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While there is a broad range of Arabic language media outlets reporting stories from and about the Middle East, there is currently no affordable and reliable means for English speakers to gain access to this content. As a result, many English speaking businesspersons, students, journalists and others who have an interest in the affairs of the region are largely unaware of what the Middle East media is covering and how they are covering these stories.

Mideastwire.com aims to close this gap by offering a daily menu of translations covering some of the key political, cultural, economic and opinion pieces appearing in the media of the 22 Arab countries and the Arab Diaspora. Through this effort, we hope to address at least one aspect of a global disconnect that continues to threaten a wide spectrum of socio-political and economic relationships, both here in the region and beyond.

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TODAY’S DAILY BRIEFING

17-Mar-2016

Algeria

Politics

“Algeria: Authority’s parties trying to disrupt opposition conference...” (Al-Quds al-Arabi, United Kingdom)

Democracy and Party Politics

On March 17, the Qatari-owned Al-Quds al-Arabi daily carried the following report by its correspondent in Algiers Kamal Zayet: “Algerian opposition parties and figures are preparing to hold a combining conference at the end of the month, almost two years after the first meeting they held right after the April 2014 presidential elections, which kept President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in power for a fourth term. At the same time, the majority party is working on a massive popular gathering in support of President Bouteflika on the same day, which means that the conflict between the opposition and the authority’s parties has entered the stage of counter-disruption. The opposition, which had rallied in what was dubbed the Coordination for Liberties and Democratic Transition, had announced months ago the staging of a combining conference at the beginning of this year… (Read More)

Iran

Politics

“Will Iran establish a second Hezbollah in Syria?” (Website, Middle East)

Military and Security

On March 17, the Kurdish Rudaw news agency carried the following report by its correspondent in Irbil: “In May 2014, Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard forces in Syria Major General Hossein Hamadani said that “Iran has built a second Hezbollah in Syria.” Hamadani, who was later killed in attacks on Aleppo in 2015, was probably referring to the militias of various sects, formed under Bashar al-Assad, but most likely to the Shi’i formations in particular. From mid-2012 until mid-2013, Iran established many local and regional militias with the help of Al-Assad’s regime, including the factions positioned in Damascus in the Abu al-Fadl al-Abbas Brigade. At first, they had limited recruitment bases. But since the end of 2012, Iran’s Lebanese and Iraqi Shi’i agents turned these Syrian Shi’i militias into a new version of the Lebanese Hezbollah… (Read More)

Iraq

Politics

“The Israeli jets under Massoud Barazani’s command” (Elaph, United Kingdom)

Military and Security

On March 16, Shirzad Shikhani wrote the following piece in the Saudi-owned, London-based Elaph website: “In a controversial statement, the central information bureau affiliated to the Kurdistan Democratic Party led by Massoud Barazani stressed that “the party is ready to carry out a major military campaign similar to the one that was launched on August 31, 1996, when the party sought the Saddam Republican Guards to occupy the city of Irbil and hand it over to the party.” The statement threated the people of Sulaymaniyah of a major and devastative war. Even more interesting were the statements made by the official, Serou Kader, during his participation in a partisan seminar covered by the local media and where he said that “the Israeli jets operate under the command of President Massoud Barazani!!!!… (Read More)

Kuwait

Politics

“After losing his parliamentary immunity, Dashty is asking about the position regarding Saudi Arabia and…” (Website, Middle East)

Democracy and Party Politics

On March 17, the electronic newspaper Rai al-Youm carried the following report: “The prominent Shi’i Kuwait member of the parliament, Abdul Hamid Dashty, proceeded with the political confrontation via his Twitter account hours following the decision of the Kuwaiti Parliament to lift his immunity on the cases of abusing the judiciary and Saudi Arabia. He also saluted Moscow in Russian… (Read More)

Lebanon

Business

“Lebanese printed press, threatened by online media” (Al-Jarida, Kuwait)

Media

On March 17, the independent Al-Jarida newspaper carried the following report by Rayan Charbel: “The backstage whispers surrounding the crisis encountered by a number of Lebanese papers, which are not paying their employees, became public yesterday when As-Safir sent a memo to its employees and journalists, telling them that “on the eve of the 43rd anniversary of the launching of this exceptional newspaper that has played a historical role, we are facing difficult circumstances and challenges.” It added: “In light of this reality, we are debating all options, including the discontinuation of our publication, which will probably become more difficult in the coming stage... While waiting for the final decision, As-Safir will continue to come out, while carrying its slogans and upholding its commitments… (Read More)

