TheRepublic.com - Middle East News

Report: 23 Hezbollah members killed in Syria

Mon, 20 May 2013 04:26:04 -0400

BEIRUT - A Syrian group that tracks the country's civil war says 23 fighters from the militant group Hezbollah have been killed in fierce clashes in a strategic town near the Lebanese border.

Car bombs in Baghdad, south Iraq kill at least 34

Mon, 20 May 2013 04:23:07 -0400

BAGHDAD - A wave of car bombings across Baghdad's Shiite neighborhoods and in the southern city of Basra killed at least 34 people on Monday, Iraqi officials said.

Syrian troops push into strategic rebel-held town

Sun, 19 May 2013 22:08:46 -0400

BEIRUT - Syrian troops pushed into a rebel-held town near the Lebanese border on Sunday, fighting house-to-house and bombing from the air as President Bashar Assad tried to strengthen his grip on a strategic strip of land running from the capital to the Mediterranean coast.

Video shows kidnapped Egyptian security officers

Sun, 19 May 2013 16:41:02 -0400

CAIRO - Seven men purported to be the members of Egypt's security forces kidnapped by suspected militants last week appeared in a video posted online Sunday and urged the government to secure their release by meeting their captors' demands.

Tunisia security blocks salafi conference, 1 dead

Sun, 19 May 2013 14:46:19 -0400

KAIROUAN, Tunisia - Around 11,000 police officers and soldiers blocked an annual conference Sunday at Tunisia's main religious center by a radical Islamist movement that has been implicated in attacks across the country, prompting clashes with angry youths that resulted in one death.

Israeli seeks interim deal with Palestinians

Sun, 19 May 2013 14:37:06 -0400

JERUSALEM - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's senior coalition partner says that reaching a final peace agreement with the Palestinians is unrealistic at the current time and the sides should instead pursue an interim arrangement.

Israel disputes French TV claim on boy's death

Sun, 19 May 2013 14:29:31 -0400

JERUSALEM - Israel on Sunday completed an investigation into a decade-old French TV report that claimed Israeli forces killed a Palestinian boy in a gunbattle with Palestinian militants, saying the video was misleading and unfairly blamed Israel.

Cairo airport baggage handlers end strike

Sun, 19 May 2013 12:07:18 -0400

CAIRO - Cairo airport officials say baggage handlers have resumed work after a strike that left passengers on 20 international flights from Europe and Arab countries waiting several hours for luggage.

Tunisia security blocks salafi conference

Sun, 19 May 2013 08:42:52 -0400

KAIROUAN, Tunisia - Massive numbers of Tunisian police and army surrounded Tunisia's religious center of Kairouan to prevent a conference by a radical Islamist movement that has been implicated in attacks around the country.

Saudi vegetable seller dies from self-immolation

Sun, 19 May 2013 07:53:04 -0400

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - A Saudi newspaper says a vegetable seller who set himself on fire in Riyadh after police confiscated his goods for standing in an unauthorized area has died.

Iran's Guard warns against post-election turmoil

Sun, 19 May 2013 07:02:23 -0400

TEHRAN, Iran - A senior commander in Iran's Revolutionary Guard has warned that his forces will be on watch for possible unrest after next month's presidential election, calling the outcome "unpredictable" and sending the strongest message yet against any attempts to revive street protests, media reported Sunday.

Report: Iran hangs 2 men convicted of spying

Sun, 19 May 2013 02:11:05 -0400

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's state radio says authorities have executed two men convicted of spying for Israel's Mossad and the American CIA spy agency.

Suspected US drone in Yemen kills 4 militants

Sat, 18 May 2013 16:23:13 -0400

SANAA, Yemen - A suspected U.S. drone strike killed four al-Qaida militants Saturday in a southern Yemeni province once overrun by the group, according to security officials.

Blasts rock Libya's capital and eastern city

Sat, 18 May 2013 14:32:44 -0400

TRIPOLI, Libya - Libyan officials say explosions went off in the capital Tripoli and the restive eastern city of Benghazi, but no casualties were reported.

AP PHOTOS: Palestinians in Egypt exiled, forgotten

Sat, 18 May 2013 13:52:01 -0400

GEZIRAT AL-FADEL, Egypt - In 1948, Suleiman Mamoudi fled by foot with his parents and other families from their village of Bir el-Sabae in Palestine. The 28-year-old and his family walked west for several hundred miles, crossing the Sinai Peninsula before settling in an area around 90 miles (145 kilometers) north of Cairo.

Egypt Muslim-Christian clashes leave 1 dead

Sat, 18 May 2013 09:13:47 -0400

CAIRO - Egyptian security officials say clashes between Muslims and Christians in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria left one man dead of a heart attack.

Egyptians targeted with blasphemy charges

Sat, 18 May 2013 02:40:57 -0400

CAIRO - The pale, young Christian woman sat handcuffed in the courtroom, accused of insulting Islam while teaching history of religions to fourth-graders. A team of Islamist lawyers with long beards sang in unison, "All except the Prophet Muhammad."

Egypt police close Gaza border to protest kidnap

Fri, 17 May 2013 15:32:19 -0400

CAIRO - Dozens of disgruntled border policemen forced the closure of Egypt's main crossing point into the Gaza Strip on Friday to protest the abduction of their colleagues by suspected militants, underscoring the lawlessness and crisis of authority in the country two years since the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak.

Rights groups: Syria holds thousands incommunicado

Fri, 17 May 2013 11:46:44 -0400

BEIRUT - About 30 security agents showed up just after midnight, breaking down the door to an apartment in the town of Daraya near the Syrian capital of Damascus. They grabbed a 24-year-old university student and drove off.

Hints of political change on horizon in Algeria

Fri, 17 May 2013 10:55:40 -0400

ALGIERS, Algeria - The Arab Spring may finally be en route to Algeria.