Week in Review: Middle East

Al Qaeda: Online Message Mocks Obama

The second-in-command of the militant terrorist network Al Qaeda warned President-elect Barack Obama on Wednesday, Nov. 19, that "a heavy legacy of failure and crimes awaits" him.

In an 11-minute Web posting, the authenticity of which has yet to be determined, Ayman al-Zawahiri criticized Obama's foreign policy positions on Afghanistan and Israel. He also accused Obama of betraying his Muslim roots, and called on Muslims to harm "criminal, trespassing" America, the BBC reported.

"You were born to a Muslim father, but you chose to stand in the ranks of the enemies of the Muslims, and pray the prayer of the Jews, although you claim to be Christian, in order to climb the rungs of leadership in America," the message said.

He also said Obama and former and current Secretaries of State Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice were the "direct opposite of honorable black American[s]" and instead fit Malcolm X's description of "House Negroes," a derogatory term used to describe blacks who were subservient to whites.

Obama has said stamping out al-Qaeda "once and for all" will be a top priority during his administration.

Iraq: Cabinet Approves Deal for

U.S. Troop Withdrawal

The Iraqi cabinet has approved a security deal with the United States that calls for the withdrawal of American troops from Iraqi streets by the end of 2011.

The security pact will be sent on to Iraq's parliament where, if passed, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki can sign the deal with U.S. President George W. Bush.

The deal is meant to end the American occupation of Iraq and phase out the assistance of coalition forces. The agreement requires the U.S. to get Iraqi consent before searching homes, prohibits Americans from conducting raids in other countries from Iraqi soil, and eliminates the judicial immunity that applies to foreign contractors and U.S. soldiers working in Iraq under the occupation's current mandate. Most notably, under the agreement, U.S. forces must begin to withdraw from the streets of Iraq's towns and villages by the middle of 2009.

The vote in Parliament is uncertain, but U.S. National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said the U.S. will "remain hopeful and confident we'll soon have an agreement that serves both the people of Iraq and the United States well and sends a signal to the region and the world that both our governments are committed to a stable, secure and democratic Iraq."

Failure to pass the security agreement could deal a damaging blow to the already sensitive Iraqi security.

Syria: Bombed Site 'Resembled Reactor'

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported on Wednesday, Nov. 19, that a Syrian site bombed by Israel last year had features resembling a nuclear reactor.

The IAEA said "significant" traces of uranium were found at the site, but did not exclude the possibility it could have been used for purposes unrelated to nuclear activity, according to the BBC.

"While it cannot be excluded that the building in question was intended for non-nuclear use, the features of the building, along with the connectivity of the site to adequate pumping capacity of cooling water, are similar to what may be found in connection with a reactor site," said the report, the IAEA's first on the site bombed by Israeli warplanes in Sept. 2007.

Syria has maintained that the site was a disused military building.