Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

Media ID: 55334017
Caption:

A man purported to be the reclusive leader of the militant Islamic State Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has made what would be his first public appearance at a mosque in the centre of Iraq’s second city, Mosul, according to a video recording posted on the Internet on July 5, 2014, in this still image taken from video. (Reuters/Social Media Website via Reuters TV)

Debate: ISIS has succeeded thanks to the sectarian policies of its opponents

by Hassan Abu Haniyeh | Jul 7, 2014 | Debate

Claims of a relationship between Iran and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) form one of the most prominent lines of conflict and dispute in the heated strategic game currently taking place in the Arab East—one that has reached a level of crude and brutal...

Media ID: 55334015
Caption:

A member loyal to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) waves an ISIS flag in Raqqa June 29, 2014. (REUTERS/Stringer)

Debate: ISIS has succeeded by being disciplined and well-organized

by Hisham Al-Hashimi | Jul 7, 2014 | Debate

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is a successor of the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), which Abu Omar Al-Baghdadi (born Hamid Dawud al Zawi) established in 2006. In April 2010, Abu Omar Al-Baghdadi and ISI War Minister Abu Hamza Al-Muhajir were killed by US and...

Media ID: 55333582
Caption:

In this still taken from an Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) video, an Islamist fighter, center, identified as Abu Muthana Al-Yemeni from Britain, speaks from an unknown location. (Reuters/Reuters TV)

Debate: ISIS’s advance is opportunistic

by Mohamed Al-Zulfa | Jul 5, 2014 | Debate

Al-Qaeda emerged on the scene in Iraq to fight against the US occupation of 2003, and it collaborated with the country’s tribes, but when Shi’ite prime minister Nuri Al-Maliki came to power in 2006, Al-Qaeda found its position weakened. Maliki, for his part, was...

Debate: ISIS’s advance is calculated

by Mustafa Alani | Jul 5, 2014 | Debate

Controlling territory and establishing a state has always been the dream of terrorist leaders and their followers. The final ambition for these organizations is to establish a political entity subject to their control and beliefs. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria...

Media ID: 55332836
Caption:

Syrian protesters wave the opposition Syrian flag and a placard in Arabic that reads, “no,” during a protest against the Syrian presidential elections, as others line up to vote in expatriate voting ahead of the June 3 poll, near the Syrian embassy in Amman, Jordan, Wednesday, May 28, 2014. (AP Photo/Mohammad Hannon)

Debate: Iran will change its position on Syria

by Burhan Ghalioun | Jun 28, 2014 | Debate

If the concerted efforts to drag Iran into negotiations on Syria fail then we will reach the stage where the situation in the country will be decided by a long and costly “war of attrition” between the Assad regime—backed by Iran—and the Syrian rebels—backed by the...

Media ID: 55332517
Caption:

A picture taken on May 18, 2014 in the capital Damascus shows an election campaign poster bearing a portrait of President Bashar al-Assad. Campaigning began last week for Syria’s June 3 presidential election expected to return Bashar al-Assad to power. AFP PHOTO / LOUAI BESHARA

Debate: Iran will not change its position on Syria

by Ghassan Ibrahim | Jun 28, 2014 | Debate

Although everything confirms that Tehran’s unflagging support of the regime of President Bashar Al-Assad in Syria is exhausting Iran, there are no real indicators that the country is ready to abandon its position. We have seen nothing to say that Iran wants a genuine...