APS Diplomat Strategic Balance in the Middle East articles from October 2006

APS Diplomat Strategic Balance in the Middle East archives from October 2006

The Challenges Of Terrorism - Part 14 - A Neo-Salafi State.
October 23, 2006... In a video tape posted on the internet and broadcast on Oct. 15 by the pan-Arab TV channel al-Jazeera, the voice of a man calling himself the spokesman for the Neo-Salafi Mujahedeen Shura Council (MSC) announced the creation of a Sunni Islamic...

Qaeda Split.
October 23, 2006... In a tape posted on the internet a few days earlier and addressed to al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, a person from al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia calls the latter "Master Shaikh" and urges him to replace the Iraq-based group's leadership with Iraqis....

US Casualties Mount.
October 23, 2006... American forces are coming under increased attack in Iraq as October turns out to be one of the worst months for US casualties during the war. The deaths of 13 US soldiers on Oct. 17-19 raised the US death toll for October to 73, putting the...

ISG Exit Strategy.(Iraq Study Group)(Brief article)
October 23, 2006... The US-Congress-appointed and Bush-endorsed Iraq Study Group (ISG), headed by respected former US secretary of state James Baker and former Democratic congressman Lee Hamilton, is talking about a change of course in Iraq. The two main strands...

Maliki Meets Sistani.
October 23, 2006... In a bid to shore up his government in the face of US doubts and unrelenting sectarian violence, PM Nuri al-Maliki on Oct. 18 met with Iraq's most powerful Shiite leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. He also met separately with Muqtada...

US Army Concedes Failure.
October 23, 2006... US military spokesman Maj Gen William Caldwell on Oct. 19 told reporters in Baghdad American and Iraqi efforts to improve security in the capital had have failed to reduce bloodshed. In an uncharacteristically gloomy admission, Caldwell said...

Shi'te & Sunni Leaders Meet At Makkah.
October 23, 2006... A reconciliation meeting in Makkah on Oct. 20-21 brought together Iraqi Sunni and Shi'ite religious scholars. That took place at al-Safa Palace overlooking the Grand Mosque of Makkah. The meeting followed Taraweeh prayers and was aimed at...

The Nuclear Isssue.
October 23, 2006... After Libya gave up its nuclear weapons programme in late 2003, President Bush was emphatic about what had led Col. Mu'ammar al-Qadhafi to sort out his relationship with Washington: The Libyan ruler had seen the speed with which another Middle...