Region

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — The Israeli military has placed a female Palestinian legislator under detention for six months without trial, a lawyer for the lawmaker said Monday.

Khalida Jarrar, a senior political leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a left-wing Palestinian militant group, is being held for alleged activities in a hostile organisation, lawyer Mahmoud Hassan said.

Jarrar, 52, is being held under Israeli administrative detention, which allows Israel to hold detainees for up to six months at a time without charges, the lawyer said. The detention and any extensions are approved by a judge, and evidence can be kept from defence lawyers.

Israel says administrative detentions prevent attacks by fighters. Rights groups say international humanitarian law permits administrative detention in exceptional cases, but that Israel is out of bounds with its large-scale use of the method.

The Israeli military arrested Jarrar last week for disobeying an Israeli order barring her from the West Bank city of Ramallah. The military said her arrest was due to "substantial concerns about the safety and security of the region”.

The military had no immediate comment Monday on the six-month detention order.

A Palestinian prisoners' advocate, Qadoura Fares, said the arrest is an Israeli punitive political act. He said Israel is holding 16 Palestinian lawmakers in jails, most of them administrative detainees who are members of the Islamist group Hamas.

BEIRUT — Islamist insurgents have released 300 Kurdish men in the country's north who were taken captive on Sunday, a Kurdish official said on Monday.

Nawaf Khalil, a spokesman for the Kurdish PYD party in Europe, told Reuters by phone that the "men were released by the Islamist militant groups who were holding them".

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group, which tracks the conflict from Britain, also said the Kurds had been released. However, it said around 200 had been held, taken at several checkpoints over the past two days.

Khalil and another Kurdish official reported earlier on Monday that the men were taken on Sunday evening.

Idris Nassan, an official in the Kobani canton, said they were kidnapped by Al Qaeda's official Syrian wing, Al Nusra Front, as they were travelling from the town of Afrin, which is under Kurdish control, to the cities of Aleppo and the capital Damascus.

"They left women and children but they kidnapped 300 men and young people," he said.

"They captured them in Tuqad village, 20 km  west of Aleppo and then they moved them to Al Dana town in Idlib province," he said. Al Nusra Front was part of an alliance of militant groups that captured Idlib city last month.

Al Nusra Front has not claimed the kidnapping. Syrian state media did not report the incident.

The observatory also reported on Monday that insurgents from Jaish Al Mujahideen had traded 25 kidnapped women and children in exchange for one of their commanders.

Riyadh — The Saudi government on Monday said it hopes a nuclear deal between Iran and world powers can bolster Middle East peace and end interference in Arab affairs.

A statement after the weekly cabinet meeting chaired by King Salman said Saudi Arabia "hopes the agreement will reinforce security and stability in the region and the world".

But it insisted security hinged on "the respect of the principle of good neighbourly relations and non-interference in Arab affairs," said the Saudi Press Agency.

The statement was issued on the 12th day of Saudi-led air strikes against Shiite rebels in Yemen who Riyadh says are backed by Iran.

A framework agreement aimed at curbing Iran's suspect nuclear programme was clinched on Thursday after marathon talks in Switzerland.

King Salman said after the deal was announced that he was looking forward to a "final binding" agreement that would bolster regional and world security.

Iran and Saudi Arabia, the foremost Shiite and Sunni Muslim powers in the Middle East, have had troubled relations in recent years.

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is casting the Iran talks as part of a broader foreign policy doctrine that sees American power as a safeguard that gives him the ability to take calculated risks.

Obama defended a framework nuclear agreement with Iran as a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" to prevent a bomb and bring longer-term stability to the Middle East. He insisted the US would stand by Israel if it were to come under attack, but acknowledged that his pursuit of diplomacy with Tehran has caused strain with the close ally.

"It's been a hard period," Obama said in an interview with New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman. He added that it is "personally difficult" for him to hear his administration accused of not looking out for Israel's interests.

