Region

TUNIS — Tunisia’s foreign ministry summoned the US charge d’affaires on Friday to denounce “unacceptable” statements by American officials criticising this week’s constitutional referendum and the country’s political development.

The ministry said in a statement that it had called Natasha Franceschi, currently the top official at the US embassy, to its headquarters over recent remarks by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and American ambassadorial nominee Joey Hood.

In the statement, foreign minister Othman Jerandi slammed the “unacceptable interference in internal national affairs” and expressed “amazement” at the US officials’ criticism, which he said did not “at all reflect the reality of the situation in Tunisia”.

A few hours earlier, Jerandi had met with President Kais Saied, who expressed his “rejection of any form of interference in the internal affairs of the country”.

Saied was referring to statements, mainly from US officials, criticising the recent referendum on a new constitution, which was approved Monday by nearly 95 per cent of voters, albeit with a turnout of just 30.5 per cent.

The new constitution grants almost unlimited power to the president, and Saied’s rivals had called for a boycott of the vote.

Blinken on Thursday voiced concerns that the “new constitution could weaken Tunisia’s democracy and erode respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms”.

Noting the low turnout, he added: “An inclusive and transparent reform process is crucial going forward to begin to restore the confidence of the millions of Tunisians who either did not participate in the referendum or opposed the new constitution.”

Hood, meanwhile, told the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee in a hearing on Wednesday that Tunisia had recently “experienced an alarming erosion of democratic norms and fundamental freedoms”.

“President Kais Saied’s actions over the past year to suspend democratic governance and consolidate executive power have raised serious questions,” he added.

The US has been increasingly critical of Saied, who dissolved parliament and seized control of the judiciary and the electoral commission on July 25 last year, arguing the country was ungovernable.

TEHRAN — At least seven people were killed in floods near Tehran on Thursday, most in a landslide that dumped mud four metres deep in a village west of the capital, emergency services said.

The flash flooding near Tehran, in the foothills of the Alborz mountains, comes less than a week after floods in the normally arid south of Iran left 22 people dead.

Footage from the village of Emamzadeh Davoud posted on social media showed a teenager caked in mud clinging to a pole as a roaring spate of debris-filled water rushes past him. A wall is seen collapsing moments later.

The Iranian Red Crescent said six people were confirmed dead in the village and nine were injured, while 14 others were missing.

More than 500 people were evacuated, it said in a statement.

East of the capital, in Damavand, a body was recovered from floodwaters, state news agency IRNA reported.

The head of the Iranian Red Crescent, Pirhossein Kolivand, told state television that heavy rains since Wednesday had caused floods and landslides in Emamzadeh Davoud, a tourist destination just outside Tehran, and that several vehicles were stuck in the mud or had been swept away.

Floods affected a total of 18 provinces across Iran, Kolivand told IRNA, including Isfahan, Yazd and Fars, where 22 people died in flooding on Saturday.

Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi said that parts of Emamzadeh Davoud had been buried under up to four metres of mud.

He said the search for survivors was continuing.

President Ebrahim Raisi ordered the Tehran governor to take measures to prevent further incidents and warn residents of the dangers, his office said.

In 2019, heavy rains in southern Iran killed at least 76 people and caused damage estimated at more than $2 billion.

TUNIS — Tunisia has approved a new constitution granting unchecked powers to the office of President Kais Saied, the electoral board said, after a poorly attended referendum in which voters overwhelmingly backed the document.

Saied's rivals accused the electoral board controlled by Saied of "fraud" and said his referendum, held on Monday, had failed.

On Tuesday evening, electoral commission head Farouk Bouasker told journalists the body "announces the acceptance of the new draft constitution for the Republic of Tunisia", based on preliminary results, with 94.6 per cent of valid ballots voting "yes", on 30.5 per cent turnout.

Monday’s vote came a year to the day after the president sacked the government and suspended parliament in a dramatic blow to the only democracy to have emerged from the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings.

For some Tunisians, his moves sparked fears of a return to autocracy, but they were welcomed by others, fed up with high inflation and unemployment, political corruption and a system they felt had brought few improvements.

There had been little doubt the “yes” campaign would prevail, a forecast reflected in an exit poll by independent polling group Sigma Conseil.

Most of Saied’s rivals called for a boycott, and while turnout was low, it was higher than the single figures many had expected.

