As urban warfare rages in Damascus and Aleppo, presumed rebel gunmen abducted 47 Iranian pilgrims just outside the capital on Aug. 4. The pilgrims were on a bus taking them from the Shi'ite shrine of Sayyida Zainab, about 10 miles south of Damascus, to the airport to return home when they were kidnapped, according to the Iranian state news agency IRNA. Dubai's Al-Arabiya television aired footage it said it had obtained from Syrian rebels of the captive Iranians, in which the captors charge that they are not actually pilgrims, but members of the Revolutionary Guard.

A suicide bomber struck at a funeral in Yemen's southern city of Jaar Aug. 4, killing at least 35 and wounding dozens more, including the leader of a local group that was fighting al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). Authorities also said they had intercepted a would-be suicide martyr who intended to attack  the British embassy in the capital Sana'a. (The Guardian, Aug. 5; Yemen Observer, Aug. 4) A US drone strike meanwhile killed five supposed AQAP militants at al-Qotn in Hadramout province. The last confirmed US drone strike in Yemen took place on July 3 in Shabwa province, reportedly killing two AQAP operatives. (Long War Journal, Aug. 4)

The Egyptian government announced Aug. 2 that it has requested the release of the last of its citizens currently being held at the Guantánamo Bay detention facility. Egyptian Tarek al-Sawah, 54, has been held at Guantánamo for 11 years without charges or trial. Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel requested al-Sawah's release in a letter to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. In announcing the request the Foreign Ministry noted that al-Sawah's prior charges of supporting terrorist groups in Afghanistan were dropped by the US military prosecutors and that the Egyptian government will appoint a US lawyer specializing in the rights of Guantanamo prisoners to defend al-Sawah. Since President Mohammed Morsi was sworn in a few weeks ago the Muslim Brotherhood-led administration has sought freedom for many Egyptians internationally jailed for Islamist militancy.

Amnesty International on Aug. 1 published a report holding the Syrian government responsible for human rights violations in Aleppo that AI claims amount to crimes against humanity. "All-out repression: Purging dissent in Aleppo, Syria" documents how security forces and allied militias routinely used live fire against peaceful demonstrations in and around Aleppo and elsewhere in Syria, killing and injuring protesters and bystanders. AI contends that, as the size and frequency of these anti-government protests in Aleppo increased in recent months, government forces employed "reckless and brutal use of force that inevitably led to peaceful demonstrators being killed and injured." The report "details a wide range of systematic, state-directed violations including the deliberate targeting of peaceful protesters and activists, the hunting down of injured protesters, the routine use of torture, the targeting of medics providing life-saving emergency treatment to the wounded, arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances." AI further claims that arrested individuals were routinely tortured, threatened and intimidated while in detention, and reiterates its long-standing calls for the UN Security Council to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court.

Saudi Arabia's Ministry of the Interior announced July 30 that a former Guantánamo Bay inmate who had completed the country's militant rehabilitation program surrendered to Saudi authorities. Adnan al-Sayegh, who was placed in the Ministry's rehabilitation program after returning from Guantánamo in 2006, escaped to Yemen and rejoined al-Qaeda. He expressed remorse when he surrendered himself to the authorities, according to a statement released by the Ministry of Interior. Sayegh argued that he was deceived into joining the terrorist group. He was placed on the country's wanted list in 2009 as the 85th most wanted terrorist. Authorities stated that he will receive proper procedure and that his surrender will be taken into consideration. The rehabilitation center was a measure by the country addressing the attacks initiated by Islamist militants during 2003 and 2006.

Winning international headlines July 20 was the seizure by the Free Syrian Army (FSA) of Albu Kamal, one of the three major crossings on the border with Iraq, after a brief battle. (Al-Arabiya, July 21) The FSA is linked to the Istanbul-based Syrian National Council (SNC), whose leaders this week visited the United Nations in a bid for international support. (World Policy blog, July 19) The SNC is clearly being groomed by the West, and is generally portrayed in the media as the sole leadership of the Syrian revolution. However the SNC/FSA is but one of several coalitions struggling to bring down the Assad regime.

Newly elected Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi on July 19 ordered the release of 572 people who had been convicted by the military. Morsi, Egypt's first elected civilian president, had formed a committee to review all the cases of prisoners who had been sentenced by military courts since the beginning of the revolution that toppled former president Hosni Mubarak last year. Activists and international rights groups have repeatedly called for Egypt to end the practice of civilian trials by military commissions, which have been criticized for not meeting the requirements of independence and impartiality. Morsi also commuted the life sentences of 16 individuals to seven years imprisonment. Earlier this month Morsi appointing a fact-finding committee to investigate the deaths of protesters in last year's demonstrations. 9,714 individuals have been released out of the 11,879 Egyptians detained by the military since last year's uprising.

An Omani court on June 25 began a hearing against protesters who have been accused of defamation and illegal assembly. The Omani authorities have arrested more than 30 individuals who had been protesting against the government to demand political reform, promote human rights and call for the release of detained human rights defenders. The court proceedings opened with hearing the case against 15 protesters, four of whom have been charged with defamation and incitement to protests and strikes in an oil facility, and the remainder of whom have been charged with illegal assembly.