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MENASource

Jan 15, 2015

The Temptation of the Lesser Evil in Syria

By Marcel Kurpershoek

Marcel Kurpershoek served as the Netherlands’ Special Envoy to Syria from August 2013 through December 2014. Ambassador Kurpershoek is a well-respected Dutch Arabist, and was ambassador for the Netherlands in Poland, Turkey, Pakistan and Afghanistan. He also served as a diplomat in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Syria. Before leaving his post as envoy, Kurpershoek delivered remarks […]

Syria

MENASource

Jan 15, 2015

Top News: UN talks aim to form unity government in Libya

By MENASource

  UN-sponsored discussions between the rival Tobruk-based House of Representatives and Tripoli-based General National Congress (GNC) began this week despite some members of the GNC refusing to attend.

MENASource

Jan 15, 2015

Top News: EU Won’t Send Full Observation Mission to Egypt Elections

By EgyptSource

The European Union will not send a full mission to monitor Egypt’s parliamentary elections, the bloc’s top diplomat said Wednesday, while criticizing the country’s human rights record.

MENASource

Jan 15, 2015

EconSource: Tunisia Trade Deficit Widens in 2014

By EconSource

According to recent statistics published by the National Institute of Statistics (INS), Tunisia’s trade deficit widened further in 2014, reaching a worrying level of 13,635.9 million Tunisian dinars. This deficit, 26.7 percent of which come from the energy balance deficit, was translated into a 2.5 percent drop in the coverage of imports by exports. Tunisia’s […]

MENASource

Jan 14, 2015

Top News: Al-Qaeda in Yemen claims responsibility for attack on Charlie Hebdo

By MENASource

Al-Qaeda in Yemen (AQAP) claimed responsibility for the attack on French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, saying it was ordered by the Islamist militant group’s leadership for insulting the Prophet Mohammad, according to a video posted on YouTube.

MENASource

Jan 14, 2015

Top News: Sisi Moves on Banning Foreign Publications Offensive to Religion

By EgyptSource

President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi issued a decree giving Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab the power to ban any foreign publication offensive to religion. Issued in the official State Journal on Tuesday, the presidential decree delegated the prime minister the president’s powers stipulated in a law regulating the publishing of printed media in Egypt.

MENASource

Jan 14, 2015

EconSource: Major British Trade Delegation in Egypt

By EconSource

British companies are paying one of the most high-profile visits to Egypt by a Western trade delegation since the 2011 uprising. The delegation is seeking assurances that Egypt will eliminate complex investment laws and stamps of approval required from dozens of government agencies. Investment Minister Ashraf Salman said he is optimistic a draft investment law […]

MENASource

Jan 14, 2015

An Economic Rebound in Egypt

By MENASource

The past four years in Egypt have wreaked havoc on the country and the ouster of former president Mohamed Morsi by the military in July 2014 in addition to the subsequent crackdown on dissent left many feeling that the political process has all but fallen apart. Despite the Egyptian leadership’s heavy-handed approach in dealing with political […]

North Africa

MENASource

Jan 14, 2015

Abu Hasira: Between Religious Intolerance and Political Squabbles

By Sonia Farid

The Abu Hasira Festival, an annual celebration in Egypt commemorating the birth of a Moroccan Rabbi, was canceled permanently by court order in December 2014. The Alexandria Administrative Court, which issued the verdict, cited “moral offenses” as the main reason for cancelling the festival. It also ordered the removal of the shrine from Egypt’s list […]

North Africa

MENASource

Jan 13, 2015

Top News: Mubarak and Sons to be Retried for Embezzlement

By EgyptSource

Former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and his two sons will be retried in the ‘presidential palaces’ embezzlement case after the Court of Cassation accepted their appeal on Tuesday. Mubarak, his sons Gamal and Alaa, were sentenced to three years in prison on charges of embezzling funds allocated for developing communications centers at the presidency.