Elements of Washington wonkdom are calling for the break-up of Syria into ethno-sectarian mini-states, and see the separatist contagion spreading to the rest of the Middle East.
The Syrian government is currently using cluster munitions in its ongoing conflict, according to a report by the Landmine and Cluster Munition Moniter.
A court in Saudi Arabia sentenced Abdulkarim al-Khader, co-founder of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association, to eight years in prison for sedition.
A criminal court in Riyadh sentenced two Saudi Arabian human rights activists on to at least 10 years in prison on charges of sedition and operating an unlicensed organization.
The media are abuzz with reports that the CIA has a secret drone base in Saudi Arabia—but the New York Times and Washington Post admit they sat on the information for two years.
A Saudi Arabian court convicted Egyptian human rights lawyer Ahmed el-Gezawi of smuggling drugs, sentencing him to five years imprisonment and 300 lashes.
Human Rights Watch has urged Saudi Arabia to dismiss a criminal case against a website editor who may face the death penalty on apostasy charges for abandoning Islam.
With two US warships headed for Libya, 25 nations led by the US are converging on the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz for naval maneuvers on an unprecedented scale.
Saudi Arabia‘s Ministry of the Interior announced July 30 that a former Guantánamo Bay inmate who had completed the country’s militant rehabilitation program surrendered to Saudi authorities. Adnan al-Sayegh, who was placed in the Ministry’s rehabilitation program after returning from Guantánamo in 2006,… Read moreEx-Gitmo detainee surrenders in Saudi Arabia
The US House of Representatives passed Joint Resolution 37, calling for the withdrawal of US armed forces from hostilities in the Republic of Yemen. The resolution states that only Congress has the authority to declare war, and notes that Congress has not made any declaration of war against the Houthi rebels in Yemen, who are the target of Saudi-led forces. US armed forces have supported Saudi Arabia through aerial targeting assistance, intelligence sharing, and mid-flight aerial refueling. The resolution gives President Trump 30 days to withdraw forces from hostilities in or affecting Yemen. Forces which are involved in operations directed at al-Qaeda in the region are exempt from the resolution. The resolution also does not restrict the sharing of intelligence. It also specifies that the resolution does not impact military operations undertaken in cooperation with Israel. (Photo via Jurist)
Saudi Arabia's attorney general confirmed that prominent journalist and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi died in the country's Istanbul consulate. A statement said that Khashoggi was killed after a fight inside the consulate, and that 18 Saudis are detained pending an investigation. Turkish officials believe Saudi agents killed and dismembered Khashoggi. His body has not been found. "Now the same government that lied to the world, claiming for weeks that it had no knowledge of Khashoggi's fate, expects us to believe he died in a fight," said the Committee to Protect Journalists. "This ridiculous assertion is further evidence of a cover-up. We need an international investigation and relentless pressure on Saudi Arabia from the Trump administration, if we ever hope to get to the truth." (Photo: CPJ)
Yemen war crime investigators called upon the UN Human Rights Council to renew their mandate and allow the continued inquiry into Yemen's internal conflict, calling the situation in the county "extremely alarming." The Group of Eminent Experts on Yemen, in their initial report, released in August, found evidence that "members of the Saudi-led coalition, the Yemeni government, and the Houthi armed group have been committing abuses, including indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks on civilians, arbitrary and abusive detention, and recruitment of children." At the time of the report, the experts recommended that their mandate be renewed. However, Saudi Arabia and other coalition members have pressed the council to discontinue the inquiry. (Photo via WikiMedia Commons)
