Region

PARIS — The Paris prosecutors' office says three Al Jazeera journalists have been arrested for illegally flying a drone.

It said the three foreign nationals aged 70, 54 and 36 were taken into custody Wednesday afternoon after police spotted the drone flying in the Bois de Boulogne woods in western Paris.

They can be held for a maximum of 24 hours under French law. Flying drones without a license in France is illegal and carries a maximum one-year prison sentence and a €75,000 ($85,000) fine.

The arrests come as unidentified drones flew over the Eiffel Tower and key Paris landmarks five times for a second night running Tuesday night, baffling French authorities. France has ramped up security nationwide after the January terror attacks in Paris that left 20 people dead.

DUBAI — Yemeni ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh is suspected of corruptly amassing as much as $60 billion, equivalent to Yemen's annual GDP, during his long rule, and colluding in a militia takeover last year, UN-appointed investigators have told the Security Council.

The report by the world body's panel of experts on Yemen echoes criticism by his opponents that Saleh's rule from 1978 to 2012 was marred by graft, and that even out of office he is fomenting instability — allegations he has consistently denied.

Presented with the experts' 54-page findings, the Security Council voted unanimously on Tuesday to extend sanctions on Saleh and two top militia leaders, first targeted by the world body in November for their alleged role in destabilising the country.

Repeated calls to a spokesman for Saleh were not immediately returned.

In an interview with Reuters last year, Saleh denied any corruption during his tenure.

His party has also rejected allegations by Saleh’s critics that he or his son Ahmad Ali, once one of Yemen’s top military commanders, had had a hand in the fall of the capital Sanaa.

“[Saleh] is alleged to have amassed assets between $32 billion and $60 billion... partly from his corrupt practices as president of Yemen, particularly relating to gas and oil contracts where he reportedly asked for money in exchange for granting companies exclusive rights to prospect for gas and oil,” write the experts, who monitor violations of UN sanctions on Yemen.

Most of this wealth was believed to have been transferred abroad under false names or the names of others holding the assets on his behalf, the report said. It took the form of property, cash, shares, gold and other valuable commodities, and was believed to spread across at least 20 countries.

Saleh was ousted in the wake of the 2011 Arab Spring protests, after 33 years at the head of one of the Arab world’s most fractious and — despite modest energy reserves — impoverished countries.

Saleh has remained a power-broker, and frequently criticised his successor, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, in the months running up to the invasion of Sanaa in September by a Shiite Muslim rebel group that eventually swept Hadi from power and opened up a political vacuum.

Describing the Houthis’ armed surge into the capital in September, the UN experts cited “the loyalty of large parts of the army to elements of the old regime, in particular Ahmad Ali Saleh and former president Saleh, who colluded with the Houthis in what resulted in a coup d’état”.

CAIRO — Egypt’s highest court said Wednesday it will determine next week whether the laws regulating the country’s parliamentary elections are constitutional — a decision that could further delay the vote scheduled for next month.

The elections are the last phase in Egypt’s transitional plan, which was put into effect following the July 2013 military ouster of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi after mass protests against him.

Egypt has been without a parliament since 2012, when a court ordered the first democratically elected house dissolved, saying the law governing the balloting was unconstitutional and violated the principle of equality among candidates. At the time, dissolving the parliament was the first blow to Morsi’s Islamists, the Muslim Brotherhood group that dominated the lower house.

The 2015 elections have already been mired in controversy. The Brotherhood has been declared a terrorist organisation following Morsi’s ouster and is not taking part in the vote. Islamists in general have been reeling under a security crackdown with most of their leaders and many supporters behind bars.

WASHINGTON — US President Barack Obama on Tuesday nominated America's first ambassador to Somalia since 1991, when ties soured as rival warlords took over the African nation.

Katherine Dhanani, a long-time diplomat with deep experience of African affairs, will have to be confirmed by the Senate for the role in Somalia, where extremists have targeted government officials in a bloody campaign.

The State Department welcomed the move as "historic" and said it "signals the deepening relationship" between the two countries after they launched a new era of diplomatic relations in 2013.

If confirmed, Dhanani will lead the US mission to Somalia, which is currently based at the US embassy in Nairobi, said State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki.

"As security conditions permit, we look forward to increasing our diplomatic presence in Somalia and eventually reopening the US embassy in Mogadishu."

