Region

ABU DHABI — Sheikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan was elected as president on Saturday, official media said, a day after the death of former leader Sheikh Khalifa.

The 61-year-old was unanimously elected by the Federal Supreme Council, WAM news agency said, becoming the ruler of the oil-rich country founded by his father in 1971.

Sheikh Mohammad met members of the Federal Supreme Council, made up of rulers of the UAE's seven emirates, as the country enters a period of mourning for his half-brother Sheikh Khalifa.

Under Sheikh Mohammad’s direction, the United Arab Emirates has put a man into space, sent a probe to Mars and opened its first nuclear reactor, while using its oil-funded clout to develop a more assertive foreign policy.

Closely allied with Saudi Arabia, it has emerged as a leader of a reshaped Middle East since the retreat of traditional Arab powers and the reduced involvement of the United States, forging ties with Israel and joining a war against Iran-backed militants in Yemen.

Russian President Vladimir Putin was quick to offer his congratulations, saying his election would “help reinforce the friendly relations” between the two countries.

Sheikh Mohammad, wearing a light grey kandura or robe, was a pall-bearer at the funeral prayers for Sheikh Khalifa who was laid to rest in Abu Dhabi’s Al Bateen Cemetery just hours after his death was announced, in accordance with Muslim tradition.

Flags are at half-mast around the UAE and businesses and government offices are closed for three days as the country enters a 40-day period of mourning for Sheikh Khalifa, who had ruled since 2004.

Sheikh Khalifa’s death drew condolences from world leaders, including US President Joe Biden, Britain’s Queen Elizabeth, Israel’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Iran, demonstrating the UAE’s diverse allegiances.

France’s President Emmanuel Macron is to travel to Abu Dhabi on Sunday to pay tribute to the late Emirati leader and show support for the new president, his office announced. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi is also headed to the UAE, along with Sudan’s de facto leader Abdel Fattah Al Burhan.

Neighbouring Saudi Arabia has put sports and entertainments on hold and several countries have announced periods of mourning.

Sheikh Mohammad, who was named crown prince of Abu Dhabi in November 2004, is the third son of Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahayan,  the revered founder of the UAE.

He has been serving as deputy commander of the armed forces and chairman of the Executive Council of Abu Dhabi, which controls the substantial finances of the emirate which sits on 90 per cent of the country’s oil production.

The UAE has gone from desert outpost to booming state in its short history, fuelled by its oil wealth and Dubai’s rise as a trading and financial centre.

NAJAF, Iraq — Iraqi authorities have exhumed the remains of 15 people from a mass grave believed to hold dozens more likely killed under dictator Saddam Hussein, an official said on Saturday.

The mass grave was first discovered in April near the southern city of Najaf, during work to build a residential compound.

It is believed to date back to the 1990s, when Saddam unleashed a deadly campaign against members of the majority Shiite Muslim community in southern Iraq that left nearly 100,000 dead.

“There could be 100 victims in this grave. It is an estimation, the number could be higher due to the large size of the area,” said Abdul Ilah Al Naeli, who heads a government foundation tasked with finding mass graves and identifying the remains.

Calling the burial “the scene of the crime”, Naeli said the mass grave dates back to the “1991 popular [Shiite] uprising” against Saddam.

An AFP correspondent saw skulls and other human remains near the construction site where cement buildings have been erected.

According to Iraqi authorities, Saddam’s regime forcibly disappeared more than one million people — including from the Kurdish minority — in the 1980s and 1990s, and many of their families are still trying to ascertain what happened to them.

Iraq pays tribute to the missing on May 16, which is known in the war-wracked country as the National Day of Mass Graves.

Saddam was toppled in the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 and executed in December 2006 after being convicted by an Iraqi court of crimes against humanity.

The oil-rich country has been hit by waves of conflict in subsequent decades, culminating in the fight against the Daesh extremist group, which ended in 2017.

Daesh alone left behind an estimated 200 mass graves that could hold up to 12,000 bodies, the United Nations has said.

