaab ("Power of the People") program in the 1970s and '80s, the government confiscated thousands of businesses and properties. Many of the confiscated houses then were sold to new owners or rented out by the government itself. | 09/16/11 15:58:53 By - David Enders

Palestinians rebuff Obama, edge closer to statehood bid

Palestinian leaders on Thursday rebuffed the latest U.S. attempt to dissuade them from seeking U.N. recognition of a Palestinian state, all but guaranteeing a veto by the Obama administration that would please domestic supporters of Israel but further inflame anti-U.S. anger across the changing Middle East. | 09/15/11 19:32:19 By - Sheera Frenkel, Jonathan S. Landay and Lesley Clark

Tiny Burkina Faso confronts Gadhafi's enormous legacy

Even though his portrait no longer graces the lobby of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso's premier hotel, fallen Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's presence in this West African nation won't fade quickly. | 09/15/11 16:51:53 By - Alan Boswell

A familiar face emerges to lead Libya's new army

Former Libyan military officers packed an auditorium here on Wednesday to listen to the man who has been appointed to lead the country's army as the leaders of the movement that deposed dictator Moammar Gadhafi's last month attempt to consolidate their control. | 09/14/11 18:22:48 By - David Enders

Palestinian anger rising against U.S. over U.N. resolution

Palestinian shopkeeper Fadi Bin Masraf was busy this week, putting away stacks of merchandise that feature the U.S. flag as part of imitation-designer American brands. | 09/14/11 17:47:06 By - Sheera Frenkel

Palestinian search for U.N. membership puts U.S. in bind

Palestinian leaders will ask the U.N. Security Council for full United Nations membership, Palestinian officials said Tuesday, despite a U.S. vow to veto the move and fears that it could deal a fatal blow to the moribund peace process. | 09/13/11 19:59:08 By - Sheera Frenkel and Jonathan S. Landay

Turkish premier's blast at Israel welcomed in Cairo

Israel's increasing isolation in a changing Middle East became clear Tuesday when the prime minister of Turkey, once one of the Jewish state's most dependable allies, kicked off a state visit here with a series of fiery speeches in which he branded Israel a criminal and demanded U.N. recognition for a Palestinian state. | 09/13/11 18:09:13 By - Hannah Allam and Mohannad Sabry

Egypt police raid Al Jazeera office as sense of crisis grows

Security police raided the Egyptian offices of the Al Jazeera news channel Sunday and detained a member of its technical staff in the first move of its kind against a foreign news organization since the ruling military council declared a state of emergency in the wake of the storming of the Israeli embassy here. | 09/11/11 17:58:17 By - Mohannad Sabry

Libyan rebels accuse pro-Gadhafi forces of holding 'human shields'

Libyan rebels have broken off their assault on a key city south of Tripoli after discovering that forces loyal to ousted dictator Moammar Gadhafi there had placed Russian-made Grad rockets and mortars on the roofs of houses filled with civilians, the rebels' military spokesman said Sunday. The decision to halt the rebel offensive on Bani Walid makes it unlikely the rebels would have full control of the country before the end of September. | 09/11/11 17:58:00 By - Roy Gutman

Israel facing 'diplomatic tsunami' with Arab neighbors

The attack on the Israeli embassy in Cairo has brought into sharp relief Israel's increasing isolation in a still region grappling with the changes of the Arab Spring. | 09/10/11 18:34:10 By - Sheera Frenkel

Egypt declares emergency after Israeli embassy attack

Egypt declared a state of emergency Saturday after a mob stormed the Israeli embassy, forcing the evacuation of the ambassador and dealing what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called a "severe injury to the fabric of peace" between the two increasingly uneasy allies. | 09/10/11 18:29:19 By - Mohannad Sabry

Libya looks to restart oil production, but skirmishes go on

Libya's transitional government plans to resume crude oil and gas production within days, a senior official said Saturday, even as revolutionary fighters were driven back in their attempt to oust holdouts loyal to ex-strongman Moammar Gadhafi. | 09/10/11 18:29:00 By - Roy Gutman and David Enders

Demonstrators storm Israeli embassy building in Cairo

Dozens of protesters stormed the building housing the Israeli embassy in Cairo Friday, breaking down a security wall and seizing documents from a storage area in the worst anti-Israeli violence since President Hosni Mubarak was ousted from office seven months ago. | 09/09/11 20:19:29 By - Mohannad Sabry

Rebels say Gadhafi loyalists holding hostages outside Sirte

Forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi have moved hundreds of hostages to a village outside Sirte in what appear to be preparations for a final violent stand, officials of the National Transitional Council said Thursday. | 09/08/11 18:54:18 By - Roy Gutman and David Enders