“Tunisia has entered a new phase,” Saied told celebrating supporters after polling closed.

“What the Tunisian people did... is a lesson to the world, and a lesson to history on a scale that the lessons of history are measured on,” he said.

But the US State Department said on Tuesday it noted “concerns that the new constitution includes weakened checks and balances that could compromise the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms”.

And Tunisia’s National Salvation Front opposition alliance accused the electoral board of falsifying turnout figures.

NSF head Ahmed Nejib Chebbi said the figures were “inflated and don’t fit with what observers saw on the ground”.

The electoral board “isn’t honest and impartial, and its figures are fraudulent”, he said.

Saied, a 64-year-old law professor, dissolved parliament and seized control of the judiciary and the electoral commission on July 25 last year.

His opponents say the moves aimed to install an autocracy more than a decade after the fall of Zine Al Abidine Ben Ali, but his supporters say they were necessary after years of corruption and political turmoil.

“After 10 years of disappointment and total failure in the management of state and the economy, the Tunisian people wanted to get rid of the old and take a new step — whatever the results are,” said Noureddine Al Rezgui, a bailiff.

A poll of “yes” voters by state television suggested “reforming the country and improving the situation” along with “support for Kais Saied/his project” were their main motivations.

Thirteen per cent cited being “convinced by the new constitution”.

Rights groups have warned the draft gives vast, unchecked powers to the presidency, allows Saied to appoint a government without parliamentary approval and makes him virtually impossible to remove from office.

Said Benarbia, regional director of the International Commission of Jurists, told AFP the new constitution would “give the president almost all powers and dismantle any check on his rule”.

“The process was opaque and illegal, the outcome is illegitimate,” he added.

‘Whatever he wants’ 

Saied has repeatedly threatened his enemies in recent months, issuing video diatribes against unnamed foes he describes as “germs”, “snakes” and “traitors”.

On Monday, he promised to hold to account “all those who have committed crimes against the country”.

Analyst Abdellatif Hannachi said the results meant Saied “can now do whatever he wants without taking anyone else into account”.

“The question now is: What is the future of opposition parties and organisations?”

As well as remaking the political system, Monday’s vote was seen as a gauge of Saied’s personal popularity, almost three years since the political outsider won by a landslide in Tunisia’s first democratic direct presidential election.

The country is now set to hold elections to the neutered parliament in December.

Until then, “Kais Saied will have more powers than a pharaoh, a Middle Ages Caliph or the [Ottoman-era] Bey of Tunis,” said political scientist Hamadi Redissi.

Participation in elections has gradually declined since the 2011 revolution, from just over half in a parliamentary poll months after Ben Ali’s ouster to 32 per cent in 2019.

BAGHDAD — Supporters of powerful Iraqi cleric Moqtada Sadr on Wednesday danced and sang after storming parliament in the capital's high-security Green Zone, in protest at a rival bloc's nomination for prime minister.

Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kadhemi called on the protesters to "immediately withdraw" from the heavily fortified Green Zone, which is home to both government buildings and diplomatic missions.

The protests are the latest challenge for oil-rich Iraq, which remains mired in a political and a socioeconomic crisis despite elevated global energy prices.

Sadr's bloc emerged from elections in October as the biggest parliamentary faction, but was still far short of a majority and, nine months on, deadlock persists over the establishment of a new government.

Police fired barrages of tear gas in a bid to stop the protesters.

But state new agency INA said that protesters had "entered the parliament building", while Iraqi television showed crowds wandering around the building, waving national flags and cheering.

Kadhemi warned in a statement that security forces would ensure "the protection of state institutions and foreign missions, and prevent any harm to security and order".

Pro-Sadr officials went to persuade protesters to leave, an interior ministry official said.

An AFP correspondent in the Green Zone had earlier seen protesters carrying a fellow demonstrator who had been hurt.

Political crisis 

Sadr's bloc won 73 seats in last year's election, making it the largest faction in the 329-seat parliament. But since the vote, talks to form a new government have stalled.

The protesters oppose the candidacy of Mohammed Al Sudani, a former minister and ex-provincial governor, who is the pro-Iran Coordination Framework's pick for premier.

The Coordination Framework draws lawmakers from former premier Nuri Al Maliki’s party and the pro-Iran Fatah Alliance, the political arm of the Shiite-led former paramilitary group Hashed Al Shaabi.