Authorities in Iraq are frequently announcing the discovery of mass graves, the latest in March when the remains of 85 Daesh extremists and their relatives were exhumed in the northern city of Mosul.

MOGADISHU — Police in Somalia on Saturday announced a curfew in the capital Mogadishu, citing security concerns as they barred all public activity except emergency services until Sunday’s long-overdue presidential election is completed.

Dozens of candidates are competing for the top job in the troubled Horn of Africa nation as it battles an Islamist insurgency and the threat of famine, with the vote already well over a year behind schedule.

“Restrictions will be imposed on the movement of vehicular, people and motorbikes starting from 14th of May 2022 about 09:00PM in the evening,” police spokesman Abdifatah Adan Hassan told a press conference in Mogadishu.

“Restrictions will be removed in the morning of 16th of May 2022 after the election,” he added.

The vote is expected to draw a line under a political crisis that erupted in February 2021, when President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed’s term ended without a new election.

Somalia’s international partners have long warned that the delays — caused by political infighting — were a dangerous distraction from the fight against Al Shabaab extremists.

The Al Qaeda-linked militants controlled Mogadishu until 2011 when they were pushed out by an African Union force, but still hold territory in the countryside and carry out frequent attacks in the capital and beyond.

The African Union force ATMIS will be responsible for securing the election venue inside the heavily guarded Mogadishu airport, the parliamentary committee tasked with organising the poll said on Tuesday.

President Mohamed, better known as Farmajo, is among 39 candidates in the running, along with former presidents Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and Hassan Sheikh Mohamud as well as ex-prime minister Hassan Ali Khaire.

Puntland state president Said Abdullahi Dani and former foreign minister Fawzia Yusuf Adan — the lone female contender — are also vying for the job.

Somalia has not held a one-person, one-vote election in 50 years. Instead, polls follow a complex indirect model, whereby state legislatures and clan delegates pick lawmakers for the national parliament, who in turn choose the president.

The election is likely to take several hours and stretch late into the night, with multiple rounds of voting expected as candidates drop out, narrowing the options until a winner is chosen.

The victor must secure the backing of two-thirds of parliament, which means a minimum of 184 votes.

The contenders have vowed to tackle Somalia’s myriad problems and bring relief to citizens weary of violence by Al Shabaab jihadists, surging inflation and a worsening drought that threatens to drive millions into famine.


ABU DHABI — 
The United Arab Emirates' President Sheikh Khalifa in Zayed Al Nahyan died aged 73 on Friday, state media said, after battling illness for several years.

The president of the oil-rich Gulf state, who was rarely seen in public, is likely to be replaced by his half-brother, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Zayed, who was already seen as the UAE's de facto ruler.

"The ministry of presidential affairs has mourned to the UAE people, Arab and Islamic nations and the world the death of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan," the official WAM news agency tweeted.

The ministry announced 40 days of mourning, with flags at half-mast from Friday and work suspended in the public and private sectors for the first three days.

Sheikh Khalifa took over as the UAE's second president in November 2004, succeeding his father as the 16th ruler of Abu Dhabi, the richest of the federation's seven emirates.

He has rarely been seen in public since 2014, when he had surgery following a stroke, although he has continued to issue rulings.

The cause of death was not immediately released.

The UAE, a former British protectorate that was founded in 1971, has gone from desert outpost to booming state in its short history, fuelled by its oil wealth and Dubai's rise as a trading and financial centre.

The Arab world's second-biggest economy behind Saudi Arabia has also begun to wield growing political influence, filling a space ceded by traditional powers such as Egypt, Iraq and Syria.

The country of some 10 million also joined military campaigns in Libya and Yemen and broke ranks with much of the Arab world to establish ties with Israel in 2020.

Frail figure 

The bearded Sheikh Khalifa had cut a frail figure on his occasional public appearances, while his half-brother hosted world leaders and led diplomatic forays abroad.

