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Nasr Salem

Works

Main Stories

Doha agreement ends Beirut stand-off with political victory for Hizbullah

Nasr Salem

Jumada' al-Ula' 27, 14292008-06-01

The election of Michel Sulayman on May 25 as Lebanon’s twelfth president closed the chapter on one of the longest political crises to have gripped the country since its ‘independence’ in 1943. Sulayman, a former commander of the armed forces, took oath of office immediately after he was elected with 118 votes out of the 127 legislators attending the parliamentary electoral session.

Main Stories

Hizbullah prepares for war on two fronts when Israel next invades Lebanon

Nasr Salem

Rabi' al-Awwal 24, 14292008-04-01

There is open talk of impending war in Lebanon these days. Lebanese of many factions are speculating about potential scenarios for another war being waged on Hizbullah by Israel. These discussions concentrate on the question of when, rather than whether, such a war will erupt.

Occupied Arab World

Israel strikes a significant blow against Hizbullah with assassination of Imad Mughniyyeh

Nasr Salem

Safar 23, 14292008-03-01

The assassination of Imad Mughniyyeh, the Lebanese Hizbullah’s most senior military commander, who died on February 12 in a bombing in Damascus, is probably the most serious blow that Israel has so far managed to deal the Islamic resistance movement.

Occupied Arab World

Examining the complexities of relations between Syria and the US

Nasr Salem

Muharram 23, 14292008-02-01

George W. Bush’s tour of the Middle East last month was reminiscent of old-style imperialism, when emperors would occasionally tour their vassal states to assert their overlordship and remind their local underlings of their place. George W. Bush concluded his Middle East tour last month by telling Syria, Iran and their allies to “end their interference” in Lebanese politics. This came just a few days after the US president sent “a clear message to the Syrians – that you will continue to be isolated, you will continue to be viewed as a nation that is thwarting the will of the Lebanese people.”

Occupied Arab World

US and allies worried by increasing resistance from Shi‘a militias

Nasr Salem

Dhu al-Hijjah 22, 14282008-01-01

With reports of ebbing insurgent activity in the predominantly Sunni areas of western and north-central Iraq, there are also indications that armed resistance by Shi‘a groups is increasing. Attacks against US-led coalition troops in southern and south-central Iraq have been escalating over the past year to such an extent that top US military, Pentagon and state department officials argue that Shi‘a militias pose a long-term threat to coalition troops in Iraq.

Islamic Movement

Background and implications of the rise of salafi jihadi groups in Lebanon

Nasr Salem

Dhu al-Hijjah 22, 14282008-01-01

The fighting in the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp outside Tripoli last year drew attention to a little-noticed phenomenon in Lebanon, the growth of salafi jihadi influence among the Sunni community. NASR SALEM discusses the background and implications of this development.

Occupied Arab World

Lebanon politically paralysed as presidential deadlock causes a power vacuum

Nasr Salem

Dhu al-Qa'dah 20, 14282007-12-01

The long-simmering crisis over the election of a new president for Lebanon refuses to go away. As President Emile Lahoud's term came to an end without an elected successor at midnight on November 23, Lebanon stared into a power vacuum unprecedented in its history. Months of intense international mediation and backroom negotiation between rival politicians from the two main opposing factions – the Western-backed March 14 coalition, which holds a narrow parliamentary majority, and the opposition spearheaded by Hizbullah – failed to break a tense stand-off over the choice of a compromise presidential candidate.

Occupied Arab World

Competition for power among Shi’a groups creates new problems in Iraq

Nasr Salem

Dhu al-Qa'dah 20, 14282007-12-01

A country that has been looking down the precipice of sectarian and ethnic strife for the past few years can certainly do without more violent intra-communal rivalry. Yet it was exactly such a dangerous scenario that seemed to be unfolding when 3,000 Iraqi soldiers and policemen, supported by military tanks, aircraft and hundreds of US and Polish troops, on November 17 launched Operation Lion's Leap in the Iraqi city of Diwaniyyah, the capital of the south-central province of Qadisiyyah. The assault was supposed to flush out armed militiamen loyal to Shi’a alim Sayyid Muqtada al-Sadr from the city, which has been the ground of a turf-war between Sadr's faction and its Shi’a archrival, the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC) led by Sayyid Abd al-Aziz al-Hakim.

