Coronation puts close bonds between King Charles III and the Arab and Muslim world in the limelight

Throughout his life King Charles has represented the UK during visits across the Middle East.
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Updated 06 May 2023
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Coronation puts close bonds between King Charles III and the Arab and Muslim world in the limelight

  • While still the Prince of Wales, Charles made dozens of official visits to Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Egypt, and Jordan
  • Charles has a track record of empowering Muslim communities both in Britain and around the world

DUBAI: As the UK prepares for the coronation of King Charles III on May 6, royals from around the world are readying to attend the ceremonial swearing in of Britain’s new monarch.

Following tradition, the coronation will take place at Westminster Abbey where Charles will be anointed with holy oil and crowned with the 17th century St Edward’s Crown, molded to fit his head.

Thousands are expected to gather at the abbey and its surrounding streets in London to witness the historic event, its glorious pageantry, and to swear allegiance to their new king.

Among them will be a who’s who of Arab royalty; ruling families who have shared close bonds with the House of Windsor over seven decades during the reign of the late Queen Elizabeth II and whose members the new British king knows well.

Charles’ affinity for the Arab world, and the Middle East more broadly, has created a bond with the region. So too has his curiousness for Islam, a fact that has led him to study the faith in depth and embrace many of its tenets.

Islamic art adorns many of Britain’s royal palaces. Charles has been an enthusiastic participant in interfaith dialogue between leaders of the monotheistic faiths and he handed an OBE honor to Saudi citizen Mohammed Abdul Latif Jamil, who curated the Islamic Art exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

Such is his enthusiasm for the Middle East, that Charles has told friends among Gulf royalty that some of his most profound experiences in life have been spent in the deserts of the Hijaz where prophets once roamed and where the history of the region and its great faith was forged.

The coronation will be attended by national an d international heads of state, royal families, and their representatives from around the world including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Kuwait.

Echoing the relationship his late mother Queen Elizabeth forged with the Middle East, King Charles is expected to continue the close bond during his reign, one he is renowned for.

For example, he considered Saudi Arabia’s late King Abdullah a personal friend, and following his death in January 2015, Charles flew to Riyadh to express his condolences in person to his successor, King Salman, and to pay his final respects to his friend.

Charles last visited the region with his wife, the Queen Consort Camilla, in November 2021 where he went to Egypt and Jordan to discuss and fortify inter-religious dialogue.

In Jordan, he also visited Syrian and Palestinian refugees who most rely on Saudi and British donations to make do.

In total, Charles has made 12 official visits to Saudi Arabia, seven to both the UAE and Kuwait, six to Qatar, and five to Jordan.

His admiration and love for the Middle East is even reflected in his watercolor paintings where he often draws inspiration from Wadi Arkam and Diriyah in Saudi Arabia as well as Aqaba in Jordan.

The then Prince of Wales, established many charitable foundations in the Middle East, notably The Prince’s Foundation, which is dedicated to “realizing the Prince of Wales’ vision of creating communities for a more sustainable world.”

The foundation is focused on education, the appreciation of heritage, and creating equal opportunities for youth in the UK and abroad. It runs satellite programs in more than 20 countries, including Saudi Arabia and Egypt where it has built centers.

In Jeddah’s old city, Al-Balad, it has established an arts and crafts center, allowing students to participate in the Ministry of Culture’s restoration projects there.

At the Tantora festival in AlUla held in winter from Jan. 10 to March 21, 2020, the foundation portrayed an exhibition titled “Cosmos, Color, and Craft: The Art of the Order of Nature in AlUla.” It also ran a series of hands-on workshops in cooperation with the Royal Commission for AlUla.

The new king, although not having executive powers, holds the title of defender of the faith and supreme governor of the Church of England. For many, his interest and warm views on Islam are a hopeful sign.

After the 9/11 attacks on the US, Charles, who long immersed himself in Islam, studying the religion’s textiles, gardens, and architecture, doubled down on his views opposing Islamophobia.

