Middle Orient

French President Francois Hollande met here Wednesday evening with Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar Al-Abadi to discuss cooperation between the two nations in the fight against the Islamic State in Iraqi and the Levant (ISIL), the Elysee Palace said. The meeting with Hollande followed a major round of talks in Brussels …

The European Commission Thursday adopted a package worth 180 million euro to deal with the effects of the Syrian crisis in the country itself, as well as in Lebanon and Jordan, who are currently hosting around 1.1 million and 630,000 refugees respectively. This package deals in particular with the education …

A considerable convergence between Turkey and the United States has emerged during recent talks concerning the U.S.-led coalition’s fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Syria, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has said. “I can say, particularly with the U.S., there is a convergence in …

A global fight against Islamic State militants will likely take years to fully succeed, but nations are prepared to engage “for as long as it takes” to defeat the bloody insurgency, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Wednesday. Nearly a year after the extremist group overran key cities …

The USA has ruled out any plans to create a “no-fly zone” over Syria as of now, brushing aside reports that the White House is in talks with Turkey in this regard. “As it relates to the specific no-fly zone proposal, we’ve made pretty clear on a number of occasions …

Iranian fighter jets bombed Islamic State jihadists in eastern Iraq in recent days, but the strikes were not co-ordinated with US forces, the Pentagon has said. “We have indications that they did indeed fly air strikes with F-4 Phantoms in the past several days,” Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby said. His comments …

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry called Monday for “concerted efforts” to combat terrorism in the Middle East and Africa during a meeting with the European Union’s counter-terrorism coordinator. Shoukry hosted Gilles de Kerchove at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs headquarters in Cairo on Monday morning. The duo discussed “regional and …

NATO is not considering establishing a no-fly zone in northern Syria, something Turkey has been calling for to alleviate security and humanitarian pressure on its southern border, one of the alliance’s top generals said. “A no-fly zone is a resource-intensive undertaking,” Lt.-Gen. John Nicholson, the new head of LANDCOM, said at his …

President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi and his French Counterpart Francois Hollande agreed to cooperate in efforts to counter terrorism, resolve the Palestinian situation and support the current Iraqi government. In a joint press conference held in Paris, Al-Sisi noted his discussions with Hollande were “fruitful” and reflected unified opinions regarding bilateral, …

Egypt and Emirati military officials have finalised preparations for a joint training exercise between the two countries ongoing for the last few days in Sheik Zayed city in the United Arab Emirates. The joint exercise, dubbed “Righteous Arrows”, aims to “support and strengthen the areas of military cooperation and coordination”. …