Arms smuggling explodes across Egypt-Libya border

The NATO-backed war in Libya has turned the ramshackle Egyptian border town of Salloum into a multimillion-dollar smuggling hub, with at least two huge shipments of weapons seized in recent weeks and many more loads passing into Egypt undetected, smugglers and military officials say. | 09/08/11 17:31:01 By - Mohannad Sabry

A Gadhafi exile in Africa is unlikely, experts say

Despite reports that Moammar Gadhafi is fleeing toward Niger or nearby Burkina Faso, few experts on African politics believe it is likely he would be granted refuge in either country. | 09/07/11 19:15:33 By - Alan Boswell

African women say rebels raped them in Libyan camp

When the sun sets on the refugee camp for black Africans that has sprung up at the marina in this town six miles west of Tripoli, the women here brace for the worst. | 09/07/11 18:40:57 By - David Enders

2 convoys of Gadhafi aides roll into Niger, but where's their leader?

As members of the ousted government of Moammar Gadhafi rolled into Niger with gold, jewels, cash and other state property on Tuesday, the U.S. said it had asked Niger to arrest those who could be prosecuted and return the property to the people of Libya. | 09/06/11 18:41:17 By - Roy Gutman and Jonathan S. Landay

NATO strategy for Gadhafi holdouts: first leaflets, then bombs

As Libya's revolutionary regime prepares for a military assault on three towns still controlled by Moammar Gadhafi loyalists, NATO aircraft backing the new authorities aren't just destroying missiles and tanks. | 09/05/11 19:04:50 By - Roy Gutman

Fistfights, insults disrupt Mubarak trial testimony

Not even an hour into the third day of the trial of deposed Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, a fistfight broke out in court Monday and insults flew between his supporters and detractors as an exasperated judge tried to restore order to the chaotic proceedings. | 09/05/11 17:25:15 By - Mohannad Sabry

Both sides in Libya conflict clash at Gadhafi stronghold

BENGHAZI, Libya — Loyalists of Moammar Gadhafi fired on "Free Libya" forces Sunday as they advanced on one of the last strongholds of the ousted leader, quashing hopes for a peaceful handover of the town, the rebel military spokesman said. | 09/04/11 17:36:45 By - Roy Gutman and David Enders

In Libya, one of final Gadhafi strongholds poised to fall

BENGHAZI, Libya — One of the last strongholds of the ousted Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, the town of Bani Walid, is on the verge of surrender to revolutionary forces, a top official said Saturday, as the new regime issued a second ultimatum to the remaining pockets of resistance. | 09/03/11 17:58:02 By - Roy Gutman and David Enders

At cemetery for Gadhafi fighters, grisly work goes on

A rudimentary cemetery sits on a sand dune overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. Under headstones fashioned from cinder blocks lie the bodies of more than 700 men who Libyan revolutionaries say were killed fighting for former leader Moammar Gadhafi. | 09/02/11 22:26:15 By - David Enders

Gadhafi fleeing across desert toward Niger, rebels say

Ousted Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi is fleeing south across the Sahara Desert, bound perhaps for the border with Niger, the military spokesman for the rebel National Transitional Council told McClatchy on Thursday. | 09/01/11 18:45:00 By - Roy Gutman

Libya rebels call on Sirte residents to liberate their city

The revolutionary fighters who deposed Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi last week have set up a base in the town of Sadada in preparation for a possible offensive on Gadhafi's hometown of Sirte, one of the fugitive former dictator's last bastions of support in the country. | 08/31/11 17:34:04 By - David Enders

With source of water still in Gadhafi hands, Tripoli goes thirsty

Water is in short supply in Tripoli, Libya's newly liberated capital, and from here it's easy to see why: the massive storage tank, part of the network that supplies water to the capital from a huge underground aquifer in southern Libya, is nearly empty. | 08/30/11 06:22:31 By - David Enders

Libyan rebels face test as they deal with hundreds of pro-Gadhafi suspects

Libyan rebels who entered Tripoli from three sides last week have taken hundreds, if not thousands, of prisoners in the fighting and are holding them throughout the capital. Now the rebel National Transitional Council must figure out what to do with the men in an early test of NTC chairman Mustafa Abdel-Jalil's pledge that the rebels' would not exact retribution on Gadhafi supporters. | 08/28/11 16:45:33 By - David Enders

Libyans fight on, but rebuilding could be bigger challenge

The would-be leaders of a new Libya say they want to be good neighbors and participants in the world community. But after four decades of misrule by Moammar Gadhafi, the rebels who are attempting to take over the country have a long and rigorous to-do list to establish their bona fides at home and abroad, experts said. | 08/25/11 18:46:28 By - David Goldstein

