middle-east - INTERNATIONAL AGENCY FOR JOURNALISM AND STRATEGIC STUDIES

Iraq: Populist cleric Sadr tells followers to clear sit-ins after PM appointed

Populist Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr urged his followers on Sunday to help security forces clear roads blocked during months of sit-in protests, calling for “day-to-day life” to resume following the appointment of a new prime minister, reported Reuters. ...

UN agency fears 'escalation in clashes' after Trump plan

Palestinians are in a "state of shock" over a US Middle East peace plan, the head of the UN's agency for Palestinian refugees said Friday, voicing fears of a surge in violence. ...

Iraq: attempts of assassination and kidnapping against activists

Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights revealed, on Wednesday, 121 cases and attempts of assassinations and kidnapping against the activists from the popular movement, since the start of the anti-government and political elite protests in early October 2019. ...

Human rights NGO slams Trump plan: ‘Control over movement means control over life’

Israeli human rights organisation Gisha described the newly-published US “peace plan” as “a plan for ongoing conflict”, in a press release issued yesterday. ...

The Elders warn that new US ‘peace’ plan for the Middle East is unworkable

The Elders warned today that the new US proposals announced by President Donald Trump cannot provide a workable solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. If implemented by Israel, they would make the two-state solution impossible, entrenching deep inequality along ethnic lines and moving the decades-old conflict into a new phase. ...

UN raises ‘serious concern’ over unfair trials of Daesh members in Iraq

The United Nations has raised “serious concern” over what it called “unfair trials” of former members of Daesh by the Iraqi judiciary. ...

Daesh threatens to attack Israel as US unveils peace plan

In an audio message released yesterday by Daesh’s new spokesman, the terrorist group threatened to make Israel the main target of its attacks and also called out Muslims worldwide to impede US President Donald Trump’s peace plan. ...

30 protesters injured in south Iraq as security forces open fire on protesters

Thirty Iraqi protesters were injured yesterday after security forces fired live rounds and tear gas in an effort to disperse demonstrators in the city of Nasiriyah, capital of Dhi Qar Governorate, an Iraqi medical source told Anadolu news agency. ...

Lebanon sees more protests in rejection of new government

Lebanese protesters gathered yesterday to air their rejection of the newly formed government of Prime Minister of Hassan Diab. ...

Iraq forces raid protest camps after Sadr supporters withdraw

Iraqi security forces fired bullets and tear gas yesterday in raids on protest camps in Baghdad and southern cities, killing four people and wounding dozens more, police and medical sources said, Reuters reports. ...

Lebanon: Security forces fire water cannons at protesters

Lebanese security forces fired water cannons and tear gas at anti-government protesters trying to breach a security barricade outside government headquarters in central Beirut, as reported by Reuters. ...

Iraqis security forces raid Baghdad protest site

Iraqi security forces have moved against the main anti-government protest site in central Baghdad. ...

Absent Iran faces detente calls from worried West and Middle East

Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif skipped this year’s Davos, but Tehran was still a hot topic for many Western and Middle Eastern powers hoping for detente less than three weeks after the United States killed Iran’s top general. ...

Hundreds of thousands protest US troop presence in Iraq

Hundreds of thousands of protesters marched through Baghdad on Friday calling for US troops to leave Iraq, heeding the call of powerful Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr who called for a "Million Man March." ...

Lebanon: US calls on new government to make ‘tangible reforms’

The United States has called on Lebanon’s new government to implement “real and tangible reforms” following months of protests in the country over corruption and a worsening economic crisis. In a statement issued yesterday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the Lebanese government, which was appointed earlier this week, will face many challenges and tests, particularly regarding its response to the popular demands of its citizens. ...

Libya suspends air traffic in Tripoli’s Mitiga after missile strike

Libya’s Government of National Accord (GNA) yesterday suspended air traffic at the Mitiga airport in the capital Tripoli after it was struck by missiles. ...

Lebanon appoints first female defence minister

Lebanon has appointed a female member of parliament as its defence minister, as part of its shake up following mass protests in the country. ...

Masked gunmen assassinate Basij commander in south-west Iran

Earlier today, masked gunmen assassinated a local commander of the Basij paramilitary security forces in Iran’s southwestern Khuzestan province in front of his house. Abdolhosein Mojaddami was shot dead by two unknown persons who were riding a motorcycle according to the official IRNA news agency. ...