Region

ADEN — An unidentified warplane attacked the presidential palace in Aden on Thursday after rival forces fought the worst clashes in years in Yemen's second city, an official and residents said, in a sharp escalation of the country's months-long turmoil.

Thirteen people were killed when forces loyal to President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi fought their way into Aden's international airport and wrested an adjacent military base from a renegade officer, Aden Governor Abdulaziz Bin Habtoor said.

Both the fighting on the ground and subsequent air attack appeared to be part of a deepening power struggle between Hadi and the Shiite Muslim Houthi group, which controls the capital Sanaa and is allied with former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

In a televised speech Habtoor accused the Houthis of being behind the air attack on the compound in Aden's Al Maasheeq district, where Hadi is based, but said the bomb "had fallen harmlessly into the sea".

"Aden is peaceful and things are back to normal after the rebellion was ended," he said on Aden television. A Houthi spokesman could not immediately be reached for commnent.

The Houthis earlier this week removed the air force chief for refusing to provide them with air support and replaced him with a general who is closer to their group.

Residents said anti-aircraft guns opened fire at the plane, and smoke was seen rising from the area, but it was not immediately clear if Hadi was in the compound. A second approach by a warplane was repelled by anti-aircraft fire, they said.

An aide to Hadi said the president was "safe at a secure location ... There was a raid, but there were no casualties." 

Busy flights over Sanaa 

The affiliation of the aircraft was not immediately known, but residents in Sanaa said they saw an unusually busy level of flights by military aircraft in the skies of the capital.

Earlier in the day, soldiers and militiamen loyal to Hadi using tanks and armoured vehicles battled their way into Aden's airport and stormed the nearby military base, residents said.

General Abdel-Hafez Al Saqqaf had been holed up for days in the base after refusing Hadi's order to hand his Special Forces unit to another officer's command, a security source said.

The fighting brought traffic at the airport to a halt.

Witnesses said many Special Forces soldiers had been taken prisoners at Al Sawlaban base in the Khor Maksar district.

Renegade camp 

Saqqaf later turned himself in to the governor of the adjacent Lahj province, the Aden Al Ghad newspaper reported.

In a statement, the Houthi-led Supreme Security Committee urged an end to the Aden fighting, saying both sides "are obliged to keep the peace and return to the negotiating table".

The growing instability in Aden has overshadowed a determined campaign of attacks by Al Qaeda, long seen by Washington as the main threat to the country, which shares a long border with the world's top oil exporter, Saudi Arabia.

Tensions have been heightened in Aden since Hadi fled there in February after escaping a month of house arrest in Sanaa by Houthi forces who seized Sanaa last September. Hadi has been trying to consolidate his control over Aden, the better to mount a challenge to Houthi ambitions to control the country.

Gaza City — Israeli authorities allowed 1,000 tonnes of cement paid for by Qatar to enter the devastated Gaza Strip on Thursday, officials said, in the first serious step towards rebuilding the territory.

A 50-day war last summer between Israel and Islamist movement Hamas, which controls the Palestinian territory, decimated entire neighbourhoods across Gaza and left 100,000 people homeless.

The international community has warned that without serious and immediate reconstruction efforts, another conflict is just around the corner.

"Today 1,000 tonnes of cement paid for by Qatar entered the Gaza Strip for a project included in the scope of the reconstruction mechanism," Israel's coordinating body for government policy in the Palestinian territories (COGAT) said in a statement.

"There are no fixed quantities [going in] on a daily basis. The quantities [delivered] are at the request of the Palestinian Authority in accordance with the needs of suppliers who are purchasing in Gaza," it said.

Palestinian officials confirmed the entry of cement, which they said 175 trucks brought in through the Kerem Shalom goods crossing in southern Gaza.

SIDI BOU SAID, Tunisia — Hermes and Carla Pierrotti had come to Tunisia to get away from their hectic lives in Italy, hoping for a tranquil break in a country full of tourist treasures.

But when that peace was shattered Wednesday in an attack that killed 21 people at Tunisia's national museum, Carla ran to pack her bags.

"I was terrified and I wanted to leave Tunisia as soon as the attack happened. It was a real shock," she said. "I came to spend my holiday in peace and without any trouble."

Carla took some persuading to continue the holiday, but her husband even managed to convince her to go out the day after the attack.

