Region

MUSCAT — Two people were killed by a landslide and a child died in flash flooding as Tropical Cyclone Shaheen pummelled Oman, authorities said on Sunday.

Flights were suspended and schools closed as the storm, with wind speeds up to 139 kilometres an hour, was due to cross Oman’s north coast in the evening.

In the capital, Muscat, vehicles were tyre-deep in water and streets were empty.

Gulf neighbour the United Arab Emirates was also on “high alert”, emergency authorities there said.

Rescue teams pulled the bodies of two men from their home after it was hit by a landslip in the Rusayl industrial area of Muscat province, Oman’s National Committee for Emergency Management said.

A child died and another person was reporting missing in flash floods in the same province, it added.

Some flights to and from Muscat International Airport were suspended “to avoid any risks”, the airport said, while the Civil Aviation Authority urged people to avoid low-lying areas and valleys.

Oman declared a two-day national holiday on Sunday and Monday and shuttered schools “due to the adverse climate conditions”, the official Oman News Agency said.

Deadly storms are periodic occurrences in the Gulf.

In May 2018, Cyclone Mekunu hit southern Oman and the Yemeni island of Socotra, killing at least 11 people.

The UAE was also bracing for the possible impact of Cyclone Shaheen, with emergency authorities urging people to avoid beaches and low-lying areas.

“We would like to assure everyone that the concerned authorities are on high alert and prepared to deal with any upcoming tropical situation,” the UAE’s National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority said on Saturday.

All construction work has been halted in Al Ain, bordering Oman, until Tuesday, the Abu Dhabi Media Office said, while children will study at distance on Monday and Tuesday.

TUNIS — More than 5,000 demonstrators held a show of support on Sunday throughout Tunisia for President Kais Saied whose power grab has stirred controversy in the birthplace of the Arab Spring.

With an estimated 3,000 of them rallying in the capital Tunis, the pro-Saied crowd exceeded that which gathered a week earlier to oppose him.

“The people want the dissolution of parliament,” “We are all Kais Saied, we are all Tunisia,” chanted the crowd gathered on Bourguiba Avenue, the main thoroughfare in central Tunis.

On July 25, after months of political stalemate, Saied sacked the prime minister, suspended parliament and granted himself judicial powers, a move he followed up by measures that effectively allow the president to rule by decree.

In the latest detention of a legislator after the immunity of MPs was lifted under the suspension, a deputy and a journalist — whose television programme he appeared in to criticise Saied — were arrested Sunday, their lawyer Samir Ben Omar said.

Saied, elected on an anti-system ticket in late 2019, has said his action seeks to “save” Tunisia from “imminent peril” and a socio-economic crisis aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Security forces were deployed in force Sunday on Bourguiba Avenue, especially in front of the municipal theatre where the demonstration occurred.

The demonstrators flew Tunisian flags and carried banners reading: “The people want a revision of the constitution” and “Saied, official spokesman of the people”.

The previous Sunday a crowd of an estimated 2,000 people rallied, also on Bourguiba Avenue, to protest what critics have branded Saied’s “coup d’etat”.

Some shouted “Get out, get out”, the slogan that started in December 2010 and culminated in the resignation of Tunisia’s dictator Zine Al Abidine Ben Ali in January 2011, triggering Arab Spring protests in several countries.

Ben Omar told AFP that MP Abdellatif Al Alaoui and Zitouna TV presenter Amer Ayad have been arrested on charges of “plotting against state security”.

In the programme, they both criticised the president’s September 29 appointment of Najla Bouden as Tunisia’s first woman prime minister, with Ayad scoffing that she would function only as “servant of the sultan”.

DOHA — Qataris were voting in the emirate's first legislative election on Saturday in a symbolic nod to democracy with eligible voters being only descendants of those who were citizens in 1930.

The vote is for 30 members of the 45-strong Shura Council, a body with limited powers that was previously appointed by the emir as an advisory chamber.

Polls opened at 05:00 GMT and will close at 15:00 GMT with the results expected the same day.

Some 101 candidates, more than one-third of the entire field, had dropped out of the race by Saturday afternoon according to state-run Qatar TV, apparently to support other candidates in their constituencies.

After the withdrawals, there were 183 candidates in contention for the 30 seats with the remaining 15 to be appointed by the emir.

Across the Arabian desert peninsula nation, orderly queues of Qataris in national dress formed inside polling stations, mostly schools and sports halls.

They cast their ballots into semi-transparent plastic boxes emblazoned with the dhow boat, crossed swords and palm tree emblem of Qatar.