Tripoli a mixed vision of glee and gunfire

Tripoli was a city abuzz with both joy and fear Thursday as residents of some neighborhoods emerged to replenish food supplies even as a pitched battle raged at the compound that had been fugitive leader Moammar Gadhafi's headquarters for nearly 42 years. | 08/25/11 17:51:34 By - David Enders and Hannah Allam

Gadhafi's fall leaves behind a hole, and some hope, in Africa

The fall of Moammar Gadhafi, lauded as an anti-colonial visionary and lampooned as a buffoon, creates not just a political vacuum in Libya, the country he ruled for 42 years, but leaves behind in Africa a gaping hole once filled by the self-crowned King of King's bulging purse and oversized persona. | 08/24/11 19:31:02 By - Alan Boswell

Wanted, dead or alive: Rebels put bounty on Gadhafi

Libya's rebel council on Wednesday announced a bounty of $1.3 million for the capture - dead or alive - of fugitive leader Moammar Gadhafi, who vowed in an audio recording to fight until "victory or martyrdom" even as it seemed increasingly clear that his regime had all but ended. | 08/24/11 18:47:44 By - David Enders, Hannah Allam and Mohannad Sabry

A free Seif Gadhafi makes surprise visit to Tripoli hotel

That Seif al-Islam Gadhafi was in fact free — and not in their custody, as they'd bragged a day earlier — wasn't just a tremendous embarrassment for the rebels. It also raised serious questions about the credibility of the opposition government set to take control of post-Gadhafi Libya and, more urgently, about the rebels' claims to control nearly all of the capital. | 08/22/11 22:57:33 By - Erika Bolstad, Nancy A. Youssef and Mohannad Sabry

What turned the tide in rebels' march to Tripoli?

The Libyan rebels' seemingly effortless blitz into a poorly protected Tripoli was a culmination of several pivotal changes in a six-month conflict: They became better fighters, NATO forces became savvier allies and Moammar Gadhafi's loyalists realized that his regime was destined to collapse, NATO and U.S. military officials said Monday. | 08/22/11 18:59:38 By - Nancy A. Youssef

For Libyan rebels, forgiving Gadhafi backers could be toughest task

Consolidating the swift and dramatic capture of Tripoli is only the first of myriad obstacles the rebel leadership must overcome to build a democratic Libya from the rubble of Moammar Gadhafi's rule, analysts said Monday. | 08/22/11 18:52:27 By - Hannah Allam

Can Obama boast about U.S. role in Libya? Not so fast

With Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi under siege in his own capital, President Barack Obama soon may be able to claim success for his approach that ultimately toppled a dictator while leaving much of the dirty business to the rebellious Libyans themselves. | 08/22/11 18:20:51 By - Steven Thomma

Oil companies see quick return to Libya, once peace restored

With the regime of Moammar Gadhafi on the verge of collapse, international oil companies began preparing Monday for what they hope will be a quick return to production in Libya, a move that’s expected to reduce the global price of crude and help drive down U.S. gasoline prices. | 08/22/11 18:12:13 By - Kevin G. Hall

Libya rebel leader warns Tripoli not yet under control

Mustafa Abdul Jalil, head of the rebel council poised to lead Libya once Moammar Gadhafi is toppled, said Monday that rebel forces are still not in control of Tripoli and that pro-Gadhafi forces were still in charge of the loyalist stronghold of Bab al Aziziyah, where Gadhafi's compound is located. | 08/22/11 09:54:31 By - Hannah Allam

Jubilation sweeps Tripoli as rebels hunt desperate Gadhafi

Moammar Gadhafi's regime appeared to collapse Sunday as rebels swept into Tripoli, captured three of his sons and set off wild street celebrations in a capital that he'd ruled by fear for more than four decades. "Tripoli is slipping from the grasp of a tyrant," President Obama said. | 08/21/11 21:11:56 By - Suliman Ali Zway, Hannah Allam and Shashank Bengali

A defiant Assad says Syria is under control

A relaxed, defiant Syrian President Bashar Assad on Sunday repeated promises of reforms and warned of "repercussions" should the West opt for military intervention in the uprising that's threatened the survival of his family's four-decade rule. | 08/21/11 19:30:06 By - Hannah Allam and Ipek Yezdani

Tensions boil after Egypt-Israel border clash

Furious over a murky Israeli military operation that left five Egyptian security personnel dead at the border, top Egyptian politicians on Friday demanded a full investigation and urged a swift government response, including summoning the Israeli ambassador and halting natural gas exports. | 08/19/11 17:56:46 By - Hannah Allam and Sheera Frenkel

Judge bans TV cameras as violence erupts outside Mubarak trial

The judge in Egypt's trial of deposed President Hosni Mubarak on Monday ordered an end to live television broadcasts of the proceedings as supporters and opponents of the former leader hurled objects at one another during his second court appearance in Cairo. | 08/15/11 13:24:23 By - Hannah Allam and Refaat Ahmed

Coordinated attacks kill 68 on Iraq’s deadliest day this year

Coordinated explosions ripped across seven Iraqi provinces on Monday, killing 64 and injuring 176 people in a sophisticated set of attacks that spread mayhem at security facilities from the Kurdish-dominated north to the Shiite south. | 08/15/11 08:57:39 By - Laith Hammoudi

Some in Egypt having second thoughts about trying Mubarak

Millions of Egyptians agitated for Mubarak's speedy prosecution on charges he conspired to have protesters killed, stole public funds and profiteered during his 30 years in power.et now that Mubarak is in court, many Egyptians are voicing reservations. Some are uncomfortable with the death penalty the charges carry. Some wonder whether it's productive to spend so much energy and money on a high-profile trial with elections looming in just two months. Still others advocate amnesty in order to show that revolutionary ideals don't include vengeance. | 08/14/11 17:30:50 By - Hannah Allam

Settlers a familiar source of conflict in Israel's summer of discontent

The vast protest movement that's swept Israel in recent weeks over everything from high housing costs to the availability of heath care is set to culminate Saturday in what organizers are hoping will be the largest demonstration yet: a nationwide march over high rents that they vow will eclipse the 150,000 demonstrators who gathered last week. | 08/09/11 20:00:56 By - Sheera Frenkel

Israelis stage mass demonstrations protesting cost of living

More than a quarter-million Israelis marched in nationwide protests Saturday evening in one of the largest demonstrations in the history of the Jewish state. | 08/09/11 20:00:32 By - Sheera Frenkel

Despite outcry over Syria crackdown, few call for Assad to go

Despite the growing number of condemnations of Syria's five-month campaign against anti-government protesters, no foreign government has called for President Bashar Assad's removal from power. | 08/09/11 19:58:32 By - Hannah Allam

Not only Arab countries in turmoil; protests wrack Israel

While the world has been focused on the anti-government movements that sprang up during the Arab Spring, the largest protests in Israeli history have been sweeping the country for the past two months, threatening to destabilize the government with calls for extensive change. | 08/04/11 06:27:42 By - Sheera Frenkel

WikiLeaks: Bush, Obama passed on sanctioning Syrian insiders

Two U.S. administrations declined in recent years to place sanctions on Syrian officials who now are involved in that country's harsh crackdown on dissidents, despite the officials' involvement in crushing internal opposition previously, according to secret State Department cables obtained by WikiLeaks. | 08/03/11 17:37:17 By - Kevin G. Hall

A graying Mubarak makes his first court appearance

Bed-ridden and dressed in prison whites, gray hair poking through his familiar jet-black dye job, the 83-year-old ousted president of Egypt, Hosni Mubarak, made a stunning court appearance here Wednesday to answer charges of corruption and plotting to kill protesters who demanded his resignation. | 08/03/11 08:50:50 By - Mohannad Sabry

No star defendant, but it's still Egypt's trial of century

Egypt was bracing Tuesday for the start of its trial of the century even as the most anticipated defendant - toppled former President Hosni Mubarak - was likely to be a no-show for what Egyptian officials said were health reasons. | 08/02/11 18:22:15 By - Mohannad Sabry

Egypt's army drives protesters from Cairo square

Hundreds of military policemen and dozens of armed men in civilian clothes drove protesters from Cairo's Tahrir Square on Monday, ripping down tents and smashing signs the protesters had displayed through their weeks of protest. | 08/02/11 06:36:20 By - Mohannad Sabry

Egyptian official: Mubarak won't attend start of his trial

Toppled Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak likely won't attend the opening of his highly anticipated trial in Cairo on Wednesday because the 83-year-old former leader has health problems, a senior Egyptian official said. | 07/31/11 18:40:39 By - Mohannad Sabry

Egypt 'unity' rally turns into Islamist show of strength

A demonstration Friday intended to show unity among Egypt's many opposition political movements instead turned into a show of strength for the country's Islamists, underscoring jitters here that elections in the fall will lead to rising influence for conservative Muslim adherents. | 07/30/11 12:59:34 By - Mohannad Sabry

Mubarak to face public trial in Cairo next week

Toppled Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, his two sons and several others charged with plotting to kill hundreds of anti-government demonstrators will face a very public trial in Cairo beginning next Wednesday, a senior Egyptian official said Thursday. | 07/28/11 19:03:46 By - Mohannad Sabry

