Middle Orient

Wanted Islamic State leader reported killed in Syria

The U.S. continues to target high level Islamic State leaders in Syria despite President Trump’s claim that the group has been “defeated.” An Islamic State leader who is wanted by the U.S. for his role in the terror group’s chemical and biological weapons programs is thought to have been killed …

Read More »

Syria: Will the Great Middle Eastern War Begin in the Levant?

The world is in turmoil. 2020 has already brought major multiple crises, with the Iranian-American clash in Iraq which followed the US assassination of Major General Qassem Soleimani, and the COVID-19 health pandemic and economic disaster that struck all continents and stole the lives of over 400 thousand people around …

Read More »

Saudi cleric: ‘It is prohibited to protest in Islam’

A prominent Saudi cleric, Shaikh Assim Al-Hakeem, has come under fire on Twitter over his response to a question posed to him by a user regarding the permissibility of protesting in Islam, specifically in light of the on-going demonstrations in the US over the murder of an unarmed black suspect …

Read More »

Islamic scholars, NGOs call for Makkah, Madinah to be placed under international control

A non-governmental organisation named the International Commission to Monitor Saudi Administration of the Two Holy Mosques – otherwise known as Al Haramain Watch – has launched an campaign and petition to establish an international administration to manage the affairs of the two holy mosques of Makkah and Madinah.

Read More »

Syria: Russia launched air attacks on north west Syria for the first time since Moscow and Ankara agreed to the March ceasefire

Syria: Russia launched air attacks on north west Syria for the first time since Moscow and Ankara agreed to the March ceasefire, which halted a bloody Russian-backed government offensive to retake the region. Crisis Group expert Dareen Khalifa says despite numerous Turkish-Russian patrols in May to uphold the deal (see …

Read More »