tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-125763102012-01-15T13:47:41.066+02:00The blog of Bassem Mroue...Bassemmrouehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409883742670726448noreply@blogger.comBlogger411100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12576310.post-1161647464710195402006-10-24T02:42:00.000+03:002006-10-24T02:51:04.726+03:00

The indirect negotiations between Israel and Hezbollah for a prisoners exchange are going on and a man who has a key role is a German intelligence agent, Der Spiegel reports. This is not the first time the Germans have worked on such an exchange since negotiations few years ago led to the release of an Israeli businessman and the bodies of three Israelis soldiers with hundreds of Arab prisoners

Bassemmrouehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409883742670726448noreply@blogger.com126tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12576310.post-1160504611766617822006-10-10T20:26:00.000+03:002006-10-10T21:23:31.886+03:00

The war on terrorism did not destroy al-Qaida but on the contrary the group now is stronger than it was five years ago, a terrorism expert says.Bruce Hoffman of Rand Corporation tells Spiegel Online that it is not clear if Osama bin Laden or Ayman al-Zawahri are still the ones ordering the attacks but that there is a command functioning from Pakistan's region of Waziristan.read the interview.

Bassemmrouehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409883742670726448noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12576310.post-1157306230552313832006-09-03T20:52:00.000+03:002006-09-03T20:57:10.573+03:00

The Sunday Times quotes political and military sources in Israel as saying the Jewish state is preparing for possible war with Iran and Syria. The paper said the war in Lebanon led to a rethink in Israel that too much attention was being paid to the Palestinians.Read the article.Bassem MroueCairo Sept. 3, 2006.8:50 p.m.

Bassemmrouehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409883742670726448noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12576310.post-1156577574317839642006-08-26T10:23:00.000+03:002006-08-26T10:32:54.400+03:00

The war in Lebanon appear to be going to cost Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert his job. Most Israelis are not happy with the results of the 34-day war that did not achieve its main goals of returning two Israeli soldiers captured by Hezbollah on July 12 as well as destroying the militant Lebanese group.Army Chief of Staff Dan Halutz said this week he is willing to take responsibility for the

Bassemmrouehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409883742670726448noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12576310.post-1156442049755125552006-08-24T20:41:00.000+03:002006-08-24T20:54:09.770+03:00

Will Israel hit Iran's nuclear facilities on its own? The Jerusalem Post has a story on the issue and quotes a "senior source" as saying that if the United States is to take action it wont be until the spring or summer of 2008, few months before presidential elections.This means that Israel might repeat what it did to Iraq's Tamouz nuclear reactor in 1981 that was bombed while under

Bassemmrouehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409883742670726448noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12576310.post-1156234243039053862006-08-22T11:07:00.000+03:002006-08-22T11:10:43.050+03:00

Three weeks after capturing him along with four other men near Baalbek, Israel released Monday Hassan Deeb Nasrallah and his colleagues who arrived home late in the day. The released man carries the same name of the Hezbollah leader but the middle name differs.From the first day of the August 2, capture in a commando operation, Israel had been saying that the five were Hezbollah members, a claim

Bassemmrouehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409883742670726448noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12576310.post-1156103888834314482006-08-20T22:52:00.000+03:002006-08-20T22:58:08.850+03:00

The 1973 Arab-Israeli war lead few years later to peace between Israel and Egypt. The 1991 Gulf War was followed months later by the Madrid peace conference. In 1993, the Palestinians signed a peace agreement with Israel and Jordan became the second Arab country to sign a peace treaty with the Jewish state a year later.The question today is whether the 34-day war between Israel and Lebanon's

Bassemmrouehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409883742670726448noreply@blogger.com36tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12576310.post-1155999193420461962006-08-19T17:46:00.000+03:002006-08-19T17:53:13.443+03:00

I wrote last week about the deadly battles between Israeli troops and Hezbollah guerrillas in southern Lebanon in the last three days before the cease fire went into force.The Israeli army was trying to reach the Litani River before the cease fire was in force and they were not able to achieve this goal by Monday. Hezbollah then said that they had destroyed about a two dozen Israeli Merkavas, a

Bassemmrouehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409883742670726448noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12576310.post-1155895889033317522006-08-18T13:04:00.000+03:002006-08-18T13:11:29.046+03:00

