A fierce religious identity dominates the Sunni-majority nation, with principles of the Koran, conservative Sunni teachings known as Wahhabism and strict Islamic Shariah law present in all aspects ...

Syria is the only Middle Eastern country that has a majority Sunni population but is ruled by a Shiite minority. The Assads, who took power in 1970, are Alawites, a subsect of Shia Islam that ...

This spreading influence has caused concern to the Sunni rulers of Arab countries with Shia minorities, such as Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. On the other hand, members of the Saudis' own Shia ...

Some Sunni religious leaders in the region have ... past for fueling sectarian tensions between Saudi Arabia and Shiite countries. Last year, Iraqi authorities suspended MBC’s broadcast license ...