Middle East: Egypt: President Sisi's brutal tactics is fueling violence and instability in Sinai

EU indulgence of Sisi’s brutal tactics is fueling violence and instability in Sinai 

Read more at: 

https://www.euronews.com/2019/02/28/eu-indulgence-of-sisi-s-brutal-tactics-is-fueling-violence-and-instability-in-sinai-view

Middle East - Saudi Arabia: Saudi King Salman calls for an international stance against Iranian interference - but does not mention Jamal Khashoggi Murder

Saudi King Salman has called for a unified international effort to stop Iran’s support for armed militias, interference in the affairs of other countries, and its nuclear and ballistic programs.

The King said during the first EU-Arab League summit on Sunday being held in Egypt at the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, that Tehran’s support for the Houthis in Yemen, and other militias in the region, as well as its aggressive practices and blatant interference in the affairs of other countries, require a unified international stance to force Iran to abide by international law.

He added that the Kingdom stresses the importance of a political solution to the Yemeni crisis on the basis of the Gulf initiative, the results of the Yemeni national dialogue, and Security Council resolution 2216.

“The Kingdom had made great efforts to ensure the success of the Sweden negotiations and called for the follow-up of the implementation of what had been agreed upon in those talks and to hold the Iranian-backed terrorist militias responsible for the situation in Yemen,” the King said at the summit.

The Saudi monarch also described the Palestinian issue a priority among Arab countries and referenced last year’s Arab League Summit in Dhahran which was renamed the “Jerusalem Summit.”

He reiterated Saudi Arabia’s steadfast position toward restoring all the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.

King Salman said that Saudi Arabia, like many other countries, has suffered from terrorism and has spearheaded many international efforts to combat it at all levels. According to the King’s speech, this included efforts in drying up terror groups’ financial resources and stressing the importance of continuing joint action against terror financing and money laundering.

He also spoke on the refugee and migrant crisis, saying that the displacement of people due to wars and conflict remained at the top of pressing humanitarian issues.

“We hope that this summit will help to find solutions for them,” the King said.

He added that Saudi Arabia has provided more than $35 bln in aid to more than 80 countries in the humanitarian, charitable and developmental fields.

Note EU-Digest: Unfortunately King Salman during his presentation kept silent, nor give any explanation or excuse for the brutal murder by the Kingdom of Journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. 

UN Special Rapporteur Agnes Callamard, who is leading an international human rights inquiry into the murder, visited Turkey between 28 January and 3 February. 

The preliminary report on the inquiry says Khashoggi "was the victim of a brutal and premeditated killing, planned and perpetrated by officials of the State of Saudi Arabia".

The Saudi Kingdom also has a very poor record on human rights

  

Read more at: Saudi King Salman calls for an international stance against Iranian interference - Al Arabiya English

Saudi Arabia: Disappeared Saudi couple highlights crackdown on activists shows disrespect for Human Rights of Saudi Government

The cases of Saudi stand-up comedian Fahad al-Butairi and his wife, Loujain al-Hathloul, a women's right-to-drive activist, who were arrested in 2018, has resurfaced following a Twitter thread detailing their disappearance.

In a series of tweets, American writer and television producer Kirk Rudell spoke about his friendship with the Saudi couple who tried to challenge the kingdom's strict social rules.

The tweets about their disappearance went viral, spotlighting Saudi Arabia's crackdown on activists and the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in October last year.

Read more: Disappeared Saudi couple highlights crackdown on activists | Saudi Arabia News | Al Jazeera

Wanted Dead or Alive: ISIS' Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi profiled - by Pamela Engel

WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi,

The world knows little of the Islamic State terror group's brutal leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, but a new article from counterterrorism expert Will McCants provides one of the most extensive accounts yet of his background.

McCants, director of the Project on US Relations with the Islamic World at the Brookings Institution, wrote an upcoming book on the Islamic State — aka ISIS, ISIL, and Daesh — and researched Baghdadi's life to explain his rise to become one of the most wanted terrorists in the world.

Since Baghdadi became the self-proclaimed "caliph" of ISIS in 2014, he has only appeared in public once, at a mosque in Mosul, Iraq. He was rumored to have died in an air strike earlier this year, but ISIS subsequently released a statement from him along with proof that he was still alive.

Even with new information about his life tricking out in the press, Baghdadi — aka Ibrahim Awwad Ibrahim Al-Badri — remains a mysterious and reclusive figure.

Click on the link below to know more about his background, as laid out by McCants in his Brookings essay.

Read more: ISIS' Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi profiled - Business Insider