After years of waiting, thousands of southern Lebanese went out to the streets of their towns and villages to welcome their national army with traditional dancing, flowers and the Arab welcome gesture of throwing rice. It has been a moment that most the people have been waiting for decades.The army reached Thursday the barbed wire on the Lebanon-Israel border and the deployment of the 15,000

Bassemmrouehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409883742670726448noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12576310.post-1155578886870527902006-08-14T21:06:00.000+03:002006-08-14T21:12:30.843+03:00

Only an hour after the cease fire went into force at 8 a.m. today, thousands of Lebanese started their march back to their homes in southern Lebanon, Beirut's southern suburbs and the Bekaa.They were all happy even though many feared that they will not find their homes the way they left them. Israeli bombings not only killed more than 1,000 Lebanese and wounded thousands others but also destroyed

Bassemmrouehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409883742670726448noreply@blogger.com57tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12576310.post-1155540473535230922006-08-14T10:25:00.000+03:002006-08-14T10:27:53.546+03:00

My colleague Hussein walked into the news room and said Hezbollah is organizing a tour in the southern suburbs adding that whoever wants to go should be at Hadi Nasrallah's street at noon.I took a flak jacket and a helmet then went to Hadi Nasrallah street and the closer we go to the end of the road the more destruction we saw. As I left the car and looked around, Haret Hreik looked more like an

Bassemmrouehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409883742670726448noreply@blogger.com78tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12576310.post-1155462907834441402006-08-13T12:32:00.000+03:002006-08-28T19:53:06.066+03:00

A Day after resolution 1701 was adopted at the U.N. Security Council, Israel said it started its largest landing operation since the 1973 Arab-Israeli war. The Israeli army clearly wants to reach the Litani River before a cease fire is expected to take effect on Monday's 8 a.m. but it is proving not to be simple.What is clear is that landing hundreds of troops around southern Lebanon did not turn

Bassemmrouehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409883742670726448noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12576310.post-1155152857670558862006-08-09T22:42:00.000+03:002006-08-09T22:47:37.683+03:00

It was the second day in a row that a funeral for people killed by Israeli bombardment was taking place the area was bombed again by the Israeli military.In the southern town of Ghaziyeh Tuesday, dozens of people had to flee a funeral procession when missiles fired by Israeli warplanes landed few hundred meters from them. The bodies that were to be taken to rest in peace were put on the road as

Bassemmrouehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409883742670726448noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12576310.post-1155008257346056902006-08-08T06:36:00.000+03:002006-08-08T06:37:37.356+03:00

I was sleeping at about 5 a.m. Monday when I was woken up by a strong explosion. I opened my eyes and waited for few seconds and another explosion echoed from a distance. I turned on the radio next to my bed and shortly afterward Voice of Lebanon had the breaking news. "Attacks renewed on the southern suburbs."The day ended with the bloodiest death toll since the war began. Forty-nine Lebanese

Bassemmrouehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409883742670726448noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12576310.post-1154644625298595932006-08-04T00:54:00.000+03:002006-08-04T01:37:05.340+03:00

I arrived home at 1 a.m. after a long day of work. I met my two cousins and their families who came to stay with me after they were displaced from their southern Lebanese village because of heavy Israeli bombing.I haven't seen them since before I went to Iraq on June 26, so we a long chat about the family as well as the situation in Lebanon.It was about 2:30 a.m. when I was brushing my teeth and

Bassemmrouehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409883742670726448noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12576310.post-1154554609825691802006-08-03T00:35:00.000+03:002006-08-03T00:36:49.840+03:00

We were all in the sitting room of our apartment in West Beirut during a June 1982 evening as the Israeli army was advancing toward the capital. With no electricity, my parents, myself and my elder brother Hasan, sat with nothing much to do other than listening to the radio under the light of a kerosine lamp.As my father tuned from one station to another we heard Israel's Arabic-language radio

Bassemmrouehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409883742670726448noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12576310.post-1154294926142982942006-07-31T00:26:00.000+03:002006-07-31T00:31:09.333+03:00