“I am against the corrupt officials who are in power,” said protester Mohamed Ali, a 41-year-old day labourer. “I am against Sudani’s candidacy, because he is corrupt.”

Iraq was plunged deeper into political crisis last month when Sadr’s bloc quit en masse.

Sadr had initially supported the idea of a “majority government” which would have sent his Shiite adversaries from the Coordination Framework into opposition.

The former militia leader then surprised many by compelling his lawmakers to resign, a move seen as seeking to pressure his rivals to fast-track the establishment of a government.

Sixty-four new lawmakers were sworn in later in June, making the pro-Iran bloc the largest in parliament.

Earlier this month, hundreds of thousands of Muslim worshippers loyal to Sadr attended a Friday prayer service in Baghdad, in a display of political might.

The huge turnout came despite scorching heat and the Shiite cleric not being there in person — an indication of his status as a political heavyweight, as well as a key religious authority.

The mercurial cleric’s sermon took aim at rivals from other Shiite factions.

“We are at a difficult... crossroads in the formation of the government, entrusted to some we do not trust,” Sadr said in the speech on July 15, read out by Sheikh Mahmud Al Jayashi.

Some factions have shown they are “not up to the task”, he added.

Sadr’s sermon took particular aim at the Hashed Al Shaabi, which has been integrated into the army, but is seen by many Iraqis as an Iranian proxy.

Hashed supporters last year protested near the Green Zone, demonstrating against what they said was vote “fraud”.

BEIRUT — Grain silos at Beirut’s blast-hit port are at risk of collapsing after a fire this month, Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister said on Wednesday, a week before the explosion’s second anniversary.

“The northern group of silos are now in danger of falling,” Najib Mikati announced in a statement that said the silos still contained thousands of tonnes of wheat and corn.

The warning comes two weeks after a fire erupted in the port’s northern silos due to the fermentation of the remaining grain stocks along with soaring summer temperatures.

The blaze reignited trauma among Lebanese gearing up to mark the anniversary of the devastating explosion that killed more than 200 people and injured more than 6,500 on August 4, 2020.

It was caused by a stockpile of haphazardly stored ammonium nitrate fertiliser catching fire.

Mikati told the army to prepare for the partial collapse of the silos and warned workers, civil defence members and firefighters to keep a safe distance from the site.

Authorities were unable to unload around 3,000 tonnes of wheat and corn stuck in the silos because doing so might accelerate their collapse, the statement said.

The environment and health ministries advised the public to evacuate the port area and use masks in the vicinity of the silos in case they do collapse.

They also warned residents of the area to close their doors and windows for 24 hours.

Once boasting a capacity of more than 100,000 tonnes, an imposing 48-metre  high remnant of the silos has become emblematic of the catastrophic port blast.

The government in April ordered their demolition due to safety concerns, but that move has since been suspended amid objections, including from relatives of blast victims who want the silos preserved as a memorial site.

The Lebanese investigation into the blast has faced systematic and blatant political obstruction from day one.

QARAWAT BANI HASAN, Palestinian Territories — Israeli forces on Tuesday demolished the homes of two Palestinians in the occupied West Bank accused of shooting dead a Jewish settler in April, an army statement said.

The army said it had destroyed the homes in Qarawat Bani Hasan, in the northern West Bank, belonging to Yusef Aasi and Yehya Miri, accused of perpetrating "a deadly shooting attack at the entrance to the city of Ariel, murdering the Israeli security guard Vyacheslav Golev".

Aasi and Miri were arrested a day after the April 29 attack and are being held by Israel.

They have not yet faced trial in Israeli military court, which exercises jurisdiction over offences committed by Palestinians in parts of the West Bank, a territory occupied by Israel since 1967.

"The demolition took place after the petition from the terrorists' families was rejected by the supreme court," the army statement said.

The Israeli forces added that during the demolitions, "hundreds of Palestinians instigated a number of violent riots. The rioters hurled rocks, Molotov cocktails and burning tyres at the soldiers. The forces responded with riot dispersal means".

Golev was killed during a period of surging tensions in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including regular clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces at Jerusalem's flashpoint Al Aqsa Mosque compound at the end of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan.

Human rights activists say Israel's policy of demolishing the homes of suspected attackers amounts to collective punishment, as it can render non-combatants, including children, homeless.

