Region

WASHINGTON — The United Nations found thousands of weapons recently seized in the Arabian Sea likely came from a single port in Iran, evidence Tehran is exporting arms to Yemen and elsewhere, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.

Yemen has been wracked by civil war since 2014, pitting Iran-backed Houthi rebels against the internationally recognised government.

The UN imposed an arms embargo on the Houthis in 2015.

The United States as well as ally Saudi Arabia, which leads the military coalition backing the Yemeni government, have long accused Iran of supplying the Houthis with weapons, a charge Tehran denies.

Citing a confidential report by a UN Security Council panel of experts on Yemen, the Journal wrote that boats and land transport were used to smuggle weapons made in Russia, China and Iran into Yemen.

The arms included rocket launchers, machine guns and sniper rifles, which had been seized by the US Navy in recent months.

Boats used to transport the weapons had left from the southeastern Iranian port of Jask, the UN report found, based on interviews with the boat crew and data from the onboard navigational instruments, the Journal said.

The rebel group’s deputy information minister denied Iran was smuggling weapons into Yemen, according to the Journal, and Tehran said the weapons were not sold or transported to the country.

In recent months, fighting in Yemen has seen Saudi-led coalition forces carry out air strikes on the rebel-held capital Sanaa.

Riyadh has said its 2015 intervention in Yemen was aimed at preventing an Iranian ally taking power on its doorstep.

The UN estimates Yemen’s war will have directly or indirectly killed 377,000 people by the end of the year.

More than 80 per cent of the population of around 30 million require humanitarian assistance.

KHARTOUM — Security forces fired tear gas Sunday as thousands rallied in Sudan's capital Khartoum and a neighbouring city, witnesses said, keeping up pressure on the military following a coup 11 weeks ago.

The coup, led by army chief General Abdel Fattah Al Burhan on October 25, derailed a power-sharing transition between the military and civilians that had been painstakingly established in the wake of longtime autocrat Omar Al Bashir's ouster in 2019.

Security forces fired tear gas as pro-democracy protesters headed towards the presidential palace, witnesses said, amid roadblocks seeking to prevent people converging there and at army headquarters, the epicentre of mass demonstrations that forced Bashir out.

Protesters also rallied in Omdurman, Khartoum's twin city, as well as northern Khartoum.

"No, no to military rule," the demonstrators chanted as they waved the national flag.

The protests since the coup, one of several power grabs in Sudan's post-independence history, has been met with a crackdown that has killed at least 60 people, according to medics.

Authorities have repeatedly denied using live ammunition in confronting protesters and insist scores of security forces have been wounded during demonstrations that have often "deviated from peacefulness".

Medics decry hospital raids 

Medics in white coats were seen joining Sunday's rallies to protest the security forces' storming of hospitals and medical facilities during previous demonstrations.

The Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors, affiliated with the protest movement, said Saturday that medics will deliver a memorandum to UN officials listing and complaining about "assaults" against such facilities.

Last week, Sudan's civilian prime minister Abdalla Hamdok resigned saying the country was at a "dangerous crossroads threatening its very survival".

He had only taken his position back up on November 21, having originally been ousted along with his government in the October coup.

On Saturday, the United Nations said it would facilitate talks between key Sudanese stakeholders in a bid to resolve the crisis.

But the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC), the civilian alliance which spearheaded the protests against Bashir and became integral to the transition government, said it had not received “any details” about the UN initiative.

On Sunday, the Sudanese Professionals Association — similarly instrumental in the anti-Bashir protests, said it completely “rejected” the UN-facilitated talks.

“The way to resolve the Sudanese crisis begins with the complete overthrow of the putschist military council and the handover of its members to face justice over the killings committed against the defenceless [and] peaceful Sudanese people,” the SPA said in a statement.

Burhan has insisted that the October military takeover “was not a coup” but only meant to “rectify the course of the Sudanese transition”.

The UN Security Council is to meet on Wednesday to discuss the latest developments in Sudan.

KHARTOUM — The United Nations said Saturday it will launch talks to help Sudan find an end to the crisis following a military coup that stalled the transition to civilian rule.

"It is time to end the violence and enter into a constructive process," UN special envoy Volker Perthes said in a statement, announcing talks to bring together "all key civilian and military stakeholders".

Sudan has been shaken by pro-democracy protests and a deadly crackdown by security forces since General Abdel Fattah Al Burhan launched the October 25 military takeover, that dismantled a fragile power-sharing agreement between the military and civilians.

The arrangement was set up following the April 2019 ouster of president Omar Al Bashir, also after months of street protest against his iron-fisted rule.

At least 60 people have been killed since the coup in weeks of protests, according to the Central Committee of Sudan Doctors, which is part of the pro-democracy movement.

"The [democratic] transition has faced major setbacks that have deeply impacted the country since the military coup," Perthes said.

