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Maliki wastes Iraq’s money in Syria and Iran

When I stated a few months ago that the Iraqi government’s involvement in Syria was serving the Iranian regime, I did not have enough evidence. I made these comments based on Iraqi-Iranian stories and happenings in Egypt, Lebanon, Gaza and Syria. Today the picture is much clearer and there is...

Hezbollah in Syria: Brace for a Long Conflict

While Hezbollah’s intervention in Syria is helping Assad regain military foothold in key areas of the country, it promises a more vicious and prolonged sectarian conflict in the longer run. The involvement strongly backed by Iran, could open the door for the West to arm the opposition in hopes...

Syria contagion strikes deep into Lebanon

  Two rockets fired at Hezbollah-controlled southern Beirut bring  Syria 's escalating civil war deeper into the heart of Lebanon and closer to unrestrained regional conflict. The two-year-old conflict in  Syria  has already tumbled into Lebanon's Bekaa Valley,...

Sectarian cleansing in Syria's coastal region?

My column* this week in The National discusses the carnage in the Syrian coastal area of Banias over the weekend committed by pro-regime militias, probably led by a Turkish man called Mihraç Ural. Ural is known for activists in the area. He leads a militia, called the Syrian...

Hizbollah's Ill-Advised Foray Into Syria

    Last week, Moaz Al-Khatib recorded a video in which he addressed Hizbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah in relation to the party’s involvement in Syria. Al-Khatib's speech was moving and powerful. But Al-Khatib seemed convinced that Nasrallah was a virtuous person who could be...

What were Al Bouti last words?

In this video, Syria’s Sunni cleric Sheikh Saeed Ramadan Al Bouti gives his last religious seminar in a mosque in Damascus. At 20:10 , a bomb goes off .  In the beginning of his lecture, he says this lesson marks the 200 th lesson in a series about...

Details on Syrian opposition's talks in Turkey

  The Syrian opposition is holding talks in Turkey to restructure and expand the National Coalition (NC). As I reported earlier this month, the talks follow a visit by   12  members of the NC to Riyadh this month. It’s important to remember here that the Muslim...