Torture still rampant in post-revolution Egypt, activists say

Egyptian human rights activists say they've documented hundreds of cases of civilians tortured by police and army forces since the revolution that toppled Hosni Mubarak, but that none have yet gone to trial. | 07/27/11 19:06:05 By - Mohannad Sabry

Egyptian protesters sue military, raising tensions

Two of Egypt's most prominent youth movements have sued the military government as tensions continued to rise between demonstrators and the country's ruling generals. | 07/25/11 18:36:01 By - Mohannad Sabry

Egypt, still in turmoil, loses billions as tourists stay away

Egyptian tourism officials say the country had lost more than $2.6 billion by the end of June because of the upheaval surrounding former President Hosni Mubarak's resignation and ongoing protests against the interim military government. | 07/21/11 19:33:57 By - Mohannad Sabry

Egypt's military postpones first post-Mubarak elections

Egypt's military rulers pledged Wednesday that new election and parliamentary laws would ensure fairness and transparency, but they put off setting a date for the country's first post-revolution parliamentary vote. | 07/20/11 17:21:18 By - Mohannad Sabry

Why don't Arabs love Obama anymore?

President Barack Obama isn't living up to his promises in the Middle East, and it's driving Arab attitudes toward the United States to their lowest point in years, analysts say. | 07/20/11 17:17:55 By - Lydia Mulvany

Kirkuk is a 'land mine' where all sides want U.S. to stay

If civil war were to resume in Iraq, a dread event that could spell the breakup of the world's next great oil power, Kirkuk is the likely epicenter. | 07/18/11 15:26:54 By - Roy Gutman

U.S. recognizes Libya's rebel government, which needs a boost

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Friday that the United States was formally recognizing Libya's main opposition group as the country's legitimate government, a move aimed at boosting a floundering rebellion that's approaching its sixth month as Col. Moammar Gadhafi remains in control of the capital. | 07/15/11 18:45:57 By - Nancy A. Youssef

Yemen's crisis worsens as president stays away

Yemenis took to the streets Friday in dueling pro- and anti-government demonstrations, spurred by days of reports that embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh could return from medical treatment in Saudi Arabia next week. | 07/15/11 16:34:42 By - Adam Baron

Israeli 'boycott law' takes aim at domestic left

A new Israeli law that penalizes anyone who calls for a boycott of the Jewish state has galvanized the country's left-wing activists and sparked a fierce debate here over whether it poses a threat to democracy. | 07/14/11 18:49:10 By - Sheera Frenkel

Three Middle East nations considering F-16 orders

Iraq's on-again, off-again plans for buying F-16s may be back on again. Oman and the United Arab Emirates are reportedly again talking to the U.S. government and Lockheed about F-16s after they could not agree on terms for buying French fighter jets. | 07/14/11 07:20:27 By - Bob Cox

Israel wraps Glenn Beck in 'a bear hug'

By all accounts, Glenn Beck's visit to Israel this week couldn't have gone better. Making the second of what he calls "solidarity" trips to Israel this year, the conservative pundit and former Fox News personality came to the parliament, or Knesset, in a widely watched public appearance ahead of a "Restore Courage" rally he's scheduled for Aug. 24 in Jerusalem. | 07/12/11 19:53:34 By - Sheera Frenkel

Anger spreads in Egypt as military warns protesters

Egypt's ruling military council warned Tuesday against attempts to destabilize the country as growing anger at the pace of post-revolution reforms fueled an expansion of a five-day protest in Cairo's Tahrir Square. | 07/12/11 19:52:14 By - Mohannad Sabry

Syrian mobs attack U.S., French embassies

U.S. Marines in the capital of Syria on Monday drove back dozens of pro-government demonstrators who stormed and vandalized the American Embassy compound, witnesses said. | 07/11/11 16:33:23 By - Borzou Daragahi

McConnell won't say where he stands on Libya mission

Republicans are divided over how to proceed on endorsing — or trying to curb — the U.S. mission in Libya, and on Wednesday Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell illustrated his party's political dilemma. | 07/11/11 00:36:37 By - David Lightman and Halimah Abdullah

Egypt mobilizes troops after protesters threaten Suez Canal

The Egyptian military on Sunday mobilized ground troops, light tanks and personnel carriers as protesters threatened to shut down Port Tawfiq, a key link of the Suez Canal. | 07/11/11 00:15:07 By - Mohannad Sabry

Egyptians back in the streets demanding government step down

Tens of thousands of Egyptians crowded into Tahrir Square on Friday, demanding the resignation of the caretaker government in a protest that showed both deepening anger at what many here consider the slow pace of reform and the delicate divisions that plague the country's nascent political system. | 07/08/11 18:31:40 By - Mohannad Sabry