The darkest chapter in US-Somali ties came in 1993 when Americans were anguished by scenes of the bodies of US soldiers being dragged through the streets of Mogadishu by a mob after Somali militants shot down two Black Hawk helicopters.

Eighteen Americans died and 80 were wounded.

The Somali government that finally took power in August 2012 was the first to be given global recognition since the hardline regime fell in 1991, and billions of dollars in foreign aid have since poured in to help rebuild the Horn of Africa country.

The US recognised the new government in January 2013.

RIYADH — An anti-terrorism conference in Saudi Arabia attended by Muslim clerics from around the world has ended with leaders calling for reform in religious studies to promote moderation and tolerance.

The final communique from the conference, titled "Islam and the Fight against Terrorism", also called for "comprehensive reform" in the way Islamic law is practiced and said that while no religion is responsible for terrorism, Muslim extremists had distorted the image of Islam.

The statement echoed the opening remarks at the conference of the grand sheikh of Egypt's Al Azhar, Sunni Islam's respected seat of learning. Sheikh Ahmed Al Tayeb called for educational reform to correct a historical misreading of the Koran and the life of the Prophet Mohammad.

The three-day conference held in Mecca ended Wednesday.

LONDON — World leaders have proved "shameful and ineffective" in failing to protect civilians from groups like Daesh, Amnesty International said Wednesday, calling 2014 a "catastrophic" year.

In its 415-page annual report detailing abuses in 160 countries, the group accused governments of "pretending the protection of civilians is beyond their power”.

It said millions of civilians had been killed from Syria to Ukraine, Gaza to Nigeria, while the number of displaced people around the world exceeded 50 million last year for the first time since the end of World War II.

"2014 was a catastrophic year for millions caught up in violence," said Amnesty's secretary general, Shalil Shetty.

"The global response to conflict and abuses by states and armed groups has been shameful and ineffective.

"As people suffered an escalation in barbarous attacks and repression, the international community has been found wanting."

It warned that the situation would get worse this year unless leaders took immediate action.

Amnesty singled out the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for criticism, with Shetty saying it had "miserably failed" to protect civilians.

The five permanent UNSC members — Britain, China, France, Russia and the US — "consistently abused" their veto right to "promote their political self-interest or geopolitical interest above the interest of protecting civilians",
he added.

Amnesty is now urging the five states to give up their right to veto action in cases where genocide and other mass killings are being committed.

This proposal is similar to a push being led by France with the backing of 70 countries, but Amnesty hopes its support will give the idea fresh impetus.

It believes the move would give the UN a better chance to save civilian lives in conflict zones.

Amnesty also urged all states to abide by a treaty regulating the international arms trade which came into force last year, saying this could help stop huge shipments of weapons to countries like Syria and Iraq.

In addition, it called for new restrictions on the use of explosive weapons like mortars and rockets in populated areas.

Syrian refugees failed by EU  

The human rights group, which says it has 7 million campaigners worldwide, sharply criticised the European Union's response to the 4 million Syrian refugees displaced by conflict in the world's worst refugee crisis.

By the end of 2014, only 150,000 Syrian refugees were living in EU states, it said, while 3,400 refugees and migrants had died in the Mediterranean Sea trying to make their way to Europe.

"The response of the EU and its member states was, with few exceptions, driven above all by the desire to keep them out," the report said.

Shetty added that the European response to the problem was "actually pushing people into the water of the Mediterranean".

The report said only 2 per cent of refugees from Syria had been resettled by the end of last year, and called for this figure to at least triple this year.

Overall, armed groups like Daesh, Boko Haram and Al Shabab were found to have committed abuses in 35 countries last year, Amnesty said — over one in five of those investigated for the report.

Across the border from Syria in Iraq, Amnesty said there was a "marked deterioration in human rights" across the board, as fighting against the IS group intensified.

"IS [Daesh] fighters committed widespread war crimes, including ethnic cleansing of religious and ethnic minorities through a campaign of mass killings of men and abduction and sexual and other abuse of women and girls," the report said.

"Government forces carried out indiscriminate bombing and shelling in IS-controlled areas, and government-backed Shi'a [Shiite] militias abducted and executed scores of Sunni men in areas under government control."

BENGHAZI, Libya — The president of Libya's elected parliament has proposed the appointment of General Khalifa Haftar, who leads his own troops, as commander of the army loyal to the government based in the east of the country, the parliament spokesman said on Wednesday.

