Middle East
Latest stories
In Iran, Lavrov Accuses U.S. of Arming Syria Rebels

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday accused the United States of supplying weapons to Syria's rebels, worsening the conflict engulfing Moscow's allied regime in Damascus.

Russia was supplying "anti-air defense systems" to Damascus in a deal that "in no way violates international laws," Lavrov told a news conference during a brief visit to Iran.

W140 Full Story
Government Watchdog Slams Israel PM over Handling of Flotilla

Israel's state watchdog on Wednesday sharply criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over his handling of a 2010 military raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla which left nine Turkish nationals dead.

"In the process of decision making, which was led by the prime minister and under his responsibility, regarding the handling of the (flotilla), there were significant shortcomings," said a report published by State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss.

W140 Full Story
Tunisia's Ben Ali Gets 20 Years for Incitement to Murder

A military court in Tunisia sentenced ousted president Zine el Abidine Ben Ali to 20 years imprisonment in absentia Wednesday on various charges including incitement to murder, the TAP news agency reported.

Ben Ali, who is exiled in Saudi Arabia, was found guilty of "inciting disorder, murder and looting," the court said in its verdict over the deaths of four youths, shot dead in the town of Ouardanine in mid-January 2011.

W140 Full Story
Egypt Parliament Elects Constitutional Panel

Egypt's parliament on Tuesday elected a commission tasked with drafting the country's new constitution following last week's agreement that capped a nearly three-month row.

A joint session of the upper and lower houses of parliament elected the 100 members who will sit on the constitutional panel, though their names were not immediately made public.

W140 Full Story
Russian Arms Agency Says Exports to Syria in Line with U.N.

Russia's arms export agency said Wednesday its deliveries to Syria were in line with U.N. regulations but declined to comment specifically on U.S. claims that it was sending attack helicopters to the regime.

Rosoboronexport "does not supply weapons and military technology in contradiction with U.N. Security Council security requirements and other international agreements," an agency spokesman told the state-run RIA Novosti news agency.

W140 Full Story
China 'Greatly Concerned' by 'Critical' Syria Situation

China said Wednesday the situation in Syria had reached a "critical juncture" and expressed its "great concern", as a U.N. official said the country was now in a full-scale civil war.

World powers are groping to find a way to end the bloodshed in Syria with the toll growing daily despite a ceasefire that should have gone into effect from April 12, and there are reports of children being used as human shields.

W140 Full Story
Syria Says al-Haffe 'Cleansed' of Terrorists, Calm Restored

Syria's northwest region of al-Haffe has been "cleansed" of terrorists and "calm has been restored" in the area, the official SANA news agency quoted officials as saying on Wednesday.

"Security and calm were restored in the area of al-Haffe (in Latakia province), which was cleansed after armed terrorist groups assaulted citizens and vandalized and burned a number of public and private properties," the agency said.

W140 Full Story
U.S. Drone Strike Kills 30 Qaida Militants in Yemen

Two raids on al-Qaida in Yemen, at least one of them reportedly by a U.S. drone, killed 30 people Wednesday, an official said, as the jihadists came under new pressure a day after losing two key strongholds.

The raids targeted al-Qaida fighters fleeing the southern region of Abyan where the army scored its first major victory against the jihadists on Tuesday, retaking the town of Jaar and the provincial capital Zinjibar, more than a year after they fell under militant control.

W140 Full Story
72 Dead, 250 Hurt as Blasts, Gunfire Rock Iraq during Shiite Pilgrimage

A wave of apparently coordinated bombings and shootings rocked Iraq during a major Shiite religious commemoration on Wednesday, killing at least 72 people and wounding more than 250, many of them pilgrims.

The attacks, which came as pilgrims flocked to a shrine to mark the anniversary of the death of Imam Moussa Kadhim, a revered imam in Shiite Islam, were the deadliest in Iraq since August 15, 2011 when 74 people were killed.

W140 Full Story
NATO Chief Says Intervention 'Not Right Path' in Syria

NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Wednesday that foreign military intervention was "not the right path" in Syria despite the U.N.'s peacekeeping chief declaring the country in civil war.

Rasmussen said there were "no plans at this stage" for a NATO operation, as he condemned the U.N. Security Council failure to reach agreement as a "big mistake", saying Russia could have an "instrumental role" in brokering peace.

W140 Full Story