"We are powerful enough to be able to test these propositions without putting ourselves at risk," he said, citing his overtures to Cuba and Myanmar as other examples of his approach.

The president's comments come in his seventh year in office and days after the US and other world powers reached a tentative agreement to curb Iran's nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief. The framework cleared the way for negotiators to work out technical details ahead of a June 30 deadline for a final deal.

Obama argued that successful negotiations presented the most effective way to keep Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, but insisted he would keep all options on the table if Tehran were to violate the terms.

"I've been very clear that Iran will not get a nuclear weapon on my watch and I think they should understand that we mean it," Obama said in the interview published Sunday. "But I say that hoping that we can conclude this diplomatic arrangement — and that it ushers a new era in US-Iranian relations — and, just as importantly, over time, a new era in Iranian relations with its neighbours."

The president said there are many details that still need to be worked out with the Iranians and cautioned that there would be "real political difficulties" in implementing an agreement in both countries. He reiterated his opposition to a legislation that would give the US Congress final say in approving or rejecting a deal, but said he hoped to find a path to allow Congress to "express itself”.

The White House plans an aggressive campaign to sell the deal to Congress, as well as to sceptical Arab allies who worry about Iran's destabilising activity in the region. The president has invited leaders of six Gulf nations to Washington this spring and said he wanted to "formalise" US assistance.

On the substance of the Iran framework agreement, Obama outlined more specifics of how the US would seek to verify that Tehran wasn't cheating. He said there would be an "international mechanism" that would assess whether there needed to be an inspection at a suspicious site and could overrule Iranian objections.

The nuclear talks have marked a remarkable shift in the frozen relationship between the US and Iran. It has become normal for officials from both countries to communicate and hold face-to-face meetings. Obama is yet to meet with Iranian President Hasan Rouhani, though they did speak on the phone. He has also exchanged letters with Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Obama said the letters include "a lot of reminders of what he perceives as past grievances against Iran". But he said the concessions Khamenei allowed his negotiators to make in the nuclear talks suggests that "he does realize that the sanctions regime that we put together was weakening Iran over the long term, and that if in fact he wanted to see Iran re-enter the community of nations, then there were going to have to be changes."

OUARZAZATE, Morocco — The sole survivor of three Spanish cavers trapped for days in a deep ravine in Morocco's High Atlas Mountains was "in good health" Monday after a complicated rescue, officials said.

Twenty-seven-year-old policeman Juan Bolivar, the only man to come out of the ordeal alive, was admitted late Sunday to the private Chifa clinic in Ouarzazate in southern Morocco.

The bodies of his two companions have not yet been recovered from the depths of the 400-metre  ravine.

Spanish public television station TVE, quoting Moroccan rescue workers, said one of the three had possibly slipped on a patch of ice, dragging the other two down with him as he fell.

Bolivar was evacuated from the scene of the accident by police on Sunday night and taken into the clinic on a stretcher, his eyes closed and legs bandaged.

"He has been examined by a multi-disciplinary team of specialists, and his state of health is good," regional health ministry official Dr Khalid Salmi told AFP on Monday.

"But after what he's been through, he needs some time to rest before being repatriated," an operation which should take place sometime this week.

Spanish media reported that Bolivar was suffering from hypothermia and was in a state of shock.

Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said on Monday that the rescued man was "doing well".

The foreign ministry in Madrid said Bolivar's state of health was being monitored, but did not indicate when he might come home.

It added that the recovery of the bodies of the other two men was "in the hands of the Moroccan authorities".

Dr Salmi said the bodies were still at the scene of the accident, in an area that was extremely difficult to get to.

"All teams have been mobilised so they can be brought out as soon as possible," he said.

All three potholers had been initially found alive on Saturday morning, several days after they went missing after breaking off from a group of nine Spaniards to explore different caves.

But officials said late Saturday that one man — 41-year-old Gustavo Virues — had died as rescue workers scrambled to reach the trio at the bottom of the ravine in an area where access is difficult and a helicopter cannot land.