Unhappy workers threaten to shut down Egypt's Suez Canal

Last Saturday, someone broke into an electricity control room here and threw a switch. Suddenly, Port Tawfiq, the vast shipyard that marks the southern entrance to the Suez Canal, and the southern half of the city of Suez went dark. | 07/07/11 18:44:56 By - Mohannad Sabry

Yemen's president on TV looks worn from bombing ordeal

For the first time since he was gravely wounded by an explosion in the presidential compound's mosque, Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh appeared on television here Thursday, recognizable but obviously still recovering from major injuries. | 07/07/11 18:11:31 By - Adam Baron

Egypt's gas pipeline a target for anger at Israel, Mubarak

For 30 years, the Bedouin tribes of the Sinai Peninsula threatened to bomb the pipeline that carries natural gas from Egypt's fields to Israel, which they still consider a mortal enemy. But they never did, at least not while Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was in power. In the 20 weeks since Mubarak's fall, however, the pipeline has been bombed three times. | 07/06/11 14:30:33 By - Mohannad Sabry

Israel's probe of radical Jewish text puts rabbis in spotlight

The police questioning of two prominent rabbis over their endorsement of a controversial book that authorities claim condones killing Arabs and other non-Jews is pushing the debate over whether Israel should be ruled as a religious state or as a secular one to the fore once again. | 07/05/11 17:25:16 By - Sheera Frenkel

Why do House and Senate see Libya so differently?

The House of Representatives has sent the White House a strong message: We're deeply unhappy about the U.S. mission in Libya. And But the Senate has signaled that it could send a very different message this week: that it's willing to authorize the operation for a year. | 07/05/11 16:25:52 By - David Lightman and William Douglas

Libya mission becomes a burden for Obama

More than 100 days after the United States and NATO allies launched what was supposed to be a quick air campaign in Libya, Pentagon officials concede that the effort has little strategic value for the U.S., and the alliance's desired outcome there remains unclear. | 06/29/11 16:33:58 By - Nancy A. Youssef

Violent clashes in Cairo's Tahrir Square leave 66 injured

Hundreds of protesters clashed with Egyptian security forces in Cairo's iconic Tahrir Square early Wednesday as the security forces attempted to clear the square after hours of demonstrations by the families of the hundreds of people killed in the January 25th revolution that toppled President Hosni Mubarak. | 06/29/11 00:22:13 By - Mohannad Sabry

At end, bin Laden wasn't running al Qaida, officials say

Osama bin Laden was out of touch with the younger generation of al Qaida commanders, and they often didn't follow his advice during the years he was in hiding in northern Pakistan, U.S. and Pakistani officials now say. | 06/28/11 18:47:12 By - Saeed Shah

Libya mission extension gets key Senate panel's approval

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday approved a resolution limiting the U.S. role in NATO's Libya mission to one year. | 06/28/11 18:45:54 By - William Douglas

Bipartisan House coalition votes to rebuke Obama on Libya

The House of Representatives sent President Barack Obama a strong bipartisan message Friday that it's frustrated and impatient with the U.S. military mission in Libya. The House voted 295 to 123 to deny congressional consent for extending the three-month-old effort for another year, a clear rebuke to Obama. | 06/24/11 12:38:36 By - David Lightman

Egypt's Islamists use charity to win friends - and votes

Baheyya Ali, 65, nudged her way through a crowd that had gathered one recent evening to watch men with bushy beards heave cooking-gas canisters off a truck in a densely packed, trash-strewn Cairo neighborhood. Her eyes widened when she learned that the men, Islamists from Egypt's conservative Salafi movement, were selling the cans for less than a dollar each, a deep discount from the usual price. | 06/23/11 16:12:48 By - Hannah Allam

Bahraini military court imposes harsh sentences on dissenters

Bahrain's military tribunal on Wednesday sentenced eight Shiite Muslim political figures to life imprisonment, and 13 others, including a prominent Sunni Muslim critic, to between five and 15 years in jail. | 06/22/11 08:33:41 By - Roy Gutman

Bahrain military tribunal conducts ex-lawmaker's trial without him

Bahrain's controversial military tribunal tried a jailed former member of the national parliament in absentia Tuesday, the latest lapse of due process in the multitude of court cases the government has brought against its critics. | 06/21/11 19:34:24 By - Roy Gutman

Senate, House head toward split over Libya campaign

Key senators on Tuesday urged giving the White House authority for a one-year, limited Libya mission, but sentiment was growing in the House of Representatives to cut off the effort's funding. | 06/21/11 12:19:48 By - David Lightman and Kevin G. Hall