"You need to defy the terrorists and not let them block the exchange of cultures between two countries," Hermes said after the couple visited Sidi Bou Said, a picturesque village north of Tunis popular with foreign visitors.

Wednesday's attack in the birthplace of the Arab Spring sparked by Tunisia's 2011 revolution unfolded in broad daylight at the capital's renowned National Bardo Museum.

Images of terrified visitors fleeing gunmen have raised fears the shooting could severely affect Tunisia's crucial tourist industry.

"Tunisians don't deserve what has happened because it's they that will suffer the consequences of this crime, especially those in the tourism sector," Carla said.

Matthieu Charbon arrived Wednesday evening in Tunis with his wife and son. They also decided they would stay.

"I'm not afraid! Attacks happen all over the world and even in the middle of Paris; it's just one of those things," Charbon said.

"We aren't going to stay at home just because there are attacks."

But in Sidi Bou Said, a village full of historic and cultural sights overlooking the sea, the normally bustling streets were virtually deserted and shop owners quick to voice their concern.

'Demoralised' 

"It was a very tough blow. All the shop owners here were hit hard by the crime yesterday... It looks bad for the days ahead," said Aymen Jebali, a 34-year-old craftsman.

Since the 2011 uprising, Tunisia has struggled to attract tourists as the country remains dogged by political and social unrest and battles a jihadist threat.

Last year's parliamentary and presidential elections — hailed the world over as a democratic triumph among troubled Arab Spring countries — gave hope to many in the tourist sector.

"Just when things were beginning to shift, and more and more tourist groups were coming, this horrific attack has pulled the rug from under our feet," said Hicham Ben Said, manager of Sidi Bou Said's famous Cafe Mats.

After the Bardo shooting, "tourists quickly left the cafe and didn't come back. Their faces were pale and afraid," he said.

"No one knows what will happen. It's really stressful."

Security measures have been boosted throughout the country and police checkpoints with identity checks have been rolled out along main roads around Tunis, Carthage and Sidi Bou Said.

But a worker from a five star hotel in the capital, who asked not to be named, said many guests had already called to cancel their reservations.

"There will be a very negative impact on all hotels for a while," he said. "This is now the image of Tunisia, which was hit just as it was beginning to recover."

Nine of the slain tourists were from the MSC Splendida cruise ship, whose owners said a special psychology unit had been set up for passengers.

In a blow to Tunisia's heavily tourism-dependent economy, at least two major cruise ship operators suspended stopovers in Tunis following the attack.

AMMAN — As many as nine Palestinians drowned off the coast of Sicily on March 4, UNRWA said in a statement, citing latest reports, on Thursday. 

The nine were amongst 59 Palestinians who were part of a larger group trying to reach Europe from the shores of Libya, according to the UN agency.

“The fact that this group reportedly consisted of Palestine refugees from Syria, as well as from Gaza and Lebanon, is a clear and tragic sign that Palestine refugees are finding life in Syria and beyond increasingly untenable,” UNRWA said.

The Syrian conflict “has overwhelmed” Palestinian refugees, while in Gaza, the effects of the Israeli occupation, blockade and recurring military campaigns have devastated not refugee homes, lives and income, according to the agency. 

Moreover, the strain of Lebanon's refugee load has pushed Palestine refugees into “destitution and desperation”.   

These tragedies involving men, women and children drowning at sea stem not only from armed conflict, occupation and a lack of protection of human rights, but more fundamentally from the failure to resolve the Palestine refugee problem, UNRWA said. 

“At a time of rising extremism in the Middle East region, the failure of the international community to resolve the Palestinian issue takes on an added significance,” it added.

The international community has, through UNRWA, supported the resilience of Palestine refugees throughout the region since 1950.  

The UN agency appealed for an urgent increase “in this indispensable assistance,” calling for full compliance with obligations under international law and the protection of those fleeing conflict. 

It stressed “the ever-more urgent need” for political solutions to the Palestinian-Israeli and Syrian conflicts “so that Palestine refugees can again build for a dignified and secure future”.

LAUSANNE — US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Iranian counterpart Thursday hailed "progress" in marathon nuclear talks but Washington denied a draft deal was already being circulated.

A European negotiator said meanwhile that Iran and six major powers — the US, China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany — remained "pretty far from a deal" ahead of a March 31 deadline to agree the outlines of an agreement.

