Authorities of Egypt have arrested 16 members of Muslim Brotherhood, an opposition movement, the Middle East Online repots. Therefore, a total of 250 of its members are currently in jail. Muslim Brotherhood is the second largest political movement in Egypt. In 2005 it secured 88 out of 454 seats in the parliament. Now the movement is officially banned and its members are regularly arrested. However... Read more »

A candidate from Egypt for the post of UNESCO director general, notorious for his anti-Semitism, couldn’t secure an absolute majority for himself in the third voting round. He, however, is leading with 25 votes. Ex-minister of foreign affairs of Bulgaria is second with 13 votes. As Yahoo! News reports, the fourth round will be held today, on 21 September. The Egyptian candidate, Faruq Hosni, can be... Read more »

The UN Security Council has unanimously extended the UN peacekeepers’ mandate in Lebanon till 31 August 2010. The peacekeeping operation in Lebanon started in 1978, but was stepped up after the 2006 war. Currently is has 12 thousand troops. Israel has criticized the UN forces for their inability to contain the growth of Hezbollah’s military capabilities. Hezbollah has been stockpiling weapons despite the resolu... Read more »

Iraq has requested that Syria hand over two people whom Iraq suspects of organizing last week’s bombings in Baghdad, which killed nearly 100 people. As officials in Iraq report, some suspects have already been arrested. One of them has been filmed as saying that he received orders from a Syrian man. Iraq demands that this Syrian person as well as the leader of the party he belongs to be handed over to Iraq by S... Read more »

The Iraq’s cabinet of ministers has approved a bill which requires all top officials in the country to renounce foreign citizenships or quit their posts. Now the bill is awaiting approval by the parliament, the Middle East Online reports. The law will apply to Iraq’s president, prime-minister, parliamen... Read more »

The Security Council has approved unanimously a one-year extension of the mandate of the UN mission in Iraq. The mission has 1104 troops in the country. The previous mandate has just expired, the Gulfnews reports. The Security Council has announced that it will review the terms of the new agreement ... Read more »

The Middle East Online reports on the results of the recent presidential election in Mauritania. According to the preliminary results, more than 52 pro cent of votes were given to the general who initiated the military coup last August and toppled the country’s first elected leader. Mohammed Ould Abdel ... Read more »

Italian minister of foreign affairs has called for cooperation in immigration issues between the European Union and Libya. He said the agreement was needed very urgently to deal with illegal immigration from Africa to the EU. As Middle East Online reports, the minister said that Libya needs help in patr... Read more »

In Iraq the leader of the largest Sunni bloc in the parliament was killed at a mosque. According to police reports, six people were killed during the attack, including the killer himself. As Gulfnews reports, on Friday the attacker opened fire in the mosque and then threw a grenade. It is being predicted ... Read more »

The leader of Lebanese pro-western alliance, Saad Hariri, announced his bloc’s victory in the parliamentary election. Therefore, Hezbollah’s bloc, which is supported by Iran, lost, despite the fact that experts predicted it would win with a slight majority. According to preliminary results, Hariri's bloc got 70 seats out of 128 in the parliament, while Hezbollah got just 52 seats. The official results are not y... Read more »