Middle East and North Africa

The Justice Department charged two men—Alexanda Amon Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh—with eight counts in connection to a series of hostage takings and executions in Syria. The U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia charged the former British nationals with conspiracy to commit hostage taking resulting in death, hostage taking resulting in death, conspiracy to murder United States citizens outside of the United States, along with two material support charges.

What are the international law obligations for the SDF and its allies to maintain conditions in prisons housing alleged Islamic State fighters?

Worries about foreign Islamic fighters tend to center on European citizens. But fighters from Southeast Asia also pose a significant problem.

A review of Kim Ghattas, “Black Wave: Saudi Arabia, Iran and the  Forty-Year Rivalry That Unraveled Culture, Religion, and Collective Memory in the Middle East” (Henry Holt & Co., 2020)