The decision shows the increasing influence of military figures in the official government and parliament, which has been forced to operate from eastern Libya since an armed group called Libya Dawn seized the capital Tripoli in summer.

"Mr Aguila Saleh [parliament's president] has proposed to appoint Haftar," spokesman Farraj Hashem told Reuters. "The House of Representatives supports this."

He said a decree appointing Haftar would still need to be signed by Saleh, who has quasi-presidential powers.

Haftar, an army general, has emerged as would-be strongman in the east, where the internationally recognised prime minister, Abdullah Al Thinni, has been based since losing control of Tripoli.

The appointment also reflects the frustration of government officials, who have been working out of hotels in two eastern cities with little power.

Haftar, who helped Muammar Qadhafi into power before falling out with him in the 80s and joining the 2011 uprising against his rule, has merged his forces with army troops in the east to fight Islamist groups including Libya Dawn.

They operate now as the Libyan National Army, a name the eastern army has adopted.

While there have been calls from some for Haftar, a divisive figure, to try to end the chaos gripping Libya, critics say that promoting him and his once irregular forces is not a good way to to build up a regular army.

The alliance of forces in the east has won back some territory in Benghazi but Haftar has drawn criticism for ordering air strikes on civilian airports and seaports.

He has also expanded his power by bringing his officers into state jobs.

Haftar's endgame is unclear. He has given more than 10 speeches in the past 12 months, declaring anything from the "liberation of Benghazi" to a military council running Libya.

But he also enjoys some support among normal people frustrated with hardships in the east, where the conflict has made petrol, electricity and medicines scarce.

Protesters have demanded that Thinni hand power to a military council headed by Haftar.

Thinni has sought to address critics labelling him as weak. On Tuesday, he accused the United States, Britain and European Union for failing to supply arms to his forces.

In another sign of pro-military figures dominating politics, the eastern parliament suspended this week particpation in a UN-sponsored dialogue, scuppering talks planned for this week in Morocco.

The UN has brought rival factions together since September but little progress has been made in a country dominated by former rebels who help topple Gaddafi but now fight for power.

TEHRAN — With rockets roaring and guns blazing, more than a dozen swarming Iranian speedboats assaulted a replica of a US aircraft carrier Wednesday during large-scale naval drills near the strategically vital entrance of the Persian Gulf.

The nationally televised show of force by the country's elite Revolutionary Guard comes just weeks ahead of a deadline for Iran and world powers to forge a historic deal on the fate of the Islamic Republic's nuclear programme.

Iranian live-fire war games are not uncommon. But by simulating for the first time an attack on the ultimate symbol of American naval power, hardliners hoped to send a message that Iran has no intention of backing down to the US — whichever way talks over its contested nuclear programme go.

"American aircraft carriers are very big ammunition depots housing a lot of missiles, rockets, torpedoes and everything else," the Guard's navy chief, Adm. Ali Fadavi, said on state television. A direct hit by a missile could set off a large secondary explosion, he added.

Fadavi last month boasted that his force is capable of sinking American aircraft carriers in the event of war. He previously called carriers easy targets and said Iran naturally wants to sink them.

The drill, named "Great Prophet 9", was held near the Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of the world's oil passes. Iran's regular army carried out naval drills near the strait in December.

Tensions near the strait have caused oil prices to spike in the past — good news for producers like Iran. But traders seemed to take Wednesday's manoeuvres in stride, with benchmark US crude dipping slightly and continuing to hover below $50 a barrel by mid-morning.

State TV showed footage of missiles fired from the coast and the fast boats striking the ersatz American carrier, which appeared to be a replica seen in a shipyard in the southern port of Bandar Abbas last year. The drills also included Guard forces shooting down a drone and planting undersea mines.

Footage aired Wednesday did not show that the assault had managed to sink the mock-up, but it was heavily damaged.

The Guard's chief commander, Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari, said the drills send a "message of [Iran's] might" to "extraterritorial powers", a reference to the United States.

Commander Kevin Stephens, the spokesman for the US Navy's 5th Fleet in Bahrain, said the Americans were monitoring the drills, which had no effect on maritime traffic. He downplayed the simulated attack on the carrier, saying the US military was "not concerned about this exercise".

"We're quite confident of our naval forces' ability to defend themselves," he said. "It seems they've attempted to destroy the equivalent of a Hollywood movie set."

The US routinely stations at least one aircraft carrier and other warships in and around the Gulf.