Quoting the Holy Qur’an during his visit to Pakistan in 2006, he said: “Only they pay attention who have hearts; only they believe or see signs who have hearts.”

Charles, who also serves as the patron of the Oxford Center for Islamic Studies, learned Arabic for six months prior to his Gulf tour in 2016.

In 2020, he visited the Palestinian territories for the first time and wished Palestinians “freedom, justice, and equality” while repeatedly urging the British government to do more to better the conditions and living standards of Palestinians.

While his ascension to the throne means he will no longer be able to freely express his views, he has made his opinion on the Middle East and Islam clear.

With more than 3 million Muslims in the UK, Islam is the second-largest religion in the country, and its new monarch’s views on it are well known.

Following the news of Queen Elizabeth’s death on Sept. 8, prayers and sermons were held throughout the country in her honor. A Friday sermon was held in Cambridge’s Central Mosque where Islamic scholar Abdul Hakim Murad reiterated and read some lines from one of Charles’ speeches. He said: “Whether we are monarchist or not monarchist, or care about this or not, it does matter that in a time of mounting Islamophobia, there are some people who wish to stand with us.”

Charles was once quoted as saying, “Islam can teach us today a way of understanding and living in the world which Christianity itself is the poorer for having lost. At the heart of Islam is its preservation of an integral view of the universe.”

In 2006, at Egypt’s Al-Azhar, the leading university for Islamic teachings, the then Prince of Wales said: “We in the West are in debt to the scholars of Islam, for it was thanks to them that during the Dark Ages in Europe the treasurers of classical learning were kept alive.”

In 2010, during a speech at the University of Oxford, Charles said: “The Islamic world is the custodian of one of the greatest treasuries of accumulated wisdom and spiritual knowledge available to humanity.”

At a time when Islamophobia and xenophobia are on the rise throughout the West, the new British monarch is empowering Muslim communities, his stance unparalleled in any other Western political figure.

Charles was one of the handful who publicly opposed the European ban on the burqas and condemned the Danish cartoon insulting the Prophet Muhammad. 

King Charles III: Official trips to the Arab world 

  • 1

    Prince of Wales embarks on first GCC tour visiting Oman, Bahrain, Qatar and Saudi Arabia

  • 2

    Saudi Arabia: Prince Charles meets with British forces deployed for the Gulf War

    Timeline Image December 21-23, 1990

  • 3

    GCC: Prince Charles meets with royal families of UAE, Sultan Qaboos of Oman and Saudi Arabia’s King Fahad and Crown Prince Abdullah. 

    Timeline Image November 17-23, 1999

  • 4

    Saudi Arabia: Visited with Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, and received a white Arabian stallion and a pair of swords as a gift. 

    Timeline Image March 24-26, 2006

  • 5

    Kuwait: Participated in the celebrations for the 50th anniversary of Kuwait’s independence.

    Timeline Image October 30-31, 2011

  • 6

    Saudi Arabia: Attended the Janadriyah festival, wore traditional Saudi clothes and participated in the Ardah dance, attracting global attention

    Timeline Image February 17-19, 2014

  • 7

    Qatar: Visited the Museum of Islamic Art, the National Heritage Library, and the Anglican Centre at the Religious Complex

  • 8

    UAE: Met with Sheikh Mohammad bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, then-Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi

  • 9

    Bahrain: Met with King Hamad at Bustan Palace in Manama

  • 10

    Jordan: Visited Za’atari Refugee Camp

  • 11

    Saudi Arabia: Toured AlUla and the historical Hejaz Railway

    Timeline Image Febraury 10-12, 2015

  • 12

    UAE: Visited Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi

    Timeline Image November 7-9, 2016

  • 13

    Palestine: Visited Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus

  • 14

    Jordan: Visited Al-Maghtas, where Jesus was baptized, and collected water from the Jordan River

    Timeline Image November 16-17, 2021

  • 15

    Egypt: Toured the Giza pyramid complex, Al-Azhar Mosque, and the Bibliotheca Alexandria

