Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

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In this Dec. 2, 1998 file photo, former Iraqi foreign minister Tariq Aziz stands to attention as the Iraqi national anthem is played at a conference in Baghdad, Iraq. Officials say Aziz has died in a hospital in southern Iraq on Friday, June 5, 2015. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Tariq Aziz, top aide to Saddam Hussein, dies in hospital

by Asharq Al-Awsat | Jun 5, 2015 | Middle East

Baghdad, AP—Tariq Aziz, the debonair Iraqi diplomat who made his name by staunchly defending Saddam Hussein to the world during three wars and was later sentenced to death as part of the regime that killed hundreds of thousands of its own people, has died in a...

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Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil speaks during a press conference on March 24, 2014 in Kuwait city as part of his visit to attend the Annual Arab Summit. (AFP Photo/Yasser Al-Zayyat)

Lebanon FM: Arab states must not allow Iran’s regional expansion

by Thair Abbas | Jun 5, 2015 | Middle East

Beirut, Asharq Al-Awsat—Lebanese Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil has called on Arab states to work together and take the initiative to fend off Iranian intervention in the region, warning that Tehran will be successful in expanding its influence in the Middle East...

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Yemeni members of the southern separatist movement, loyal to President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, keep position in Aden’s suburbs, on June 3, 2015. (AFP Photo/Saleh Al-Obeidi)

Yemen: GPC says it will not attend Geneva talks if members send rival delegation

by Arafat Madabish | Jun 5, 2015 | Middle East

Sana’a, Asharq Al-Awsat—The General People’s Congress (GPC), Yemen’s fractured ruling party, will only attend the Geneva peace talks if the party is represented by a single delegation, a senior GPC official told Asharq Al-Awsat on Thursday. The official said the GPC...

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An Afghan woman leaves the Karte Sakhi Shrine in Kabul on May 31, 2015. (AFP Photo/Farshad Usyan)

Afghan Taliban say informal talks took place in Norway

by Asharq Al-Awsat | Jun 5, 2015 | World

Kabul, AP—Taliban representatives have concluded two days of meetings with a group of Afghan lawmakers and peace negotiators in the Norwegian capital Oslo, a Taliban spokesman and the Afghan president’s office said on Friday. In an email to media organizations,...

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Russia’s President Vladimir Putin attends a ceremony to commemorate the anniversary of the beginning of the war against Nazi Germany in 1941in Moscow, on June 22, 2014. (REUTERS/Maxim Zmeyev)

Opinion: Russia and the danger of conspiracy theories

by Amir Taheri | Jun 5, 2015 | Opinion

The way President Vladimir Putin tells it, Russia is the victim of a great conspiracy designed to prevent it from claiming a position within the global networks of leadership. The Europeans are plotting to deny Russia the right to host the 2018 football World Cup. The...