"We're pushing some tough issues, but we made progress," Kerry told reporters in the Swiss city of Lausanne during the week-long talks involving Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

"We are advancing very well but there's still a lot of work to be done," Zarif told Iran's state news agency IRNA.

But US officials denied as "erroneous" press reports Thursday that a draft document was already being worked on.

Iran's deputy foreign minister Abbas Araqchi also seemed to reject the reports, telling Iranian state television that "for the time being, there is no deal”.

"The Iranians go back, go forward, it changes every day," the European diplomat said. "There is nothing agreed in any format."

Stand-off 

The mooted agreement, due to be finalised by July, is aimed at convincing the world after a stand-off now in its 13th year that Iran won't build nuclear weapons under the guise of its civilian programme.

The highly complex deal would likely involve Iran reducing in scope its nuclear activities, allowing ultra-tight inspections, exporting nuclear material and limiting development of new nuclear machinery.

In exchange Iran would be granted staggered relief from the mountain of painful sanctions that have strangled its oil exports and hammered its economy.

Tehran, which denies wanting nuclear weapons, also wants to expand its activities in order to fuel nuclear power stations and meet its energy needs.

No breakthrough this week 

The European diplomat said he did not expect a breakthrough by Friday, the tentative scheduled end of this round talks, meaning that negotiators will likely have to return next week.

Araqchi also hinted that could happen, saying Tehran was "prepared to prolong the negotiations if necessary”.

Zarif meanwhile said Wednesday that the arrival of other foreign ministers — which might suggest a deal is at hand — was not expected this week.

"I don't think their presence will be needed in this round," he told state media.

Iran's nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi, also present along with US Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, however indicated late Wednesday that concrete results could be reached this week.

"We still have two days to go," he told reporters.

The European diplomat said Thursday that Iran was demanding that US Security Council resolutions against it be lifted "on day one" of any deal, but that this was unacceptable.

"There is nothing agreed in any format," he said.

On Tuesday the White House said the chances of reaching a deal are 50/50 "at best" with "some of the most difficult issues... yet to be resolved”.

Negotiators missed two deadlines last July and November to clinch a deal despite numerous rounds of talks around the world.

Kerry cannot afford a new extension, however, experts say, with President Barack Obama's Republican opponents teeing up new sanctions legislation that would likely kill the entire process.

The Republicans and Israel's freshly re-elected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — whose country is widely assumed to have nukes itself — fear the agreement will not stop Iran getting the bomb.

"The sooner Obama can bring back an agreement that meets US policy goals, the better," Arms Control Association analyst Kelsey Davenport told AFP.

TRIPOLI — Libya's National Oil Corporation (NOC) is working independently without taking orders from either of the country's rival governments, the Tripoli-based group said on Thursday.

The internationally recognised government said on Tuesday it wanted to route oil exports through an eastern NOC entity under its leadership rather than via Tripoli, which has traditionally handled oil exports.

"The NOC board of directors confirms that NOC's position is neutral and [that it] receives no directives from either the Tripoli — or Bayda-based governments," it said. Bayda is the seat of the recognised government in the east.

"[It] operates in complete independence from both sets of authorities," NOC said. "All revenue proceeds are directly deposited into a Central Bank of Libya designated account."

The two governments and parliaments are allied to armed factions fighting for territory and control of oil facilities.

The eastern-based government has appointed a new head for NOC, while the Tripoli-based rival government has kept the previous NOC head in office, while appointing its own oil minister.

"The NOC must remain an independent institution that operates outside political disputes in order to remain an equal resource for all Libyans," NOC Tripoli said. "NOC shall continue to work from its legally registered headquarters in Tripoli."

The two sides have appointed separate heads for the central bank which has also tried to stay out of the conflict. The bank books oil revenues on accounts abroad used by oil buyers for many years.

TRIPOLI, Libya — A Libyan security official says an air strike, believed to have been carried out by the air force loyal to the country's elected government, has hit the only functioning airport in the capital, Tripoli.

The official says Thursday's strike targeted the Matiga air base, damaging the tarmac. It's the only functioning airport in Tripoli after battles between rival militias last summer destroyed much of the Libyan capital's international airport.

There were no casualties in the air strike. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media.