Occupied Arab World

Turkey’s pressure on PKK further complicates the uncertain situation in Iraq

Nasr Salem

Shawwal 20, 14282007-11-01

The already complicated and volatile situation in Iraq may be about to deteriorate further. After months of escalating tensions along the Iraq-Turkey border, in October 17 the Turkish parliament passed a motion submitted by the government of prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan that permits military strikes on Iraq. The motion, the first of its kind since Turkey’s invasion of northern Cyprus in 1974, was approved by an overwhelming majority of 507 in the 550-member Turkish grand national assembly.

Book Review

Talking up the discord between Shi’is and Sunnis in the Muslim world

Nasr Salem

Shawwal 20, 14282007-11-01

The Shia Revival: How Conflicts within Islam Will Shape the Future by Vali Nasr. Pub: W. W. Norton & Co., New York, 2006. Hbk: US $25.95.

Occupied Arab World

Al-Qa’ida losing ground as Iraqi Sunnis transfer support to local political forces

Nasr Salem

Ramadan 19, 14282007-10-01

The roadside bomb last month that killed the leader of the Anbar Salvation Council (ASC), Shaykh Abd al-Sattar Abu Risha, near his home just outside Ramadi, the capital of the Iraqi province of Anbar, was more than a mere decapitation of an Iraqi leader who had turned against al-Qa’ida in Mesopotamia. It highlighted the widening chasm between the salafist insurgent group, whose fortunes have for months been staggered by the US troop build-up, and some of its former allies among the Sunni Arab tribes, and dealt a setback to one of the few success stories in the Iraqi counter-insurgency efforts.

Occupied Arab World

Emergence of salafi militancy further complicates Lebanon’s delicate socio-political landscape

Nasr Salem

Jumada' al-Akhirah 16, 14282007-07-01

An uneasy calm settled over Nahr al-Bared camp when Lebanese defence minister Elias al-Murr declared on June 22 that government troops had captured all the positions of the Islamic militants holed up on the outskirts of this refugee-camp outside the Lebanese city of Tripoli. The announcement marked the end of a fierce battle in which the thud of bombing and the clatter of machine-gun fire echoed almost continuously around Nahr al-Bared while most of its 40,000 residents sought refuge mainly in the nearby Beddawi refugee camp.

Book Review

Outstanding analysis of the resistance movement in Iraq

Nasr Salem

Jumada' al-Akhirah 16, 14282007-07-01

Insurgency and Counter-Insurgency in Iraq, by Ahmed S. Hashim. Cornell University Press, Ithaca and New York, US, 2006. Pp: 482. Hbk: $29.95, Pbk: $14.95.

Main Stories

Another round of elections in Egypt prompts another crackdown on the Ikhwan

Nasr Salem

Jumada' al-Ula' 15, 14282007-06-01

It was business as usual for Egypt’s security forces last month, as Egyptians hoping to run in the Shura (Consultative) elections on June 11 began to present their candidacy papers. As soon as registration opened for the mid-term elections, to choose half of the members of the upper house of Egypt’s parliament, three leaders of the Ikhwan al-Muslimeen (Muslim Brotherhood) were reportedly arrested in Alexandria for being “in possession of leaflets aiming at inciting public opinion.”

Occupied Arab World

Rifts within resistance further complicate Iraq’s fractured political scene

Nasr Salem

Rabi' al-Thani 14, 14282007-05-01

Some three months after US and Iraqi forces launched their much-trumpeted security plan, code-named “Operation Imposing Law” (Fardh al-Qanun), designed primarily to secure the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, and the restive al-Anbar province, the Iraqi insurgency has shown no significant sign of waning.