Observers say the decision to hold the election, required under the 2004 constitution but repeatedly delayed in the "national interest", comes amid heightened scrutiny as Qatar prepares to host the 2022 World Cup.

"It's a way to show that they are moving in the right direction, that they want to achieve more political participation" before the World Cup, said Luciano Zaccara, an assistant professor in Gulf politics at Qatar University.

The Shura will be allowed to propose legislation, approve the budget and recall ministers. But the emir, all-powerful in the world's largest exporter of liquefied natural gas, will wield a veto.

“It’s a landmark, voting for the first time here — it’s incredible that I get to be part of it. When I was putting my tick, folding it and putting it in the box, I felt like I was part of something bigger,” said Doha voter Sheikha Ateeq Al Khulaifi, 25.

“I’m really excited to see where this goes.”

The streets of Qatar’s towns have been speckled with billboards adorned with beaming candidates sporting national dress.

Beyond single-candidate town hall meetings, posters and TV spots, the country’s electoral exercise has been limited, with no change of government possible and political parties outlawed.

Candidates have uniformly avoided debate about Qatar’s foreign policy or status as a monarchy, instead focussing on social issues including healthcare, education and citizenship rights.

 ‘Deliver our voice’ 

All candidates had to be approved by the powerful interior ministry against a host of criteria, including ancestry, age and character.

Candidates were also required to register official campaign events with the ministry in advance, as well as the names of all speakers as authorities seek to clamp down on possible sectarianism or tribalism.

Just one in ten of the originally confirmed candidates were women.

Most of Qatar’s 2.5 million residents are foreigners, ineligible to vote.

Candidates have to stand in electoral divisions linked to where their family or tribe was based in the 1930s, using data compiled by the then-British authorities.

In Al Khor, a fishing town north of Doha, voters flocked to the polls in one district which has 13 candidates, making it one of the most competitive races in the country.

“There are a large number of candidates... but for me the most important thing in the selection is competence,” said voter Rashid Abdul Latif Al Mohannadi, 37.

Diplomatic sources suggest families and tribes have already conducted internal ballots to determine who will be elected for their constituencies.

“When you don’t have political parties... people sometimes will tend to vote for people they know, or for members of family or members of tribe,” said Courtney Freer, a fellow at Emory College.

Qataris number about 333,000, but only descendants of those who were citizens in 1930 are eligible to vote and stand, disqualifying members of families naturalised since then.

Some members of the sizeable Al Murrah tribe are among those excluded from the electoral process, sparking a fierce debate online and isolated protests.

RABAT — Two rival Libyan factions wound up a meeting in Morocco without any sign of agreement on a disputed electoral law, ahead of polls scheduled for December 24.

They did, however, jointly appeal for international support for the oil-rich North African country's political process following years of unrest.

Representatives of the upper house, based in Tripoli in Libya's west, held two days of talks in Morocco's capital Rabat with the Libyan parliament, whose seat is in the eastern city of Tobruk.

"We call on the international community to support the electoral process in Libya... and to send international observers to guarantee that this important event takes place smoothly," said El Hadi Ali Elsaghir, a member of parliament, at the close on Friday.

Libya saw a decade of war following its NATO-backed 2011 revolt which toppled leader Muammar Qadhafi, leaving the country split between rival administrations backed by foreign powers and myriad militias.

Hopes of stability had followed a United Nations-led peace process and a ceasefire in October last year.

A western-based unity government took office in March with a mandate to prepare for December elections, but negotiations over relevant legislation have raised doubts over the UN-led process and plans for the ballot.

Elsaghir made no mention of agreement with his western colleagues over an electoral law.

Germany and the United States have been among nations seeking to ensure that the December legislative and presidential vote goes ahead.

The United Nations Support Mission in Libya, which attended the Morocco talks, had urged the two delegations “to use this opportunity and live up to their historical responsibilities and move forward with completing the legislative framework for elections”.

Parliamentary speaker Aguila Saleh last month ratified legislation governing the presidential ballot but critics said he bypassed due process to favour his ally, the eastern strongman Khalifa Haftar.

Parliament then passed a no-confidence vote in the unity government of interim Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah.

The upper house based in the capital rejected the vote, saying it violated established procedures, laying bare once more the extent of divisions between the country’s east and west.

In Morocco, however, discussion took place “in conditions of understanding and consensus”, according to Elsaghir.

BAGHDAD — Hundreds of Iraqis took to the streets of Baghdad on Friday to mark the second anniversary of a popular uprising that fizzled out after a bloody crackdown.