Officials in Ouarzazate had said the other two had been "injured" and had received first aid ahead of their planned evacuation.

However the Spanish interior ministry announced late on Sunday that Jose Antonio Martinez, 41, had also died while awaiting rescue.

"My condolences to the family and friends of Jose Antonio Martinez, a chief police inspector who died in Morocco," it said in a Twitter message signed by Interior Minister Jorge Fernandez Diaz.

Martinez had broken his legs and suffered a head injury, his wife had earlier told TVE.

Fellow cavers raised the alarm on Tuesday after the trio failed to meet up with them in Ouarzazate as planned.

The three were located by Moroccan search teams in the commune of Tarmest, but heavy fog on Saturday hindered the rescue, officials said, adding that the men had not been accompanied by professional guides.

WASHINGTON — The US Supreme Court on Monday asked President Barack Obama's administration to weigh in on an appeal by the Iranian central bank over whether $1.75 billion must be paid to victims of the 1983 Lebanon US Marine Corps barracks bombing.

In a brief order, the court said it wants to hear the administration's views on whether the nine justices should hear the appeal filed by Bank Markazi. If the court ultimately declines to take up the case, the money must be turned over to families of the victims.

The court's action comes at a delicate time for American-Iranian relations, with the United States and other world powers last week reaching a framework agreement intended to curb Iran's nuclear programme in exchange for lifting economic sanctions.

The Iranian central bank is appealing a July 2014 ruling by the New York-based 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals that the money held by Citibank in New York should be handed over.

The money, currently held in a trust account, will go toward paying off a $2.65 billion US court judgment that the victims' families won against Iran in 2007.

The families accused Iran of providing material support to Hizbollah, which carried out the attack that killed 241 US servicemen.

The lawsuit was filed in 2010 after the US Treasury Department uncovered the funds at Citibank, part of Citigroup Inc.

The case is Bank Markazi v. Peterson, US Supreme Court, No. 14-770.

ISLAMABAD — Saudi Arabia has asked Pakistan for military aircraft, warships and soldiers, Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said on Monday, at the start of a parliamentary debate on whether Pakistan should get involved in a Saudi-led campaign in Yemen.

Saudi Arabia, the Gulf's main Sunni Muslim power, has asked Sunni-majority Pakistan to join a Saudi-led military coalition that began conducting air strikes last month against largely Shiite Houthi forces in Yemen.

Sharif has hedged his bets. He has repeatedly said he will defend any threat to Saudi Arabia's "territorial integrity" without defining what threat, or what action.

"Saudi Arabia has asked for combat planes, warships and soldiers," Asif said, without specifying where Saudi Arabia wanted them deployed.

Arif Rafiq, a Washington-based adjunct scholar with the Middle East Institute, said earlier Pakistan was hoping to satisfy Saudi expectations at a "minimal" level.

"They're unlikely to be part of any meaningful action inside Yemen," he told Reuters. "Maybe they will reinforce the border."

Sharif owes the Saudis. Endemic tax dodging means Pakistan needs regular injections of foreign cash to avoid economic meltdown. Last year, the Saudis gave Pakistan $1.5 billion. Saudi Arabia also sheltered Sharif after he was overthrown in a 1999 military coup.

But joining the Saudi-led coalition could inflame a sectarian conflict at home where about a fifth of the population is Shiite and attacks on Shiites are increasing, further destabilising the nuclear-armed nation of 180 million people.

Pakistani intervention would probably also anger Shiite power Iran, which shares a long and porous border in a region roiling with its own separatist insurgency.

Pakistan's other main borders are with arch enemy India and Afghanistan, where Pakistani troops are conducting anti-militant operations. The Iranian foreign minister will visit Pakistan this week.

In the debate on Monday, Aitzaz Ahsan, Senate leader of the opposition, demanded Sharif clarify his comments.