It and its allies conduct periodic naval exercises of their own in the region, including ones aimed at countering the threat from undersea mines that could be used to block ship traffic through the strait.

The American aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson is currently deployed in the Gulf, as is the French carrier Charles de Gaulle. Planes from both vessels are carrying out air strikes against the Daesh group, which has seized roughly a third of Iraq and Syria.

Iran backs Syria's government and is supporting Iraq in its fight against the militants, but it is not part of the US-led international coalition against the extremist group.

The drills were not publicly announced in advance, but the Guard has held similar military exercises around this time of year. The last one, in February 2013, featured "suicide drones" that attack enemies kamikaze-style.

The Guard, which has a 200,000-strong force, is different from the regular army and is charged with protecting the ruling system. It also controls the paramilitary Basij militia, for which there are no precise personnel figures available.

Iran put the Guard in charge of defending the country's territorial Gulf waters in 2008 as Iran turned its attention towards beefing up its naval and air defence forces.

Iran is currently negotiating an agreement over its disputed nuclear programme with the United States and five other world powers in exchange for relief from crippling economic sanctions. The two sides hope to reach a framework agreement next month and a final deal in June.

Western nations have long suspected Iran is covertly seeking a nuclear weapons capability — charges Tehran denies.

In a speech Wednesday in the holy city of Qom, moderate President Hassan Rouhani called for all sanctions to be lifted once a final nuclear accord is reached.

"Our opposite negotiating party has to know that the end of these talks and the result of a deal must be lifting of the entire oppressive and illegal sanctions," he said. "In the negotiations, we will not accept any imposition, humiliation or continuation of the sanctions."

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — In his sharpest criticism yet, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says world powers "have given up" on stopping Iran from developing nuclear weapons in ongoing negotiations.

Netanyahu made the comments Wednesday night at a meeting of his Likud Party outside of occupied Jerusalem. They come as Netanyahu plans to address the US Congress on the nuclear negotiations.

The West fears Iran could build an atomic bomb with its nuclear programme. Iran says its programme is for peaceful purposes.

Netanyahu said: "From the agreement that is forming it appears that they [world powers] have given up on that commitment and are accepting that Iran will gradually, within a few years, develop capabilities to produce material for many nuclear weapons. They might accept this but I am not willing to accept this."

BEIRUT — Iranian President Hassan Rouhani visited the holy city of Qom on Wednesday to appeal to its clergy, religious students and laypeople to back his efforts to strike a deal with major powers over the country's disputed nuclear programme.

Iran is in the middle of sensitive negotiations with the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany about its nuclear programme. The major powers suspect Iran may be trying to build a nuclear weapons capability, a charge Iranian officials have repeatedly denied.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the highest religious and political authority in Iran who is perceived by many as a hardliner, has given reserved support to the negotiations, but he remains distrustful of Western intentions and has expressed doubts that any outcome could be favourable for Iran.

The senior clergy of Qom, a centre of religious authority in the Islamic Republic, has long played a key role in Iranian politics, shaping public opinion and mobilising the population, and some hardline figures among them still need convincing.

Rouhani's speech could be an attempt to tamp down their criticism before the deadline for the outlines of an agreement expires at the end of March. The next round of talks is expected to start on March 2 in Geneva.

Like Khamenei, these critics in Qom of the moderate Rouhani question the motives of the major powers involved. They are also deeply resentful of Western sanctions imposed on Iran over its nuclear programme and accuse the West of fomenting unrest in Iran after disputed presidential elections in 2009.

The sanctions, widely blamed for weakening Iran's currency and shrinking its economy, have shut the country out of the global banking system, battered its trade and lost it billions of dollars in oil revenue.

"In the negotiations, we will not accept imposition, humiliation and the continuation of sanctions," Rouhani said, according to Fars News.

"Like all of the days of the history of this revolution, the government desires the support of the people and especially the support of the people of Qom, the seminary and the senior clerics."

But Rouhani also said there would be no tolerance of those who try to impair the government's efforts.

"We will always respect critics and we tell them, just like supporters, that they have received government protection and will continue to do so," Rouhani said. "But subversion has no place in this country."

While Rouhani did not elaborate, he appeared to be referring to hardline critics of the nuclear talks who have repeatedly expressed doubts that Rouhani's negotiators can strike a deal with Western powers that is acceptable to Tehran.

Last month Rouhani accused such critics of in effect 'cheering on' the other side in Tehran's talks with world powers.