"My home and shop were burnt and family threatened, " said al-Sadr, a Shiite Jordanian whose mother and wife are Lebanese from al-Qasr.

NPR: Hezbollah-Backed Lebanese Shiites Fight In Syria

It was here, at Qasr Al-Yahud, that John the Baptist set up his ministry, preaching to businessmen, soldiers and sojourners that passed by.

BBC: A Biblical guide to the West Bank

Qasr Al Sarab is in the Liwa Desert, in a region evocatively called the Empty Quarter, and the name is not an instance of poetic license.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Iraqis complain that, were it not for sanctions, foreign ships would be overflowing from cramped Umm Qasr to the port of Basra, 80 kilometres up the Shatt al-Arab waterway from the Gulf.

ECONOMIST: The Gulf