"The subsequent and repeated violence against largely peaceful demonstrators has only served to deepen the mistrust among all political parties in Sudan," he added.

The UN-facilitated talks are aimed at "supporting Sudanese stakeholders in agreeing on a way out of the current political crisis and... a sustainable path forward towards democracy and peace," Perthes said.

It was not immediately clear when the talks would begin, but Perthes said he was "deeply concerned that the current political impasse may slide the country further into instability", the statement read.

"Armed movements, political parties, civil society, women's groups, and resistance committees will be invited to participate in the UN-facilitated political process," Perthes added.

The UN Security Council is due to hold an informal session on Wednesday to discuss the latest developments in Sudan.

Last week, Sudan’s civilian prime minister Abdallah Hamdok resigned leaving the military in full control of the country.

Hamdok had been held under house arrest for weeks following the coup, before being reinstated in a November 21 deal after international pressure.

But the pro-democracy protest movement denounced the deal as a “betrayal”, saying it provided Burhan with a cloak of legitimacy.

Announcing his resignation last Sunday, Hamdok said Sudan was at a “dangerous crossroads threatening its very survival”.

RIYADH — A Saudi-led military coalition on Saturday accused Yemeni rebels and their Iranian backers of using two Red Sea ports for military purposes, after the Houthis seized an Emirati-flagged vessel.

They captured the Rwabee ship on Monday, off the key rebel-held Red Sea port of Hodeida, alleging it contained military materiel.

Saudi Arabia condemned what it called piracy against a civilian vessel that carried medical supplies.

The coalition has been fighting for nearly seven years in support of Yemen’s internationally-backed government against the Iran-backed Houthis. The alliance has lately stepped up its accusations against the rebels and Iran, alongside an escalation in fighting.

In late December the coalition accused the Houthis of “militarising” the airport in the rebel-held capital Sanaa.

Iran has repeatedly denied US and Saudi accusations that it arms the rebels.

The seized ship is being detained in the Houthi-held port of Salif, north of Hodeida — both of which are crucial entry points for aid supplies to Yemen’s largely rebel-held north, including Sanaa.

“Hodeida is the main port of arrival for Iranian ballistic missiles,” coalition spokesman Turki Al Malki told a news conference.

The coalition has enforced an air and sea blockade of rebel-held territory since 2016.

Showing images that he said demonstrated rebel military activity in the Red Sea, Malki said the vessel’s seizure was organised from Hodeida port and that Salif was used for the “manufacture” of military material.

On Tuesday, the coalition said Yemen’s rebel-held ports would be considered “legitimate military targets” unless the vessel was freed.

The Houthis on Saturday broadcast images on their Al Masirah television channel that they said were taken on the seized vessel showing “armoured vehicles”, “buses for soldiers” and other equipment.

Early in the Yemen war, in August 2016, the UN aid chief said coalition air strikes on Hodeida Port contravened international humanitarian law. The United States and the European Union at the time expressed concern over the bombing, which Washington said hit “critical infrastructure” at the port.

In 2018 the warring sides agreed on a ceasefire at Hodeida, supported by a United Nations mission with the aim of de-militarising the ports including Hodeida and Salif.

The Houthis, who belong to a minority sect of Islam, fought six wars against Yemen’s government from 2004 to 2010.

Millions have been displaced by the current conflict, which has created one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

KUT, Iraq — Gunmen in Iraq on Saturday shot and wounded two protesters who disrupted an anniversary commemoration of the death of Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani, a security source said.

Soleimani, who headed the Quds Force, the foreign operations arm of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, was killed on January 3, 2020 in a US drone strike in the Iraqi capital Baghdad.

He was killed along with his Iraqi lieutenant, Abu Mahdi Al Muhandis, deputy leader of the pro-Iran Hashed Al Shaabi, a coalition of former paramilitary groups now integrated into the Iraqi state security apparatus.

Tehran and its Middle East allies have in recent days held a series of emotional commemorations to mark the second anniversary of the assassinations.

According to the security source, speaking on condition of anonymity, some “150 to 200 demonstrators” stormed the ceremony in the Iraqi city of Kut, some 160 kilometres southeast of Baghdad.

The protesters tried to “prevent” the commemoration, moving in just before it was due to begin and tearing down portraits of Soleimani and Muhandis, he said.

“Members of an armed faction opened fire and wounded two demonstrators,” the source said, without giving further details.

Sajjad Salem, an independent member of parliament linked to an anti-government protest movement that began in October 2019, posted a video on Facebook showing armed men in a square, with gunshots ringing out.

Salem said the video showed shots being fired by members of the Asaib Ahl Al Haq force, a key component of the Hashed.

The commemoration was suspended and security forces have deployed heavily though Kut, an AFP reporter said.

Detractors of the Hashed accuse it of acting on behalf of Iran, which wields considerable cross-border influence in Iraq, and accuse it of crushing the protests that began in 2019.

