Baker Atyani
Arab News
United Arab Emirates
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Past articles by Baker:
Philippines VP Robredo’s struggle between single motherhood and politics
Get the latest breaking news and headlines from the largest Arab News website. Get world news, sport news, business news, entertainment, lifestyle, video and photos. → Read More
Destiny’s child: Philippines’ Robredo refuses to rule out presidency just yet
Get the latest breaking news and headlines from the largest Arab News website. Get world news, sport news, business news, entertainment, lifestyle, video and photos. → Read More
Philippine beauty queen dreams of Palestine
MANILA: She has her father’s eyes and her mother’s hair. And that is good enough for Gazini Christiana Jordi Ganados, 24, who says that even though they are separated, at least on her face her parents are still together. The half-Palestinian, half-Filipino contender for the Miss Universe pageant this year credits her looks, especially her nose and height, to her → Read More
Grenade attack kills two at southern Philippines mosque: military
MANILA: Twin bombings during a church service on a southern Philippine island were most likely perpetrated by a cell from a domestic militant group, the country’s armed forces chief said Tuesday. The Jan. 27 attacks on Jolo Island, Sulu province, killed at least 21 people and wounded more than 100. They were one of the deadliest in recent years in a region plagued by decades of instability. “The… → Read More
Murad Ebrahim: The commander of war and peace in southern Philippine
Get the latest breaking news and headlines from the largest Arab News website. Get world news, sport news, business news, entertainment, lifestyle, video and photos. → Read More
Why 9/11 was not a ‘big surprise’
ISLAMABAD: While Al-Qaeda’s terror attacks on the US came as a shock to the world, its leader made the threat almost three months before, in an interview with Baker Atyani, our South Asia bureau chief It was around 7 a.m. in Islamabad, on September 12, 2001, when I received a phone call from a familiar voice: The man wanted me to deliver a message. I immediately realized that → Read More
Pakistan PM contender Imran Khan pledges stronger ties with Saudi Arabia
ISLAMABAD: A leading contender to be Pakistan’s next prime minister has pledged to boost ties with Saudi Arabia if his party wins this month’s general election. In an exclusive interview with Arab News, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan said his country enjoyed a “very special relationship with Saudi Arabia” and he planned to nurture it further. He said it was → Read More
Philippines hunts for possible new Daesh leader in Southeast Asia
MANILA/DUBAI: Malaysian militant Mohammad Amin Baco has replaced Isnilon Hapilon as the new Daesh emir in Southeast Asia, according to the Philippines top police official. “We are still looking for Amin Baco,” Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said, describing the Malaysian as the likely new “successor as the emir of those terrorists.” Police chief Ronaldo dela Rosa said he received similar… → Read More
No one fights terror more than Pakistan, PM tells
ISLAMABAD: The days of Pakistan depending on the US for its military and other requirements are over, Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has signaled in an exclusive interview with Arab News. “If one source dries up … we have no option but to go to another source,” he said. The prime minister said most of Pakistan’s “frontline weapons were of US origin but that has changed over the years. We… → Read More
Ties with Saudi Arabia ‘as old as Pakistan’: PM
ISLAMABAD: Relations with Saudi Arabia are “as old as Pakistan is,” Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi told Arab News. As such, it was “natural” for him to make his first visit after assuming office on Aug. 1 to the Kingdom, he said, describing Saudi Arabia as “our oldest friend.” Abbasi said that during his visit to Riyadh on Aug. 23, he told Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that in Pakistan… → Read More
‘Days of depending on US are over for Pakistan’
ISLAMABAD: The days of Pakistan depending on the US to meet its military and other requirements are over, Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi told Arab News during an exclusive interview. The world should recognize Pakistan’s efforts in fighting the “world’s war” on terror, he said, in his first interview since returning from the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York in September. → Read More
Pakistan rules out devaluation or appeal to IMF
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will not devalue the rupee or seek help from the International Monetary Fund to address its fiscal challenges, Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi told Arab News in an exclusive interview. A rising trade deficit, a potential currency crisis and a sharp decline in exports have placed Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves under pressure. Financial analysts believe the reserves… → Read More
MENA economies prepare for global economic shift: Experts
MANAMA: The US posture toward the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), as well as global institutions, is negatively impacting business and regional growth, according to experts at the second International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) Bahrain Bay Forum 2017. A panel, including former Swedish Premier Carl Bildt and former US Deputy Secretary of State Prof. James Steinberg, discussed… → Read More
Face to face with Osama bin Laden, three months before 9/11
DUBAI: It took us about three hours to reach Kandahar. Caught up in my thoughts, I barely spoke with my travel companion Othman — the man assigned by Osama bin Laden to handle logistics for my interview with him in June 2001. It was dark when we entered the city. Our transport turned from the main road into a maze of semi-paved streets, then on to sand. Most of the houses in the area were built… → Read More
How Daesh-linked terror group in Philippines made its millions
KUALA LUMPUR/MANILA: The Daesh-linked Maute group operating in the Philippines has amassed an estimated 1.2 billion pesos ($23.7 million) in cash through looting, drug deals and other illegal activity, Arab News has learned. The terror group launched an assault on Marawi, the only predominately Muslim city in the mainly Catholic Philippines, in May. → Read More
How the Daesh-backed Maute group amassed new weapons and $24m in cash
KUALA LUMPUR/MANILA: Battle continues to rage in Marawi, the only predominately Muslim city in the mainly Catholic Philippines, more than two months since a siege by the Daesh-backed Maute group. As deaths mount in the fighting and government forces struggle to defeat the enemy, President Rodrigo Duterte has asked Congress to extend martial law on the Island of Mindanao to address a “looming… → Read More
Is Hamza bin Laden Al-Qaeda’s next leader?
DUBAI: The new audio message by Hamza bin Laden, son of Al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden, was released 11 days after the fifth anniversary of the latter’s assassination in Abbottabad, Pakistan, on May 2, 2011. The new message did not mention the anniversary, but offered “advice” for “martyrdom-seekers in the West.” → Read More
Abu Rami and the three states
This is not the first time Daesh has released pictures of its military training. But its latest pictures, released last Friday, catch the eye because they were for Daesh in the Philippines, what it called “The Soldiers of Khilafah in East Asia.” The official announcement of Daesh’s presence in the Philippines was made a year ago by its leadership in Raqqa, naming Isnilon Hapilon as leader of… → Read More