The first thing I did when I woke up today was watch television to see what was going on. Tuning between LBC, Manar, NBN, Future, New TV, Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya there were no major reports other than air raids here and there during the night.But about half an hour after breaking news began with reports from the southern town of Qana. A building bombed by Israelis and many people are buried

Bassemmrouehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409883742670726448noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12576310.post-1154192925273803782006-07-29T20:07:00.000+03:002006-07-29T20:08:45.283+03:00

Heading to Baghdad International Airport on Thursday morning, I thought it was a quiet day in the city. The airport road, once known "death road," was not very crowded and the trip was fine.Later I knew it was not. As I was at the airport, four explosions occurred in the central neighborhood of Karradah killing at least 32 people and wounding many others. This is Baghdad where hardly a day passes

Bassemmrouehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409883742670726448noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12576310.post-1148327306578695022006-05-22T22:17:00.000+03:002006-07-31T10:28:45.930+03:00

Saudi-owned newspaper Asharq al-Awsat had a good report about the investigation of last years assassination of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. The report, quoting well-informed Lebanese sources, said chief investigator Serge Brammertz reached very important information concerning the crime.The sources said Brammertz and his team have information about who was behind the crime and as well as other

Bassemmrouehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409883742670726448noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12576310.post-1147036180190538792006-05-07T02:14:00.000+03:002006-05-08T00:09:40.210+03:00

Al-Hayat today has a nice article about Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in which the paper's correspondent Bassel Mohammed quotes three senior Iraqi security officials about efforts to capture the most wanted man in Iraq.One of the officials quoted in the story, Major General Hussein Ali Kamal, who is in charge of intelligence at the Interior Ministry, said he expects al-Zarqawi to be captured soon and that

Bassemmrouehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409883742670726448noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12576310.post-1145826216555279042006-04-23T23:36:00.000+03:002006-04-24T00:03:36.573+03:00

The Arab world is changing and many of its people are getting to know more and more about stock markets. Few years back, not many Arabs held shares in local stock exchanges but the recent boom in the Arab stock markets, mainly pushed by returns from high oil prices, helped a lot.We should not forget that business and financial news aired mainly on Al-Jazeera, Al-Arabiya and MSNBC are attracting

Bassemmrouehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409883742670726448noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12576310.post-1142668629620144502006-03-18T09:48:00.000+02:002006-03-19T21:49:21.360+02:00

الشاعر السوري ممدوح عدوانأنا شاعرٌ أو شاهدٌ متورّط لم يلق متكأً له في مفخرة بدم ترى ام بالدموع ملا ت هذي المحبرةوكتبتُ شعراً كي أعزّي أم رسمت على الدفاتر مقبرةنتعمد الإسرافْ لنستّر الفاقةْالزاد خبزٌ حافْ والنفس أفّاقةْ الدمع نهرٌ جافْما بلّل الياقةْ والريح في الأعطافْ ذكرى بلا طاقةْ يبكي لنا الصفصافْ فنحنّ كالناقةْتابوتنا مصيافْ والقبر ورّاقةْباسم مروةبغداد 18 اذار 2006

Bassemmrouehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409883742670726448noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12576310.post-1141597666213479522006-03-06T00:27:00.000+02:002006-03-06T00:27:46.233+02:00

I always wanted to see Saddam Hussein in person but never thought it will be the way it happened this week. Early in the morning we arrived at the court building where the former president is being tried. We waited and waited until the trial session started later than usual at about 2 p.m. We entered the court room and waited again but not much. Few minutes later the judges came in so we all

Bassemmrouehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409883742670726448noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12576310.post-1140906780869967952006-02-26T00:31:00.000+02:002006-02-26T00:33:00.910+02:00

Atwar Bahjat was not only brutally killed along with two of her colleagues this week near Samarra but her funeral ended bloody as well with shootings and a car bomb that left 3 people dead and 10 wounded. What did this woman do in order to be murdered and also be shot at as she was carried in her coffin to her resting place in the Karkh Cemetery near the western neighborhood of Abu Ghraib.

Bassemmrouehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409883742670726448noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12576310.post-1140735479680173992006-02-24T00:54:00.000+02:002006-02-24T00:57:59.693+02:00

It was so sad and shocking to know the first thing in the morning when I turned on the television on Al-Arabiya that their Baghdad correspondent Atwar Bahjat and two of her colleagues were killed near the Iraqi city of Samarra. The station said the woman and her two colleagues, Adnan Khairallah and Khaled Mahmoud were stopped by two gunmen Wednesday afternoon near Samarra and shot near their

Bassemmrouehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409883742670726448noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12576310.post-1139849362133984922006-02-13T18:11:00.000+02:002006-02-14T19:58:03.343+02:00

It was Monday February 14, 2005 and I had some things to do before leaving to Egypt the next day on a 10-day vacation. I left home at about 11 and went to Hamra street where I bought my favorite newspaper, Al-Hayat. Then headed to my barber Ali in Makdisi street since I was in desperate need for a haircut after seven weeks in Iraq. My friend Hamza, who I was supposed to use his flat in Cairo

Bassemmrouehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409883742670726448noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12576310.post-1139313982006187812006-02-07T14:04:00.000+02:002006-02-07T14:06:22.070+02:00

I was walking in downtown Beirut with my nephew Jad on Saturday night when my cellular telephone rang. I picked up the phone and found that it was my boss. "How are you today? Can you go to Syria now?" he asked?. When I ask what is going on there he said that demonstrators have already burnt the Danish and Norwegian embassies and are marching toward the French mission. "The situation is

Bassemmrouehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409883742670726448noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12576310.post-1138225670915931132006-01-25T23:45:00.000+02:002006-01-27T21:35:21.350+02:00

Every time I meet my friend Charbel we remember the big mistake we made two years ago when we both planned to buy stocks in Lebanon construction company Solidere but never did. Then a Solidere share was being sold for 4 dollars while now it reached 25 dollars. It is unbelievable how much people in the region are focusing on Arab stock markets especially when we see how much shares rose last

Bassemmrouehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409883742670726448noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12576310.post-1137325774517255342006-01-15T13:28:00.000+02:002006-01-20T09:24:52.356+02:00

One of the most interesting assignments that I covered in my 14-year career as a journalist was the Hajj in Saudi Arabia five years ago. Luckily, that year was free of incidents such as what happened two days ago when more than 350 pilgrims were killed in a stampede as they were going to perform the ritual of stoning the devil. I was living in Cairo then and with thousands of Egyptians going to

Bassemmrouehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409883742670726448noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12576310.post-1136280257737396812006-01-03T11:18:00.000+02:002006-01-03T11:24:17.750+02:00

Most of the people who I asked where they spent New Year's Eve said they stayed at home. I don't know if it is related to the depression many Lebanese are suffering from these days because of the bad security and political situation in the country. What most of them are worried about is that 2006 be as bad, if not worse, than the previous year.On January 1, many people were talking about

Bassemmrouehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409883742670726448noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12576310.post-1135842459460733812005-12-29T09:42:00.000+02:002005-12-29T09:49:32.660+02:00

For years to come, the people of Lebanon will remember 2005 as the year of major and unexpected events. Hardly anyone thought that during this year the Syrian army will leave Lebanon or that former Prime Minister Michel Aoun will return from exile or that Lebanese Forces commander Samir Geagea will be freed from jail. It was the same year that witnessed dark and bloody events such as the

Bassemmrouehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409883742670726448noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12576310.post-1135376285637392812005-12-24T00:14:00.000+02:002005-12-24T10:48:52.086+02:00

It was 8:30 a.m. Friday December 23, 2005 when my cellular telephone rang. I picked it up and my friend Naji asked "are you still sleeping?" I asked him what's up and his answer was that the Lebanese Broadcasting Corp. has breaking news about an explosion in downtown Beirut. I told him that I haven't heard anything about such an explosion and did not hear an explosion. Few minutes later I jumped

Bassemmrouehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409883742670726448noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12576310.post-1134774366057345852005-12-16T21:46:00.000+02:002005-12-22T16:31:02.520+02:00

I woke up at 5:30 a.m. this morning and got myself ready for the big day. It is Thursday December 15 and Iraqis are supposed to elect a new parliament. This is the second time Iraqis elect a new legislature after the January 30, 2005 vote for the interim National Assembly. Today they will chose a four-year parliament, which will be called from now on the Council of Representatives. At 6:30 a.m. I

Bassemmrouehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409883742670726448noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12576310.post-1134597329551181532005-12-14T22:25:00.000+02:002005-12-22T16:36:27.603+02:00

It was Sunday December 14, 2003. I woke up in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul and was very sick. It must have been the kibbe, which Mosul is famous for, I ate the night before. I must have been suffering from food poison. At about 12 p.m. my colleague Shaz came to replace me as I was heading back to Baghdad for a day or two before going back home in Lebanon. Shortly after Shaz arrived I left

Bassemmrouehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409883742670726448noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12576310.post-1134340131657913722005-12-11T23:50:00.000+02:002005-12-22T17:08:28.576+02:00

Iraqis are getting ready to vote and Thursday's December 15, 2005 ballot battle is expected to be brutal. Politicians are openly criticizing each other and posters are being torn on the streets. Going on a tour in the streets of the Iraqi capital, you feel the fierce competition between candidates. Blast walls that fill the roads of Baghdad are now decorated with elections posters of politicians

Bassemmrouehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409883742670726448noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12576310.post-1133650224286118032005-12-04T00:47:00.000+02:002005-12-04T00:50:24.300+02:00

السلام الوطني المقترحشعر : اسعد الغريريالحان : كاظم الساهرتوزيع : عمر خيرتسلام عليك على رافديك عراق القيمفانت مزار وحسن ودار لكل النعمهنا المجد أم وصلى وصام ، وحج وطاف بلاد السلامفبغداد تكتب مجد العراق وما جف فيها بلاد القلمسلام لأرض تفيض عطاء واثرى ثراها دم الشهداءفهذا حسين وذي كربلاء ، الى العز صار لسانا وفمعراق العلوم ونهر الادب ستبقى تراثا لكل العربوتبقى الى المجد ام واب واكليل حب لخير

Bassemmrouehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409883742670726448noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12576310.post-1133216133839910392005-11-28T23:17:00.000+02:002005-12-22T17:30:01.833+02:00

"Peace be upon the people of peace," were the first words Saddam Hussein spelled as he walked into the court room in Baghdad's Green Zone in the second session of his trial over the killing of 148 Shiite Muslims in a town north of Baghdad. Although his seven co-defendants appeared tired and nervous, he was the only one wearing a western suite and looking strong. Like the first session on October

Bassemmrouehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409883742670726448noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12576310.post-1132614233923457742005-11-21T23:41:00.000+02:002005-11-23T19:52:41.483+02:00

I was nine years old in 1977 when my mother took me and my elder brother, Hassan, to watch a movie that everybody in town was talking about. "Al-Risala" or "The Message," the movie that tells the story of Islam. We went to the newly-opened Monte Carlo cinema in Beirut's Hamra street where we saw the three-hour movie and I loved it so much that I watched it several times afterward. That day I not

Bassemmrouehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409883742670726448noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12576310.post-1132441121687778072005-11-20T18:49:00.000+02:002005-12-22T17:43:04.333+02:00

It was 8:15 a.m. on Friday Nov. 18, when I was woken up by a strong boom. Seconds later another explosion reverberated. I stayed in bed and convinced myself that they were two mortar rounds that are common in Baghdad. I went to bed too late the night before. At about 9:30 a.m. I was out and the moment I saw a colleague of mine I told him, hopefully it will be a quiet day. "What?" he answered. "

Bassemmrouehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409883742670726448noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12576310.post-1132255022888713782005-11-17T22:15:00.000+02:002005-12-22T17:44:57.690+02:00

It was Saturday Nov. 5, 2005 and I was getting ready to go to the airport on my 11th trip to Iraq in the past three years. Packed and ready to go, Hussein picked me up and drove south toward Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport. I walk inside and take a look. Ohhhhh nooooooooo. It is packed with hundreds of people who spent Eid al-Fitr that marks the end of Ramadan in Beirut and were

Bassemmrouehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409883742670726448noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12576310.post-1114973710798842872005-05-01T21:52:00.000+03:002005-11-08T20:10:06.186+02:00

Welcome to my Blog....I will be posting articles, ideas from time to time...Please feel free to share your ideas...Mesothelioma

Bassemmrouehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03409883742670726448noreply@blogger.com17