Free Republic

In case you thought the title was referring to the Palestinians living in Gaza, or even Judea and Samaria, you’d be wrong. From my vantage point, these Palestinians have it pretty good, whether in relation to Palestinians living elsewhere, even in Jordan, or to Arabs generally, living in Egypt or Turkey. “Palestinian” is a name given to Arabs after the ’67 War, who lived or did live in the area known as Palestine during the Palestine Mandate and afterwards right up to the present and includes their descendants even if such descendants never set foot in the area known as...

Three giant cargo ships are being tracked by US and British intelligence on suspicion that they might be carrying Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. Each with a deadweight of 35,000 to 40,000 tonnes, the ships have been sailing around the world's oceans for the past three months while maintaining radio silence in clear violation of international maritime law, say authoritative shipping industry sources. The vessels left port in late November, just a few days after UN weapons inspectors led by Hans Blix began their search for the alleged Iraqi arsenal on their return to the country. Uncovering such a deadly...

There was a time when the lands now known as Israel, (including Judea and Samaria and Gaza), and most of Jordan were called “Palestine”. In fact, the Balfour Declaration of 1917 declared “His Majesty's government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people”. There followed considerable cooperation between the Jews, represented by Chaim Weizmann and the Arabs living in Mesopotamia, now Iraq, and Jordan, represented by Emir Feisal. As a result, the Feisal-Weizmann Agreement was signed in January 1919, in which it was agreed that the Jews would get the lands lying west...

A former CIA officer was charged Monday with illegally leaking the identity of a covert officer and other classified information to journalists. John Kiriakou, a former CIA officer and author who defended waterboarding, was charged by the Department of Justice with one count of illegally disclosing a covert officer’s identity and two counts of violating the Espionage Act for illegally leaking classified national defense information. He was also charged with making false statements for allegedly trying to trick the CIA’s Publications Review Board to let him use information in his 2010 book, The Reluctant Spy. The investigation led by U.S....

A draft statement for EU foreign ministers next week says Israel's monopolization of land and water in the occupied West Bank is "worrying" and endangers the two-state solution. The text—provisionally agreed by mid-level EU diplomats on Monday (16 January)—says: "Against a backdrop of worrying developments in 2011, particularly with respect to settlements under Area C, the EU reaffirms its commitment to a two-state solution ... The viability of a two-state solution must not be jeopardized." The draft conclusions also say the EU "welcomes" Jordan's recent efforts to restart Israeli-Palestinian talks and urges both sides "to build confidence and create an...

A meeting in Jordan between Israeli and PA negotiators in Jordan ended Monday night with no new breakthroughs reported. Israeli negotiator Yitzchak Molcho met with PA negotiator Saeb Erekat in Amman. The meeting was hosted by the Quartet and Jordan. This was the second meeting between the two since talks were revived several weeks ago. Another meeting is set to take place over the weekend...

The rise of the forces of jihadist Islam in Egypt places the US and other Western powers in an uncomfortable position. The US is the guarantor of Egypt's peace treaty with Israel. That treaty is based on the proposition of land for peace. Israel gave Egypt the Sinai in 1982 and in exchange it received a peace treaty with Egypt. Now that the Islamists are poised to take power, the treaty is effectively null and void. The question naturally arises: Will the US act in accordance with its role as guarantor of the peace and demand that the new Egyptian...

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood will not recognize Israel under any circumstances and might put the peace treaty with the Jewish state up to a referendum, the movement's second in command told the Al-Hayat newspaper in an interview that was published Sunday. The announcement comes days before the final round in the first parliamentary elections in post-uprising Egypt. The Islamist movement has emerged as the biggest winner in polls, capturing nearly half of the seats so far. The Muslim Brotherhood "did not sign the peace accords," Rashad al-Bayoumi told the London-based newspaper. "We are allowed to ask the people or the elected...

The reasons for Oslo's demise are complex and reveal unbridgeable gaps betwen Israel and the PA. Veteran Middle East correspondent Robert Fisk may have been a little premature when he said on 20 September:It's over: the "peace process", the "road map", the "Oslo agreement"; the whole fandango is history.Personally, I think "Palestine" is a fantasy state, impossible to create now that the Israelis have stolen so much of the Arabs' land for their colonial projects. Fisk - in attributing this simplistic reason for signing Oslo's death certificate - totally ignored the two offers made by Israel in 2001 and 2008...

