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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

09-Oct-2018

Algeria

Opinion

“After 30 years, where is Algeria heading?” (Newspaper, Middle East)

Democracy and Party Politics

On October 7, Echorouk Online newspaper carried the following opinion piece by Deputy Chief Editor Abdelhamid Othmani: “Three days ago, the Algerians commemorated the October 5, 1988 events, and many questions occurred to them, such as: What happened in those days? Who mobilized the street? For what end? And 30 years later, what is left of these crowds’ acquisitions? It is probably no longer important to answer the first questions, seeing as how history will one day reveal the identity of those involved and all the details of the “programmed anarchy.” What is important however is to assess the outcome of the three decades that followed. Regardless of the motives of those who provoked the 1988 events, protesters took to the streets by the thousands in Algeria’s largest cities, at the head of which is the capital that was almost burned down on the beat of popular mayhem. And they raised the slogans of freedom and dignity first… (Read More)

Iraq

Politics

“Investigation committees in Basra find “assassination lists”…” (Al-Mada, Iraq)

Democracy and Party Politics - Human Rights

On October 8, the independent Al-Mada newspaper carried the following report from Baghdad by its correspondent Wael Nehme: “The intelligence team that arrived in Basra last week to investigate the escalating assassination operations targeting activists in the city, discovered the existence of an “assassinations list” featuring the names of leaders of the protests. At this level, Al-Mada learned from knowledgeable security sources that the assassinations list was drawn up by armed groups connected to political sides, which ordered the assassination of activists suffering from “tribal problems,” in order to shuffle the cards and attribute the incidents to “tribal retaliation.” It is known that Basra has been witnessing tribal conflicts for years, which sometimes featured the use of heavy artillery, lasted for days and were provoked by minor issues… (Read More)

Lebanon

Politics

“Hezbollah snatches away the health [portfolio]: It’s done.” (Newspaper, Middle East)

Democracy and Party Politics - Health

On October 8, Imad Marmal wrote the following report in the Al-Joumhouriya daily newspaper: “During his last televised interview, the appointed PM Sa’d al-Hariri, gave the impression that granting Hezbollah the health portfolio has not been settled as this is connected to the potential repercussions resulting from the Party’s handling of this portfolio in light of the siege imposed on it and the sanctions against it, although Al-Hariri indicated that he does not oppose that the Party obtains this portfolio. Does this mean that the fate of the health portfolio is still a mystery pending the distribution of the portfolios at the last minutes, or is this matter actually settled despite all the talk about it?… (Read More)

“The Socialist-Aounist relationship: Conflict, truce, then agreement” (Website, Middle East)

Democracy and Party Politics

On October 8, the El-Nashra website carried the following report: “For the head of the Progressive Socialist Party, former MP Walid Junblatt, to call for a deep analysis and an objective scrutiny through the last offer that he made to the head of the Free Patriotic Movement and the Foreign Minister at the care-taking cabinet, Gibran Bassil, is something that should not be taken lightly especially as the different political parties agreed on considering that Bassil’s last press conference torpedoed the wave of optimism brought about by the appointed Prime Minister, Sa’d al-Hariri… (Read More)

“Iraqi green light releases the government” (Newspaper, Middle East)

Democracy and Party Politics

On October 8, the Lebanese privately-owned Al-Joumhouria newspaper carried the following report by Johnny Menayyar: “Suddenly, the government formation file was activated following the elimination of the regional obstacle, i.e. the main obstacle that was standing in its way… This was seen following the breakthrough that affected the political crisis in Iraq, seeing as how the “Lebanon in exchange for Iraq” equation was the one preventing the solution in Lebanon. But when an understanding was reached in Baghdad in favor of Iran’s allies, a counter-compensation had to be seen in Beirut in the context of the regional balances game. So, Beirut received the green light and the climate changed. As a result, Parliament Speaker Nabih Birri spoke about the existence of a ray of hope, before [Prime Minister-designate Sa’d] Al-Hariri announced the birth of the government within 10 days… (Read More)

Libya

Politics

“Lawmaker: Libyan High Council of State holds consultative session on Monday to elect new Presidential Council” (Website, Middle East)