"The Emirates has lost its virtuous son and leader of the 'stage of empowerment' and the trustee of its blessed journey," Mohammed Bin Zayed tweeted on Friday.

"His stances, achievements, wisdom, generosity and initiatives are in every corner of the nation... Khalifa Bin Zayed, my brother... may God have mercy on you and grant you access to paradise."

Sheikh Khalifa led the UAE as Dubai emerged as a tourism and trade hub and Abu Dhabi pumped oil as a key OPEC player.

He came to the rescue of Dubai when it was hit by the global financial crisis in 2009, extending a multi-billion-dollar lifeline to the debt-laden emirate.

Dubai's ruler, UAE Vice President Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, said the country was mourning "with hearts filled with sadness".

The US mission to Abu Dhabi called Sheikh Khalifa "a true friend of the United States", while Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani also offered their condolences.


OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — Thousands of people packed Jerusalem's tense Old City on Friday for the burial of veteran Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh, after Israeli forces stormed the start of the funeral procession.

Israel and the Palestinians have traded blame over the fatal shooting of the Palestinian-American on Wednesday during an Israeli raid in the flashpoint city of Jenin in the occupied West Bank.

An Israeli officer was killed during a fresh shootout with Palestinian gunmen near Jenin on Friday.

The Israeli forces said an interim investigation could not determine who fired the bullet that killed Abu Akleh, noting that stray Palestinian gunfire or Israeli sniper fire aimed at militants were both possible causes.

Al Jazeera has said Israel killed her "deliberately" and "in cold blood".

Abu Akleh, a Christian, was a hugely revered Palestinian reporter and her funeral in her native Jerusalem drew massive crowds.

As her body left St. Joseph's hospital in Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem, Israeli police stormed the crowds who were hoisting Palestinian flags.

Israel forbids public displays of Palestinian flags and routinely intervenes against those who parade them at demonstrations or protests.

TV images showed Abu Akleh's coffin nearly falling to the ground as Israeli police grabbed the flags from the crowd around the procession outside the hospital.

Police said they had warned the crowd to stop "nationalistic" songs and were forced to act as "violent rioters [were] trying to disrupt the proper course of the funeral".

Prominent Palestinian figure Hanan Ashrawi said the raid on pallbearers showed Israel's "inhumanity".

Abu Akleh's body was then transferred by vehicle to Jerusalem's Old City where, after a short church service, it moved towards the cemetery.

Thousands of Palestinian mourners attempted to follow the coffin towards the cemetery just outside the walled Old City.

Police briefly attempted to prevent the crowd from passing through the iconic Jaffa gate, but ultimately relented, allowing thousands to stream towards the graveside, and did not intervene as Palestinian flags were waved during the march, AFP reporters said.

There was a tense calm in the city as crowds dispersed following Abu Akleh's burial.

'Sister of all Palestinians' 

Roads were closed along the route of the procession as Israel bolstered security to "ensure the funeral takes place safely and without violence that could endanger participants or others", an Israeli forces spokeswoman said.

In a sign of Abu Akleh's prominence, she was given what was described as a full state memorial on Thursday at Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas's compound in Ramallah before being transferred to Jerusalem.

"Her voice entered every home, and her loss is a wound in our hearts," said mourner Hadil Hamdan.

The United States, European Union and United Nations have backed calls for a full investigation into Abu Akleh's killing.

Israel has publicly called for a joint probe and stressed the need for Palestinian authorities to hand over the fatal bullet for forensic examination, but the Palestinian Authority has rejected holding a joint probe with Israel.

PA official Hussein Al Sheikh said the Palestinian "investigation would be completed independently".

Grief over her killing spilled beyond the Palestinian territories, with protests erupting in Turkey, Sudan and elsewhere.

She "was the sister of all Palestinians," her brother Antoun Abu Akleh told AFP.

Fresh violence 

Fresh violence erupted on Friday in the West Bank, including a raid and clashes around the Jenin refugee camp.