Police have released images of a man thought to have stabbed a fellow Christmas shopper while both waited in line to buy coveted new Nike Air Jordan sneakers in Jersey City’s Newport Centre Mall on Dec. 22. When police arrived at the mall after the 10:19 p.m. incident, they found the 20-year-old victim outside the building, sitting in a puddle of blood and drifting in and out of consciousness, reports said.

Dozens of police officers had to break up fights and restore order at a local mall while shoppers were waiting for an overnight sale of a popular tennis shoe. The disturbance started inside Carolina Place Mall just after 5am. Witnesses said as mall officials opened the mall doors, crowds of people pushed their way in. "They almost took the door off the hinges," one shopper who didn't want to be identified said, "there were women with babies in their hands and they on their backs." Shoppers were in line waiting for the re-release of the Air Jordan XI Concord tennis...

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia formally called for the formation of a Gulf Union on a backdrop of regional unrest and growing tensions with rival Iran. "I ask today that we move from a phase of cooperation to a phase of union within a single entity," Abdullah said during his address at the opening session of the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council conference in Riyadh. "You must realise that our security and stability are threatened and we need to live up to our responsibilities," said King Abdullah. "Our summit opens in the shadow of challenges that require vigilance and a united...

“I’d rather go to war in a Typhoon than in a F-18 (Super) Hornet” an Aussie exchange pilot says December 5, 2011 “I’d rather go to war in a Typhoon than in a F-18 Hornet”. This alleged Australian exchange pilot’s statement is one of the most interesting outcomes (and marketing slogans) of BERSAMA LIMA 11 an exercise marking the 40th Anniversary of the Five Powers Defence Agreement (FPDA) the only multilateral defence agreement in South East Asia with an operational element commitment undertaken by five nations (UK, Singapore, Malaysia, New Zealand, and Australia) to consult in the event of an...

Bookmark and Share Text Size A | A | A December 12, 2011 Special Dispatch No.4354 Sheikh Ahmad Abu Quddum of Jordan's Tahrir Party Discusses Jihad Against Germany, Pledges to Impose 'Jizya' Poll Tax on Non-Muslims, and Vows to Annihilate Israel Following are excerpts from an interview with Sheikh Ahmad Abu Quddum of the Tahrir Party in Jordan, which aired on JoSat TV on December 8, 2011. JoSat, a private Jordanian channel, is owned by businessman Riyadh Al-Huroub. His wife, Rula Al-Huroub, is the moderator on this show. Sheikh Ahmad Abu Al-Quddum is a leader of the Tahrir party in...

As the US completes its final withdrawal from Iraq, American special forces troops have been diverted to positions in Jordan opposite a Syrian tank concentration building up across the kingdom’s northern border, DEBKAfile’s military and intelligence sources report. As of last Thursday, as of last Thursday Dec. 8, military convoys, air transports and helicopters have been lifting US troops across the border from Iraq. They have been deployed in position to ward off a possible Syrian invasion in the light of President Bashar Assad’s warning that he would set the entire Middle East on fire if the pressure on his...

Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Sunday that the downfall of Syrian President Bashar Assad would be a "blessing for the Middle East." Speaking at the World Policy Conference in Vienna, Barak predicted that Assad and his clique would be forced out of power within weeks. Barak additionally discussed sanctions against Iran and its nuclear program, saying there is still time for crippling world sanctions on Iran's energy sector and its leadership to force Tehran to give up nuclear programs that could be used to make such arms. Syrian security forces on Sunday killed at least 18 people in several areas...

Thousands of refugees fleeing the escalating violence in Syria are seeking shelter in Libya, a country still recovering from its own civil war. Buses from Damascus, crammed with Syrian families, are arriving daily into the east Libyan city of Benghazi. "Up to 4,000 Syrian families have sought refuge in Libya in the last weeks, and the numbers are increasing every day" said Dr Mohammed Jammal, a Syrian community leader in the city. "The buses arrive full and go back empty. There used to be two a week, but now there are two a day." The journey is a gruelling four...

