By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr on Sunday paid a visit to Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea port, Jidda, at the invitation of the Saudi royal family. He was hosted by Crown Prince Muhmmad bin Salman, who is acting head of state while his father is on vacation. […]
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Sunnis
Does Sunni Fragmentation after ISIL threaten Iraq’s Future?
By Mustafa Habib | Baghdad | (Niqash.org) | – – As the date for a Baghdad summit on unity nears, the cracks are showing. It seems the country’s Sunni politicians can’t even get together to discuss their possible unity, in post-Islamic State Iraq. In mid-July, there is to be a conference in Baghdad for Sunni […]
Why Mosul Matters
The Economist | (Video News Report) | – – “Mosul stands on the brink of recapture from Islamic State fighters, but the future of the city is uncertain. With several parties jostling for control of Mosul, fragile alliances could fracture, increasing the likelihood of bloody sectarian conflict.” The Economist: “Why Mosul Matters”
The top 4 Challenges facing the Arab World
By Tarek Osman | (Project Syndicate) | – – LONDON – Fifty years after the Six Days War, the Middle East remains a region in seemingly perpetual crisis. So it is no surprise that, when addressing the region, politicians, diplomats, and the donor and humanitarian community typically focus on the here and now. Yet, if […]
Could ISIL attacks in Tehran plunge the Middle East into greater turmoil?
By Mohammadbagher Forough | (The Conversation) | – – Iran experienced its first major ISIL attack on June 7, as armed men and suicide bombers targeted two symbols of the Islamic Republic in Tehran: Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s mausoleum and the Iranian parliament. At least 12 people are reported to have been killed and 42 wounded. […]
US faces risks as Trump misreads the Middle East
Francis Ghilès | (OpenDemocracy.net) | – – Militarising the region further and taking sides in a recently concocted sectarian conflict will likely end in tears. Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sissi, Saudi King Salman Bin Abdelaziz Al Saud, US First Lady Melania Trump, and US president Donald Trump. Picture by Balkis Press/ABACA/ABACA/PA Images. All rights reserved.The […]
What is the Sunni-Shiite Divide into Which Trump just Stepped?
Ken Chitwood | (The Conversation) | – – In his address in Saudi Arabia on Sunday, May 21, while calling on Muslim leaders to lead the fight against terrorism, President Donald Trump identified Iran as a despotic state giving safe harbor and financing terror in the Middle East. As Iran is a Shia state and […]
Pope Francis, Islam and Peace-Building
Interview by Jayson Casper | (Informed Comment) | – – Dr. Kamal Boraiqa is a lecturer at al-Azhar University and a member of al-Azhar Center for Dialogue, the al-Azhar Observer for Combating Extremism, and the Egyptian Family House. With a PhD from al-Azhar in Islamic Studies, he has served as an imam at the Santa […]
Can Iraq’s Sunni Politicians agree on post-ISIL Future?
Mustafa Habib | Baghdad | (Niqash.org) | – – “Iraq’s Sunni Muslims desperately need their politicians to present a united front and act in their interests. But the politicians cannot agree on a vision for the post-Islamic State future.” Last Sunday, Iraqi parliamentarians voted to ban their colleagues from participating in conferences held outside the […]