Although Hrant Dink had been taken to court over his statements on the genocide against the Armenians and had been attacked by the main Turkish media as a "traitor," it was now the same media which used his murder to invoke a new national unity. Antje Bauer reports
For centuries, Hindus have claimed the Babri Mosque as the birthplace of their god Ram. Now a court has ruled that the site can be used by both Hindus and Muslims. By Qurratulain Zaman
Violence in Muslim-dominated Kashmir and anti-India protests has recently been flaring up again. The decades-old conflict is based on two factors: claims of nationalism and of religion, says Yoginder Sikand
Recently published in German, Katajun Amirpur's new biography of Ayatollah Khomeini is a multi-faceted and knowledgeable portrait of the Iranian revolutionary leader that also offers some surprises. Marian Brehmer read the book for Qantara.de
Four years after the Green Movement protests in Iran and right before presidential elections there, repression against political prisoners and their families is increasing. Maryam Mirza and Marcus Michaelsen report
The Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi was sentenced to an eight-year prison term on bogus espionage charges in Iran in 2009. She was released following the intervention of US president Barack Obama. Saberi does not believe that the presidential elections in Iran on 14 June will bring major political changes. An interview by Tobias Köberlein
Fear is a cornerstone of the Islamic Republic. But, since Iran's post-election crisis in June, the people have become fearless, and in turn are terrifying the government. A commentary by Mehdi Khalaji
The Syrian intellectual Burhan Ghalioun considers President Bush's first visit to the Middle East to be an attempt to isolate Iran and contain its increased influence by reaching out to other players in the region. Rashid Butayb spoke to Burhan Ghalioun
The killing of al Qaeda's leader dealt a major blow to the terrorist network. Now the time is ripe, a leading Afghanistan expert and Germany's diplomatic point man agree, for the West to talk to the Taliban. Jefferson Chase reports
The foiled Detroit bomb plot showed that terror groups such as al-Qaeda are increasingly using Yemen as a place of retreat. The main reason behind the situation is the country's political instability. Klaus Heymach reports
