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"If we intervened directly, I would not hesitate to announce that. But all we have done so far is to help the Libyan national army, the Libyan parliament, and the Libyan government," he said.

Egypt is training anti-Islamist Libyan forces on its soil and sharing intelligence in a bid to stamp out militancy next door.

"There are no Egyptian armed forces in Libya," Sissi said. "We protect our borders from inside our borders."

Chinese leader opened the Sixth Ministerial Meeting of the China-Arab Cooperation Forum on June 5 in Beijing

energy cooperation; infrastructure construction and creation of favorable conditions for trade and investment; and high-tech domains of nuclear energy, the space rocket sector and new energy sources

suggested that the creation of a free trade zone between China and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) be accelerated

China supports the peace process and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state within the borders of June 4, 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital, "enjoying full sovereignty."

, why shouldn’t Russia and China in the current situation — given the proximity of their interests and positions — undertake joint initiatives to unblock the peace process, while initiating steps to "introduce this activity within an institutional framework?

, the unilateral efforts by US Secretary of State John Kerry to promote the Israeli-Palestinian peace process are not bearing fruit

Russia is interested in using this unprecedented convergence with China in its operations on the Middle East arena, where Moscow has in many ways already been acting in unison with Beijing

, the Middle East Quartet is one of few international platforms where Russia can constructively engage with the United States and the EU

China's growing economic cooperation with Arab countries not a cause for concern in Moscow, but it is also viewed in a very favorable light

will not one day replace the United States as the security guarantor for the transportation routes of these resources

Moscow’s and Beijing’s interests converge in the joint countering of terrorism, extremism and separatism

. Among the militants from radical groups fighting against government troops in Syria, there are people hailing not only from Russia and Central Asia (fewer in numbers to those coming from Arab and Islamic as well as Western countries), but also from the Uighur minority in China.

recently, Beijing came under harsh criticism from Ankara for its actions in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region against the Uighur population, which the Turks believe to be their next of kin

. Disappointed by the failure of EU accession, the Turkish leadership has even started talking about the desire to join the SCO as an observer

Ankara expresses its willingness to cooperate with China in the fight against terrorists and condemns the separatism coming from some groups in Xinjiang

There is no doubt that a comprehensive strategic partnership, in which Russia and China would act in concert along the political consensus reached by their two leaders, would in the short term

According to both, this convergence is neither a union nor a tournament of predators, but a very pragmatic integrationist instrument of protection and projection of interests by the two powers, including in the Middle East.

the Middle East was not the focus of the talks between the two leaders

roughly 50 agreements ushering in a period of unprecedented convergence between the two countries

seems to allow the two parties to seek further coordination in their actions

Such consensus includes Syria, despite Beijing’s lesser involvement on this issue, relative to Moscow; Iran, within the P5+1 (the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany) negotiations with Tehran over its nuclear program; the fight against terrorism and extremism; the creation of a weapons of mass destruction-free Middle East; the condemnation of external intervention and the strategy of "regime change" as well as the push for "color revolutions;" the policy to reach a settlement in the Middle East; and relations with the new Egyptian regime and with respect to the Sudanese issues.

Sheikh’s case and several other recent terrorism prosecutions shed light on the growing importance of social media in the battles unfolding in Syria and Iraq -- both as a recruiting tool for Islamic terrorist groups like ISIS and the Al-Nusra Front, and as a means for the FBI to pre-emptively nab the would-be jihadis.

raises questions about the FBI’s conduct in attempting to head off terrorist recruits and whether they incited them to actions they wouldn’t have otherwise taken.

using fake social media identities to engage them

catfishing” by luring him into a personal relationship with a phony online persona.

During the investigation, the FBI published a webpage that purported to recruit individuals to travel to Syria and join Jabhat al-Nusra (

posed as a Syrian nurse and "used a Facebook page which promoted the ideology of Islamic extremism" to contact the suspect,

been able to expand their reach far beyond the traditional jihadi recruitment pool to a much wider audience -- including English-speaking Western nationals."

FBI at times goes too far to reel in American Muslims, most of them young, who are sympathetic to the Islamic extremist cause.

her client is “a lonely, mentally ill young man with a tremendous desire to be liked,” which made him susceptible to a paid FBI informant’s online encouragement.

Suspects began posting on Facebook or other social media expressing support for or seeking contact with one of the Islamic groups fighting in Iraq and Syria and were then engaged by informants or undercover FBI agents.

social media counterterrorism operations,

'Don't go there in any way, don't go there in thought or expression, don't even toy with the idea of becoming foreign fighters.'"

eventually agreed to join Al-Nusra, purchased a plane ticket to Beirut and prepared for his journey to jihad

informant, however, suggested that Sheikh instead join the Al-Nusra Front, an al Qaeda affiliate t

provided Sheikh with contact information for a supposed Al-Nusra agent.

could help get him inside

face up to 15 years in prison and fines of $250,000 if they are convicted

sending a message to potential terrorist recruits is indeed important.

defense attorneys in all four cases may argue that the FBI actions amounted to entrapment -- the act of tricking someone into committing a crime so that they can be arrested

making examples of individuals

sought to make contact with al Qaeda officials on Facebook and other social media, but instead drew the attention of an undercover FBI agent who presented himself as a recruiter for the terrorist group.

"ISIS recruits are more likely to reach out in the online universe seeking advice on how to reach the land of jihad than to consult the guidance of a traditional cleric or local community leader

that universe and creating honeypots to draw in and capture potential ISIS recruits, they can help sow doubts in the minds of would-be jihadists in the overall reliability of the Internet as a medium for recruit

Justice Department plans to review federal law enforcement practices on creating fake Facebook pages in light of an incident,

Should platforms like YouTube and Twitter really have the power to censor what content we can or cannot see? At least in America, the suppression of disturbing or offensive content, if it does not incite violence, is a direct violation of our principles of free speech. Especially in this instance, it seems deeply inappropriate to respond to authoritarianism with authoritarian action.

Others have argued that the video shouldn’t be shared because that’s what ISIS wants.

Does it matter what ISIS wants?

Part of ISIS’s aim is presumably to terrorise us remotely, but most people are just getting angry.

intentionality does not factor into censorship decisions anyway. 

Twitter is not television. No one is being forced to view the footage.

It’s completely understandable that family members don’t want footage of a loved one’s death to spread, but it’s not clear that that’s their decision to make.

It’s really not Twitter’s decision either—unless we want to grant tech giants the power to control public knowledge and discourse, a dangerous precedent indeed.

Its democratic power derives from the fact that it’s unedited; for better or for worse,