In pictures: Damascus celebrates Eid
Saturday, October 04, 2008
This week, Muslims across the world celebrated the end of the fasting month of Ramadan in the three day holiday of Eid al-Fitr. In Damascus, Syria, the celebration sheds light on the complex interplay of religion, secularism, and creeping outside influence that challenges religious and cultural norms. Carnivals pop up across the city, young boys roam the streets with toy guns bought with gift money from their relatives, and dance parties—where the attendants are Muslims and Christians—enliven the night within the walls of the 7,000-year-old city center.
To view images of Damascus’ Eid celebrations, click “read full entry” below.
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Tensions simmer in southern Yemen
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
As the Yemeni army hunts down al-Qaeda-linked groups across the country and struggles to maintain peace with a Zaydi Shia insurgency in the north, political tensions in the south are driving a new wedge into the already fractured country. At least 17 protesters have been killed and 864 arrested since the unrest erupted in the summer of 2007.
During the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, I traveled around southern Yemen and interviewed the leaders of groups that have been calling for independence. Read the story at Aljazeera.net.
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U.S. Embassy atacked in Yemen
Thursday, September 18, 2008 - *
At 9am on Tuesday morning, I was awakened by a boom that echoed through the city. Two miles from my house, crowds were being held blocks away from the American embassy, held far from the remains of a suicide attack on the American embassy in Sana’a. Two hours after the attack, helicopters were flying overhead, army vehicles were rushing in and out with soldiers tightly gripping their anti-aircraft guns, and ambulances carried out the bodies of at least 16 people.
I wrote a cover story for the Christian Science Monitor about the attack and contributed to an article for the L.A. Times.
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Washington is Losing its Man in Baghdad
Monday, September 15, 2008
SANA’A, Yemen — Washington seems to be losing its man in Baghdad. Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister who has faithfully defended U.S. interests in Iraq since he was elected in 2006, has lately been defying his patron.
In late August, Al-Maliki made his boldest move as prime minister, stating that no foreign troops would be allowed to remain in Iraq after 2011. His assertion was a blow to the Bush administration’s attempts to secure a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), needed to legalize its continued presence in Iraq after its UN mandate expires at the end of the year.
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Eye on the Middle East: Political Alliances Shifting Like Sand
Saturday, August 30, 2008
SANA’A, Yemen--The complicated web of political alliances in the Middle East is shifting.
An unlikely coalition between Shiites and hard line Sunnis has sprung up in Lebanon in the interest of confronting the United States and Israel. Jordan is renewing its relationship with Hamas, while Syria is flirting with Russia and still toying with the idea of peace with Israel. Meanwhile, Iran’s relationship toward Iraq’s Shiites might be swinging in a new direction.
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Check here for articles, photos, and additional writing. Shane's blogs on the Middle East are published by New America Media .
