The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) has expressed its horror at the two atrocities in Toulouse, France. The victims in these linked events were three paratroopers – two Muslims and one Catholic and at the Ozar Hatorah school, a rabbi, his two young sons and the head teacher’s seven-year-old daughter. A fourth youth was injured.

“While further information is awaited on the suspect(s), one thing is certain: that this was cold-blooded ...

The Islamist Ennahda party, which leads Tunisia’s government, reportedly said on Mar 26 it would oppose naming Islamic law, or Shari’ah, in the new constitution, an issue that has threatened to derail the country’s transition to democracy. A constituent assembly, elected in October last, is hashing out a new constitution after popular protests ousted Zine Al-Abidine Ben Ali last year, sparking the Arab Spring uprisings. However, religious conservatives, including the third l...

David Roy Woelke, a Canadian English language instructor at King Abdulaziz University, reverted to Islam at the World Assembly of Muslim Youth’s (WAMY) headquarters in Riyadh on Mar 28. Abdul Elah Al-Ajlan, deputy director of Dawa programmes at WAMY, assisted Woelke to recite the Shahadah (LailahaIllallah Muhammad Rasulullah “there is no god but God and Muhammad is the Messenger of God”) during a brief ceremony at the organisation.

Woelke, whose new name is Dawood, s...

The first Arab-Turkish Travel and Tourism Forum will be held in the Turkish city of Bursa from Apr 22 to 24 with the participation of 15 Arab countries and 200 Turkish tourist companies. “The general objective of the forum is to expand the role of tourism as an instrument of economic growth that would provide thousands of job opportunities,” President of the Arab Tourism Organisation (ATO) Bandar Al-Fuhaid said after a meeting with Bursa Gov. Shihabdine Kharbout at the ATO head of...

The United Nations on Mar 27 said that more than 9,000 civilians have been killed in the Syrian government’s yearlong assault on protesters opposed to President Bashar Assad, an increase of nearly 1,000 over its previous estimate. “Violence on the ground has continued unabated, resulting in scores of people killed and injured,” Robert Serry, the UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, told the 15-nation Security Council. “Credible estimates put the to...

The Mataf, the open area surrounding the Grand Mosque where pilgrims do their circumambulation, will be expended from its present capacity of 50,000 pilgrims an hour to more than 130,000 pilgrims, dean of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Institute for Haj and Umrah Researches announced, reports said on Mar 30. “This will be an unprecedented expansion, which will resolve the problem of overcrowding of Umrah and Haj pilgrims in this limited area,” said Abdul Aziz bin Rashid Sirouji...