Rafiq A. Tschannen is a Swiss national. He converted to Islam and joined the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community at the age of 16 after reading the German translation of the Holy Qur'an. He worked in 15 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Caribbean, first as Finance Director in the private industry and later as Chief Executive Officer of NGOs and International Governmental Organizations. He is now devoting his time to The Muslim Times as Editor for Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Palestine and Switzerland and as Associate Chief Editor.
Jan 20,2016 – JORDAN TIMES – Editorial The future of the projected peace talks on Syria, scheduled for January 25, hangs in the balance as both sides of the conflict are making demands that may thwart negotiations even before they start. The initiative to hold peace talks was unanimously endorsed […]
Last week, President Obama decided to admit 10,000 Syrian refugees to the United States. But there’s another group of foreigners who deserve our help much more – the 50,000 men and women who served as interpreters for American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. During my two deployments, I worked with […]
BUSINESS POLITICS Law and order Reuters International JAN 19, 2016 – 13:27 By Michael Holden LONDON (Reuters) – A British inquiry into the death of ex-KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko, poisoned in London a decade ago with tea laced with a rare radioactive isotope, is likely to conclude Russia was responsible […]
JIHADISM 2016 – 12:40 Naim Cherni, right, maintained his innocence before the media in December (Keystone) Documentary or propaganda? The Swiss attorney-general’s office says it is “irritated” over YouTube’s reluctance to take down two videos about jihadists in Syria produced by a member of the Islamic Central Council of Switzerland. […]
STIFF OPPOSITION JAN 19, 2016 – 12:02 Construction work on the extension of the Zurich Museum of Fine Arts in November (Keystone) More than 100 rabbis have protested in front of the Swiss consulate in New York against a planned extension of the Zurich Museum of Fine Arts. They say […]
Britain’s increasingly unwelcoming approach to those fleeing war and persecution – highlighted by figures analysed by The Independent – is labelled ‘woefully inadequate’ Harry Lambert @harry_2016 96 comments If the UK had accepted its fair share of refugees, the Calais Jungle would not exist. Getty The UK has let in 170,000 fewer […]
By AP – Jan 18,2016 – JORDAN TIMES A Palestinian inspects the rubble of a farm that was demolished after Israeli authorities said it was built without a permit on Monday in the West Bank village of Al Fundoq, east of the village of Qalqiliya (AFP photo) TEL AVIV […]
By AFP – Jan 19,2016 – JORDAN TIMES Iraqi security forces inspect a car at a checkpoint on the main road from Baghdad’s central Jaderiyah district to Dora on the southern outskirts of the Iraqi capital on Monday (AFP photo) BAGHDAD — Search operations were under way Monday for […]
Jan 19,2016 – JORDAN TIMES – James J. Zogby Last Tuesday, US President Barack Obama delivered the annual State of the Union (SOTU) address to a joint session of Congress. On Thursday, the Republican candidates for their party’s nomination held their sixth televised debate. The contrasts in tone could not have […]
By AFP – Jan 19,2016 -JORDAN TIMES A photo provided by the Saudi Press Agency on Monday shows Saudi King Salman Bin Abdulaziz meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in the capital Riyadh (AFP photo/SPA/HO ) RIYADH — Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday expressed “deep concern” to […]
Mark Sedgwick Monday 18 January 2016 Muslims have shown clearly that democracy is compatible not just with Islam but also with the idea of using state power to make a better world Source: Middle East Eye The biggest political news from the Muslim world remains the self-declared Caliphate based in […]
Africa January 18, 2016 People gathered at a cemetery in Cape Town on Sunday to mark the 130th anniversary of a Muslim uprising sparked by a ban on burials. The Tana Baru cemetery uprising – considered the most significant form of civil disobedience by South African Muslims in the 19th […]
By HAMZA HENDAWI1 hour ago . View photo In this Dec. 5, 2015, photo, Syrian refugee Nayef speaks to The Associated Press during an interview in southeast Turkey. Under the Islamic State group, “justice has been erratic,” said Nayef, who hails from the Islamic State group-held eastern Syrian town of […]
By Reuters – Jan 18,2016 – JORDAN TIMES OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — Israel bristled on Sunday at the lifting of international sanctions on Iran and vowed to flag up any violations of its archfoe’s nuclear restrictions while drawing on US defence aid to prepare for a possible military face-off in […]
. View photo A general view taken from a helicopter shows the Baghdad clock tower in Harthiya Sqaure in the west of the Iraqi capital on September 10, 2014 (AFP Photo/Brendan Smialowski) Baghdad (AFP) – US and local authorities are searching for three American citizens who were reportedly kidnapped in […]
Jan 17,2016 – JORDAN TIMES – Nidhal Guessoum The Muslim world’s past contributions to science and education were extraordinary. The Islamic “golden age” — during which scholarship and learning flourished across the Muslim world — lasted many centuries and included the establishment of the world’s first universities. Today, however, Muslim-majority countries […]
Jan 17,2016 – JORDAN TIMES – EDITORIAL The sight of hungry, emaciated Syrians drew attention to the fact that the warring parties in this Arab country resort to starvation as a weapon of war. The UN Security Council acted against this, at last, recently adopting a resolution calling on all […]
Analysis: Iran has escaped years of isolation and the threat of war without sustaining much damage Patrick Cockburn @indyworld Sunday 17 January 2016 21:03 BST The war in Syria may end up weakening Iran’s regional rivals more than Iran itself Reuters Iran is politically and economically stronger because of the agreement […]
The world’s richest are getting richer while the wealth of the poorest is being spread more thinly Jon Stone @joncstone Sunday 17 January 2016 Slums in Colombia, one of the world’s most unequal countries Rex features Wealth inequality has grown to the stage where 62 of the world’s richest people […]
Voices As a strange development in an age when developers have probably destroyed as many old Beirut houses as the civil war did Robert Fisk @indyvoices All pictures copyright: Tom Young Tom Young Just when you thought the heritage of the Middle East was being destroyed, here’s a tale to prove […]