Libya's political crisis has left the country with two parliaments and two governments, along with rival militaries and militias. The elected government is based in the country's east while Islamist-allied militias control Tripoli.

CAIRO — An Egyptian court Thursday acquitted an interior minister of ousted president Hosni Mubarak of corruption charges, in the last in a string of cases he faced, his lawyer and state media said.

Habib Al Adly was cleared of illegally accumulating around 181 million Egyptian pounds ($25 million/23 million euros) and will be released, his lawyer Mohammed El Gendy said.

The court also lifted an asset freeze on the former minister and members of his family, he added.

"Keeping him in jail for another hour would be illegal," Gendy said of the once-feared interior minister who ran Mubarak's security service with an iron grip.

However, he was convicted of taking advantage of his position and forcing police conscripts to work on his private property.

But Adly has already served the full three-year sentence.

Thursday's verdict is the latest in a series of acquittals for Mubarak-era officials, including the veteran leader himself.

An appeals court last month overturned a suspended five-year sentence slapped on Adly and ex-premier Ahmed Nazif over other corruption charges.

Adly was also cleared of murder charges in a separate retrial with Mubarak in November, for which he had been sentenced to life in prison by a lower court.

Trials of Mubarak and his former officials have been overshadowed by those against Islamist former president Mohamed Morsi and other members of the Muslim Brotherhood, which was branded a "terrorist group" in 2013.

Morsi was ousted earlier that year by then army chief Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, who was subsequently elected as his successor.

RIYADH — Saudi Arabia will no longer issue business visas to Swedes or renew the current visas of Swedish nationals living in the country, a senior Saudi official told The Associated Press on Thursday.

The official said the decision is in response to Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom's recent criticism of Saudi Arabia's record on human and women's rights. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to release the information.

The move appears aimed at pressuring Stockholm to distance itself from Wallstrom's comments. She spoke out during a speech in the Swedish Parliament against the flogging of a Saudi blogger who was convicted of insulting Islam on a liberal blog he founded. She said the royal family had absolute power, making Saudi Arabia a "dictatorship" where "women's rights are violated".

Swedish companies are concerned that the escalation in tensions and the visa ban will hinder their ability to do business in Saudi Arabia, said Andreas Astrom, the communications director at Stockholm's Chamber of Commerce.

"This is going to have a vast negative impact for the companies with interest in the region," he said. "This is not good for Swedish business society and, in the long run, jobs in Sweden."

Sweden's new left-wing government recently declined to renew a defence cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia, which has since recalled its ambassador to Sweden.

Sweden last year exported nearly $1.3 billion worth of goods to Saudi Arabia, making it the 18th most important exporting country for Sweden, according to the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce. Multinational companies like Volvo, H&M and IKEA operate in Saudi Arabia, as do a range of medium-sized businesses.

The United Arab Emirates on Wednesday also recalled its ambassador to Sweden to protest criticism of its neighbour Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE are close allies and members of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, an energy-rich coalition of Arab monarchies. The GCC's Secretary-General Abdullatif Al Zayani on Thursday met with Sweden's Ambassador in Riyadh to formally criticise Wallstrom's remarks as "unacceptable interference in the internal affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia”.

BAGHDAD — A bombing by the Daesh group in the city of Ramadi last week killed 13 Iraqi soldiers, the defence ministry said Thursday, denying reports they died in an air strike.

The March 11 blast completely destroyed a house used by the army in Anbar provincial capital Ramadi, west of Baghdad, and damaged neighbouring homes as well, the ministry said, announcing the results of a probe.

"The bodies of 13 of our heroic martyrs were found lying at various distances from the site of the explosion," it said, without specifying whether this was the final toll or if more might still be missing.

The blast occurred from the bottom up and there was evidence of a tunnel leading to the house, used as the headquarters of an army company, from the direction of Daesh lines, it said.

The ministry rejected reports that the blast was caused by an air strike, saying that neither Iraqi aircraft nor those from a US-led coalition carrying out strikes against Daesh were active in the area at the time.

Daesh launched a series of 23 bombings in Ramadi that day, it said.

Anti-government fighters have held parts of Ramadi for more than 14 months.

The city has seen heavy fighting between security forces and Daesh, which spearheaded a sweeping offensive last June that overran large areas north and west of Baghdad.