    Timeline Image November 18-19, 2021

  • 16

    Prince Charles visits the National Library in Doha, Qatar

    Timeline Image February 20, 2014

  • 17

    Saudi Arabia: King Salman welcomed Prince Charles on a two-day private visit to the Kingdom

    Timeline Image February 10, 2015

 


Trump wraps up Gulf tour, says wants to meet Putin soon

Updated 8 sec ago
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Trump wraps up Gulf tour, says wants to meet Putin soon

DUBAI: American President Donald Trump says he would like to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin “as soon as we can set it up”, during a business roundtable in Abu Dhabi on Friday.  

“Let’s see what happens with Russia and Ukraine” Trump said referencing the Russia-Ukraine peace talks taking place in Turkiye.

The US president also told reporters his administration would have the situation in Gaza “taken care of” stating: “We’re looking at Gaza, and we are going to get that taken care of. A lot of people are starving”.

Wrapping up his Gulf tour, Trump said he had secured over $1.4 trillion in investment pledges from Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

The President now intends to return to the US to meet his newborn grandchild. Describing his tour as “incredible”, he said: “now it’s time to go back home. My daughter had a baby and I am going home to see that baby.”


Syria and DP World ink $800 million deal for port development

Updated 16 May 2025
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Syria and DP World ink $800 million deal for port development

  • Syria is seeking to attract foreign investments to boost its struggling economy

CAIRO: The Syrian government and DP World signed a memorandum of understanding  worth $800 million to develop Syria’s port of Tartous, Syrian state news agency SANA said on Friday, after the lifting of USsanctions cleared the way for the deal.
The deal to develop, manage and operate a multi-purpose terminal at Tartous includes cooperation in establishing industrial and free trade zones. DP World is a subsidiary of United Arab Emirates investment company Dubai World.
Syria is seeking to attract foreign investments to boost its struggling economy, and the deal was signed in the same week that US President Donald Trump announced plans to lift of sanctions on Syria during a visit to Riyadh.
Trump said he made the decision to lift sanctions after discussions with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, whose governments have both strongly urged the lifting of sanctions.
Trump had also met with Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa ahead of the GCC summit in Riyadh on Wednesday.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday that Trump intends to issue waivers under the “Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act,” through which Washington imposed stiff sanctions on former President Bashar Assad’s government and secondary sanctions on outside companies or governments that worked with it.
Removing US sanctions that cut Syria off from the global financial system will also clear the way for greater engagement by humanitarian organizations working in Syria, easing foreign investment and trade as the country rebuilds.


Lebanon’s parliament doubles penalty for celebratory gunfire

Updated 16 May 2025
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Lebanon’s parliament doubles penalty for celebratory gunfire

  • Law change follows injuries during municipal election events

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s parliament on Thursday approved an amendment to the law that aims to curb celebratory gunfire by doubling the penalties for those who fire shots into the air.

The new law imposes stricter penalties for individuals involved in actions that have led to numerous injuries and fatalities in recent years.

The action comes after Lebanese Army Command announced the arrest of eight people as part of efforts to identify those who fired gunshots during last Sunday’s municipal elections in the North Lebanon and Akkar governorates.

Army units, with support from a Directorate of Intelligence patrol, raided the homes of several suspects and seized weapons and ammunition they possessed.

The skies over the North and Akkar governorates were illuminated last Sunday night by gunfire, celebrating candidates’ victories in the municipal elections, where local families traditionally compete for seats on the city councils that govern their affairs.

The celebratory gunfire caused injury to a young man, Mohammed Jihad Khaled, from the town of Ain Al-Dahab in Akkar.

He is still fighting for his life after a bullet struck his head.

He remains in a coma after being moved to the intensive care unit of a hospital.

Journalist Nada Andraos was also injured by celebratory gunfire, as a bullet struck her leg after piercing the car she was in while covering the elections with her team from the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation International.