But Israel says the practice is effective in deterring some Palestinians from carrying out attacks.

Roughly 475,000 Jewish settlers now live in the West Bank in communities widely regarded as illegal under international law. Ariel, where Golev was killed, is one of the largest settler communities.

KHARTOUM — Hundreds of protesters rallied on Tuesday against last year's military coup in Sudan and a recent spike in tribal violence which killed more than 100 people, AFP correspondents said.

Sudan's main civilian group, the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC), which was ousted in the coup, had called for mass demonstrations with hashtags urging co-existence and a "unified nation".

In the capital Khartoum, demonstrators were seen carrying the Sudanese flag while chanting "Sudan is a nation for all people!"

Protesters also chanted "No to tribalism and no regionalism!" while others called on the military "to go back to barracks", according to an AFP correspondent.

Senior civilian politicians including Mohamed Al Fekki and ex-minister Khaled Omar Youssef, were seen at the demonstrations.

The two men, key leaders of the FFC, were among civilian officials who have been removed from power since the coup.

Some pro-democracy activists and protesters were opposed to the FFC's participation, saying the rallies should not be overshadowed by partisan motives, AFP correspondents said.

Near-weekly protests and deepening turmoil have rocked Sudan since army chief Abdel Fattah Al Burhan led the coup last October, upending a transition to civilian rule following the 2019 ouster of president Omar Al Bashir.

Sudan has since reeled from a spiralling economic crisis and a broad security breakdown which has seen a spike in ethnic clashes in its far-flung regions.

On July 11, tribal clashes over a land dispute erupted in southern Blue Nile state, leaving at least 105 people dead and 291 wounded.

The clashes between members of the Berti and Hausa ethnic groups have since triggered furious protests in several cities, with Hausa members taking to the streets including in Khartoum to demand justice for comrades who were killed.

On July 4, Burhan pledged to step aside to make way for Sudanese factions to agree on a civilian government, but the FFC dismissed his move as a “ruse”.

BAGHDAD — An Iraqi court has overturned the conviction and 15-year sentence handed to a British pensioner last month for antiquities smuggling, the retiree's lawyer said on Tuesday.

James Fitton had been charged under a 2002 law against "intentionally taking or trying to take out of Iraq an antiquity", the maximum penalty for which under the country's legal code is death by hanging.

The conviction has been "overturned today by the court of cassation and my client will soon be free", lawyer Thaer Saoud told AFP.

The retiree's son-in-law, Sam Tasker, told AFP in a phone call that the family was "very pleased by the decision, but we are still waiting for his release".

Fitton stood trial alongside German national Volker Waldmann, who was acquitted. Both men had pleaded not guilty.

Fitton's lawyer launched the appeal just over a month ago.

According to statements from customs officers and witnesses, Fitton's baggage contained about a dozen stone fragments, pieces of pottery or ceramics.

When the judge in the original trial asked Fitton why he tried to take the artefacts out of Iraq, the retired geologist cited his "hobby" and said he did not mean to do anything illegal.

“I didn’t realise that taking them was against the law,” Fitton had said, adding that some of the ancient sites were open and unguarded.

But the judge in the original trial concluded there was criminal intent and sentenced Fitton to 15 years, rather than death, because of his “advanced age”.

On his Facebook page on Tuesday, Fitton’s lawyer published the judgement that had been handed down by the court of cassation, overturning the original verdict.

It said that the charge against Fitton had been cancelled, and that he would be freed for lack of evidence.

The court also ruled that there had been no “criminal intent” on the Briton’s part, Saoud said.

He added that his client would be released “in the next few days, as soon as the proceedings are completed”.

The Fitton case comes at a time when the war-ravaged country, whose tourism infrastructure is almost non-existent, is tentatively opening to visitors.

Iraq — home to the famed city of Babylon in ancient Mesopotamia — is seeking to safeguard its archaeological heritage amid a rampant market for smuggled artifacts.

The authorities crack down severely on attempts to deal in antiquities illegally.

Much of the country’s ancient cultural heritage has been looted for decades because of the many conflicts it has suffered, particularly after the US-led invasion of 2003 that ousted Saddam Hussein.

The arrival of the Daesh group in 2014 boosted the illegal sale of antiquities as the militants sought to bolster their coffers by smuggling out and selling ancient pieces.