Brandishing Iraqi flags and portraits of “martyrs”, they marched to Tahrir Square, an epicentre of the 2019 revolt, surrounded by a large number of riot police, AFP correspondents said.

“When will we see the killers behind bars?” and “No to corrupt parties, no to corrupt politicians,” said placards carried by the demonstrators, who included women dressed in black.

On October 1, 2019, widespread rallies erupted across Baghdad and the south of the country against a government seen as corrupt, inept and beholden to Iran.

Protest-related violence killed nearly 600 people, including some shot dead while walking home from demonstrations.

Saturday’s rallies come just ahead of Iraq’s parliamentary election, brought forward to October 10 in one of the few concessions made by the government to calm the 2019 unrest.

One of those taking part, Ibrahim, said he was doing so “in memory of the martyrs” and “the massacres committed by the government against young pacifists”.

The 20-year-old, who like many Iraqis prefers not to give his full name when discussing politics, said he would not vote.

“The election will reproduce the same corrupt system, and the same corrupt parties. Only the names and faces change,” he said.

In the southern city of Nasiriyah, a hotbed of the 2019 protests where 128 people were killed in related violence, hundreds attended a commemorative rally.

“It’s a historic moment to remember the demonstrations and the confrontation with the forces of corruption, to remember the deaths and the criminal behaviour, and the silence of the government about all of it,” said demonstrator Ali Al Shamkhawi.

The 2019 protests that saw tens of thousands camp out in Baghdad and other cities eventually withered in the face of the crackdown and the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

Dozens of activists have died in targeted killings or been abducted since October 2019, in attacks normally carried out in the dead of night by men on motorbikes.

Nobody has claimed responsibility, but the protesters point the finger at powerful pro-Iranian militias linked to the Iraqi government.

Activists and parties claiming to be part of the uprising are boycotting the election, with observers predicting a record low turnout among the 25 million voters.

A new electoral law increased the number of constituencies and opted for a single-member constituency system supposed to favour independents and community-based candidates.

But experts say the same major political blocs are likely to dominate the next parliament.

On Friday, however, some showed optimism.

“The revolution will spread through the country faster than the coronavirus, and there is no vaccine,” read one placard at the Baghdad rally.

KHARTOUM — Several political factions including ex-rebel groups announced on Saturday the formation of an alliance separate from Sudan’s main civilian bloc, in the latest sign of splits marring the country’s transition.

The announcement at a ceremony in Khartoum came as Sudan reels from fragmentation within the Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC), an alliance which spearheaded protests that ousted president Omar Al Bashir in April 2019.

Sudan has since August 2019 been run by an administration of military generals and civilians from the FFC through a rocky transition marked by economic woes.

Splits have deepened within the FFC in recent months, and support for the transitional government led by Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok has waned in large part due to a raft of tough economic reforms.

Saturday’s ceremony included political parties as well as the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) faction led by Mini Minawi and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) of Gibril Ibrahim.

“We want a united FFC,” Minawi said during the ceremony.

“We urge the people on your side who pretend they are from the FFC to sit with us and listen to us,” he added, addressing both the head of Sudan’s Sovereign Council, Abdel Fattah Al Burhan, and the prime minister.

Hamdok did not attend Saturday’s ceremony.

In early September, he was at the signing ceremony for an alliance of other factions within the FFC that also called for unity, calling it a “step in the right direction”.

Neither Minawi nor Ibrahim took part in that signing.

In October last year, Minawi’s SLM faction and Ibrahim’s JEM were among rebel groups that signed a peace deal with the government to end long-running conflicts under Bashir.

Minawi was named governor of western Sudan’s war-ravaged Darfur region in May, while Ibrahim was appointed finance minister last February.

On September 21, the government announced thwarting a coup attempt by military officers and civilians who it said were linked to Bashir’s regime.

The country has been grappling with protests in east Sudan by key tribes opposed to the October peace deal.

Protests have also erupted in major cities including Khartoum condemning the military coup attempt and calling for civilian rule.

BAGHDAD -- Iraq's top Shiite Muslim cleric on Wednesday urged Iraqis to vote in order to "carry out real change" in next month's parliamentary elections.

The statement from Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani's office came against the backdrop of potentially high rates of abstention in the October 10 ballot, which follows a popular uprising.

Initially expected in 2022, the vote was brought forward in a rare official concession to autumn 2019 protests, when tens of thousands of Iraqis took to the streets to demonstrate against crumbling public services and a government they decried as corrupt and inept.

Hundreds died in months of protest-related violence.

But the ballot has generated little enthusiasm among Iraq's 25 million voters, while the activists and parties behind the uprising have largely decided to boycott the ballot.

