Russia FSB detains 5 suspected of funding militants in Syria

“As a result of coordinated investigative measures on the territory of Moscow as well as in the Kirov and Penza Regions, five people were detained on suspicion of providing assistance to terrorist formation Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham [formerly Jabhat al-Nusra], which operates in Syria,” the FSB’s press office said in a statement on Wednesday, adding that the suspects were apprehended in three different regions of Russia.

Syria and the war within

“Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.”

  • Sun Tzu (544- 495 BCE); The Art of War.

Near past:

The west supported the color revolution in the Middle East for their own gain of globalization and global hegemony, and unfortunately such reckless western foreign policy caused great divisions between the locals who had their own historical understanding of Middle Eastern society and its organic sustainability. Gradually the Middle East turned into a place for nursing racial and ideological hatred with violence and terror.

United Arab Emirates Continues Its Policy Of Modernizing Intelligence Services – Analysis

The geopolitical evolutions in the Middle East marked by the so-called “Arab Spring”, the conflict in Yemen, the threat represented by the Iranian nuclear program and other global geopolitical developments determined United Arab Emirates (UAE) to take some important steps for modernizing and improving its intelligence services starting with the middle of the last decade[2].

US backs UN assessment that new al-Qaida leader is in Iran

The United States said Wednesday its assessment aligns with a United Nations report that the new head of the al-Qaeda terror group, Saif al-Adel, is based in Iran.

“When it comes to his presence there, offering safe haven to al-Qaeda is just another example of Iran’s wide-ranging support for terrorism, its destabilizing activities in the Middle East and beyond,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters.

What role for Europe in the Middle East and North Africa?

Now that Europe is desperate to find new energy suppliers, the resource-rich countries of the Middle East and North Africa are hoping to boost their economy and influence.

  • Europe is unlikely to turn back to Russia for energy even after the war
  • MENA countries have suddenly become much more valuable allies
  • World powers’ competition for influence in the region will intensify