Syria bans Turkish civilian flights from its airspace

Syria has banned Turkish passenger planes from its airspace, the foreign ministry said Sunday, prompting Turkey to announce a similar ban on Syrian flights. The row comes days after a Syrian airliner was intercepted and forced to land in Ankara.

Qatar insists investments in France not driven by 'politics'

Qatar defended its continuing investments in France on Monday, claiming they were not motivated by "political ambitions". The Gulf state has sparked fears in some quarters that its financial ventures are inspired by a desire to promote Islamism.

UN envoy Brahimi in Turkey for talks on Syria tensions

Violence raged across Syria on Saturday as special peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi and Germany's foreign minister held talks with Turkish officials amid rising tensions between Ankara and Damascus over cross-border shelling.

Hezbollah admits launching drone over Israel

Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah (pictured) said Thursday that his Shiite militant group launched the Iranian-built drone which entered Israeli airspace last week. The drone travelled hundreds of miles from Lebanon before being shot down.

Turkey bombs Syrian targets after cross-border attack

Turkey has shelled targets in Syria in retaliation for cross-border mortar fire that killed five Turkish nationals in the southeastern border region of Akcakale earlier in the day, the prime minister's office said in a statement.

 

Turkey has shelled targets in Syria in retaliation for cross-border mortar fire that killed five Turkish nationals in the southeastern border region of Akcakale earlier in the day, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's office said in a statement on Wednesday.

Car bombs kill scores in central Aleppo

Three car bombs exploded in the northwestern Syrian city of Aleppo on Wednesday, killing at least 48 people and wounding more than 90 others, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

 

At least three car bombs exploded in the centre of Syria's northwestern city Aleppo on Wednesday, killing 48 people and injuring 90 others, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Two blasts were initially reported at Saadallah al-Jabiri Square near a military officers' club and a hotel, the Observatory said.

Shoot-out in Syria's Corleone exposes threat to Assad

© Frederick Deknatel

The probable death of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad’s cousin in a mafia-style shoot-out has exposed a rift among Alawites, the Muslim religious sect to which the Assad family belongs and relies on as its power base.

By Marie Michelet
A mafia-style shoot-out in the traditional home of Syria’s ruling Assad clan - in which an influential cousin of the country’s dictator Bashar al-Assad is thought to have been killed - has exposed a dangerous rift in the country’s Alawite community.
Qardaha, a small town of less than 10,000 inhabitants, is perched in mountains overlooking the coastal town of Latakia.
Its population is overwhelmingly Alawite, the minority Muslim sect to which the Assad family belongs, and is seen as the heart and soul of the regime.
But according to a local Revolutionary Coordination Committee, local strongman Mohammed al-Assad - known as the “Lord of the Mountain” - was killed in a shoot-out on September 28 with rival Alawite clans, putting the Assad stranglehold under unprecedented pressure.

IKEA 'regrets' cutting women from Saudi advert

Swedish furniture giant Ikea has come under fire after removing images of women and girls from the Saudi version of its catalogue, a move the company has since said it “regrets”.

Film protests: Hezbollah urges new Lebanon protests

Anti-Islam film protests

The leader of the Shia Muslim militant group, Hezbollah, has called for fresh protests in Lebanon on Monday over a film deemed offensive to Muslims.

The world needed to know Muslims "would not be silent in the face of this insult", Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said.
Protests at many US diplomatic missions have been continuing over the film, which was made in the US.

                              Good Mideast Dictators 

  It is often said that the Arab Spring proves American support for Middle Eastern autocrats for more than half a century was wrong because the policy did not bring peace or stability. Nonsense. For any policy to remain relevant for so many decades in this tumultuous world is itself a sign of success. Support for moderate Arab monarchs and secular dictatorships was part of a successful Cold War strategy for which there is no need to apologize. It helped secure the sea lines of communication between the oil-rich Middle East and the West, on which the well being of Americans depended. What was the United States supposed to have done? Overthrow a slew of regimes across a vast swath of the earth for decades on end because those states did not conform with America's own historical experience and political system? Or should we not have had diplomatic relations with these regimes in the first place? No responsible American statesman would choose either of those options. What were Henry Kissinger, Zbigniew Brzezinski and James Baker supposed to have done? Not seek Arab-Israeli troop disengagement accords and peace agreements because their Arab interlocutors were not democratically elected? Remember that thus far, Israel has only concluded peace agreements and disengagement accords with Arab dictators, men who had the luxury to throw their opponents out of power when they opposed such deals.

 

                  Al-Qaida in North Africa issues new threats

ALGIERS, Algeria — The leader of al-Qaida in North Africa has called for Muslims to unite in holy war against the region's governments and issued new threats against western targets, including France, Spain and the United States.

The message decried a "new colonial offensive" by the West in North Africa and warned Muslims not to back the local "regimes of apostasy and treason."
It was signed by Abu Musab Abdul Wadud, the pseudonym used by Abdelmalek Droukdel, the leader of al-Qaida's North African offshoot.
The authenticity of the message could not be independently verified. The 28-minute audiotape was issued along with video of heavily armed militants on Web sites frequently used by Islamist extremists. It was confirmed Monday by the U.S.-based SITE intelligence group, which monitors militant messages.

Famous Movie Star in Baghdad

Baghdad (CNN) -- Hollywood star Angelina Jolie is visiting Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region Sunday after cancellation of her flight from Baghdad because of bad weather.

Jolie's flight to Erbil was canceled Saturday, said Aurvasi Patel, assistant representative of the United Nation's refugee agency. She made it there a day later.

After she met with Kurdish officials at Erbil airport, the actress met with refugees at a Syrian camp in Dohuk province.

Jolie -- a special envoy for the refugee agency -- met Iraqi returnees from Syria and senior government officials Saturday in Baghdad.

She discussed the situation of Syrian refugees in Iraq with Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari at his office in Baghdad, the ministry said in a statement.

They also talked about the Iraqi government's efforts to meet the daily needs of refugees, the statement said.