In an age that calls for transparency and clarity, the speech given by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz during the opening ceremony of the Second Year of the Shura Council's

Regardless of whether it is Nuri al Maliki’s or Iyad Allawi’s bloc that will emerge victorious in the Iraqi elections, initial indications up until the publication of this article show that Allawi

Jeddah, Asharq Al-Awsat- Informed sources have stated to Asharq Al-Awsat that Somali pirates have asked for a ransom of $20 million for the release of the Saudi Arabian ship "Al-Nisr Al-Saudi"

What we have seen from the preliminary results of the Iraqi elections has been excellent and remarkable; the sectarian leaderships have begun to weaken in Iraq, which means that Iraq is not turning

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AFP) – Prospects for indirect peace talks lay in tatters on Thursday after the Palestinians said they would not negotiate with Israel unless it reversed plans to build 1,600 settler

GAZA (Reuters) – A British journalist was freed by the Hamas Islamist rulers of the Gaza Strip on Thursday, nearly four weeks after his arrest on suspicion of spying for Israel, Palestinian and British

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, (AP) – U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates told Saudi leaders Wednesday that the U.S. effort for diplomatic engagement with Iran had come to naught and he asked for the influential

CAIRO, (AP) – The former U.N. nuclear chief turned Egyptian reform advocate has strongly condemned the beating of one of his supporters, allegedly by State Security agents. Mohamed ElBaradei said in

Cairo, Asharq Al-Awsat- Mediation by Egyptian Intelligence Chief Omar Suleiman between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi has resulted in a "compromise" being reached

Q) In the light of the international aid that can be given to Yemen to help stabilize the country, what are the projects that Yemen places at the top of its priorities? A) Yemen needs huge aid. This

In an interview with the German Der Spiegel newspaper published by Asharq Al-Awsat last week, the Greek Prime Minister [Georgios Papandreou] – explaining the financial problems being faced by his country

After the military operations against the Huthi rebels in Yemen ended, which also claimed the lives of many Al Qaeda members, the focus has now turned towards Somalia in order to break another link

I was watching a Middle East-based satellite news channel recently that carried a report about several teachers in Medina who gave their students ridiculous questions during an examination. When I

RAMALLAH, West Bank, (Reuters) - Palestinians told U.S. Vice President Joe Biden on Wednesday that Israel's new plan to build 1,600 homes for Jewish settlers challenged Washington's efforts to get indirect

London, Cairo, Asharq Al-Awsat- The Chairman of the Libyan National Oil Company [NOC] informed Asharq Al-Awsat that Tripoli is seeking to give precedence to Russia and China – at the expense of US oil

No, never, in fact the opposite is true. Autocracy is far more infectious and capable of infiltrating minds and borders, and today dominates the entire region. Therefore there should be no fear for

KABUL (AP) - Taking aim at the U.S., Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Wednesday that it's the United States that is playing a "double game" in Afghanistan, fighting terrorists it once supported. At

BAGHDAD, (Reuters) - Preliminary results of Iraq's parliamentary election, a vote seen as a litmus test of its young democracy, are likely to be released by Thursday, a United Nations official said on

CAIRO (AP) - Top Egyptian cleric Sheik Mohammed Sayed Tantawi, whose moderate views angered conservative Muslims, died of a heart attack Wednesday during a visit to Saudi Arabia, the state-owned news

Sanaa, Asharq Al-Awsat- Abdul-Ilah Haydar, a Yemen-based terrorism expert, talks to Asharq al Awsat about his visits to territories where Al-Qaeda elements and its sympathizers are present. Haydar also