Occupied Arab World

Factors influencing Iran’s complex involvement in Iraq

Nasr Salem

Rabi' al-Awwal 13, 14282007-04-01

Nothing resonated at the regional conference held in Baghdad last month more than the barbs exchanged by American and Iranian officials attending the conference. Yet the mere fact that officials from both countries agreed to take part in the meeting provided a window of opportunity for more substantive contacts between them over Iraq. A second meeting is expected to take place at the level of foreign ministers in Istanbul in early April.

Occupied Arab World

Zaidi uprising against Yemeni government flares again

Nasr Salem

Safar 11, 14282007-03-01

A revolt which had been smouldering in the rugged mountains of northern Yemen for nearly three years has flared up again in the last few weeks. Hundreds of government troops, Zaidi Shi’as and civilians have died in clashes since early January; rebels led by Abd al-Malik al-Huthi have ignored a series of ultimatums that the government issued to the effect that they should disarm and surrender or be “rooted out.”

Occupied Arab World

Deja vu again, as Bush commits more troops to pacify Iraq

Nasr Salem

Muharram 13, 14282007-02-01

It is not easy to resist a sense of déja vu while watching the components of the US’s new drive to curb the escalating insurgency and extreme inter-communal violence gripping Iraq fall into place. Earlier attempts to shake up the disastrous US military effort inIraq have been failures. All indications are that the new, much-touted drive, which forms the cornerstone of America’s exit strategy from Iraq, is unlikely to fare any better.

Book Review

An exceptional personal history of the Palestinian experience

Nasr Salem

Muharram 13, 14282007-02-01

Palestine: A Personal History by Karl Sabbagh. Pub: Atlantic Books, London, 2006.,Pp: 366 Hbk: £17.99 / Pbk: £9.99.

World

Bush resists ISG’s attempt to offer him a face-saving exit from Iraq

Nasr Salem

Dhu al-Hijjah 11, 14272007-01-01

Fate seems to have thought that US president George W Bush needed more dismal assessments of his handling of Iraq after the debacle that befell the Republican party in the recent congressional elections. The report released by the Iraq Study Group on December 6 gives a catastrophic balance sheet of America’s adventurous military invasion and occupation of Iraq

Book Review

Telling account of a Western official’s experience in post-invasion southern Iraq

Nasr Salem

Rabi' al-Thani 14, 14282007-01-01

Revolt on the Tigris: The al-Sadr Uprising and the Governing of Iraq by Mark Etherington. Pub: Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, 2005. Pp: 252. Hbk: $25.00.

Special Reports

Iraq’s salafi extremists lay ground for Taliban-style rule in the “Islamic Emirate in Iraq”

Nasr Salem

Dhu al-Qa'dah 10, 14272006-12-01

Although representing only a minority of Iraq’s Sunni population, salafist groups have played a disproportionate role in the anti-American resistance and have been responsible for sparking a sectarian war in the country. NASR SALEM discusses the outlook, aims and objectives of Iraq’s salafist extremists...

Book Review

Paul Bremer’s self-serving defence of his role as the US’s vice-consul in Iraq

Nasr Salem

Dhu al-Qa'dah 10, 14272006-12-01

My Year in Iraq: The Struggle to Build a Future of Hope by Ambassador L. Paul Bremer III with Malcolm McConnell. Pub: Simon & Schuster, New York, London, Toronto, Sydney, 2006. Pp: 417. Hbk: $27.00.

Islamic Movement

OIC’s Makkah Declaration aims to end sectarian violence in Iraq

Nasr Salem

Shawwal 09, 14272006-11-01

At the OIC Summit earlier this year, Muslim governments indicated a desire to counter the increasing sectarian tensions between Sunnis and Shi’as. Last month they followed up with a Declaration aimed specifically at the sectarian violence in Iraq. Crescent correspondent NASR SALEM discusses the Makkah Declaration and its implications.