...These new developments caught Hamas unprepared. Not only is there a need to find new accommodations for Hamas political leader Khaled Mashaal and company, but there is also a political price: the need to decrease terror and transform itself from a pro-Iranian/Syrian "muqawama" ("resistance") movement into a typical political party of the Muslim Brotherhood-type that are now in the process of taking control in the Arab world... ...they prefer engagement with Cairo because the prospects of Muslim Brotherhood dominance are much more advanced in Egypt and the close vicinity to Gaza... The new prime minister of Jordan, Judge Awn Khasawneh,...

In recent days, there has been a truly frightening articulation of the US administration’s perception of Israel vis-à-vis the Muslim world. On Friday, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta essentially blamed Israel for its own “increasing isolation,” urging the Jewish state to reach out to its neighbors. He suggested that Israel make diplomatic inroads with the Muslim Brotherhood’s Egypt, Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s increasingly Islamist and anti-Israel Turkey, and vulnerable Jordan, a country whose leadership – for the sake of self-preservation – has been making concessions to its own Muslim Brotherhood. And when asked at the end of his speech at the Brookings...

Swarms of refugees from Iraq and Syria, along with the rising Muslim Brotherhood, may bring the Arab Spring to Jordan. A growing reality of the nightmare of refugees from Iraq, from the Palestinian Authority (PA) and from Syria swarming across the borders to Jordan, along with the growingly influential Muslim Brotherhood, threaten the kingdom’s stability, researchers report. “Within the Kingdom and across three of its borders, unfolding developments carry far reaching implications for the region in general and Jordan’s stability in particular,” according to Oded Eran of the Institute for National Securities Studies (INSS). King Abdullah faced minor but unusual...

CAIRO (Reuters) - Saboteurs blew up Egypt's gas pipeline to Jordan and Israel on Monday, witnesses and security sources said, a few hours before the country holds its first free election since President Hosni Mubarak was toppled in February. The explosion was set off west of al-Arish in Sinai, witnesses said. Security forces and fire trucks raced to the sc

Israel Radio reported Monday morning that King Abdullah of Jordan said "Israel has an expiration date." Abdullah's comments were reportedly made to the BBC last week. During the interview Abdullah said Israel's survival was dependent on a two-state solution. Israel does not realize it needs such a solution, he added. Abdullah added his government would increase pressure on Israel to reach a final status agreement with the Palestinian Authority.

WHAT THE ISLAMIST-APPEASER BBC OMITTED IN INTERVIEWING JORDANIAN ARAB "KING" Nov-14-2011BBC News Special: Lyse Doucet speaks to King Abdullah of Jordanhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/programmes/2011/11/111114_king_abdullah_of_jordan_interview.shtml___1) "King" Abdullah of Jordan outrageously said -typically- propagated to BBC that if Israel would have just solved the "Palestinian" problem, it wouldn't had to deal with Iran nukes... that Iran wouldn't want -then- to attack Israel... The BBC Reporter --of course-- "forgot" to press about the clear genocide the Islamic Republic has repeatedly reiterated in 1994 (in Argentina by Iranian official Mohsen Rabbani),[1][2] in 2005 [3][4][5][6] and 2007 [7] (by Ahmadinejad) for Israel to be WIPED OFF, Period. What's...

The Arab League voted to suspend SyriaÂ’s membership at its meeting on Saturday and said it would impose economic and political sanctions against the regime of Bashar al-Assad as well as call for the withdrawal of Arab ambassadors from Damascus. The Arab foreign ministers meeting at the LeagueÂ’s headquarters in Cairo also called on the Syrian army to cease its involvement in the killing of civilians and invited the Syrian opposition for transition talks. Opponents of Assad were hoping that the Arab League would suspend SyriaÂ’s membership after Assad pressed ahead with a military crackdown on the unrest despite an...

An explosion has shut down the gas pipeline from Egypt to Israel and Jordan, Egyptian security officials reported. Eyewitnesses reported huge flames following the blast and said gunmen were seen fleeing the site of the explosion. (News agencies)

The New York Times has run an op-ed entitled, ‘The Overblown Islamist Threat.’ Big surprise: There’s no Islamist threat! They’re all moderates! Just like in 1979 Iran or in Turkey more recently. Do you think we might see an oped in The New York Times entitled, ‘The Islamist Threat is Very Real?’ Of course not. But the real surprise is the author’s identity. It’s former Jordanian foreign minister Marwan Muasher. Huh? Jordan’s policy on Islamism has been based precisely on the idea that letting them take power would be the end of the regime and a disaster for the country....

By AMMAN - At times unlikely allies, Jordan and Hamas are on the road to reconciliation, observers and officials say. Recent communications between the two sides have sparked a flurry of speculation that was only fuelled on Tuesday when Prime Minister Awn Khasawneh declared that the decision to expel Hamas leaders from Amman a decade ago was a “political and constitutional mistake”. Despite the rapid developments, analysts say only time will tell whether the Arab Spring-inspired thaw in relations represents a seasonal political shift or the beginning of a regional realignment with ramifications in Damascus, Ramallah and beyond. Policy reversal...

(IsraelNN.com) Responding angrily to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's United Nations General Assembly address, Jordan's Royal Committee for Jerusalem Affairs blasted both the address and the United Nations. The official Jordanian body referred to Sharon's statements documenting the Jewish People's historic right to Jerusalem as untrue, calling it "full of lies and untruths," questioning how the international body permits a "war criminal" to make "false claims" regarding the holy city.

The disclosure Tuesday, Nov. 1, by the International Atomic Energy Agency - that a spinning factor built in the northeastern Syrian town of Hasaka in 2003 was in fact designed for developing nuclear weapons from enriched uranium - had a purpose: It was intended to crowd Bashar Assad into talking to the leaders of the revolt against him instead of slaughtering them. Intelligence sources report that Syria procured the enriched uranium and equipment for the plant from Iraq when its ruler Saddam Hussein in early March 2003 when he decided to dispose of the bulk of his nuclear plant and...

In a letter to the editor dated October 18th 2011, Sarah Ruth writes, “It is pure bunk to say that there never was an Arab country called Palestine.” Actually Sarah, there never was an Arab country called Palestine, not in the Middle East, and not anywhere else in the world. That statement happens to be historically true. The key words here are “Arab country.” Approximately five thousand years ago, there was a non-Semitic, non-Arab people living in the general area of the Gaza Strip, called Philistines. Their language was similar to Hebrew, but they were not descendants of Shem (one...

This pathetic AP article is currently featured at Fox. Brief excerpt. Words in brackets and italics mine:"An Israeli aircraft struck a pair of Palestinian militants [terrorists] on Sunday, killing one man [terrorist] and wounding a second in a new eruption of violence.The airstrike cast doubts on efforts to forge a cease-fire after the deadliest round of fighting in months. In all, 10 Palestinian militants  [Islamic terrorists] and an Israeli civilian have been killed in a weekend of Palestinian [Jihadist] rocket attacks and Israeli [counter-terror] airstrikes.The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine , a small militant [jihad terrorist] group,..."On another occasion watching Fox with Martha McCallum and Trace...

It's not only Israeli analysts who fear that even the cold peace between their country and Egypt may be in danger as Islamic forces rise in the wake of Egypt's revolution. Jordan's King Abdullah II on Wednesday told the Washington Post that there is a "very strong possibility" that following upcoming elections, Egypt's new rulers will revoke the Camp David Accords. That is especially true if the Muslim Brotherhood comes to power. The group is contesting over 50 percent of the parliament seats in the next election, and is currently the only major political party active in the country. Jordanian...

The Waqf (Department of Islamic Endowments in Jerusalem) rejected an opinion by Jerusalem's city engineer that the Mughrabi Gate Bridge, which links the Western Wall Plaza to the Temple Mount, be demolished. Earlier on Tuesday, Jerusalem city engineer Shlomo Eshkol said the bridge to the Mughrabi Gate, also called the Rambam Gate, was structurally unsound, posed a risk to human life, and should be dismantled within 30 days. Eshkol informed the Temple Mount Heritage Foundation that the bridge, constructed from wood, should be replaced with a structure designed by a competent engineer and made of non-combustible materials. Israel’s courts have...

Archaeology has long associated advanced blade production with the Upper Palaeolithic period, about 30,000-40,000 years ago, linked with the emergence of Homo Sapiens and cultural features such as cave art. Now researchers at Tel Aviv University have uncovered evidence which shows that "modern" blade production was also an element of Amudian industry during the late Lower Paleolithic period, 200,000-400,000 years ago as part of the Acheulo-Yabrudian cultural complex, a geographically limited group of hominins who lived in modern-day Israel, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan. Prof. Avi Gopher, Dr. Ran Barkai and Dr. Ron Shimelmitz of TAU's Department of Archaeology and Ancient...

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal Tuesday, Jordan's King Abdullah II had some harsh things to say about the way Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was managing Israel's foreign policy. But perhaps, says MK Aryeh Eldad (National Union), Abdullah would be better off minding his own business -- and worrying about his own problems. "Abdullah is apparently the only Arab in the Middle East who doesn't know that Jordan is next in line for the 'Arab Spring' treatment, as occurred in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and Syria," MK Eldad said Tuesday afternoon. "Instead of advising Israel, it would behoove him...

WINSTON MID EAST ANALYSIS & COMMENTARY - December 9, 2003 THE FIRST PALESTINIAN STATE by Emanuel A. Winston, a Middle East analyst & commentatorOh. You didn’t know there was a First Palestinian State? It’s not necessary to go back to 1964 when, with Egypt’s help, Yassir Arafat formed up the PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization) - with the sole intent of engaging in Terror for the purpose of conquering the Jewish State, with the assistance of all the Arab/Muslim nations. Those goals of the PLO have NOT changed. (1) Arafat was elected Chairman of the PLO in 1969.But, Arafat and his...

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman ordered the early evacuation of Israel's embassy in Jordan on Wednesday, over fears of violent anti-Israel protests similar to those which erupted in Cairo last week.

A Facebook page created over the weekend calls for a march Thursday targeting Israel's embassy in Amman, Jordan, just days after a similar protest in Cairo, Egypt, resulted in a 13-hour rampage that trashed the Israeli diplomatic compound there. "Our motto: No Zionist embassy on Jordanian territory," the Facebook page reads. Nearly 2,500 people have pledged to attend the protest in Jordan, with Israeli news reports suggesting protestors could break into the embassy and take down the Israeli flag. ...Facebook, which has a clear policy against hate speech and violence, said the protest page conforms with the social network's terms...

The Saudis effectively ended their strategic alliance with the US in the aftermath of the US-supported overthrow of Hosni Mubarak. Since then the Saudis have strengthened their ties to China and Russia and from what I understand have refused to sign any new oil contracts with the Americans. Now in this op-ed in the New York Times, the Saudis are hitching a ride on the Palestinian UN bid to justify their previous abandonment of America. Saudi Prince Turki Al-FaisalAs my readers are well aware, I think that the US's abandonment of Mubarak was one of the greatest strategic errors the...

Jordan's King Abdullah II reaffirmed his government's rejection of his father and grandfather's historic policy that "Jordan is Palestine" on Monday. "The so-called 'substitute homeland' exists only in the minds of the weak," Abdullah told reporters, stressing "the Jordanian option is an illusion. Jordan is Jordan, and Palestine is Palestine." Abdullah's comments come amid a row over his refusal to back the Palestinian Authority's unilateral bid for statehood at the United Nations and are likely intended to show 'solidarity' with PA officials, who have been angered over Amman's position. Analysts say, despite Jordan's couching its opposition in terms of concern...

Global media is reporting on comments by the leader of the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood praising Turkey’s decision to expel and Israeli ambassador and call on Jordan and Egypt to do the same. According to one report: 05/09/2011(MENAFN – Youm7) The head of the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) in Jordan, Hammam Said, praised Turkey’s decision to expel the Israeli ambassador in Ankara and freeze military agreements. Said called on the governments of Jordan and Egypt to follow suit and expel the ambassadors of Israel from Amman and Cairo.”Turkey’s decision to expel the Israeli ambassador is a model of foreign policy, reflecting national...

Syria is burning, not because of the Arab Spring or Tyranny or Twitter, or any of the other popular explanations. The fire in Syria is the same firestorm burning in Iraq, in Turkey, in Lebanon and throughout much of the Muslim world. It has nothing to do with human rights or democracy. There is no revolution here. Only the eternal civil war. Most people accept countries with ancient names like Egypt, Jordan and Syria as a given. If they think about it at all they assume that they were always around, or were restored after the fall of the Ottoman...

A Jordan-based group is threatening to file a lawsuit against Israel in the International Criminal Court over its opening of the baptismal site Qasr al-Yahud near the Jordan River. The group, which calls itself “The Arab Union to Resist the Expulsion of Arab Christians”, is headed by the speaker of the Jordanian senate, Taher al-Masri, and includes Muslim and Christian officials from around the Arab world. The group is upset over the fact that on July 12, Israel held an official ceremony to mark the opening of Qasr al-Yahud, the site which is known as the place where Jesus was...

Republican fiscal conservatives are coalescing around a candidate for president — and he currently isn't in the race. Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Speaker of the House John Boehner, House Republican Study Committee Chairman Jim Jordan have all encouraged House Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan to run against Obama, The Weekly Standard reports. The policy wonk, known for "the Ryan plan" to eliminate the federal debt through dramatic spending cuts and reforms, has to date shown little interest in running. But the conservative magazine says his wife is "on board" if he decides to enter...

In Syria on Monday, Mr. Assad continued his assault on the eastern town of Deir el-Zour, a day after his security forces killed 42 people there. The army also killed three people at a funeral in the town of Daraa, human rights activists said. Arab nations applied more diplomatic pressure, as Kuwait and Bahrain on Monday followed Saudi Arabia and withdrew their ambassadors to protest the ongoing violence. Saudi King Abdullah pulled his ambassador out of Damascus on Sunday, denouncing the "bloodshed" in Syria... A cabdriver from Daraa, who asked to be identified as Abu Mahmoud, said he and his...

Egypt is loss; Yemen is a mess; Syria is going even more radical; Somali Islamists are gaining ground everyday; Sudan is a lost cause. Libya is a stupid civil war and will go for sometime. The only ME western supporting nation of Jordan is also in trouble. Once it falls, Israel is in big trouble. We know about Egypt's long-time peace agreement. Well, that no longer exists. If Jordan falls to the Islamists, then it is war. I don't need to be a historical scholar to realize that WWIII will start in the ME.. Reason: Israel will not go without...

Hostilities between Boehner and Jordan, whose districts abut each other, broke out into the open this week as the speaker struggled to line up votes from tea party conservatives in the House for his plan to raise the debt ceiling while cutting as much as $3 trillion over the next decade. Jordan, a tea party favorite who chairs the 170-plus member Republican Study Committee, has stymied Boehner's efforts to raise the debt ceiling. On Wednesday, the rift exploded when it was discovered a key aide to the committee sent emails to conservative groups urging them to push undecided Republicans to...

Jordan hosted its first Levantine Goat Beauty Pageant on 22 July, in which breeders from the Kingdom and Gulf States took part. Levantine goats are distinguished from other breeds for their curved noses and soft hair. A levantine goat can sell for $25,000 in the Gulf States. Yahia Abu Jaber, the organiser of the pageant, said 'the levantine goat represents old traditions for Arabs… the levantine goat has has many beautiful characteristics, and this goat differs from other goats in terms of body shape, height, the incline of its head and its wide-open eyes. This makes it more expensive, he...

At least 10 people, mostly journalists, were injured on Friday when police tried to stop clashes between pro-reform demonstrators and government supporters in central Amman. Police used batons to disperse the clashes outside city hall, beating and injuring nine journalists who were wearing orange vests marked "press," an AFP reporter at the scene witnessed. The wounded included an AFP photographer and a female Islamist activist. "We were beaten by police, although we were wearing special press vests," said the photographer. "We thought we would be safe when we stood next to the police and away from the clashes." A photographer...

EL-ARISH, Egypt — Masked gunmen on Tuesday blew up a terminal of the Egyptian natural gas pipeline to Israel and Jordan in a predawn attack, security officials said. They said the attack was carried out by at least four assailants. The terminal is located at the city of El-Arish in the northern part of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula some 30 miles (48 kilometers) west of the Israeli border. The attackers ordered the guards on duty to leave and then blew up the terminal, starting a huge fire that sent flames shooting up and lighting the night sky, according to the officials....