Syrian protesters reject Assad's latest offers of reform

Fighting to save his family's 40-year reign over Syria, President Bashar Assad on Monday described some anti-regime protesters as "saboteurs" and "germs," but he pledged more reforms as the nationwide rebellion continued for a fourth bloody month. | 06/20/11 17:47:15 By - Hannah Allam

Bahrain stages political trials for journalists, others

Days after the U.S. designated Bahrain a human rights abuser, putting it in the company of North Korea and Zimbabwe, the small Gulf kingdom Sunday pushed on with six trials of political opponents and hauled in the wife of a jailed former member of parliament for hours of questioning. | 06/19/11 17:06:30 By - Roy Gutman

Angelina Jolie's visit to Syrian refugees draws mixed reaction

Hundreds of displaced Syrians in an old tobacco factory-turned-refugee camp in this southern town rallied Friday against the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad and surged against a Turkish police cordon, hoping that the publicity surrounding a visit by Angelina Jolie would bring attention to their plight. | 06/17/11 19:38:17 By - Hannah Allam

Text of al Qaida's announcement that Zawahiri is its leader

This is the text of the al Qaida statement naming Ayman al Zawahiri as the successor to Osama bin Laden. It was translated from the Arabic by McClatchy special correspondent Mohannad Sabry. | 06/16/11 21:04:14 By -

Aid workers recount ethnic killings in central Sudan

The Sudanese army appeared poised Thursday to launch a ground offensive in central Sudan, spiking fears of another violent crackdown on a non-Arab ethnic group. | 06/16/11 19:14:38 By - Alan Boswell

How one Syrian dissident found his voice on the Internet

For years, Mohamed Feezo tried to speak up about all the things Syrians were trained to ignore: cronyism and corruption, oppression of the Kurds, aid to the Iraqi insurgency and the preferential treatment given to Alawites, the minority sect of President Bashar Assad. | 06/16/11 19:11:36 By - Hannah Allam

White House defends U.S. role in Libya after lawmakers sue

Facing growing opposition on Capitol Hill, the White House insisted Wednesday that it's within its legal rights to wage war in Libya without explicit authorization from Congress, essentially because no American lives are at risk. | 06/15/11 19:10:04 By - Steven Thomma and David Lightman

Another local council building attacked in Iraq; 8 dead

Eight people, including four policemen, were killed and 27 wounded Tuesday when insurgents burst into the offices of the Diyala provincial council north of Baghdad, police said. | 06/14/11 09:24:32 By - Laith Hammoudi

Wounded, Yemen's Saleh finds his support undamaged

One week after an explosion seriously wounded Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, forcing him to travel to Saudi Arabia for medical treatment, this country's political course has taken a turn, but not in the direction many had expected. | 06/13/11 11:00:06 By - Adam Baron

'Arab Spring' push for democracy stalls as regimes dig in

As the Arab Spring melts into a bloody summer, the popular rebellions that erupted across the Middle East are still forcing modest concessions from autocratic regimes, but they aren't likely to result in broad democratization anytime soon, activists and political analysts say. | 06/13/11 10:57:13 By - Hannah Allam

Gates gives grim account of NATO's Libya efforts

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Friday painted a bleak picture of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's mission in Libya in a speech designed to encourage alliance members to spend more money on defense. | 06/10/11 18:54:09 By - Nancy A. Youssef

Zawahiri praises bin Laden, but al Qaida still leaderless

Egyptian radical Ayman al Zawahiri on Wednesday issued his first statement since U.S. special forces killed al Qaida leader Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. In a video, Zawahiri promised to carry on the al Qaida founder's war against the West. | 06/08/11 19:09:13 By - Carol Rosenberg

Egyptian celebrities who backed Mubarak become pariahs

Before Egypt's revolution, Tamer Hosny's rakish, goateed face was everywhere. His Pepsi billboards dotted the Cairo skyline, his videos played non-stop on music channels, and his catchy love songs were the ringtones of choice for millions of teenage fans. Then came what Egyptian bloggers, borrowing from American teen parlance, dubbed his "epic fail." | 06/07/11 16:22:54 By - Hannah Allam

U.S. says Yemen's Saleh should step aside 'immediately'

The Obama administration, anxious to deny al Qaida's most dangerous offshoot more space in which to flourish, urged Yemen's wounded president on Monday to immediately step aside and clear the way for a transfer of power aimed at averting all-out civil war. | 06/06/11 19:40:36 By - Jonathan S. Landay

Yemenis jubilant at departure of President Saleh, but what's next?

