Archives for March, 2013

U.S. President Barack Obama speaks after addressing the nation about the end of the U.S. combat mission in Iraq from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, August 31, 2010. Obama declared the U.S. combat mission in Iraq ended on Tuesday, but said the U.S. commitment to Iraq has not ended as he urged its leaders to quickly form an inclusive government. REUTERS/Jim Young (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS CONFLICT MILITARY IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR2HRTE

Obama Misses TargetWith Nowruz Message

Sasan Aghlani writes that the message delivered in US President Barack Obama's annual Nowruz speech indicates that he fails to understand his target audiences and the effects of sanctions on Iran.

U.S. President Barack Obama (R) chats with Jordan's King Abdullah (C) and his son Crown Prince Hussein during a meeting at Al-Hummar Palace in Amman in this March 22, 2013 handout photo by the Jordanian Royal Palace. REUTERS/Yousef Allan/Jordanian Royal Palace/Handout (JORDAN - Tags: POLITICS ROYALS)

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Will Jordan Allow Syria's Palestinian Refugees to Resettle?

As the 2-year-old civil war in Syria drags on and refugees continue to stream from Syria into Jordan, Adnan Abu Amer asks whether Jordan will consider resettling Syria’s Palestinian refugees.

U.S. President Barack Obama and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (R) shake hands at a news conference at the Muqata Presidential Compound in the West Bank City of Ramallah March 21, 2013. REUTERS/Larry Downing (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3F9ME

Palestinian Journalists BannedFrom Covering Obama Visit

Palestinian security revoked the accreditation of 18 Palestinian journalists from covering US President Barack Obama’s visit to Ramallah, most likely due to their political affiliation, writes Daoud Kuttab.

A protester who opposes Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi runs after Molotov cocktails burn him during clashes with riot police along a street which leads to the Muslim Brotherhood's headquarters in Cairo's Moqattam district March 22, 2013. Several thousand opponents of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood clashed with supporters of the Islamist group near its headquarters in Cairo on Friday, and at least 40 people were wounded, authorities said. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST TPX IMA

Could Violence in Egypt Spin Out of Control?

Bassem Sabry writes that he's never been more worried about Egypt since its revolution than he is right now.

Iran's envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Ali Asghar Soltanieh writes notes as he attends the Board of Governors meeting at the UN atomic agency headquarters in Vienna, on March 6, 2013. Six world powers holding talks with Iran on its nuclear programme said Tuesday March 5, 2013 at a meeting of the UN atomic agency that they were "deeply concerned" by Tehran's recent atomic upgrades. AFP PHOTO / ALEXANDER KLEIN (Photo credit should read ALEXANDER KLEIN/AFP/Getty Images)

New Book Argues Talk, Not Bombs, Best Way to Delay a Nuclear Iran

In their new book, authors Geoffrey Kemp and John Allen Gay warn that attacking Iran might actually speed up the Iranian nuclear program and cause a "multigenerational catastrophe" if the object is regime change.

The private beach of Habiba Beach Camp in the Red Sea town Newiba, one of South Sinai's most popular destinations, has been empty for the past six months.

Sinai Tourism Hits Rock Bottom, Business Owners Blame Morsi

Writing from South Sinai, Mohannad Sabry meets with local business owners in the tourism sector who tell him that they keep hoping for political stability to bring back tourists — but that Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi's inability to govern has been making a bad situation worse.

An Israeli tank is transported on a truck to the Israeli Syrian border in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights March 24, 2013. Israel said it fired into Syria on Sunday and destroyed a machinegun position in the Golan Heights from where shots had been fired at Israeli soldiers in a further spillover of the Syrian civil war along a tense front. Israel captured the Golan Heights in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed it in 1981 in a move not recognized internationally. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (MILITARY POLITICS) -

Israeli Soldiers Enter Syrian Golan Heights

After Israel was forced to rescue UN forces in the Golan Heights, the UN warned of instability in the Syrian Golan and the danger posed by Syrian rebels affiliated with al-Qaeda, reports Inna Lazareva.

Israeli activists hold signs in support of Gaza near the entrance to the port of Ashdod October 20, 2012. The Israeli navy seized an international pro-Palestinian activist ship in the Mediterranean sea on Saturday to prevent it breaching its blockade of the Gaza Strip, a military spokeswoman said. She said no one was hurt when marines boarded the SV Estelle, a three-mast schooner, and that it was rerouted to Israel's southern port of Ashdod after it ignored orders to turn away from the Hamas-governed Pales

Hamas Reacts to Israeli Apology To Turkey

Israel's apology to Turkey is welcomed by Palestinians including Hamas and raises expectations for a lifting of the blockade on Gaza, writes Hazem Balousha.