In recent days, the US-led coalition fighting Daesh in Iraq has come under fire, including from rockets, but with no reported casualties.

Washington has blamed those attacks on “Iran-backed groups”.

The US said at the time that Soleimani was planning imminent action against US personnel in Iraq, a country long torn between the competing demands of its principal allies Washington and Tehran.

BEIRUT — Pro-Iran militia fighters fired shells towards a US base in eastern Syria's Al-Omar oil field on Wednesday, causing damage but no casualties, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The development came one day after the US-led coalition fighting the Daesh terror group in Syria said they had foiled a rocket attack on a US base called "Green Village" in the eastern Deir Ezzor region.

Wednesday's attack, also in Deir Ezzor, saw at least three shells land in Al-Omar, according to the observatory, which relies on a network of sources inside Syria.

One fell on a helicopter landing pad, while the two others hit an open area, the observatory said.

The war monitor blamed the attack on pro-Iran militia groups that are active in the Deir Ezzor region which borders Iraq.

It said coalition forces retaliated by striking the source of the artillery fire outside the eastern town of Al Mayadeen which is a hub for Tehran and its Syria proxies.

There were no immediate reports of casualties.

The attacks targeting US installations came as Tehran and its allies across the Middle East held emotional commemorations marking the second anniversary on Monday of the assassination of Iranian commander General Qassem Soleimani and his Iraqi lieutenant in a US drone strike at Baghdad airport.

On Tuesday, US-led coalition forces shot down two armed drones targeting an air base in western Iraq, according to a coalition official.

On Monday, the coalition shot down two armed drones targeting its compound at Baghdad airport.

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — Hisham Abu Hawash, a 40-year-old member of the Islamic Jihad, began refusing food in August to protest Israel holding him without charges or trial.

The married father of five from Dura, in the south of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, is being held under administrative detention — a practice of arresting suspects for renewable six-month terms without allowing them to view the charges or evidence against them.

Under an agreement proposed to Abu Hawash, his detention will not be extended beyond February 26 in return for his ending his fast.

His lawyer, Jawad Boulos, said Abu Hawash accepted the deal.

“He agreed and ended his hunger strike just 10 minutes ago, he had some tea, and everything is okay,” Boulos told AFP late Tuesday.

The International Committee of the Red Cross, whose medical teams visited Abu Hawash over the weekend, said he was in “critical condition” after fasting for some 140 days, warning of “potentially irreversible health consequences and possible tragic loss of life”.

An Israeli security source noted February 26 would be the end of his current six-month detention period, meaning it was not shortened, but at the same time, the deal meant Israel would not renew it.

The deal came after a campaign that drew support from Palestinians, ranging from Fateh that rules the West Bank, to militant factions in Gaza threatening revenge on Israel if Abu Hawash died.

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said the government was following the case and acting on the behalf of Abu Hawash.

Hamas, the militant Islamist movement that rules the Gaza Strip, warned the issue was a “red line” for Palestinians.

Islamic Jihad, the second largest militant group in Gaza, said it held “the Israeli occupation fully responsible for the deteriorating health” of Abu Hawash, threatening revenge if he died.

Demonstrations in his support were held in recent days in the West Bank and Gaza.

An Israeli security source described Abu Hawash as “an Islamic Jihad operative, who was arrested due to involvement in terror activity”.

Israel says the protocol prevents crimes while authorities continue to gather evidence, though Palestinians say it denies them their rights.

BAGHDAD — Two armed drones targeting an air base in western Iraq were shot down on Tuesday, an official of the US-led coalition fighting the Daesh terror group said.

"Two fixed-wing drones rigged with explosives were engaged and destroyed by defensive capabilities at the Iraqi Al Asad Air Base early this morning," the official said.

"The attempted attack was unsuccessful. All forces are accounted for."

It is the second such attack in 24 hours targeting the coalition in Iraq. On Monday, the coalition shot down two armed drones targeting its compound at Baghdad airport.

The attacks come as Tehran and its allies across the Middle East held emotional commemorations marking the second anniversary on Monday of the assassination of Iranian commander General Qassem Soleimani and his Iraqi lieutenant in a US drone strike at Baghdad airport.

Coalition troops switched to a training and advisory role with the end of their combat mission early last month.

"While we have ended our combat mission, we maintain the inherent right of self-defence," the official said.

"These are attacks against Iraqi installations, and an attack against the Iraqi people and the military that protects them. We maintain a minimal footprint on Iraqi bases, the coalition no longer has its own bases in Iraq."

KHARTOUM — Sudanese security forces fired tear gas Tuesday at anti-coup protesters in Khartoum chanting slogans against the military days after the resignation of the country's civilian premier, witnesses said.