Jubilant crowds on Sunday celebrated the news that embattled Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh had arrived in Saudi Arabia for medical treatment following a Friday attack on his presidential compound. | 06/05/11 16:09:55 By - Adam Baron

Yemen tense amid reports that Saleh has left the country

Clashes continued in this Yemeni capital Saturday amid contradictory reports that Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh may be traveling to Saudi Arabia for medical treatment, plunging the country deeper into crisis as uncertainties grew about who was in charge, where Saleh was, and what kind of reaction to expect from protesters who've waged a four-month uprising to unseat him. | 06/04/11 18:01:21 By - Adam Baron

Gates urges Afghans to take more security responsibilities

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates made an unannounced visit here Saturday and said that Afghan security forces must take more responsibilities for a successful transition from U.S.-led NATO forces starting this July. | 06/04/11 17:07:41 By - Hashim Shukoor

Yemen's Saleh wounded in attack on presidential compound

Once one of America's most-valued allies in the war on terror but now considered a liability by the Obama administration, Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh was wounded Friday in the first violence to strike the presidential compound here since demonstrators began demanding Saleh's resignation four months ago. | 06/03/11 19:48:30 By - Adam Baron

Yemen's Saleh losing grip as fighting rages

After four months of widespread anti-government demonstrations, numerous defections of high-ranking officials and mounting pressure from powerful tribes, Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh appears to be losing his increasingly fragile grip on the southern Arabian nation. Many argue that support for Saleh is waning even in army divisions that remain ostensibly under his command. | 05/31/11 19:05:31 By - Adam Baron

U.S. yanks diplomat from Bahrain after he's threatened

The United States pulled its human rights officer from Bahrain last week after he'd become the subject of a weeks-long campaign of ethnic slurs and thinly veiled threats on a pro-government website and in officially sanctioned newspapers. The campaign had been going on for two months, with calls for revenge and links to a photo of the diplomat and his wife on their wedding day. | 05/30/11 17:41:56 By - Roy Gutman

New Tunisia finds its voices, and they're uncomfortably familiar

Four months after the ouster of Tunisian President Zine el Abidine ben Ali, nearly all of the editors and media personalities who worked under the old regime remain in their posts. To the young and increasingly impatient supporters of the Tunisian revolution, this awkward reality shows how little has actually changed. | 05/29/11 17:49:21 By - Shashank Bengali

Egypt-Gaza border opening turns out to be less than billed

The Egyptian government's decision to permanently open its border with Hamas-controlled Gaza was heralded — or feared — as a sign of a new Egypt willing to risk U.S. and Israeli rebukes to break from the policies of toppled President Hosni Mubarak. In the end, however, it turned out to be so much less. Just 400 Palestinians crossed into Egypt. Another 30 were turned back because their names appeared on a security "blacklist." | 05/28/11 18:06:48 By - Hannah Allam

Fighting subsides in Yemeni capital, but not demands for change

Hundreds of thousands of Yemenis took to the streets Friday to reiterate their demand that President Ali Abdullah Saleh resign, but the fierce fighting that had claimed as many as 100 lives this week in the capital had largely subsided. Witnesses reported airstrikes by government fighter planes. | 05/27/11 19:34:37 By - Adam Baron

Thousands rally to press Egypt's leaders for change

Their reasons for coming were varied, but the goal was the same for thousands of Egyptians who rallied Friday in Cairo's Tahrir Square: to remind the country's interim military rulers that they'd promised to steer Egypt on a more democratic path after ousting President Hosni Mubarak from power. | 05/27/11 18:29:18 By - Hannah Allam

G-8 to meet with Egypt and Tunisia leaders

Leaders of the world's eight biggest industrial democracies will meet Friday with heads of two of the newest and most fragile ones, as the old world order looks for ways to help democracy take hold in Egypt and Tunisia, and perhaps beyond, across the Middle East and North Africa. | 05/27/11 00:04:00 By - Steven Thomma

Iraq's Sadrists stage mass rally to demand total U.S. withdrawal

Tens of thousands of followers of anti-American cleric Muqtada al Sadr staged a military-style parade Thursday in Baghdad to demand that U.S. troops leave the country as scheduled by Dec. 31, a show of force intended to intimidate Iraqi officials who favor asking that some American troops stay on. | 05/27/11 00:03:36 By - Roy Gutman and Sahar Issa

Close aide to Iraq's Chalabi assassinated

Ali Feisal al Lami, a close aide to controversial Iraqi politician Ahmed Chalabi and onetime director of Iraq's de-Baathification commission, was assassinated late Thursday by an unknown gunman, an adviser to Chalabi said. | 05/27/11 00:02:59 By - Roy Gutman

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