Middle Orient

UNSC calls on Lebanon to choose president

The UN Security Council on Wednesday urged Lebanon’s parliament to quickly choose a new president to bolster stability as war rages across the border in Syria. Lebanon has been without a president, who is also the commander-in-chief, since May because of disagreements between lawmakers. The 15-member council “expressed concern at …

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Obama looks for review of Syria strategy

US President Barack Obama wants his advisers to review the administration’s Syria policy after determining it may not be possible to defeat militants of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) without removing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Obama’s national security team held four meetings in the past week …

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Turkey could scrap plan to buy defense systems from China

Turkey could scrap a controversial plan to buy missile defense systems from China, which alarmed the U.S. and its Western allies, Turkish and European sources said Wednesday. Key NATO member Turkey said in September 2013 that it was entering negotiations with the China Precision Machinery Export-Import Corporation (CPMIEC) to acquire …

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Baghdad hit by series of attacks

Suspected Sunni militants struck in and around Baghdad today, killing 17 people including 11 soldiers and policemen, and injuring about 40 in three separate attacks, including two suicide bombings, according to police and hospital officials. The largest of today’s attacks was in the turbulent Youssifiyah district south of Baghdad where …

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US conducts airstrikes against IS in Syria and Iraq

U.S and partner nation military forces continued to attack ISIL terrorists in Syria from Friday through Monday using bomber, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft to conduct 23 airstrikes, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced. Separately, U.S. and partner nation military forces conducted 18 airstrikes in Iraq during the same period using …

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UN envoy to meet armed militants delegation in Homs

Visiting United Nations envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura headed Monday to Syria’s central city of Homs to meet with a delegation of armed militants in a rebel-held area there, sources and media reports said. The pro-government al-Watan daily said the envoy, who arrived in Syria on Saturday, will be …

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Assad says he’ll analyze UN ceasefire offer

Syrian President Bashar Assad says a ceasefire proposal for the embattled northern city of Aleppo, which has been raised by the U.N. envoy to the country, is “worth studying.” The official SANA news agency reported Assad’s remarks, saying they came during a meeting on Monday with the envoy, Staffan de …

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Egypt FM meets UN envoy to Iraq

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry met with United Nations special envoy to Iraq Nikolay Mladenov to discuss the current political and security situation in Iraq and efforts made to confront the extremist ‘Islamic State’ group, known as ISIS. During the meeting, Shoukry and Mladenov also discussed the steps done by …

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