Category: Arab News

The Iraqi security forces  launched a major offensive in the western province of Anbar to free a town from where the Islamic State (IS) militants abducted around 43 people and later burned them alive inside iron cages, a provincial security source said. Iraqi soldiers, police and allied Sunni tribesmen, backed by the US-led coalition and…

A senior Palestinian official condemned Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman for calls to execute Palestinians imprisoned in Israeli jails. Issa Qaraqe, chief of the Palestinian corporation for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, told Xinhua that the statements of Lieberman “represent racism, incites for murder and express hatred and hostility.” He added that these statements “give…

massive ground offensive involving 20,000 to 25,000 troops may be launched by the Iraqi forces as early as April to retake Iraq’s second largest city of Mosul from the Sunni radical group Islamic State (IS), a US military officer has said. The US Central Command (Centcom) officer said that the IS was on the defensive…

A senior Palestinian official  condemned Israeli plans to build new housing units in a settlement near east Jerusalem. “The ongoing Israeli settlement activities confirm our credible and true attitude to sue Israel (at) the International Criminal Court (ICC),” chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told Xinhua. Earlier, Israel approved the construction of 64 housing units in…

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and US Secretary of State John Kerry held a fresh round of talks in Munich as a March deadline for a nuclear deal between Tehran and the P5+1 group approaches, a media report said Saturday. The two foreign ministers held their talks Friday on the sidelines of Munich Security…

  Jordan executed two convicted jihadis in retaliation for the killing of one of its air force pilots by the Islamic State (IS) militants, BBC reported . The executed terrorists included Sajida al-Rishawi, a woman, whose release the IS had demanded as a condition for releasing Jordanian pilot Moaz al-Kasasbeh. Al Qaeda operative Ziyad Karboli…

  The Islamic State (IS) claimed in an online video to have burnt alive Jordanian pilot Moaz al-Kasasbeh, who was captured by the Sunni radical group after his plane crashed in Syria in December last year, media reports said. The video, which could not immediately be verified, shows a man standing in a cage and…

Mohamed Fahmy, one of two al-Jazeera journalists still held in Egypt, has renounced his Egyptian citizenship to secure his release, his family said. Fahmy’s brother said the journalist, who is also Canadian, was told to give up either his nationality or his freedom. Canada says his release is imminent. The status of his Egyptian colleague…

The family of Australian journalist Peter Greste  said they were delighted to learn that he has been released from Egyptian prison and is flying back home, a media report said. Peter Greste, freed after reportedly spending 400 days in prison, worked for the Doha-based Al-Jazeera channel. His two other colleagues and prison inmates — Egyptian…

  The toll in mortar attacks that targeted security premises in Egypt’s North Sinai province rose to 33, a security source told Xinhua news agency . “The injured people include 31 military men and two civilians and they are being transferred from Arish to Cairo by air-ambulances for better treatment,” the source added. On Thursday…

 The Jordanian army said it was following-up on the situation of a pilot captured by the Islamic State (IS) terror group. In a statement, the army said it was working with all the state institutions to follow up on the situation of the Jordanian pilot, Lt. Mu’ath al-Kaseasbeh, Xinhua reported. The army’s remark came after…

Israel published tenders for 450 new settlement units in West Bank’s Jewish settlements. The tenders include 102 housing units in Kyriat Arba, a stronghold of radical right-wing settlers; 78 units in Alfei Menashe, one of the largest settlement cities; 114 units in the settlement of Adam; and 156 in Elkana, Xinhua news agency reported. “Another…

The ISIS terrorist group has threatened to kill a Japanese correspondent and Jordanian pilot within 24 hours if a female suicide bomber imprisoned in Jordan is not released. In a video posted online Tuesday afternoon, Japanese war correspondent Kenji Goto appeared with a message to the Japanese government, Xinhua news agency reported. Goto asked the Japanese…

Several Islamic State (IS) affiliates launched an attack on Libya’s biggest hotel in the capital Tripoli, killing three hotel guards and five foreigners, according to security sources. Some witnesses said a bomb was detonated at Corinthia Hotel’s parking lot around 10 a.m., shaking the whole central area of the city. Then two men firing guns…

  Kurdish forces have driven Islamic State (IS) militants from Kobane, officials say, ending a four-month battle for the northern Syrian town. Fighters from the Popular Protection Units (YPG) were said to have entered outlying areas in the east of the town after the jihadis retreated, BBC reported. The US said anti-IS forces were in…

