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MENASource

Jan 6, 2015

Top News: Two Policemen Killed in Minya Church Attack

By EgyptSource

Unknown assailants killed two policemen on Tuesday during an attack on a church in the Upper Egyptian province of Minya. 

MENASource

Jan 5, 2015

Top News: Former Regime Official Nominated as New Tunisian Prime Minister

By MENASource

Habib Essid, a former Tunisian interior minister, has been nominated as prime minister to form a new government after an agreement among political parties in the newly elected parliament.

MENASource

Jan 5, 2015

Syria: The Gutman Report

By Frederic C. Hof

Turkey-based, Pulitzer Prize winning reporter Roy Gutman of McClatchy closed out 2014 with a dispatch that would be shocking if only there were still capacity for shock when it comes to Washington’s Syria policy. Gutman reported being told by Syrian opposition leaders of being ignored by the Obama administration last April when they warned of […]

Syria

MENASource

Jan 5, 2015

Top News: Egyptian Court Orders Retrial of Al Jazeera Journalists

By EgyptSource

Egypt’s highest court has ordered a retrial of three jailed journalists working for Al Jazeera television, citing procedural flaws in last year’s trial, defense lawyers said on Thursday.

MENASource

Jan 5, 2015

EconSource: Egypt’s current account hits deficit of $1.4 billion in first quarter

By EconSource

Egypt’s current account recorded a $1.4 billion deficit from July to September, in contrast to a $610 million surplus in the same period last year when Gulf states provided billions of dollars in aid. According to a statement by the Egyptian central bank, the deficit was driven by a wider trade gap and a contraction […]

MENASource

Dec 24, 2014

Assured Dysfunction: Egypt’s Parliamentary Constituencies Law

By Ryan J. Suto

Earlier this week Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi approved a law to govern the upcoming parliamentary elections, presently scheduled to occur “before the end of March 2015.” The law creates an electoral system which is overly complex, marginalizes political parties, and allows for easy government manipulation.

North Africa

MENASource

Dec 24, 2014

Top New: Qatari Intelligence Chief in Cairo for Reconciliation Talks

By EgyptSource

Egyptian and Qatari intelligence officials have met in Cairo to discuss reconciliation as part of Saudi-brokered efforts to end an 18-month standoff over Doha’s support of the Muslim Brotherhood, security and diplomatic sources said.

MENASource

Dec 24, 2014

Atlantic Council Interview with Libyan Foreign Minister Mohammed al-Dairi

By MENASource

Libya is becoming increasingly polarized, as rival blocs engage in a violent political struggle for power and the country’s resources. The United Nations is attempting to broker negotiations between the elected, internationally-recognized assembly and government in Tobruk and the self-declared authorities in Tripoli. Prospects for a political solution, however, appear dim, especially as regional states […]

Libya

MENASource

Dec 24, 2014

Iraq’s Shia Militias are a Trickier Problem

By Ramzy Mardini

While much of the international media’s attention focuses on the threat posed by the Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL), the more complicated and longer-term problem for Iraq is the resurgence of its Shia militias.

Iraq

MENASource

Dec 24, 2014

ISIS’s Governance Crisis (Part II): Social Services

By Mona Alami

In its fourth issue of its English-language newsletter Dabig, the Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL) boasted that a “state cannot be established” unless it looked after both the “worldly and the religious needs” of Muslims. With that specific goal in mind, ISIS has entrenched itself in the daily life of residents of the region straddling […]

Iraq Syria