Politics

“Al-Hariri returning to Syria!” (Website, Middle East)

Arab Diplomacy

On March 17, the electronic daily newspaper Al-Modon carried the following report by Munir al-Rabih: “Only recently, [former] PM Sa’d al-Hariri called on the Hezbollah Secretary General, Sayed Hassan Nasrallah, to return to Lebanon just like he himself has done. However, the recent days saw Al-Hariri’s return to the Syrian arena along with the progress in the possibility of a political settlement there and the possible repercussions on the Lebanese milieu at several levels… (Read More)

Middle East

Opinion

“Putin, the man who knows his own value” (Al-Hayat al-Jadidah, Palestine)

Arab Diplomacy - USA Europe

On March 17, the pro-PA Al-Hayat al-Jadidah newspaper carried the following opinion piece by Bassem Barhoum: “It would be too soon to judge or assess Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to pull out most of his troops from Syria, though his withdrawal at the peak of his success reveals he acted intelligently and based on accurate calculations, in the service of Russia’s interests. Indeed, this move confirms that the man, who has always surprised the world with his decisions, learned the lessons of the disastrous American military intervention in Iraq in 2003, and decided to pull out the moment his own military intervention – which started in September – secured military and field accomplishments that altered the rules of the political game in the Syrian crisis. He also took the decision the moment he felt that further implication in the Syrian swamp would deplete Russia’s economy, which is already suffering as a result of the drop of the oil prices in the global market… (Read More)

“Can Turkey be depended on to prevent the Syrian Kurds’ separation?” (As-Safir, Lebanon)

Unrest

On March 16, the independent, leftist As-Safir daily newspaper carried the following piece by Mohammad Saleh al-Fatih: “It is a common thing for the parties questioning the Syrian Kurds’ ability to separate to say that Turkey will never accept the presence of an independent Kurdish entity along its southern borders because such an entity will represent a threat to the Turkish national security… However, if we were to rationally discuss the bet on Turkey possibly doing something to serve Syria’s interest, we will find out that this bet could possibly be wrong for a number of essential reasons… (Read More)

Palestine

Politics

“Cairo to Hamas: Disown Hamas!” (Al-Akhbar Lebanon, Lebanon)

Arab Diplomacy - Terrorism

On March 17, the Al-Akhbar daily newspaper carried the following report: “…The visit of the Islamic Resistance Movement – Hamas’ delegation to Egypt did not produce any outcome that might positively reflect on the lives of two million people who are besieged in the Gaza district. The delegation failed to convince the people in charge at the Egyptian general intelligence services of the need to open the Rafah passageway or to obtain information about the fare of the four Al-Qassam Brigades’ members who were kidnapped in Sinai… (Read More)

Saudi Arabia

Business

“Measures to dismiss thousands of foreign employees in Saudi Arabia...” (Al-Quds al-Arabi, United Kingdom)

Arab Diplomacy

On March 17, the Qatari-owned Al-Quds al-Arabi daily carried the following report by its correspondent in Riyadh: “It is no longer odd to see labor strikes staged here and there in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where workers are refusing to perform their jobs and demanding the payment of their salaries, which are months late. And in the face of these strikes, the companies’ administrations are left with no other choice than to make promises..., while waiting for the Finance Ministry to release their dues, which have accumulated and reached thousands of millions of riyals. At the same time, these companies cannot stop executing the projects whose contracts they earned from the government, and are consequently forced to borrow money from local banks, which in turn have stopped lending them money due to the accumulation of their debts and interests… (Read More)

Syria

Politics

“Syria’s partitioning has already happened…” (Elaph, United Kingdom)

Military and Security - Terrorism

On March 17, the Saudi-owned, London-based Elaph website carried the following report by Majdi al-Halabi: “…Vladimir Putin ordered his army to leave Syria. Sources believe that this step reflects the fact that the Russian president is convinced that the Arab alliance forces, led by Saudi Arabia, will not hesitate to carry out the military intervention that they had previously talked about. Needless to say that the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, is a man whose surprises are unexpected. No one had expected him to order his forces in Syria to pull out from the fields and leave the Syrian lands… (Read More)

“Head of Syrian Coalition to Rudaw: Federalism does not mean partitioning” (Website, Middle East)

Democracy and Party Politics - Peace Process

On March 16, the Kurdish Rudaw news agency carried the following interview with Head of the Syrian Opposition Coalition Anas al-Abdah, by its correspondent in Irbil Dilxaz Bahlawi… (Read More)

Co-Founder: Nicholas Noe

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