January 26

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad brushes off EU sanctions on Iran oil

"There was a time when 90 per cent of our trade was with the Europeans. It has now dropped to 10 per cent. We didn't call for this. Cut it (trade) and let's see who will incur the loss," he said. "It is the West that needs Iran and the Iranian nation will not lose from the sanctions."

Will Obama take Ahmadinejad’s bait?

Optimists may interpret Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s call for new talks with the United States and Europe about his country’s nuclear program as a sign that international sanctions are working. But the notion that Tehran is looking for a way out of the nuclear standoff is exactly what Ahmadinejad and the ayatollahs who actually run Iran want Washington to believe. With pressure mounting on the Obama administration to implement sanctions on Iran’s Central Bank–a measure that would set in motion a limited embargo on the country’s export of oil–the Islamist regime is hoping to give the president an excuse to back away from the confrontation.

Former IDF chief: Israel must prepare for possible attack on Iran

During a lecture at the Institute for National Security Studies, Ashkenazi stressed that Israel's strategy on Iran must be a combination of several approaches.

Israeli hacker team brings down Iranian websites

Israeli hackers brought down Iran's Press TV website and two websites belonging to the Ministry of Health and Medical Education on Thursday.

The hackers, who call themselves "IDF Team," said their actions were a response to a series of attacks on Israeli sites the previous day.

Shiite leader Al-Hakim urges end to Iraqi political crisis

A top Iraqi Shiite official said Thursday that the political crisis pitting Shiite officials against his country's largest Sunni-backed bloc must end.

But Ammar Al-Hakim, a powerful cleric and leader of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, did not offer any change in the legal challenge that started the standoff: An arrest warrant that Iraq's Shiite-led government filed against the Sunni vice president, Tareq Al-Hashemi, on terrorism charges, sending him into virtual exile to the Kurdish autonomous region in northern Iraq.

Islamist militants led by Anwar al-Awlaki relative leave seized Yemen town

Islamist militants led by a relative of Anwar al-Awlaki, who took over a Yemeni town last week, have said they will leave in exchange for the formation of a council to govern it and the release of several jailed comrades.

Tony: Kurds and sway

If there is one group in Syria that embodies the trans-national currents running through Syrian society, and which is likely to have increasing influence in the post-Assad era, it’s the Kurds. Sitting at the intersection between Turkey, Syria and Iraq, the Kurdish minority, it is commonly recognized, will play a critical role in the success of the Syrian revolution and in the shaping of the post-Assad order.

One step forward, two steps back

On the same day, the Arab League, after a marathon meeting in Cairo, and in a further bid to bring an end to 10 months of bloodshed in Syria, decided to extend its heavily criticized, and arguably farcical, monitoring mission to the troubled country. The league also presented a framework for a peaceful transition of power and the holding of elections. But if Saleh’s flight into exile represents another feather in the cap of the so-called Arab Awakening, the league’s weak position on Syria shows more blood will no doubt be spilled before one of the main pillars of Arab authoritarianism is to be toppled.

Arab League resumes observer mission in Syria

Arab League observers in Syria, depleted by a pullout of their Gulf Arab colleagues, have resumed work for the first time in a week during which a bloody struggle between President Bashar al-Assad and his opponents has raged on.

Arab League observers resume work amid Syria violence

Security forces deployed across the Damascus suburb of Duma on Thursday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Duma, a protest hotbed that has recently seen a rise in rebel activity, was rocked by loud explosions overnight, according to activists living there. The British-based Observatory said army operations under way in parts of the countryside around the capital had led to fighting on Wednesday night but said there were no signs of clashes in Duma on Thursday since security forces deployed.

Diplomacy to remove Assad gains momentum

And, in fact, U.S. and international diplomacy aimed at removing Assad is quickly gaining momentum. An Arab League ministerial meeting on January 22 found that the Syrian government's "partial progress" was "not enough" and urged the establishment within two months of a "national unity government" based on a "serious political dialogue" with the opposition -- all under the authority of a vice president, rather than President Assad. Not surprisingly, the Assad regime rejected this plan, arguing that it went beyond the Arab League's authority, violated Syrian sovereignty, and represented "a conspiratorial scheme hatched against Syria" for foreign intervention "led by the Qatari government."

Al Qaeda 'poised to launch suicide attacks in Syria'

Bakri, once nicknamed the 'Tottenham Ayatollah', said hard line Salafi Muslim groups, including al Qaeda, and his own Al-Ghuraba group, also proscribed in the UK, are ready to help their 'Muslim brothers' with a campaign of suicide attacks against President Bashar al Assad.