Iran is firm and resolute over its nuclear rights and is ready to prove that its nuclear activities are peaceful, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said here. “As for the nuclear issue, the Iran is after the peaceful use of nuclear energy and wants to enjoy its rights within the framework of international regulations and the…

Saudi Arabia’s former Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud  took the pledge of allegiance as the new king following the death of King Abdullah, the ruler of the world’s largest oil exporter for nearly a decade. Within hours of his accession to the throne, the 79-year-old Salman, who is half-brother of King Abdullah, vowed…

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon voiced support for the fight against anti-Semitism, saying the world body has as a duty to speak out on this matter and prevent it, a media report said. “Our efforts to build a world of mutual understanding are being severely tested today by rising extremism and barbaric acts,” Ban said…

Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz has died in hospital, state TV says. The announcement, made early , said his brother, Salman, had become king reports BBC. Before the announcement, Saudi television cut to Koranic verses, which often signifies the death of a senior royal. King Abdullah, who was said to be aged about 90, had…

At least nine people were injured y when a Palestinian man stabbed bus passengers in Tel Aviv, Israel police said. The incident took place when a 23-year-old Palestinian from the West Bank, who has not been identified, attacked the passengers on a bus running in the southern area of the city, said police spokesman Micky…

  A Palestinian official  said ties with Israel reached a “point of no return” after Israel decided to halt the transfer the tax revenues to the Palestinian National Authority. “Israel is practicing a collective punishment against the Palestinian people,” said chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, in a statement following his meeting with foreign diplomats in…

Israel called for cutting funding for the International Criminal Court (ICC) over the tribunal’s decision to probe possible Israeli war crimes during last year’s war with Hamas in Gaza. Israel’s Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Israel was trying to get various countries to stop funding the ICC, Xinhua reported. “We will demand that our friends…

The US and coalition military forces continued to conduct airstrikes against the Islamic State (IS) forces in Syria and Iraq over the past two days, the US Defense Department has said. During the period, fighter and bomber aircraft conducted 14 airstrikes in Syria, and fighter aircraft conducted six airstrikes in Iraq, Xinhua reported citing a…

The Palestinian national unity government has decided to join the International Criminal Police Organisation, commonly known as Interpol, a senior official says. The Palestinian government will submit a request to join the organisation in 2015 ahead of Interpol’s annual meeting in November, Press TV reported citing Ahmad al-Rabie, a senior official in the Palestinian Authority’s…

The Iranian navy has successfully tested its latest torpedo and cruise missiles on the sixth day of massive military exercises code-named Muhammad Rasulullah (PBUH) in the southern part of the country. Iranian Navy’s anti-submarine SH-3D helicopter test-fired the latest domestically-made torpedo, Press TV reported Tuesday. The torpedo successfully hit its predetermined sub-surface target in the…

  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected the charge of Israel being guilty of war crimes, media reported. “There are those in the international community who accuse you, Israel Defence Forces (IDF) pilots, of committing war crimes. You defend the country and the country will defend you,” he said while speaking at a graduation…

President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas has reiterated his resolve to bid at the UN for full recognition for Palestine. “Our state’s bid at the UN Security Council (UNSC) aims at claiming our independent state (based) on 1967 border with Jerusalem as capital,” Abbas told a conference held Tuesday at the Algerian foreign ministry,…

  The Hamas movement announced that it opposes the Palestinian draft resolution presented to the UN Security Council which demands an end to Israeli occupation. Sami Abu Zuhri, Hamas spokesman in Gaza, said in an emailed press statement that the draft resolution presented by the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) to the Security Council “doesn’t represent…

Russia is interested in the earliest resolution of the issue concerning the state status of Palestine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said . The foreign minister said his country recognised the state of Palestine in the late 1980s. “Therefore, we have no questions whatsoever concerning the recognition of the Palestinian statehood as it was proposed…

  The European Parliament took a historic vote today to urge member states to recognize the State of Palestine with a majority of 498 to 88 in favour.  The motion was led by the Socialists and Democrats Group in the European Parliament (S&D), of which Labour MEPs are members. It comes in light of the…

The German government  called for a complete investigation into the death of Palestinian cabinet minister Ziad Abu Ein, who died Wednesday in an incident with Israeli security forces. “The tragic death of Ziad Abu Ein in the West Bank represents a new low in the weeks-long tensions between Israelis and Palestinians,” Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier…