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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.

It is also important to note that, since our founding in 2005, Mideastwire.com is wholly funded by the content license fees paid by individuals and organizations. As such, there is no government, commercial or non-profit support, an aspect that we believe provides a relatively independent platform for better understanding.

Our Corrections Policy: We adhere to an honest and open corrections policy. Please email info@mideastwire.com if you notice any typo or if you disagree with our translation choices. Since we do not produce our own content, we only will consider corrections that highlight typos or dispute our translations, not the veracity or accuracy of the original content. Accepted corrections are applied directly to the relevant translations as soon as they are approved by the editor and our database is updated accordingly for all subscribers.

TODAY’S DAILY BRIEFING

06-Dec-2016

Egypt

Politics

“Cairo’s, Al-Riyadh’s terms delay the resolving of differences” (Al-Masry al-Yawm, Egypt)

On December 4, the Al-Masry al-Yawm daily newspaper carried the following report: “Official and diplomatic sources said that the necessary conditions for the return of the relations between Egypt and Saudi Arabia to their natural course have not been achieved yet [and can only be met] until a bilateral meeting is held between President Abdul Fattah Es-Sisi and King Salman Bin Abdulaziz or until a trilateral meeting is held that also includes the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince, Mohammad Bin Zayed… (Read More)

Iraq

Opinion

“Kurdistan Province after ISIL” (Website, Middle East)

On December 5, the Kurdish Rudaw.net news website carried the following opinion piece by Arif Qurbani: “Political critics and research centers around the world, particularly those specialized in Middle Eastern affairs, put forward many readings into the post-ISIL stage, whether in Iraq or Syria, even inside the Kurdistan province. And various explanations were presented surrounding the future of the two countries after ISIL’s fall, though we did not address what will happen in, and how the future of the Kurdistan Province will look like, after the organization is entirely eliminated. The majority agrees that after ISIL is eliminated, the current situation in the region in general will change, but assures that since any change in the political scene in Iraq or Syria is linked to international equations and political conflicts..., the political map might remain the same… (Read More)

Jordan

Business

“Jordan’s financial budget revealed for first time without “embellishment”...” (Al-Quds al-Arabi, United Kingdom)

Governmental Reform

On December 6, the Qatari-owned Al-Quds al-Arabi daily carried the following report by its Amman Office Chief Bassam Bdareen: “Politicized former Financial Committee Chief in the Jordanian Parliament and Expert Yousef Qurnah agrees with Al-Quds al-Arabi’s remark which says that the current Jordanian government has overused the expression “2017 will be the most difficult economically,” unlike what is usually the case. Qurnah, like many experts who have been watching the national scene with great attention, tried to read between the lines of the new financial budget speech, which was delivered by Minister of Finance Omar Malhas last week and is now in Parliament’s hands. This may be one of the rare times when a finance minister officially addresses negative expectations beneath [Parliament’s] dome, just a few days after similar talk issued by Prime Minister Dr. Hani al-Mulki… (Read More)

Lebanon

Opinion

“Have mercy on the Aoun-Nasrallah agreement” - Part two (Al-Akhbar Lebanon, Lebanon)

Democracy and Party Politics - Religion

On November 5, Ibrahim al-Amin wrote the following piece in Al-Akhbar daily: “Thus, Birri approved Al-Hariri’s plan not to include a Sunni, March 8 minister in the cabinet. In this context, Birri wanted to prevent anyone else, especially President Aoun, from obtaining the right to designate a Shi’i minister. Birri doesn’t want anyone in the whole republic to nominate a Shi’i minister unless he obtains Birri’s blessing. He went all the way as to say: “I want five Metuali ministers” meaning that he wants these to get a blood test in Ain el-Tineh. On this point, just like Al-Hariri, Jumblatt, and others, he will do anything to prevent a useful plurality within the sects… (Read More)

Middle East

Opinion

“Has Al-Baghdadi really been assassinated…?” (Website, Middle East)

On December 5, the electronic Rai al-Youm daily newspaper carried the following editorial: “No one has died on the pages of the newspapers, news agencies, and TV news bulletins as many times as the “Caliph,” Abou Bakr al-Baghdadi, the head of the Islamic State organization. Not a month goes by without reading news about him being killed or severely wounded in a raid by the jets of the alliance that are bombarding “his state” and its two capitals, Mosul in Iraq and Reqqa in Syria… (Read More)

“Issues facing Gulf Summit in Bahrain” (Al-Quds al-Arabi, United Kingdom)

Arab Diplomacy - Military and Security

On December 6, the Qatari-owned Al-Quds al-Arabi daily carried the following lead editorial: “The Qatari official and popular reception and warm welcoming of Saudi King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz in Doha yesterday confirmed the growing Gulf feeling that the current situation in the Gulf region and the Arab Peninsula is dangerous, from its burning Yemen and its more complicated Iraq, where the regional, international and sectarian factors are intertwined, to its Levant, whose Syrian heart has been witnessing a heated war by a fierce regime against its people for years, whose Lebanese side is controlled by a party loyal to Iran, and where Palestine has been subject to an Israeli occupation for many decades… In parallel, there are also the problems of the largest Arab country, Egypt, whose sliding towards Russia and Iran is starting to negatively affect the balance of powers in the region and upset the Gulf States, particularly the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Qatar… (Read More)

Morocco

Politics

“Will Morocco engage in war with Polisario to ensure Nigerian gas pipes passage through Guerguerat?” (Newspaper, Middle East)

On December 5, the Moroccan Al-Aoual newspaper carried the following report: “Reacting to the agreement signed by King Mohammed VI with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari last Saturday, to extend a regional gas pipeline connecting Nigeria’s gas fields to North Africa, Polisario Leader Brahim Ghali conducted a visit to the Guerguerat border region with Mauritania on the Atlantic Ocean on that same day, while at the head of a military team. According to Al-Aoual’s sources, the “purpose of this provocative visit was to inform Morocco and Nigeria, which had recanted its position in support of the Polisario, that Nigeria’s gas will not pass through Guerguerat, unless the Polisario is part of the agreement.” And our sources wondered at this level: “Will Morocco have to engage in war with the Polisario to impose its control over Guerguerat, which is considered to be a buffer disarmed zone as per the ceasefire agreement signed between Morocco and the Polisario Front in September 1991?”… (Read More)

Saudi Arabia

Opinion

“Five reasons that make the Bahrain Gulf summit the most different and most dangerous of all summits…” (Website, Middle East)

Arab Diplomacy

On December 5, Abdul Bari Atwan wrote the following piece in the electronic Rai al-Youm daily newspaper: “The first Gulf tour by King Salman Bin Abdulaziz determined the work agenda of the Gulf summit that will be launched in Manama tomorrow, Tuesday, in addition to determining the nature of the alliances and the new image of the GCC in the near future. There are some highly important comments that we must examine if we want to read into the future of the Gulf and the nature of the relations between its countries as well as the regional neighborhood… (Read More)

Politics

“As-Sabhan to Al-Hayat: Gulf States stronger than ever before” (Al-Hayat, United Kingdom)

Arab Diplomacy

On December 6, the Saudi-owned London-based Al-Hayat daily carried the following report by its correspondent in Kuwait Ahmad Ghallab: “Saudi Minister of State for Arab Gulf Affairs Thamer as-Sabhan said that the Gulf Cooperation Council States were alert to the Iranian threat in the region, that Gulf cohesion was “at its best, and the Gulf States are stronger than ever before.” He indicated that Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz’s tour to the Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait “is not odd, and aims to ensure the interests of the Gulf populations.” In statements to Al-Hayat prior to the launching of the 37th Gulf Summit hosted by Manama today, Minister As-Sabhan praised inter-Gulf relations, saying: “Cohesion between the member states is now greater than ever before in light of the challenges we are facing… (Read More)

Syria

Politics

“International Saudi-led action to hold emergency session on Syria at the UN” (Asharq al-Awsat, United Kingdom)

Arab Diplomacy - Peace Process

On December 6, the Saudi-owned, London-based Asharq al-Awsat daily newspaper carried the following report: “Abdullah al-Muallimi, the Saudi permanent representative at the UN, told Asharq al-Awsat that a Saudi-led feverish action is taking place within the UN corridors with the aim of reaching an agreement with the friendly countries to come up with a resolution regarding the situation in Syria. He expected the UN to adopt and pass this resolution soon… (Read More)

“Kilo attacking the ‘criminal’ Al-Riyadh: The revolution will cease to exist in some months” (Al-Akhbar Lebanon, Lebanon)

Arab Diplomacy - Peace Process

On December 6, the Al-Akhbar daily newspaper carried the following report: “The member of the opposition Syrian Coalition’s political committee, Michel Kilo, criticized the armed groups operating in Syria and said: “If there was anyone alive, they would hear my call” and added: “These young men are not thinking about the current developments.” Through a taped statement carried over the social communication networks, he accused a “non-negligible part of the opposition” and those he deemed the “non-democrats” of “being preoccupied with commerce through the money they’re obtaining from Qatar and other parties.” He further expressed his concern over the “revolution” as [this concern] is based on “possibilities.” He added that “these fears might turn into facts on the ground… (Read More)

“Syrian opposition leaders...: Factions’ divide main reason behind regime’s progress in Aleppo” (Al-Quds al-Arabi, United Kingdom)

Military and Security

On December 6, the Qatari-owned Al-Quds al-Arabi daily carried the following report by its correspondent in Aleppo Sultan Kanj: “Syrian militants and religious leaders in Aleppo launched several campaigns that called for the unification of the opposition factions, which they held responsible for the progress secured by Syrian regime’s forces in Aleppo’s eastern neighborhoods that were under siege, and their seizing of the northeastern neighborhoods in their entirety. Cleric and judge in the Fatah Army Abdul Razzak al-Mahdi said to Al-Quds al-Arabi: “If the opposition fighters do not anticipate the situation, Aleppo City could fall. If the factions unite militarily, they must carry out a religious obligation which they had neglected, i.e. the military conscription of the youth, tens of thousands of whom are present in the liberated regions, in the camps, and in Turkey… (Read More)

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