14 Mar 10
Iraq held its general elections on the 7th of March, accompanied by scores of bombings in Baghdad. Turnout was lower than in 2005, and preliminary results showed that no group will win an outright majority in parliament. Forming a coalition may take months.
Israel declared that another 1600 houses would be built for Jewish settlers in Israeli-annexed suburbs that Palestinians hoped for as their future capital. The news came briefly after ‘proximity talks’ between Israel and Palestine were announced to be resumed.
Egypt’s senior cleric Sheikh Muhammad Tantawi died at the age of 81 in Saudi Arabia. Tantawi was a moderate cleric who angered radical Muslims by denouncing their insistence that Muslim women should be wholly covered.
08 Mar 10
A suicide bombing in Baquba, north of Baghdad, killed at least 33 people. Tensions have rose preceding a general election in Iraq on March 7th.
George Mitchell, Obama’s envoy to the Middle-East, will set off to the region to initiate another round of ‘proximity talks’ between the Israeli’s and the Palestinians. The Arab League has welcomed the news of the negotiations, which have stalled for over a year.
28 Feb 10
Israeli opposition leader Tzipi Livni has applauded the controversial killing of Hamas commander Al-Mabhoub in a hotel in Dubai last week. Dubai authorities are still investigating the assassination, tracing the trail of 22 people believed to be involved. Israeli intelligence agency Mossad has been widely accused of the killing, though declines to comment on the issue. Diplomatic tension between Israel and Western states have grown.
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi criticised a Swiss vote against the building of minarets, and urged all Muslims to boycott the country. Libyan-Swiss tensions date back to 2008, when Mr. Gaddafi’s son was arrested in Geneva, accused over assaulting two servants. The Swiss foreign ministry declined to comment on Gaddafi’s call to Jihad.
18 Feb 10
Dubai released footage of a suspected hit-squad responsible for executing senior Hamas commander Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh. The 11-man squad, suspected to be tied to Mossad, travelled on European passports. Israeli reports suggest that Al-Mabhoub was in Dubai to acquire weapons for Hamas from Iran.
US-Syrian diplomatic relations are being restored as the US nominated its first ambassador to Syria in five years.
13 Feb 10
Fighting continued between Houthi rebels and the Yemeni government a mere 12 hours after a ceasefire deal was announced. At least one soldier and a government official were killed in the northern district of Iqab.
Prime Minister Saad Hariri of Lebanon expressed his concerns over ‘escalating threats’ posed by Israel to the Middle-East. His comment came just days after aggressive exchanges of accusations between the foreign ministers of Syria and Israel, fueling media speculations over a next ‘imminent war’.
07 Feb 10
Iraq’s electoral commission reversed a ban on the participation of 500 candidates with Baath party ties in the next elections. Sunni politicians welcomed the reversal of the ban. Suicide bombs in Baghdad and Karbala meanwhile killed more than 60 Shia pilgrims.
Yemeni government forces reported to have killed 16 Houthi rebels in Saada. An agreement on a truce between the Houthi rebels and the Yemeni government earlier broke over an extra condition that Houthi’s stop attacking Saudi forces across the border.
The Mossad (Israel’s secret service) was suspected of the recent assassination in Dubai of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a senior military commander of the Hamas.
30 Jan 10
Baghdad was hit by big bombs targeting three of its best-known hotels. 41 casualties were reported.
Ali Hassan Al-Majid, a.k.a. “Chemical Ali” was executed by hanging after he was found guilty by an Iraqi special tribunal of ordering poison-gas attacks against Kurds in 1988. Al-Majid was a couson and confidant of Saddam Hussain.
23 Jan 10
Muhammad Badeea was elected as the ’supreme guide’ of the Muslim Brotherhood at its HQ in Egypt, replacing the older Mehdi Akef. The Muslim Brotherhood is one of the Arab world’s most influential Islamist movements.
An parliamentary panel in Iraq recommended that some 500 candidates should not be allowed to participate in a general election due in March, due to alleged past ties to the Baath party. Sectarian tensions resulted.
It was leaked that Abu Dhabi’s bailout of (Dubai) state-backed Dubai World was only half of the USD 10bn which was previously reported, as USD 5bn was a prior credit commitment. The announcement fueled fears about Dubai’s rescue.
16 Jan 10
President Barack Obama stated he has no intention of sending ground troops to Yemen in order to combat local militant groups on the ground. Meanwhile the Yemeni government reported a successful strike against an Al-Qaeda cell in the north killing at least six militants. Among the militants is believed to be Qassem Al-Rimi, a prominent Al-Qaeda figure in Yemen. The Saudi government also said its forces inflicted losses on rebels loyal to the Houthi clan in the north.
A Dutch committee investigating the Netherland’s entry into the Iraq war concluded it was illegal in international law. The conclusion led to a brief crisis in Dutch parliament as the prime minister seemed reluctant to accept the results of the investigation.
08 Jan 10
Yemen government forces stepped up a campaign against local Al-Qaeda cells which claimed to have planned the failed airliner terror attack and trained the Nigerian jihadist who carried it out on Christmas day. Security forces report several Al-Qaeda people were killed and at least three others were arrested. Intelligence sources previously warned of an imminent attack on foreign interests in Yemen, leading to the embassies of the USA, France and UK being closed temporarily.
A suicide bomber from Jordan operating as a CIA double-agent killed seven American CIA men and a Jordanian intelligence officer at a base in Khost (Afghanistan). The bomber was a trusted double-agent whose task it was to track down Ayman Al-Zawahiri, Al-Qaeda’s number two.
The Burj Khalifa Tower was officially opened in Dubai. Standing at 828 meters, the tower is the world’s tallest building and cost USD 1.5 billion to build. The ceremony came at a time of financial difficulty for Dubai, only having received a USD 10bn bailout from (neighbouring emirate) Abu Dhabi a few weeks ago for state-backed Dubai World.