"The supreme religious leader encourages everyone to participate consciously and responsibly in the next elections," the statement from Sistani's office said.

Even if the process has shortcomings, "it is the best way to move the country towards a future that one hopes will be better."

One of Shiite Islam's top clerics, Sistani spent years under house arrest during Saddam Hussein's repressive regime. After Saddam's fall in 2003, Sistani threw his support behind elections, was a voice for moderation, and criticised government graft.

In his statement on Wednesday, he asked voters to "benefit from this opportunity to carry out real change in the administration of the state and dismiss the corrupt and incompetent hands from its main cogs".

The statement emphasised that Sistani does not support any candidate and appealed to voters to choose those "who support the sovereignty of Iraq, its security and prosperity."

Political scientist Marsin Alshamary said that in Iraq's last elections, held in 2018, Sistani had said people could choose to vote or not.

"It was up to them. And people interpreted that as you can boycott," Alshamary said.

The 2018 elections saw the entry into parliament for the first time of candidates from the Hashed Al Shaabi, a network of mostly pro-Iran paramilitary groups who helped defeat the Sunni-extremist Daesh group.

The Hashed held the second-largest bloc in Iraq's outgoing parliament and hopes for bigger gains this election.

Analysts are doubtful, however, favouring the movement of firebrand Shiite Muslim cleric Moqtada Sadr, whose Saeroon bloc held 54 seats, the largest in parliament.

MANAMA -- Israel's top diplomat Yair Lapid began a landmark visit on Thursday to Bahrain where he will open the Israeli embassy one year after the US-brokered diplomatic ties.

The Israeli foreign minister touched down at Manama airport over an hour before a Gulf Air A320 took off in the opposite direction for the first commercial flight between the two countries.

Crew members waved the flags of Bahrain and Israel from cockpit windows of the passenger jet when it landed later at Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv.

The Bahrain flight and Israel's first bilateral ministerial visit to the Gulf country are part of a thaw in regional relations after the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Sudan also agreed last year to establish ties with Israel under agreements known as the Abraham Accords.

Lapid met with King Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa, in what Israeli media said was the first public meeting of a Gulf monarch with an Israeli official.

The Israeli top diplomat also met with Crown Prince Sheikh Salman Bin Hamad Al Khalifa and Foreign Minister Abdullatif Al Zayani.

"We talked about the cooperation between our countries and about taking the official peace between us and turning it into an active, economic, security, political and civic friendship," Lapid tweeted following his sit-down with Zayani.

Two-state solution

Zayani and Lapid also held a news conference, during which they signed a number of memorandums of understanding -- ranging from cooperation in environment conservation to sports.

"Your visit builds on the considerable progress we have already made... and underlines once again our shared desire to spread peace, stability, and cooperation across the Middle East and achieve genuine and lasting security and prosperity for its peoples," said Zayani.

Zayani also said Bahrain reaffirmed its commitment to the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Lapid said that he too was "a devoted supporter of the two-state solution" but stressed he was not speaking on behalf of the government.

"I think it's the right solution for the people of Israel and the Palestinians as well. Not everyone in our government thinks the same," he said.

He also said that the opening of embassies "will symbolise diplomatic cooperation between us".

Anger simmers in some quarters over the accords, which broke with decades of Arab consensus that there would be no relations with Israel while the Palestinian question remains unresolved.

Protesters burned tyres on the outskirts of Manama early Thursday, sending clouds of black smoke into the air, and the hashtag #BahrainRejectsZionists in Arabic was circulating on social media.

Extra security was stationed on the route to the airport and no Israeli flags were visible on main roads. Opposition activists have called for further protests later on Thursday.

"The visit of the Israeli FM to Bahrain is an act firmly rejected, condemned and denounced by the people of Bahrain," Sheikh Hussein Al Daih, deputy secretary-general of the opposition Al Wefaq National Islamic Society, told AFP on Wednesday.

'Peaceful diplomacy'

The Arab countries involved in the Abraham Accords have stressed the economic benefits of ties with Israel, with half a billion dollars in trade already reported with the UAE.

The UAE, Bahrain and Morocco became the first Arab states in decades to normalise relations with Israel last year, following negotiations spearheaded by former US president Donald Trump.

Israel had earlier reached peace treaties with neighbouring Egypt and Jordan.

On the first anniversary of the accords this month, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken pledged to continue the efforts of the Trump government.

"This administration will continue to build on the successful efforts of the last administration to keep normalisation marching forward," Blinken said.

"We will encourage more countries to follow the lead of the Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco. We want to widen the circle of peaceful diplomacy."