Middle East

Sanctions include asset freeze on Assad Thousands of supporters of Lebanon's anti-Syrian opposition rally in the northern city of Tripoli on November 27, 2011 to denounce the Syrian regime and its Shiite ally Hezbollah. The rally in the northern port city was organised by the Future Movement, the main opposition party headed by ex-premier Saad Hariri, to mark the 68th anniversary …

Last February Britain’s then defense minister Liam Fox attended a dinner in Tel Aviv with a group described as senior Israelis. Alongside him sat Adam Werritty, a lobbyist whose “improper relations” with the minister would lead eight months later to Fox’s hurried resignation. According to several reports in the British media the Israelis in attendance at the dinner were representatives …

CAIRO (AP) – Tens of thousands of Islamists and young activists massed Friday in Tahrir Square, confronting Egypt's ruling military council with the largest crowd in months to protest the generals' attempt to give themselves special powers over a future elected government. While united against the army, however, conservatives and liberals were jockeying among themselves for votes in crucial parliamentary elections …

The six Gulf Cooperation Council states said on Tuesday that they oppose a Syrian request for an emergency Arab summit on the bloody crisis in the country. The GCC "sees that the request to hold an Arab summit at this time is useless," knowing that Arab foreign ministers will meet in Rabat on Wednesday, GCC Secretary General Abdullatif al-Zayani said. …

"The Guardian" – – As the most hopeful offshoot of the "Arab spring" so far flowered this week in successful elections in Tunisia, its ugliest underside has been laid bare in Libya. That's not only, or even mainly, about the YouTube lynching of Gaddafi, courtesy of a Nato attack on his convoy.   The grisly killing of the Libyan despot …

Iran's president tells Al Jazeera that US accusations over plot are attempt to divert attention from its own problems. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the president of Iran, has said that an alleged plot to kill the Saudi ambassador in Washington, DC was fabricated by the US to cause a rift between Tehran and Riyadh, and to divert attention from US economic problems. In an exclusive interview …