Democracy and Party Politics

On October 8, the Arabic page of the Russian Sputnik News Agency carried the following report from Tripoli: “During unofficial meetings held throughout the past stage, the members of the Higher Council of State and Parliament agreed to form a new Presidential Council to unify the Libyan state institutions. At this level, Member of the High Council of State Saad bin Sharaada said in exclusive statements to Sputnik News Agency: “Throughout the past stage, unofficial meetings were held between the members of the High Council of State in Tripoli and the members of the Libyan Parliament in Tobruk… These meetings ended with an agreement over the formation of a new Presidential Council that would unify the Libyan state.” He added: “Tomorrow on Monday, the High Council of State will hold a consultative session, followed by an official session on Wednesday, to discuss the proposal presented by the Tobruk Parliament. And it will approve that proposal… (Read More)

Saudi Arabia

Opinion

“Khashoggi’s disappearance scenario” (Okaz, Saudi Arabia)

Media

On October 9, the pro-monarchy Okaz newspaper carried the following opinion piece by Abeer al-Fowzan: “Suddenly, a Turkish woman, whose age is undetermined and whose name is Hatice Cengiz, came out to urge the Arabs, foreigners, Muslims, Jews and Christians, even the women who are strange to politics, to help her find her Saudi fiance Jamal Khashoggi who entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul and never came out. A few years ago, this woman introduced herself on a show on the Sultanate of Oman Television as a researcher, knowing she speaks Arabic very well. Her three-month research, which is how long she stayed in the Sultanate, was extremely odd and required her to meet with students at Sultan Qaboos University, visit the governorates, sit down with citizens, and more importantly go deep into Gulf relations, denominational diversity in the Sultanate, and Oman’s policies towards its neighbors… (Read More)

“Khashoggi, the victim of a media war” (Al-Ghad, Jordan)

Media

On October 9, the independent Al-Ghad newspaper carried the following opinion piece by Fahed Khitan: “The media war between the two sides of the crisis has reached its peak with the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The mysterious incident has become the arena of a violent conflict, for which all available means were mobilized, and in which the lowliest journalistic methods were used. This is due to the fact that it is no longer important to reach the truth, rather to fabricate events so that they appear to be facts, in a mutual attempt to demonize the other and destroy his image and reputation. No sane person could accept the idea that a man was detained because of his opinion and was then killed and cut into pieces at a consulate, which looks like it has turned into a butcher shop, as circulated by media outlets… (Read More)

Politics

“Threatening with Khashoggi’s fate: A new mission for the Saudi electronic flies” (Website, Middle East)

Media

On October 8, the Al-Khaleej Online website carried the following report: “The repercussions of the disappearance of prominent Saudi Journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, are ongoing amidst news on his slaying inside the Saudi Consulate, which he entered last Tuesday and never left despite the Saudi official affirmations that the man actually left and the international demands to prove that… (Read More)

Syria

Opinion

"Syrian Democratic Council's dialogues do not satisfy its separatist hunger" (Al-Watan Syria, Syria)

Democracy and Party Politics - USA Europe

On October 9, the pro-Syrian regime Al-Watan daily carried the following piece by Samer Ali Dahi: “The Syrian Kurds did not try to hide their separatist ambitions since the beginning of the Syrian crisis. They thus clearly expressed these ambitions at the beginning of the so-called Arab Spring in Syria… Upon the occupation of Iraq and as the Kurds there realized their “federalism dream” under the protection of the US occupation, the Kurdish dream in Syria grew and the Kurds viewed Washington as a dependable ally. Meanwhile, Washington viewed them as a good fuel to its claims of fighting the terrorist ISIL… (Read More)

Turkey

Politics

“Why is Ankara erecting new tents for its factions?” (Website, Middle East)

Military and Security - Peace Process

On October 8, the Al-Mayadeen.net website carried the following report by Dima Nassif: “The Turkish president laid out a term for the pullout of his occupying forces from the Syrian north: Conducting elections in Syria. He placed this term of his under a wide headline, and one that could bear a number of interpretations on the pullout of the Turkish army in connection to a political process where Ankara might be booking an advanced place for its groups and armed factions… (Read More)

Yemen

Politics

“The Al-Mahrah oil pipe: Saudi greed and local resistance” (Al-Jazeera.net, Qatar)

Energy - Military and Security

On October 9, the Al-Jazeera.net website carried the following report: “The Saudi forces are proceeding with their attempts at establishing an oil pipe extending from their lands in the border area of Al-Kharkhir to the Arabian Sea through the Al-Mahrah governorate in East Yemen after having dispatched military forces [to the area] last year and after having tried to touch the pulse of the people of Al-Mahrah to impose a military control on the city… (Read More)

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