Andraos, who seemed stunned by the incident — especially since the bullet could have struck her head instead of her leg — commented on social media: “In Lebanon, a stray bullet represents the value of life.”

Victims’ families often file lawsuits in court and with security agencies against unidentified people.

Many offenders escape punishment, leading to repeated tragedies where celebratory gunfire accompanies even minor school achievements.

The law prohibiting the firing of firearms into the air specifies that if such actions lead to a person’s illness or incapacity that causes them to miss work for fewer than 10 days, the offender will face a prison sentence of nine months to three years, in addition to a fine ranging from 10 to 15 times the official minimum wage.

MP Wadah Al-Sadiq said that the amendment had increased the penalty duration.

Previously, the penalty ranged from six months to three years; now it begins at one year in prison and can go up to six years.

The final decision will be made by the judge who issues the ruling.

Information Minister Paul Morcos, an international human rights defender, welcomed the amendment.

It serves as an additional deterrent, moving toward prohibiting such practices and ensuring accountability for perpetrators, he said.

Lawyer Imad Al-Masri, who specializes in criminal cases, said: “Any individual who discharges firearms or fireworks in populated areas or in the presence of a crowd, regardless of whether their firearm is licensed, will face a prison sentence of six months to three years.

“Additionally, they will incur a fine ranging from eight to 15 times the official minimum wage.

“The weapon shall be confiscated in all cases, and the perpetrator shall be referred to the military court for trial.”

Al-Masri said that the military court imposes penalties on individuals who fire bullets into the air, ranging from fines to prison sentences of six months to two years.

A judicial source said that the military court has numerous cases related to firing into the air. These offenses are punishable by law and escalate from a misdemeanor to a felony if the shooting results in casualties.

Al-Masri said: “Increasing the penalty is a deterrent if it is accompanied by strict prior measures and the enforcement of immediate prosecution and, most importantly, changing social behavior regarding this dangerous practice.”

Riots continued for a second day in Roumieh Prison, Lebanon’s largest prison, coinciding with the parliamentary session.

Inmates are demanding the approval of a general amnesty law and a reduction in their imprisonment period.

Tensions ran high among both convicts and detainees, some of whom hung symbolic gallows inside their cells as a form of protest.

Lawyer Rabih Qais, the program manager at the Lebanese Foundation for Permanent Civil Peace and a longtime observer of prison affairs, said: “The law proposal submitted by several MPs addresses the issue of delayed trials for detainees.

“Many of these people have spent years in prison, even though the sentences they might receive if tried could be significantly shorter than the time they have already served.”

Qais said Lebanon “evaluates every decision through the lens of sectarian power-sharing.

“As a result, many of those advocating for amnesty are Islamists and individuals from the Baalbek-Hermel region, many of whom are facing in absentia arrest warrants related to clashes with security forces or drug-related offenses.

“This may explain why the draft amnesty law was sent to parliamentary committees. However, what is truly needed is justice for the oppressed.”


Israeli army kills 5 Palestinians in West Bank shootout as Smotrich calls for razing of towns

Updated 16 May 2025
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Israeli army kills 5 Palestinians in West Bank shootout as Smotrich calls for razing of towns

  • The 'terrorists' were killed in a shootout near the settlement where a pregnant woman was killed earlier
  • Shootout came as Israel's hardline minister called for razing of Palestinian towns

