Nassif Hitti - AL-Monitor: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Nassif Hitti

Ambassador Nassif Hitti is a senior Arab League official and the former head of the Arab League Mission in Paris. He is a former representative to UNESCO and a member of the Al-Monitor board of directors. The views he presents here are his alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of these organizations.

Ahmad Jarba (L), head of the opposition Syrian National Coalition, is seen reflected in a mirror as he attends a news conference about chemical weapons in New York, September 27, 2013. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS CONFLICT) - RTX142FX

Syrian Opposition Regroups After UN Resolution on Chemical Weapons

Nassif Hitti

People are seen at Al Azhar mosque before a protest in support of the Islamist institution Al-Azhar's assertion of independence from the Muslim Brotherhood, in old Cairo April 5, 2013. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST RELIGION) - RTXY9Q2

Challenges Await Egypt's New Constitution

Nassif Hitti

U.S. President Barack Obama (R) meets with Lebanon President Michel Sleiman during the United Nations General Assembly in New York September 24, 2013.

REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque (UNITED STATES) - RTX13XZ8

International Support Group To Maintain Stability in Lebanon

Nassif Hitti

Iranian presidential candidate Hassan Rohani (L) waves to supporters in the central Iranian city of Shiraz June 11, 2013. Picture taken June 11, 2013. REUTERS/Fars News/Mohammad Hadi Khosravi (IRAN - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS) ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. THIS PICTURE IS DISTRIBUTED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS - RTX10L22

Iran To Be Included by US In Middle East Affairs

Nassif Hitti

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (L) and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov shake hands after making statements following meetings regarding Syria, at a news conference in Geneva September 14, 2013. The United States and Russia have agreed on a proposal to eliminate Syria's chemical weapons arsenal, Kerry said on Saturday after nearly three days of talks with Lavrov. REUTERS/Ruben Sprich (SWITZERLAND - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX13KX7

US-Russia Agreement Gives Hope on Syria

Nassif Hitti

Oslo Accords Offer Lessons After Twenty-Year 'Interim'

Nassif Hitti

People with mobile phones film the Marine One while it takes off with U.S. President Barack Obama as he departs for Sweden and the G20 summit in Russia, from the White House in Washington September 3, 2013. Obama won the backing of key figures in the U.S. Congress, including Republicans, in his call for limited U.S. strikes on Syria to punish President Bashar al-Assad for his suspected use of chemical weapons against civilians. Obama will hold bilateral meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and French

What Does Syria Crisis Hold for US, Iran?

Nassif Hitti

Palestinians hold a placard depicting senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh during a rally in the West Bank city of Nablus, marking the 25th anniversary of the founding of Hamas December 13, 2012. It was the first rally Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas allowed to take place in the West Bank since 2007, when his Islamist rivals Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip. REUTERS/Muammar Awad (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS ANNIVERSARY) - RTR3BJHE

Three Crises for Hamas

Nassif Hitti

A Patriot anti-missile battery is deployed in the northern city of Haifa August 29, 2013. Israel ordered a small-scale mobilisation of reservists on Wednesday, and strengthened its missile defences as precautions against possible Syrian attack should Western powers carry out threatened strikes on Syria. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (ISRAEL - Tags: CIVIL UNREST MILITARY POLITICS) - RTX12ZZO

Three Scenarios for Day After Attack on Syria

Nassif Hitti

United Nations (U.N.) vehicles transport a team of U.N. chemical weapons experts to the scene of a poison gas attack outside the Syrian capital last week, in Damascus August 26, 2013. The experts dressed in blue U.N. body armour, left in a six-car convoy, according to a Reuters witness, and were accompanied by security forces and an ambulance. They said they were headed to the rebel-held outskirts of Damascus, known as Eastern Ghouta, where activists say rockets loaded with poison gas killed hundreds of peo

Five Game Changers in Syria

Nassif Hitti

A protester who supports ousted Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi shouts through an opening at the top of an entrance to the al-Fath mosque on Ramses Square in Cairo August 17, 2013. Egyptian authorities rounded up more than 1,000 Islamists as the Muslim Brotherhood leadership defiantly called a week of nationwide protests starting on Saturday after a day of carnage. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST RELIGION TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTX12OHE

Islamist Phase of Arab Awakening Failed

Nassif Hitti

Israeli parliament employees set up a Palestinian flag (L) next to an Israeli one as they prepare ahead of a meeting between Israeli parliament members and a delegation of Palestinian politicians and businessmen, aimed at encouraging Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem July 31, 2013. Israeli and Palestinian negotiators on Tuesday gave themselves about nine months to try reach an agreement on ending their conflict of more than six decades in U.S.-brokered pe

Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process Faces Enormous Challenges

Nassif Hitti