PKK fighters stand guard during the release of eight Turkish prisoners in the northern Iraqi city of Dohuk, March 13, 2013. Turkish Kurd militants freed a group of Turkish soldiers and officials they had held in the mountains of northern Iraq for more than a year on Wednesday, the first concrete step in efforts to end their 28-year-old insurgency. The six soldiers, a police officer and a local official looked in good health and wore clean clothes as they were handed to a delegation of Turkish rights activi

Does Turkey Have a Roadmap For Peace With the PKK?

Orhan Kemal Cengiz is not sure that the Turkish government has a comprehensive peace plan, and says that if they do the PKK is certainly unaware of it.

Pro-Palestinian activists wave Turkish and Palestinian flags during the welcoming ceremony for cruise liner Mavi Marmara at the Sarayburnu port of Istanbul December 26, 2010. Nine Turkish activists died in May when Israeli commandos raided the boat, which was part of a flotilla seeking to break the blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip. REUTERS/Stringer (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTXW0M8

Israeli Apology May Restore Turkey's Regional Influence

Israel's recent apology to Turkey over the Mavi Marmara raid offers Turkey a chance to regain its lost political influence in the region, writes Semih Idiz.

Palestinians wait for the return of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement activists at the Rafah border crossing in the southern Gaza Strip December 3, 2012. The Islamist Hamas group allowed the 10 activists, who fled Gaza into Egypt in 2007 during internal fighting between the two political rivals, to return home in what the group said was a sign of rapprochement, according to a Hamas official. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR3B66N

Palestinian Activists Prepare For Refugee Return

Palestinian activists are taking practical measures to prepare for the return of refugees, Jillian Kestler-D’amours writes.

A member of the Hamas security force stands guard as a woman takes pictures during a demonstration in solidarity with al-Aqsa mosque, organized by the Hamas movement in Gaza City September 28, 2009. Israeli police and Palestinian protesters clashed at the Dome of the Rock in the Old City of Jerusalem on Sunday morning. Palestinians said the clash was triggered by religious Israeli Jews trying to enter the holy site, while Israeli police said it began when religious Palestinians angered by immodestly dressed

Gaza Reporters Boycott Forum On Hamas' New Laws for Media

Hamas has drafted a new media law that many local journalists claim restricts freedom of expression, Abeer Ayyoub reports.

EDITORS' NOTE: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on their ability to report, film or take pictures in Tehran.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei reacts while attending a religious ceremony to commemorate the death anniversary of Fatima, daughter of Prophet Mohammad, in Tehran May 6, 2011. Picture taken May 6, 2011. REUTERS/Khamenei.ir/Handout (IRAN - Tags: POLITICS RELIGION ANNIVERSARY) THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS DISTRIBUTED, EXACTLY

Khamenei Shifts Stance: Open To Talks Between Iran, US

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei seems to be finding it increasingly difficult to ignore requests for direct talks between Iran and the US, writes Shahir ShahidSaless.

A memorial for victims of the 1988 chemical attack is pictured at the cemetery for the victims in the Kurdish town of Halabja, near Sulaimaniya, 260 km (160 miles) northeast of Baghdad, March 16, 2013. Iraqi Kurds on Saturday marked the 25th anniversary of the chemical attack on the northern Iraqi city of Halabja by Saddam Hussein's forces. Up to 5,000 people may have been killed by chemical gas, villages were razed and thousands of Kurds were forced into camps during the 1988 Anfal genocidal campaign again

After 10 Years of Iraqi Conflict, Only Kurds Emerge as Winners

The Kurds of Iraq have been one of the few unequivocal winners from the U.S.-led invasion of 2003, with a greater role in politics and a burgeoning economy, writes Abdel Hamid Zebari.

A soldier walks on the platform of the Basra Oil Terminal, 12 nautical miles off the Iraqi coast in the waters of the Northern Arabian Gulf, close to the port town of Umm Qasr August 8, 2006. The terminal is the main source of Iraq's revenues, a key supplier to the global energy market and an obvious target for insurgents aiming to thwart the country's economic recovery. Picture taken August 8, 2006. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani (IRAQ) - RTR1GA9M

Iraq Aims to Increase Oil Output

The Iraqi government has drawn up plans to increase the country’s oil production capabilities over the next decade, writes Omar al-Shaher.

Gultan Kisanak (C), co-leader of Turkey's pro-Kurdish opposition Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), makes a speech on the killing of three female Kurdish activist during a demonstration in Diyarbakir, southeastern Turkey, January 10, 2013. Three female Kurdish activists including a founding member of the PKK rebel group were shot dead in Paris overnight in execution-style killings condemned by Turkish politicians trying to broker a peace deal. REUTERS/Sertac Kayar (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR3

Kurdish Politicians Ask Erdogan For Assurances in Talks With PKK

Gultan Kisanak, pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) co-chairwoman, asks for legal guarantees to prevent any potential lawsuits for helping the Erdogan government in facilitating talks with jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan.