Middle East

Espionage Charges Dropped Against Two Pro-Israel Lobbyists

Federal prosecutors are dropping espionage charges against two former lobbyists for the pro-Israel lobbying group known as AIPAC. Prosecutors said court decisions made it unlikely they could win convictions against Steven J. Rosen and Keith Weissman, former lobbyists with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the Washington Post reports. The…

May 1, 2009 2:35 PM CDT

US to Release Photos of Claimed Overseas Prison Abuse

The Obama administration has decided to release photos of claimed prisoner abuses at U.S. prisons in Iraq and Afghanistan. Dozens of photos, including 44 sought by the American Civil Liberties Union in a lawsuit, will be released on May 28, the Los Angeles Times reports. Some photos show detainees being…

Apr 24, 2009 2:24 PM CDT

High Court Rules Against Terror Victim’s Brother in Immunity Case

A man who claims Iran participated in the assassination of his brother cannot attach an American court judgment as compensation for the death, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled. The court ruled against Dariush Elahi, who is seeking compensation for the killing of his brother, Cyrus, in Paris in 1990,…

Apr 21, 2009 3:47 PM CDT

US Journalist Charged in Iran Spy Case

A freelance United States journalist who has been in custody in Iran since January has now been charged with spying. The case of Roxana Saberi, says Hassan Haddad, deputy prosecutor for Tehran, “has been sent to the revolutionary court. She, without press credentials, was carrying out spying activities under the…

Apr 8, 2009 9:17 PM CDT

Layoffs in Dubai, Too: DLA Piper Axes 8

In the midst of a stunning series of major law firm layoffs in the United States and United Kingdom because of the dismal economy, the Middle East has been seen as a relatively booming practice area ripe for expansion. But there is a slowdown in legal work there, too, says…

Apr 3, 2009 5:10 PM CDT

BigLaw Firms Converge on Dubai: Jones Day Launches, CC Amps Up

Adding to an ongoing trend of looking to the Middle East for new legal business, two major international law firms are establishing a bigger foothold in Dubai. Jones Day has just announced that it will be opening an office there with six lawyers, reports Legal Week. They are: project finance…

Mar 24, 2009 1:00 AM CDT

Freelance US Journalist Arrested in Iran

A freelance U.S. journalist of Iranian nationality reportedly is being held on unknown charges in Iran. According to her father, Roxana Saberi was taken into custody after buying a bottle of wine, which is forbidden in the Islamic republic. However, he believes her work as a journalist is what got…

Mar 4, 2009 3:50 AM CST

Federal Judge’s Unusual Story: My Grandfather Was a Slave

As chief judge of the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, Audrey Collins is often called upon to speak at public events. But as she contemplated what to say at a luncheon with a group of female judges and attorneys visiting from Afghanistan, she realized she needed to take a…

Mar 2, 2009 10:25 PM CST

Glass Ceiling Shatters in Palestine: 2 Women Become Islamic Court Judges

Women have been police officers, candidates for top political office and even suicide bombers in Palestine. But, until now, they’ve never served on the bench in the territories’ Islamic courts. That glass ceiling was shattered by Khuloud Faqih, 34, and Asmahan Wuheidi, 31, when they stepped up to the bench…

Feb 24, 2009 9:10 PM CST

Former CIA Chief in Algeria Investigated in Claimed Rapes There

An unidentified former CIA station chief in Algeria is being investigated by the U.S. Department of State and Department of Justice in at least two potential rape cases. The investigation, which was initially based on complaints by two Algerian women that they had been raped by the official, began last…

Jan 29, 2009 1:40 AM CST

White Powder Mailed to Dershowitz and Newspaper Wasn’t Anthrax

Initial tests indicate nothing hazardous in white powder mailed to Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz and the Wall Street Journal. The material was probably flour or another type of food substance, the Wall Street Journal reports. Fearing the powder could be anthrax, authorities on Wednesday evacuated the floor in Hauser…

Jan 22, 2009 12:07 PM CST

Ex-Law Student Led Battle Against Prevalent Sexual Harassment in Eqypt

Despite a conservative culture based on Islamic law, sexual harassment is prevalent in Eqypt. And women there, who have been reluctant to pursue criminal complaints in a society that makes it difficult for them to do so, are starting to fight back, reports the Los Angeles Times. A 27-year-old former…

Dec 17, 2008 8:58 PM CST

Taliban is, Increasingly, a Source of ‘Justice’ in Afghanistan

Although Afghanistan officially has government courts to settle civil disputes and rule on criminal matters, there is another option that citizens, in some cases, are pursuing in order to get swift–and, some say, fair–resolution of their claims. Rather than pay a bribe to a government judge, they would rather have…

Dec 16, 2008 7:55 PM CST

5 Blackwater Guards Charged with Manslaughter in Iraqi Deaths

Five security guards from Blackwater Worldwide have surrendered on manslaughter charges in Salt Lake City based on allegations they killed 14 unarmed Iraqi civilians. The five guards were also charged with attempted manslaughter and weapons violations in the September 2007 shootings that wounded 20 others, according to a Justice Department…

Dec 8, 2008 5:52 PM CST

Middle East Legal Recruiters Inundated with Résumés from U.S. Lawyers

Legal résumés are pouring into recruiters’ offices from lawyers looking for work in the Middle East and Asia as law firms continue their expansion there. One legal recruiter in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, told the New York Times he has gotten so many applications from top-quality New York lawyers that…

Nov 24, 2008 1:05 PM CST