Moshe Arens: Better late than never

For a change, here is good news from Beirut. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon made news during his recent visit. "I am deeply concerned about the military capacity of Hezbollah and the lack of progress in disarmament," he told a news conference in Beirut after meeting Lebanese leaders. "All these arms outside of the authorized state authority, it's not acceptable," he declared.

It's about time somebody made things clear to the Lebanese.

Egypt slaps travel ban on US NGO staff

The move comes amid a crackdown on foreign-funded NGOs.

It is likely to further strain relations between Egypt and the United States after prosecutors last month stormed the offices of groups including IRI as part of a probe into allegations of illegal funding from abroad.

Obama set to speed aid to Egypt-official

Undersecretary of State Robert Hormats, part of a U.S. delegation that held unprecedented talks last week with Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, said Washington wanted to provide "more immediate benefits" to Egyptians, who earlier this month conducted their first democratic elections in decades.

Reporter's Notebook: Tahrir Square, one year later

Fast forward a year to January 25, 2012. Again, it was a national holiday, but it has been rechristened: National Revolution Day. Like many times over the past year, Tahrir Square was filled with flags and signs, toddlers with black, red and white face paint and men clambering up lampposts and shouting from the top.

Muslim Brotherhood repeats: No talks with Israel

“Our group is not prepared to conduct dialogue with Israel – that is our decision.

. . . “It is illogical to open dialogue, any dialogue, given the current Israeli policies against the Arab peoples,” he said. “We will reject any request from the Israeli embassy to meet with leaders of the group.”

EU working on Israeli incentives package for PA

Palestinians declare exploratory talks with Israel 'a failure' as parties hold last meeting in Amman. EU's Ashton scrambles to salvage negotiations, keep Palestinians from walking away from talks. Abbas to consider next steps with Arab League next week.

Palestinians: Peace talks end with no progress

"The Israelis brought nothing new in these meetings," said one Palestinian official familiar with the talks. "We are now going to assess our options and will consult our brothers in the Arab League on February 4."

Talks ‘possible’ if Israel agrees borders — Abbas

“If we demarcate the borders, it is possible to return to negotiations, but the Israelis don’t want to determine the borders,” Abbas said, according to remarks carried by WAFA news agency.

In rare court appearance, Marwan Barghouti calls for a peace deal based on 1967 lines

Former Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti appeared in Jerusalem's Magistrate Court on Wednesday to testify in the lawsuit filed by the family of Esther Kleiman, a resident of Neveh Tsuf who was killed in a gunfire attack in 2002 northwest of Ramallah.

Barghouti, who is likely to become the next Palestinian President, was convicted by the Israeli justice system of five counts of murder – four Israelis and a Greek monk - during the second intifada. There is no question he supported and encouraged violence.

Hamas wants a ‘branch’ in Jordan

The source stressed that Hamas’ intentions to establish a presence in the Kingdom comes as part of the movement’s desire to “expand” its diplomatic reach and not a sign that the Palestinian movement is abandoning its Damascus headquarters.

Is Meshaal stepping down to step up?

Hamas is in flux. In the Palestinian territories, it is looking to reconcile with Fatah and create a unity government, even while holding onto power in Gaza. In Egypt, its sympathetic cousins the Muslim Brotherhood control the new parliament. In Jordan, its elements have an opportunity to gain ground if they can avoid getting smacked down by a panicked King Abdullah II. And most of all, in Syria, long the group’s base, it is a group non grata that is leaving: its refusal to pay obeisance to President Assad during the dictator’s months-long, violent repression of internal dissent has earned it street cred in much of the region but ill will in Damascus. So it was interesting over the weekend when the group announced that its longtime political leader Khaled Meshaal will resign. Combine it with news that Meshaal is otherwise raising his regional profile—he hopes to make an unprecedented visit to Gaza via Egypt with Palestinian President Abbas, in a huge symbolic sign of reconciliation; he plans to travel to Jordan, where he has residency papers (owing to his being born in the pre-1967 West Bank), and where Abdullah is officially welcoming him in a sign that the wind is at Islamists’ back.

'Israel has declared war on Hamas in West Bank'

Israel has declared war on Hamas representatives in the West Bank, Palestinians said Tuesday, pointing out that five legislators belonging to the Islamist movement have been arrested in the past few days.

Khaled Abu Toameh: The new hypocritical stance of Mahmoud Abbas

The Palestinian Authority has expressed outrage over the arrest of Hamas officials in the West Bank by the Israel Defense Forces -- even though the Palestinian Authority itself has also been arresting Hamas supporters in the West Bank.