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Arab States Weekly Review 6th – 12th March 2010

admin — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 08:30:34 +0000

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.

Arab States Weekly Review 16 Jan – 22 Jan 2010

admin — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 18:35:29 +0000

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.

Arab States Weekly Review 21-28 Nov 09

admin — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 08:07:28 +0000

Fears over the financial health of Dubai hit global stockmarkets, following a request by Dubai World for a 6-month delay of repaying its debts. The government-owned investment company has been hit hard by the credit crunch and is said to have debts of USD 60bn.

In order to revive peace negotiations with the Palestinians, Benjamin Netanjahu, prime minister of Israel, offered to put a hold on building settlements in the West Bank for a period of ten months. To the dismay of the Palestinians, the offers excluded East Jerusalem, existing settlements and settlements already under construction.

The parliament of Jordan was dissolved halfway its 4-year term by King Abdullah, following tensions between the government and Islamist opposition.

A row erupted between supporters of the Egyptian and Algerian football teams, following a victory by Algeria. Both sides accuse each other of violent attacks. Dozens were hurt in Egypt, Algeria and Sudan. The Arab League has asked President Ghaddafi of Libya to mediate in the conflict.