"What does [Defence Minister] Khawaja Asif mean by the violation of sovereignty of Saudi Arabia and the strong response from Pakistan?" he asked. "If the government wants to send troops to Yemen or Saudi Arabia, what will their exact mandate be?"

The session also saw stormy scenes as a major opposition party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, ended a seven-month long boycott of parliament.

PTI boycotted parliament and occupied part of the capital during months-long street protests last year over alleged election rigging. They are firmly opposed to sending troops.

Not Saudi Arabia’s handmaiden

Pakistan has a long record of contributing troops to UN peacekeeping missions but public opinion seems largely against intervention in any Saudi-led action in Yemen.

"Pakistan is not Saudi Arabia's handmaiden, doing its bidding at the flick of a wrist," the Express Tribune said in an editorial.

Many analysts say the military, which has ruled Pakistan for more than half its existence since independence, has the final call. The generals have been silent.

Pakistan has nearly 1.5 million active soldiers and reserves, but about a third of those are tied up with operations along the Afghan border. The bulk of the remaining forces face off with nuclear-armed India. Others are executing the government's new counter-terrorism plan.

Even though Saudi Arabia is a "special friend" of both the government and the military, Pakistani intervention in Yemen might be unwise, said retired Major General Mahmud Ali Durrani, a former national security adviser.

"If it was to defend Saudi Arabia against aggression, in spite of our commitments, I think we would stretch to sending troops," he said. "To send our troops to a third country — I think that would be foolhardy.

"Either way, it is an absolutely terrible choice to be made for Pakistan."

RAMALLAH — A Palestinian official said Monday a delegation was heading to Damascus for talks on helping residents inside the Yarmouk refugee camp, parts of which have been overrun by Daesh terror group.

Hundreds of families have been evacuated from the camp in a southern neighbourhood of Damascus after Daesh jihadists launched on attack on Wednesday.

Palestinian forces inside Yarmouk are largely surrounded by Daesh fighters who have captured large parts of the camp.

Ahmed Majdalani, an official with the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), told AFP that the delegation would focus its efforts on providing security and assistance to the camp.

"We will discuss with a number of Syrian officials securing the relief corridor opened yesterday to deliver humanitarian aid and getting civilians out so they won't become human shields for the terrorist Daesh group," he said.

The delegation will also hold meetings with various Palestinian factions to discuss how to counter Daesh threats, said Majdalani, who is heading the group.

Majdalani accused Daesh militants of "seeking to control the whole camp" and to use it "as a springboard for attacks on the Syrian capital Damascus because of its strategic location".

He said the visit comes after talks with officials in several Arab countries.

"We have an Arab and international plan to stop the violence perpetrated against our people," Majdalani said.

In a statement, the PLO called for "all sides to immediately agree to protect the camp from efforts to turn it into a battlefield".

It also called for civilians to have access to relief corridors and to humanitarian and medical assistance.

Since the jihadist advance began, regime forces have pounded the camp with shells and barrel bombs, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group.

Dozens of Hamas and Islamic Jihad supporters meanwhile protested in Gaza on Monday to demand an end to the violence in Yarmouk.

MOSCOW — Talks on ending the war in Syria began on Monday in Moscow but the absence of key opposition groups meant there was little hope of progress in resolving the conflict.

Syria's ambassador to the United Nations, Bashar Al Jaafari, is heading the government delegation for the meetings with members of the domestic "tolerated" opposition, the National Coordination Committee for Democratic Change.

But the main Western-backed exiled Syrian opposition National Coalition stayed away, and another leading domestic opposition activist remains under a travel ban from Damascus.

The discussions, which run until April 9, are expected to focus on humanitarian issues and plans for future talks, while also serving as a way for Russia, a main backer of the Syrian regime, to build its profile as a potential mediator in the conflict.

A source in the Syrian government delegation told AFP that the opposition would spend Monday and Tuesday meeting with Russian mediators before the two sides sit down together Wednesday.

"The main idea this time is to agree on a precise agenda for further negotiations," the source told AFP.