Protesters shouted "No, no to military rule" and called for the disbandment of Sudan's ruling council headed by General Abdel Fattah Al Burhan, who led an October 25 coup that derailed a transition to civilian rule.

Thousands of protesters gathered across Sudan, including in Khartoum and its twin city of Omdurman as well as the eastern city of Port Sudan and the South Darfur capital of Nyala.

Demonstrators in east Khartoum "burnt car tyres and built rock barricades on the streets", witness Sawsan Salah said.

Other protesters urged the military "to go back to the barracks".

Streets leading to the presidential palace and army headquarters were sealed off amid a heavy presence of troops, riot police and paramilitary units, the witnesses said.

Pro-democracy activists have stepped up calls for demonstrations since the October coup which saw then-prime minister Abdalla Hamdok and Cabinet ministers detained.

The coup has triggered mass demonstrations and a bloody crackdown that has left at least 57 people dead and hundreds wounded, according to the independent Doctors' Committee.

At least 13 women have allegedly been raped during the unrest, according to the United Nations.

On November 21, Burhan reinstated Hamdok in an agreement promising elections in mid-2023, but the protest movement slammed the deal as a “betrayal” and has kept up its protests.

Late Sunday, Hamdok announced that he was stepping down, saying he had tried to prevent the country “from sliding toward disaster” but that it was now at a “dangerous crossroads threatening its very survival”.

‘Urgent action’ 

Arab League chief Ahmed Aboul Gheit said Tuesday that he “respects” Hamdok’s decision and called for “urgent action” to resolve the crisis.

UN chief Antonio Guterres “regrets that a political understanding on the way forward is not in place despite the gravity of the situation in Sudan”, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Monday.

Sudan has been navigating a fragile transition towards full civilian rule since the April 2019 ouster of veteran president Omar Al-Bashir following an unprecedented wave of youth-led protests.

Activists online had urged demonstrators to head to the presidential palace in Khartoum “until victory is achieved”, according to the Sudanese Professionals Association, an alliance of independent trade unions that was instrumental in the anti-Bashir protests.

Last month, Burhan issued a decree allowing security forces to arrest individuals “over crimes related to the state of emergency”, effectively banning street protests.

Security forces are allowed to enter and search “any building or individual” and impose “surveillance of any property and facility”.

Since the coup, authorities have often disrupted internet services and communication lines to make it more difficult for activists to organise protests.

BAGHDAD — The US-led coalition against the Daesh terror group in Iraq on Monday shot down two armed drones targeting a compound at Baghdad airport hosting its personnel, a coalition official said.

The incident, which was not claimed by any group, came two years after a US drone strike near the airport killed Iran's revered General Qassem Soleimani and his Iraqi lieutenant.

"Two fixed-wing suicide drones, or improvised cruise missiles, attempted to attack Baghdad Airport this morning at approximately 4:30 am" (0130 GMT)," the official told AFP.

A counter-rocket, artillery and mortar, or C-RAM, system "at the Baghdad Diplomatic Support Centre engaged them and they were shot down without incident," added the source, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The BDSC compound houses "a very small number of coalition troops who are not in a combat role", the source said, describing them as logistical troops, contractors and civilian personnel.

The January 3, 2020 US strike killed Soleimani, who headed the Quds Force, the foreign operations arm of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, and Abu Mahdi Al Muhandis, deputy leader of the Hashed Al Shaabi coalition of armed groups.

Photos obtained by AFP from the coalition official show remains of one of the projectiles from Monday's attempted strike, with the message "commanders' revenge operations" written on it.

"The Iraqis have opened an investigation," the coalition source said.

"There is no damage, but this is a civilian airport, it is very dangerous to launch this type of attack."

The nighttime strike two year ago, ordered by then-US president Donald Trump, hit a car in which Soleimani and Muhandis were travelling on the edge of the airport.

The Hashed, a coalition of former paramilitary groups now integrated into the Iraqi state security apparatus —- held a candle-lit vigil Sunday at the airport for the two men killed.

The US said at the time that Soleimani was planning imminent action against US personnel in Iraq, a country long torn between the competing demands of its principal allies Washington and Tehran.

Five days after his killing, Iran fired missiles at an air base in Iraq housing US troops and another near Arbil in the country’s north.

Since then dozens of rockets and roadside bombs have targeted US security, military and diplomatic sites across Iraq.

Western officials have blamed hard-line pro-Iran factions for the attacks, which have never been claimed.

The Hashed has repeatedly called for the withdrawal of US troops deployed in Iraq as part of the coalition.

The US-led coalition on December 9 declared it had finished its combat mission in Iraq and that its around 2,500 troops would shift to a purely training and advisory role.

Daesh, which established a so-called caliphate across swathes of Syria and Iraq from 2014, was defeated in Iraq in 2017 by national forces and the coalition that has included more than 80 countries.

However, Daesh remnants still carry out attacks against security forces and civilians.