JERUSALEM/RAMALLAH: Israel’s military killed five Palestinian militants in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, hours after a pregnant settler was killed in a shooting, as hard-line pro-settler leaders including a government minister called for Palestinian towns to be razed.
The military said in a statement it had killed five “terrorists” and arrested a sixth who had barricaded themselves in a building in Tamoun, following an exchange of gunfire and the use of shoulder-fired missiles by Israeli soldiers.
The military wing of Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad later issued a statement saying five of its members were killed while clashing with Israeli forces that surrounded their house in the town of Tamoun, north of the West Bank.
Tamoun is a Palestinian town about 35 km (22 miles) from the Israeli settlement of Brukhin, near which the heavily pregnant woman, Tzeela Gez, was killed on Wednesday night in a shooting that drew strong condemnation from Israeli leaders.
The military said it was searching for those responsible for Wednesday’s shooting — whom it did not identify — though it was not immediately clear whether the Tamoun operation was linked.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the shooting, which occurred amid one of the largest Israeli military operations in the West Bank in two decades and while the Israeli military bombards Gaza.
Gunfire could be heard in Tamoun on Thursday, while Reuters footage showed flames and black smoke on the top floor of a house as Israeli soldiers stood on the street outside. The Palestinian WAFA news agency said the Israeli military was demolishing the house where the Palestinian men had been killed.
The Israeli military said soldiers had identified the “terrorists” in a building during an overnight operation in Tamoun and the nearby city of Tubas. It recovered rifles used by the militants in the building in Tamoun, it said.
The military also said that three armed individuals had been arrested in Tubas.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said the military had taken the bodies of four of the deceased. The local Red Crescent said it had recovered a fifth body from a burning building.

Demand for retribution
Gez, the pregnant woman, was shot near the Brukhin settlement while traveling to hospital with her husband to give birth. She was pronounced dead at the hospital where her baby was delivered by caesarean section, Israeli media reported.
The baby was reportedly in serious but stable condition, while Gez’s husband Hananel was lightly injured.
As retribution, Israel’s far-right Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, said the nearby Palestinian towns of Bruqin and az-Zawiya should be destroyed, just as cities in Gaza have been.
“Just as we are flattening Rafah, Khan Younis and Gaza (in the Gaza Strip), we must also flatten the terror nests in Judea and Samaria,” Smotrich said on social media, employing the term often used in Israel for the West Bank.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he hoped security forces would quickly find those responsible for Gez’s death, while President Isaac Herzog expressed his condolences to her family.
The chief of Israel’s general staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, visited the troops searching for Gez’s killer on Thursday near Brukhin.
The Israeli military has killed dozens of Palestinians and destroyed many homes since it launched an operation in January in the West Bank city of Jenin to root out militants.
Those killed have included members of Hamas and other militant groups but also some civilians, including women and children.


Turkiye FM meets Russia delegation in Istanbul

Updated 16 May 2025
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Turkiye FM meets Russia delegation in Istanbul

ISTANBUL: Turkiye’s foreign minister was on Thursday meeting with the Russian delegation that is in Istanbul for their first direct peace talks with Ukraine in three years, a ministry source said.
“The meeting between Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and the Russian side, headed by Vladimir Medinsky has started,” the source said of talks taking place at Istanbul’s Dolmabahce Palace.
The talks had been announced earlier in the evening by a foreign ministry spokesman.
Russia and Ukraine had been expected to meet on Thursday in Istanbul for their first direct peace talks in more than three years at the Dolmabahce Palace on the banks of the Bosphorus.
But as the day wore on without any concrete indications of timings, it remained unclear whether the delegations would meet later in the evening or leave it until Friday.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was in southern Turkish city of Antalya for a NATO summit Thursday, was due in Istanbul on Friday.
He told reporters he would meet Ukraine’s top diplomat, Andriy Sybiga there, while a lower-level US official would meet with the Russian delegation.
The minister was not thought to be part of the Ukrainian delegation to the talks.
Rubio also expressed hope that Turkiye would work to bring the two delegations together.
Earlier on Thursday, Fidan and Rubio held talks on the sidelines of the NATO meeting, with the pair agreeing that “efforts would continue to be made to ensure direct negotiations between the parties,” a source at the Turkish foreign ministry said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was in Ankara earlier on Thursday, has sent a pared-down team to the Istanbul talks after Russia showed up with a relatively low-level delegation.
The Ukrainian delegation is headed by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, while the Russian side is being led by Medinsky, a hawkish adviser to Russia’s Vladimir Putin who has questioned Ukraine’s right to exist and led failed talks in 2022 at the start of the war.