Arab world

    The mind plays strange tricks sometimes, especially after a tragedy. When I sat down to write this story about the Saudi regime’s homicidal obsession with the Muslim Brotherhood, the first person I thought I’d call was Jamal Khashoggi. For more than 20 years I phoned him or met with him, even smoked the occasional water pipe with him, as I looked for a better understanding of his country, its people, its leaders, and the Middle East. We often disagreed, but he almost always gave me fresh insights into the major figures of the region, starting with Osama bin Laden in the 1990s, and the political trends, especially the explosion of hope that was called the Arab Spring in 2011. He would be just the man to talk to about the Saudis and the Muslim Brotherhood, because h...

    Saudi Arabia on Friday night admitted that the missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed in its Istanbul consulate according to state media. The discussions between Jamal Khashoggi and those he met at the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul devolved into a fistfight leading to his death the Saudi Press Agency said citing the public prosecutor. Details emerged in a flurry of statements from state-run media which announced a string of arrests an overhaul of the country's security apparatus and the dismissal of four senior figures. So far 18 Saudi nationals have been arrested and deputy intelligence chief Ahmad al-Assiri and Saud al-Qahtani a senior aide to Mohammed bin Salman the crown prince had been dismissed state TV reported. The Saudi government has been under ...

    Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi disappeared almost two weeks ago while on a visit to the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. His disappearance has sparked an international uproar involving the kingdom, Turkey and the United States that remains unresolved. Mr Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributor, had written columns critical of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s war in Yemen and its crackdown on activists and businessmen. Turkish officials say they fear a team of Saudi agents killed and dismembered Mr Khashoggi, and they have released surveillance footage of the alleged perpetrators and mysterious movements outside the consulate on October 2, the day he entered. The kingdom says the allegations are baseless but has offered no evidence Mr Khashoggi ...

    Saudi Arabia has said it will retaliate against any sanctions imposed over the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi, as the Riyadh stock market had its biggest fall in years. A host of western companies have distanced themselves from the Gulf state following the journalist’s disappearance, imperilling Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s efforts at economic reform. Khashoggi has been missing since he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on 2 October and is presumed to have been murdered. Donald Trump has threatened the US ally with “severe punishment” if Khashoggi, who has been critical of Bin Salman, has been killed. On Sunday, Riyadh vowed to hit back against any action. The kingdom affirms its total rejection of any threats and attempts to undermine it, whether th...

    Missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi recorded audio on his Apple watch of the moments he was allegedly interrogated, tortured and then killed, according to reports. He has not been seen since he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul over a week ago after apparently giving his fiancee his iPhone, which the watch was synced with. Turkish officials have said they believe a 15-member Saudi assassination squad killed Mr Khashoggi there. President Trump warned the US would inflict severe punishment if Saudi Arabia was behind his disappearance. He told CBS: We're going to get to the bottom of it. The Saudi journalist, who has been critical of the kingdom's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is believed to have turned on the recording feature before he went inside th...

    A deal to sell Typhoon fighter jets to Qatar will require "unprecedented" support from the British taxpayer, a government document has warned. Treasury officials expressed concern that underwriting the £6 billion deal risked “billions of Exchequer funding” if Qatar defaulted on the agreement. The worries stem from an agreement Britain signed with Qatar in December to sell the Gulf nation 24 of the supersonic jets, along with a package of weapons, pilot training and maintenance. Their assessment was that the transaction amounted to an unprecedented level of support to one buyer and risked “skewing”the portfolio of UK Export Finance (UKEF), the government’s credit agency, by concentrating about 25 per cent of their portfolio risk in one transaction. British defence ...

    Hamza Bin Laden the son of the late al-Qaida leader, has married the daughter of Mohammed Atta the lead hijacker in the 9/11 terror attacks, according to his family. The union was confirmed by Osama bin Laden’s half-brothers during an interview with the Guardian. Ahmad and Hassan al-Attas said they believed Hamza had taken a senior position within al-Qaida and was aiming to avenge the death of his father, shot dead during a US military raid in Pakistan seven years ago. Hamza is the son of one of Osama bin Laden’s three surviving wives, Khairiah Sabar, who was living with her husband in a compound in Abbottabad, near a large Pakistani military base, when he was killed. He has since made public statements urging followers to wage war on Washington, London, Paris and T...

    The nation-state law, backed by the right-wing government, passed by a vote of 62-55 and two abstentions in the 120-member parliament after months of political argument. Some Arab lawmakers shouted and ripped up papers after the vote. This is a defining moment in the annals of Zionism and the history of the state of Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the Knesset after the vote. Largely symbolic, the law was enacted just after the 70th anniversary of the birth of the state of Israel. It stipulates that Israel is the historic homeland of the Jewish people and they have an exclusive right to national self-determination in it. The bill also strips Arabic of its designation as an official language alongside Hebrew, downgrading it to a special status that en...

    An Iranian woman who removed her obligatory Islamic headscarf out of protest in December says she has been sentenced to 20 years in prison. Shapark Shajarizadeh posted on her personal website that she had been jailed for opposing the compulsory hijab and waving a white flag of peace in the street. There was no immediate comment from Iranian officials. Police in Iran arrested 29 people in February for removing their headscarves as part of a campaign known as White Wednesdays. Nasrin Sotoudeh, a prominent human rights lawyer who represented Shajarizadeh and other women, was arrested last month. Shajarizadeh, 42, was released on bail in late April. Her current whereabouts were unknown. In Iran, women showing their hair in public face penalties ranging from a $25 fin...

    Women across Saudi Arabia greeted the lifting on Sunday of a longstanding ban against women drivers in a variety of ways. Hundreds who already have their license took to the streets for their inaugural drives. One showered every intersection she passed with rose petals. Another took her dad for a ride to make up for all the times he had taken her somewhere. Ohoud Al Arifi logged into her Uber drivers app, and waited for a fare. Both the ride-hailing app and its main competitor in the Middle East, Careem, have embraced the opportunities opening up with the lifting of the ban. Uber has just opened a dedicated women’s “Greenlight Hub” in Riyadh to register, train and support new drivers, while Careem has already trained 2000 women in anticipation of them being able ...