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov played down hopes for any breakthrough saying Moscow was disappointed by the decision of National Coalition not to attend.

"We are not setting any final deadlines given that so much blood has been shed in Syria and that there have been so many false starts in this process," Lavrov said.

The talks follow a similar round of meetings between the government and officially tolerated opposition in Moscow in late January that failed to make any concrete progress towards resolving the deep-rooted conflict.

The sit down is the first since some of the key international players in the crisis thrashed out an outline deal over Iran's nuclear programme and US Secretary of State John Kerry refused to rule out speaking to Syrian President Bashar Assad.

'Soft' subjects 

But despite the seemingly positive noises over the conflict there seemed little prospect of any breakthrough at the Moscow talks.

Ahead of the meeting a source close to Syrian government delegation told AFP that the delegations "will only discuss 'soft' subjects on which agreement might be found”.

"You cannot say that these consultations will have any major results," Russian Middle East expert Boris Dolgov told AFP.

"It is just one step, albeit important, on the path towards stopping the crisis in Syria."

Dolgov said that by hosting the talks Moscow was looking to boost its standing as a potential mediator while also seeking to curb the threat that radical groups such as Daesh pose to its national security.

The opposition National Coalition, however, accusing Russia of seeking to use the talks to bolster Assad, has declined to attend, and finds itself increasingly sidelined by powerful regional actors such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

Another opposition figure Louay Hussein, who heads the Building the Syrian State party, told AFP that Damascus barred him from attending the meeting by refusing to lift a travel ban imposed following his release on bail in February after three months in jail.

Most of Syria's opposition in exile has made it clear that Assad must step down in any deal to end the conflict that began with demonstrations against his rule in March 2011.

An Arab diplomat following the developments told AFP that one proposal now being floated would see Assad stay in power for two or three more years to prepare a transition, particularly given Russian and US fears about the consequences if his regime collapsed suddenly.

"This solution would allow all the parties to save face," one opposition member involved in the discussions said.

The window for any such agreement is fairly small, with Washington reportedly insisting that any deal be signed before campaigning for the 2016 presidential election begins in earnest in the autumn.

"Washington is ready to let Moscow hold as many meetings as it needs, but any deal must be signed... before the autumn, otherwise it will be too late," the opposition member said.

RAMALLAH — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas threatened Sunday to turn to the International Criminal Court (ICC) over Israel's refusal to fully release hundreds of millions of dollars in tax monies owed to the Palestinian Authority.

In early January, Israel froze the monthly transfer of funds it collects on behalf of the PA as a punitive measure after the Palestinians moved to join the ICC.

But on Friday, Israel agreed to release the funds after deducting debts due for electricity, water and medical services.

Speaking Sunday, Abbas confirmed that two-thirds of they money had been transferred.

"They said they were going to send the money and in the end they did, but a third of it was deducted — why?" he asked during a speech in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

"Now we have a new file to take to the ICC, first there was the [summer] war in Gaza, then there was the settlements and now the Palestinian leadership is considering presenting this issue to the court in due time."

The Palestinians would not accept anything but the full amount, he said.

"We will not take the money until we get all of it: either you give us the full amount or we go to the ICC."

When the announcement was made on Friday, Israel did not say how much money would be transferred nor whether it would resume the normal monthly payment of around $127 million in customs duties.

The move comes after heavy international pressure on Israel to release the monthly funds, which account for two-thirds of the Palestinians' annual budget, excluding foreign aid.

Under an economic agreement between the sides signed in 1994, Israel transfers to the PA tens of millions of dollars each month in customs duties levied on goods destined for Palestinian markets that transit through Israeli ports.

Although the sanction has been imposed many times, it has rarely lasted more than one or two months, except in 2006 when Hamas won a landslide victory in Palestinian legislative elections and Israel froze the funds for six months.

Blocking the money also prevents the PA paying its roughly 180,000 employees, which costs almost $200 million (170 million euros) a month.