Main Stories

Iraqis face spectre of fragmentation as US seeks exit strategy

Nasr Salem

Shawwal 09, 14272006-11-01

Never has the spectre of disintegration, following full-blown civil war, seemed so imminent in Iraq as in recent weeks. Fears of the break-up of the country into feuding entities are being fuelled not only by the passage of a new federalism law through Iraq’s parliament but also by growing indications of support for the division of Iraq in the US. Despite all the shrill talk from US president George W. Bush’s officials about “staying the course” and never to “cut and run,” the fact remains that Washington has been abuzz with discussions of alternative courses of action, which include breaking Iraq up into three autonomous regions.

Occupied Arab World

Debate on federalism dominates politics in occupied Iraq

Nasr Salem

Ramadan 08, 14272006-10-01

An acrimonious parliamentary and public debate, accompanied by a series of boycotts by several groups of parliamentary sessions, has repeatedly forced Iraq's legislature to postpone discussion of a bill to divide Iraq into autonomous regions.

Features

Shaikh Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah: a profile

Nasr Salem

Ramadan 08, 14272006-10-01

Hizbullah leader Shaikh Hassan Nasrallah has come to symbolise the Islamic movement, thanks to Hizbullah’s resistance against the Israelis. NASR SALEM profiles the Ummah’s latest hero.

Main Stories

Hizbullah shocks the world by defeating the military power of the West’s regional proxy

Nasr Salem

Sha'ban 08, 14272006-09-01

With their zeal, courage and discipline, Hizbullah's intrepid fighters stood off Israel's military juggernaut in the hilly, forested landscape of southernLebanon. Ensconced in villages and towns throughout southern Lebanon, Hizbullah's fighters weathered 33 days of intense Israeli air-strikes and a series of tank-led ground incursions, and emerged victorious.

Occupied Arab World

The life and death of Abu Mus’ab al-Zarqawi, resistance leader and sectarian extremist

Nasr Salem

Jumada' al-Akhirah 05, 14272006-07-01

The death of Abu Mus’ab al-Zarqawi in an American air strike on June 7 has been greeted with joy by the beleaguered US regime. Among Muslims, his image was mixed: some saw him as a courageous resistance leader, fighting against a global superpower, others as a murderous sectarian extremist. NASR SALEM discusses the life and legacy of a symbol of modern Iraq.

Special Reports

Dubai protests highlight slave-like status of expatriate workers in the Middle East

Nasr Salem

Rabi' al-Thani 03, 14272006-05-01

The construction of the world’s tallest building was disrupted in March when Asian expatriate workers rioted in protest at their working conditions. It was the latest of a series of protests. NASR SALEM discusses the plight of most foreign workers in the region.

Occupied Arab World

Iraq finally has a prime minister, but massive challenges remain

Nasr Salem

Rabi' al-Thani 03, 14272006-05-01

It took four months of gruelling and protracted negotiations, bargaining and threatening, manoeuvring and arm-twisting before Iraqi leaders finally broke the prolonged deadlock that had been hindering the formation of a new cabinet, and agreed on a new prime minister.

Book Review

Analysis of Hizbullah fatally flawed by ideological blinkers and anti-Islam bias

Nasr Salem

Rabi' al-Awwal 03, 14272006-04-01

There are many lessons to be learnt from the success in May 2000 of the Lebanese resistance, led by Lebanon’s Hizbullah, in evicting Israeli occupation troops from most of southernLebanon. In its pursuit of liberation for occupied Lebanese territory, Hizbullah demonstrated a remarkable ability to base a military strategy on principled and targeted military activities against occupation troops and their Lebanese surrogates in the Southern Lebanon Army (SLA).