The Israeli officer killed was identified as Noam Raz, a 47 year old father of six. Police said he was wounded "during a shootout with armed terrorists", and later died.

The Palestinian health ministry said 13 Palestinians were wounded in the clashes, one of them seriously.

An AFP photographer said Israeli forces had surrounded the home of a suspect, besieging two men inside and firing anti-tank grenades at the house in an effort to flush them out.

In a separate incident near Ramallah, soldiers "identified a suspect throwing a brick at an Israeli car and trying to open its doors near Beit El" settlement, the army said, adding that soldiers shot and wounded him.

Tensions were already running high after a wave of anti-Israeli attacks that have killed at least 18 people since March 22, including an Arab-Israeli police officer and two Ukrainians.

A total of 31 Palestinians and three Israeli Arabs have died during the same period, according to an AFP tally, among them perpetrators of attacks and those killed by Israeli security forces in West Bank operations.

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — Israel advanced plans on Thursday for 4,427 settler units for Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank, an Israeli non-governmental organisation said.

The Civil Administration's high planning committee gave final approval to 2,791 units and initial endorsement for another 1,636 units, said Peace Now, an organisation that closely monitors Israeli settlement building.

"This is bad news for Israel and deepens the occupation, making it harder to achieve future peace," Hagit Ofran of Peace Now said.

The report of further expansion comes amid heightened tensions in the West Bank, one day after veteran Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was shot dead during an Israeli forces raid in the Jenin refugee camp.

The United States has said it "strongly" opposes such construction in the West Bank.

Israel seized the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan in 1967.

Since then, nearly 700,000 Israelis have moved into settlements that most of the international community regard as illegal.

Last week, US State Department deputy spokeswoman Jalina Porter referred to Thursday's planning meeting, stressing that "Israel's programme of expanding settlements deeply damages the prospect for a two-state solution" to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 

On Thursday, Jordanian foreign ministry spokesman Haitham Abul Foul blasted the new plans as a "flagrant violation" of international law.

"Israel's unilateral practices... such as building and expanding settlements, confiscating land and displacing Palestinians are illegal, illegitimate, rejected and deplored," Abul Foul added.

The housing plans are scattered throughout a large swathe of the West Bank known as Area C, where Israel exercises military and planning control.

Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem has continued under every Israeli government since 1967.

However, construction accelerated in the last few years under former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with a significant boom during US former president Donald Trump’s administration, which Palestinians accused of egregious pro-Israel bias. 

While Netanyahu’s successor Naftali Bennett leads an ideologically diverse coalition, he is the former head of a settler lobby group and opposes Palestinian statehood.

“It’s disappointing that this government that promised change is following similar policies to the government of Netanyahu,” said Ofran.

Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked, a member of Bennett’s right-wing Yamina party, said the news Thursday was a “day of celebration for the settler movement”.

BEIRUT — The official unemployment rate in crisis-hit Lebanon jumped almost three-fold to reach 29.6 per cent at the start of the year, a joint survey by the UN and the government said Thursday.

"Lebanon's unemployment rate increased from 11.4 per cent in 2018-2019 to 29.6 per cent in January 2022, indicating that almost one third of the active labour force was unemployed in January 2022," it said.

After years of corrupt practices and financial mismanagement, Lebanon's economy collapsed two years ago, stripping the national currency of 95 per cent of its value and sending poverty rates soaring.

The rare survey released by Lebanon's Central Administration of Statistics and the International Labour Organisation, a UN agency, said the informal economy accounted for around 60 per cent of employment.

It said one of the most alarming findings was the huge growth in “underutilised labour” from 16.2 percent in 2018-2019 to 50.1 per cent in January 2022, referring to people available to work more hours than they do.

The issue of unemployment has not featured prominently in the campaigns led by the main parties fielding candidates in Sunday’s parliamentary election.

In its initial rescue deal reached with the government last month, the International Monetary Fund urged Lebanon to reform its bloated public sector, which employs around a quarter of the working population.