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By RICK GLADSTONE JANUARY 14, 2016 Even by today’s standards, the Middle East in the 1970s was chaotic. Bombings, hijackings and assassinations were daily headlines. In the midst of the mayhem, one of the most revered clerics in the Shiite branch of Islam vanished while visiting Libya . Criminal inquiries, books and speculation have abounded over the fate of the cleric, Imam Moussa al-Sadr, the charismatic Iranian-born scion of a powerful religious family who had made his home in  Lebanon  for nearly two decades and had become an ardent advocate of its impoverished Shiites. He and two colleagues have not been seen since Aug. 31, 1978, when they were reportedly spotted at the airport in Tripoli, the Libyan capital. Many have blamed agents of Libya’s former leader, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi , though a motive remains unclear. Yet a coming book about the fall of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi of Iran in 1979 has helped cast the disappearance in a...

Former president of Egypt, Hosni Mubarak November 30, 2014 at 2:52 am   Opinion Posted by  5 Pillarz The Egyptian revolution has gone full circle after the release of Hosni Mubarak, writes  Salma El-Konayyesi . When millions took to the streets of  Egypt  in January 2011, following in the footsteps of the revolution in Tunisia, many claimed that this would be the beginning of a new era for Egypt and the  Middle East  as a whole. The angry outcries against the dictatorship of Mubarak and his men echoed throughout the  world  and amassed support internationally. Thousands were killed calling out for Mubarak’s removal and many more injured. On the 11th February 2011 when Mubarak finally abdicated, the cheers of success and tears of joy resonated through the years of oppression, poverty and injustice millions had endured. Egyptians could finally hope for a democracy with justice, transparency and accountability as the...

At a time when the American-British enterprise [politicians-media-intelligence] targets Iran, the PakNationalists forum, the meeting point of the Pakistani nationalist movement, publishes this special tribute to Iran and its people, exclusively written by a veteran Pakistani diplomat and a former ambassador to Beijing and Washington, Mr. Akram Zaki. Here is a unique and informed take on Iran's system of government. It shows how a few people at the top in Tehran revived the pride of a demoralized nation. Reading this will also provide perspective to the intense Am-Brit anti-Iran campaign. By M. AKRAM ZAKI Wednesday, 17 June 2009. TEHRAN, Iran—It is a great honor for me to be invited to the brotherly Islamic country, Iran which is so close to my heart and which is loved and respected by the people of Pakistan. Iran and Pakistan are bound together by geography, culture, shared history and common faith. They also have a common destiny to live in freedom, with honor and dig...

Recently I have been frequently coming across the word REVOLUTION over and over again. Thinking hard at what sort of revolution people might be talking about, particularly in Pakistan. There are officially two sorts of enthusiasts camped on either side of the divide, one being the Islamists and the other secularists. What might be the difference between the two, truly I see none. A prime recent example of a wanna-be revolution was the lawyers movement, it started off with the country rallying to an anti- Musharraf rhetoric but ended up at achieving nothing. This sadly how all big hopeful revolutions start, people ask for a change but do not know 'what sort of change' or how they expect 'to achieve this change?' I bring into the midst of this discussion the millions of women belonging to the Islamic world who are so different, so strong and so determined yet even unbeknowist to them, they truly represent another set of revolutionaries in their own respect. We, the women...