Main Stories

Iraq three years later: shattered dreams of grandeur and a country in pieces

Nasr Salem

Rabi' al-Awwal 03, 14272006-04-01

It has been three years since America’s military juggernaut rumbled its way across the desert landscape of southern Iraq towards Baghdad. Three years ago the invasion was justified as a necessary move to eliminate Saddam Hussein’s presumed arsenal of weapons of mass destruction, and the invaders promised to transform Iraq into a prosperous, oil-rich democracy that would serve as a model to spark emulative transformation in the rest of the Middle East.

Main Stories

Hamas nominates prime minister and prepares for government after election triumph

Nasr Salem

Safar 01, 14272006-03-01

After weeks of intense consultation, discussion and negotiation with other parties, Hamas leaders have nominated Ismail Haniyeh (pic), a powerful 43-year-old Hamas leader in the Ghazzah Strip, as prime minister. The decision resulted from internal deliberations over whether to choose a non-Hamas figure, who might be more acceptable to the West, to lead the next cabinet.

Occupied Arab World

Pressure mounts on Syria after Khaddam defection

Nasr Salem

Muharram 02, 14272006-02-01

A sense of nightmarish unease must have descended on ruling circles in Damascus when former Syrian vice-president Abd al-Halim Khaddam became, shortly before the start of the New Year, the country’s first high-level official to break ranks with the regime of Syrian president Bashar al-Asad.

Main Stories

Iraq’s elections emphasise the sectarian divisions in Iraqi society

Nasr Salem

Dhu al-Hijjah 01, 14262006-01-01

It was more like a numbers contest than a vote to choose a common political future for an anguished nation. Members of Iraq's diverse communities turned out in large numbers on December 15 to elect their representatives for a four-year parliament. But instead of voting for political platforms that would foster unity and reconciliation, most Iraqis voted for lists representing their own communities.

Occupied Arab World

Approval of new constitution still leaves massive political uncertainties in Iraq

Nasr Salem

Ramadan 28, 14262005-11-01

October 15 was a historic day for Iraqis. Up to 10 million Iraqis may have gone to the polls to cast their votes in the first genuine constitutional referendum in their country's history. But, like every other critical decision-point in the political processes of post-Saddam Iraq, instead of fostering unity the constitutional vote is going to rend the social fabric of a country that is already split along sectarian and ethnic lines.

Special Reports

Saudi regime at a turning point after death of Fahd and succession of Abdallah

Nasr Salem

Ramadan 28, 14262005-11-01

When Saudi king Fahd died on August 1, the kingdom made a fine show of an orderly succession. Nonetheless, his successor, Abdullah, faces enormous challenges and uncertainties. NASR SALEM reports.

World

The utter fraudulence of Washington’s commitment to democracy

Nasr Salem

Jumada' al-Ula' 24, 14262005-07-01

Flaunting the banner of democracy in the Middle East is the latest fad in Washington. Since the attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon, so-called ‘democracy promotion' has become one of the leading notions ostensibly guiding US policy in the Middle East.

Occupied Arab World

Zaydi leaders offer government to end uprising in Yemen

Nasr Salem

Rabi' al-Thani 24, 14262005-06-01

After nearly two months of armed confrontations with government troops, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of people, the leaders of al-Shabab al-Mu’min (Faithful Youth) movement inYemen have expressed readiness to end their anti-government insurrection in return for a presidential pardon.

World

Andijan massacre prompted by Uzbekistan government’s fear of Islam movements

Nasr Salem

Rabi' al-Thani 24, 14262005-06-01

For those familiar with the ruthless brutality of Uzbek president Islam Karimov, the massacre of hundreds of civilians in the eastern city of Andijan on May 13 was no surprise. With a gruesome track-record that includes methods of torture such as boiling prisoners and the removal of body parts, ordering troops to gun down demonstrators and fleeing civilians is something the Uzbek dictator could conceivably do with glee.

Book Review

A well-researched but limited analysis of the causes of war in Sudan

Nasr Salem

Rabi' al-Awwal 22, 14262005-05-01

The Root Causes of Sudan’s Civil Wars by Douglas H. Johnson. Publisher: Indiana University Press, Bloomington and Indianapolis, 2004. Pp.: 234. Pbk: £12.95/$24.95. By Nasr Salem For outsiders and non-specialists, the on-going crisis in the province of Darfur, western Sudan, has brought to light the fact that the Sudan’s long-drawn-out predicament is made up not of one civil war but rather of several, sometimes interlocking, civil wars. If anything, elucidating the nature of these civil wars requires an understanding of the historical patterns that shaped inter-communal tensions for decades – and perhaps centuries – until they erupted into protracted civil strife. But internal wars often present outside players with opportunities to interfere in the affairs of countries mired in civil strife, and Sudan’s impasse has been no exception.

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Book Review

An ideologically flawed analysis of the position of Shias in Iraqi society and politics

Nasr Salem

Safar 22, 14262005-04-01

The Shi'ite Movement in Iraq by Faleh A. Jabar. Publisher: Saqi Books, London, 2003. Pp.: 391. Pbk: 」15.99/$24.95. By Nasr Salem Long treated as an underclass, the Shi'a community has moved to occupy a dominant role in the political arena of post-Saddam Iraq. Undoubtedly this change raises many questions about the course of Shi'a political activism in Iraq and the troubled relationship between the Shi'a community and the Iraqi state

Book Review

An ideologically flawed analysis of the position of Shi’is in Iraqi society and politics

Nasr Salem

Safar 22, 14262005-04-01

The Shi'ite Movement in Iraq by Faleh A. Jabar. Publisher: Saqi Books, London, 2003. Pp.: 391. Pbk: £15.99/$24.95. By Nasr Salem

Occupied Arab World

Iraq’s government paralysed by post-election politicking

Nasr Salem

Safar 22, 14262005-04-01

The protracted negotiations and bitter wrangling surrounding the formation of Iraq's new government have focused attention on the complexities involved in establishing a political balance among the country's fractious ethnic, religious, tribal and partisan mixture.

Occupied Arab World

Shi’i success in Iraqi elections does not settle questions about country’s political future

Nasr Salem

Muharram 20, 14262005-03-01

In many ways, the results of the recent elections in Iraq have come as no surprise. The United Iraqi Coalition (UIC), the Shi’a Muslim slate sponsored by Grand Ayatullah Ali al-Hussayni al-Sistani, got 48 percent of the 275 seats in the new national assembly; a Kurdish alliance 25 percent; and US-backed interim prime minister Iyad Allawi’s list 14 percent.

Occupied Arab World

Kuwait sliding into instability because of its unconditional support for the US

Nasr Salem

Muharram 20, 14262005-03-01

Kuwait’s role as a launch-pad and base for US-led troops operating in Iraq is coming to haunt the Gulf emirate. A string of gun-battles between government troops and militants planning to target American troops in the country, as well as oil facilities, has pushed Kuwait closer to the brink.

Book Review

Chief weapons inspector’s account of the build-up to the invasion of Iraq

Nasr Salem

Dhu al-Hijjah 21, 14252005-02-01

Disarming Iraq: The Search for Weapons of Mass Destruction by Hans Blix. Pub: Bloomsbury, London, 2004. Pp: 285 pp. Pbk: £16.99 / $24.00. By Nasr Salem As the US seems to be sinking into more and more difficulties in Iraq, the question of how it became entangled in a latter-day Vietnam-like quagmire becomes more and more important, at least to the West. That the US and Britain couched their arguments to justify the invasion of Iraq in terms of the search for Iraq’s alleged stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) makes the story of the UN’s inspections in Iraq an essential element of the history of the prelude to war.

Occupied Arab World

US designed elections beginning to shape political life in post-Saddam Iraq

Nasr Salem

Dhu al-Qa'dah 20, 14252005-01-01

The election campaign season began officially in Iraq last month. Like much else in the political life of modern Iraq, these elections, scheduled for January 30, have led to fierce competition. Nowhere can the intensity of electoral clamoring better be seen than in the number of electoral tickets competing for seats in the 275-member National Assembly.

Book Review

Revealing account of internal American politics in the run-up to the Iraq invasion

Nasr Salem

Shawwal 18, 14252004-12-01

Plan of Attack by Bob Woodward. Pub: Simon & Schuster, New York, London, Toronto, Sydney: 2004. Pp: 467. Hbk: $28.00 / £19.00.

Occupied Arab World

US destruction of Falluja fails to achieve their declared objectives

Nasr Salem

Shawwal 18, 14252004-12-01

Few sceptics doubted that the long-anticipated attack on the Iraqi city of Falluja, some 70 kilometres (about 45 miles) to the west of Baghdad, would be launched with unusual ferocity. Still fewer doubted the US Marines’ ability to retake the city...

Occupied Arab World

The different faces of resistance among Iraqi Sunnis

Nasr Salem

Shawwal 18, 14252004-12-01

The second battle of Fallujah, during which US and Iraqi forces battered a city of 300,000, has focused attention on the escalating resistance to the occupation of Iraq...

Special Reports

Yemeni government runs into trouble as it cracks down on Zaydi Islamic movement

Nasr Salem

Jumada' al-Akhirah 14, 14252004-08-01

In the years since the Bush administration intensified its war on Islamic movements opposing its hegemony, it has focused considerable attention on salafi groups in Yemen...

Occupied Arab World

Iraqi Shi’as polarised around the al-Sadr movement

Nasr Salem

Jumada' al-Ula' 13, 14252004-07-01

The Mahdi Army, led by Iraqi Shi’ah leader Muqtada al-Sadr, has marked the end of another chapter in its two-and-half-month-long armed insurrection against the US-led occupation troops: on June 24 it declared a unilateral ceasefire in the Baghdad slum-township of Sadr City...

Occupied Arab World

Iraqi anger at US overcomes doubts about leadership of Muqtada al-Sadr

Nasr Salem

Rajab 16, 14252004-05-01

Although the outcome is still unresolved, the ongoing stand-off between the US-led occupation forces and supporters of young Shi’i alim Sayyid Muqtada al-Sadr can hardly be anything but ominous for the neo-conservative hawks in Washington...

Special Reports

The broad base and many causes of Iraqi resistance to US occupation

Nasr Salem

Jumada' al-Akhirah 18, 14242003-08-16

After weeks of dismissing the attacks on their troops as the last gasp of the deposed Ba’athist regime, increasing resistance has forced American officials to admit that something like a real guerrilla movement is gathering momentum in Iraq.

Special Reports

Israeli authorities crack down on Islamic movement in 1948 Palestine

Nasr Salem

Rabi' al-Thani 01, 14242003-06-01

Although much attention has been paid to zionist policies in the West Bank and Ghazzah, Palestinians living inside 1948 Palestine – the area which the UN recognised as Israel in 1948 – are also coming under increasing attack. NASSER SALEM reports.

Occupied Arab World

Iraqi opposition conference in London reveals only their weakness and differences

Nasr Salem

Dhu al-Qa'dah 13, 14232003-01-16

It was intended to be an extraordinary show of unity among Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s foes. But the Iraqi opposition’s conference in London last month ended up exposing the opposition for a faction-ridden quagmire having in common only a desire to be rid of Saddam.

World

US-Sudan relations improving slowly as Khartoum helps ‘war on terror’

Nasr Salem

Dhu al-Qa'dah 13, 14232003-01-16

The attacks on September 11 have brought a slow thaw to the frosty relations between Khartoum and Washington. America’s drive since then to enlist new allies for its “war on terrorism” gave the government of Sudanese president Omar Hassan al-Bashir an opportunity to establish a working relationship with Washington.

Occupied Arab World

Thaw in US-Syria relations limited by support for Palestinian resistance

Nasr Salem

Shawwal 11, 14232002-12-16

For any deluded mind still harbouring doubts that America’s policy in the Middle East is hostage to Israeli interests, the twists and turns in US-Syrian relations since the attacks on the WTC and the Pentagon present food for thought.

Occupied Arab World

Jordan targets Islamic activists in Ma’an ahead of US’s Iraq war

Nasr Salem

Ramadan 26, 14232002-12-01

The first shots in the war on Iraq were fired in Jordan when King Abdullah II sent tanks into the city of Ma’an, 215 kilometres (135 miles) south of Amman, the capital, to capture or kill besieged Islamic activists. The sweep, which set off fierce gun-battles in some of the city’s neighbourhoods, is widely regarded as a pre-emptive measure in case a US offensive against Iraq comes about...

Occupied Arab World

America’s Kurdish ‘allies’ fearful of consequences of war in Iraq

Nasr Salem

Ramadan 26, 14232002-12-01

Now that Washington’s massive diplomatic offensive against Baghdad has succeeded in getting the UN weapons-inspectors back into Iraq, the US government seems to have inched one step closer to its ostensible goal of deposing Iraqi president Saddam Hussein. Since its war against Afghanistan ended, the US has been looking for a pretext to wage war against Iraq...

Occupied Arab World

Jailed leaders of Egypt’s al-Gama’ah al-Islamiyyah signal a new direction and methodology

Nasr Salem

Ramadan 11, 14232002-11-16

After more than two decades of being at the forefront of armed struggle against Egypt’s latter-day pharaohs, the jailed leaders of the radical al-Gama’ah al-Islamiyyah (Islamic Group) have renounced the use of violence.

Occupied Arab World

Washington’s “Syria Accountability Act” threatens to turn war on terrorism against Damascus

Nasr Salem

Ramadan 11, 14232002-10-16

The world’s attention has been gripped for the past few weeks by US saber-rattling over Iraq. But this war mania has blinded much of the world to other developments in Washington’s open-ended drive to settle scores and “lead the world,” while pretending to fight a “war on terrorism.”

Islamic Movement

The failures and the problems of the Islamic movement in Iraq

Nasr Salem

Rajab 24, 14232002-10-01

The deafening noise of Washington’s war-drums is making it increasingly certain that a military effort to depose Saddam Hussein is on the cards. The question then arises of potential alternatives for Iraq.

Occupied Arab World

Muslim Brotherhood reasserting its leadership of Syria’s fractured opposition

Nasr Salem

Rajab 09, 14232002-09-16

It is long overdue. The Syrian Ikhwan al-Muslimeen has recently demonstrated renewed determination to become a rallying point to unify the country’s opposition. Between August 23 and 25, the Brotherhood held a conference in London, under the slogan “Syria for All Its People.”

Occupied Arab World

America sounding drums of war against Iraq

Nasr Salem

Jumada' al-Ula' 22, 14232002-08-01

War fever against Iraq has been growing in Washington and reached a peak that has not been seen since the Gulf War. The recent sabre-rattling issuing from America has led observers to speculate not about whether America will act against Iraq but when and how it will...

Occupied Arab World

Possible scenarios for Palestine after Arafat

Nasr Salem

Jumada' al-Ula' 06, 14232002-07-16

In his speech on June 24, which purported to chart a policy for the Middle East, US president George W Bush left no doubt that he wanted to see Yasser Arafat removed from the presidency of the Palestinian Authority (PA).

Occupied Arab World

Anti-western sentiment in Arab countries makes the US’s balancing act more difficult

Nasr Salem

Rabi' al-Thani 05, 14232002-06-16

The ongoing Palestinian intifada not only marks a watershed in the struggle of the Palestinians to reclaim their usurped lands, but is also a defining moment in the restoration of resistance to Arab political discourse and praxis.

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