Middle East

Inside Middle East

Syrian president offers olive branch to protesters as violence escalates

Tuesday, 29 March 2011

The president of Syria, Bashar al-Assad, is expected to announce reforms today including the end of the 50-year-old state of emergency, to try to defuse protests as thousands of people continue to confront troops.

Accidental explosion at Yemen arms factory kills 100

Tuesday, 29 March 2011

A powerful blast at an ammunition factory in southern Yemen left more than 100 people dead yesterday after forces loyal to the embattled President, Ali Abdullah Saleh, appeared to have been driven out of the area by Islamist militants.

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Desperate Assad tries to blunt uprising with new promises of reform

Monday, 28 March 2011

Syrian leader faces greatest challenge to his family's rule since his father took power 40 years ago. Patrick Cockburn reports

Yemen leader scraps offer to quit

Monday, 28 March 2011

Yemen's president, clinging to power despite weeks of protests, has scrapped his offer to step down by the end of the year.

Syrian security forces fire teargas at protesters

Monday, 28 March 2011

Syrian security forces fired tear gas on thousands of protesters in a restive southern city as President Bashar Assad faced down the most serious threat to his family's four decades of authoritarian rule.

Blasts at Yemen bullet factory kills at least 110

Monday, 28 March 2011

A series of blasts at a bullet factory in south Yemen killed at least 110 people on Monday when residents broke in to steal ammunition a day after clashes between militants and the army in the town, doctors said.

Militant attacks raise fear of Yemeni power vacuum

Monday, 28 March 2011

Militants clashed with the Yemeni army in a southern town yesterday, fuelling Western fears that the country could descend into chaos which would benefit al-Qa'ida if President Ali Abdullah Saleh is forced out.

Israeli jets wipe out jihadist squad

Monday, 28 March 2011

Israeli aircraft struck a Palestinian rocket squad in Gaza yesterday, killing two militants.

Yemen: President 'to step down' to secure peaceful transition

Sunday, 27 March 2011

A deal on a peaceful transition of power in Yemen is imminent and will be based on an offer by President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down by the end of the year, the Foreign Minister, Abu Bakr al-Qirbi, said yesterday.

Syria: Funerals of 'dozens' of shot protesters spark violence

Sunday, 27 March 2011

Thousands of mourners at a funeral for a Syrian killed in anti-government protests burned a ruling Baath party building and a police station yesterday as authorities freed 260 prisoners in an attempt to placate reformists.

Syrian protesters torch offices

Saturday, 26 March 2011

Protesters against the government of Syria set fire to offices of the ruling party today while hundreds of political prisoners were released in a bid to appease the rioters.

Rockets fired from Gaza strike Israel after lull

Saturday, 26 March 2011

Two rockets fired from the Gaza Strip landed in Israel today after a brief lull in violence along a frontier where tensions have risen in the past week.

Yemen President offers to yield to 'capable hands'

Saturday, 26 March 2011

Jeb Boone: Yemen's beleaguered President Ali Abdullah Saleh offered to cede power but only to "capable hands" as tens of thousands of anti-government protesters took to the streets to demand his immediate removal.

Protests sweep through Syria as troops open fire

Saturday, 26 March 2011

Patrick Cockburn: Syrian troops opened fire on demonstrators as protests swept the country on an unprecedented scale with tens of thousands challenging the rule of the Assad family.

Bahrain forces quash protests

Friday, 25 March 2011

Small protests broke out in Bahrain's capital for a planned "Day of Rage" today despite a ban under martial law imposed last week, but were quickly crushed by security forces fanned out across Manama.

Escalation in revenge attacks pushes Israel closer to war

Friday, 25 March 2011

Catrina Stewart: A rocket fired by Palestinian militants from Gaza struck an area close to Tel Aviv yesterday in a bold attack that could provoke Israel into a decisive strike and bring it one step closer to a new Middle East war.

Hague tells Britons to leave Yemen now ahead of mass protest

Friday, 25 March 2011

Nigel Morris: British nationals urged to leave 'without delay' by Foreign Secretary.

Syria offers reforms to calm violence

Friday, 25 March 2011

After a week of uprisings Syria's government has said it will consider lifting some of the most repressive laws in the Middle East.

Israel: Katsav 'at risk of committing suicide'

Friday, 25 March 2011

The former Israeli president Moshe Katsav is so distraught over an impending prison sentence for rape that he is at risk of committing suicide, his lawyer said yesterday.

UN assigns human rights investigator to Iran

Friday, 25 March 2011

The United Nations' Human Rights Council has appointed an investigator to look into human rights abuses in Iran, overcoming resistance from nations that considered it meddling with Tehran's internal affairs.

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British victim of Jerusalem blast is named

Thursday, 24 March 2011

The woman killed at a Jerusalem bus stop was named as a 59-year-old studying at the city's Hebrew University.

Thousands call for freedom in Syria

Thursday, 24 March 2011

Thousands called for liberty today in the southern Syrian city of Daraa, defying a deadly government crackdown as they took to the streets in funeral marches for protesters killed by police gunfire, an activist said.

Syria: Brutal attempt to end protests leaves 15 dead

Thursday, 24 March 2011

Witnesses said the initial attack lasted about three hours and heavy gunfire echoed through the streets all day.

Yemen: Leader offers to step down by end of year

Thursday, 24 March 2011

Yemen's president offered to step down by the end of the year in a bid to appease mounting demands for his resignation yesterday, but opposition groups showed no sign of easing up on efforts to force him out.