Region

TEHRAN — Iran’s prisons chief recognised on Tuesday that “unacceptable behaviour” had taken place in the capital’s Evin Prison after videos allegedly obtained by hackers showing violence against detainees were published abroad.

“Regarding the images... I take responsibility for this unacceptable behaviour. I pledge that such distressing incidents will not reoccur, and that those culpable will be treated severely,” Mohammad-Mehdi Hajj-Mohammadi wrote in a Twitter message picked up by Iranian media.

On Sunday, Farsi-language media overseas published what they said were videos sent to them on behalf of a group of hackers calling themselves “Ali’s Justice”.

The footage, showing prison guards beating and mistreating detainees, was reportedly from surveillance cameras at Evin and obtained by hacking into the jail’s computer system.

“I apologise to Almighty God, as well as to our dear guide [supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei], to [our] great nation and to the honourable prison guards whose efforts will not be discredited by these errors,” wrote Hajj-Mohammadi, without saying what steps will be taken.

One image widely shared on social networks shows what is said to be a jail monitoring post, with screens showing the inscription “Cyberattack” and a message calling Evin a “shameful stain” and for “the release of political prisoners”.

ALGIERS — Algeria’s Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra said on Tuesday that his country has severed diplomatic relations with Morocco due to its “hostile actions”.

The move comes afer Algeria last week said it would review its relations with Morocco after accusing it of complicity in deadly forest fires that ravaged the country’s north.

“Algeria has decided to cut diplomatic relations with the Kingdom of Morocco from today,” the minister announced during a press conference.

“History has shown that the Kingdom of Morocco has never stopped carrying out hostile actions against Algeria,” Lamamra added.

The forest fires in Algeria, which broke out on August 9 amid a blistering heatwave, burned tens of thousands of hectares of forest and killed at least 90 people, including more than 30 soldiers.

Algerian authorities have pointed the finger for the fires at the independence movement of the mainly Berber region of Kabylie, which extends along the Mediterranean coast east of the capital Algiers.

The authorities have also accused the Movement for Self-determination of Kabylie (MAK) of involvement in the lynching of a man falsely accused of arson, an incident that sparked outrage.

Algeria last week accused Morocco of supporting the MAK, which it classifies as a “terrorist organisation”.

“The incessant hostile acts carried out by Morocco against Algeria have necessitated the review of relations between the two countries,” a presidency statement said last week.

It also said there would be an “intensification of security controls on the western borders” with Morocco.

The border between Algeria and Morocco has been closed since 1994.

Algeria’s foreign minister on Tuesday also accused Morocco’s leaders of “responsibility for repeated crises” and behaviour that has “led to conflict instead of integration” in North Africa.

Relations between Algiers and Rabat have been fraught in past decades, especially over the flashpoint issue of the disputed Western Sahara.

Morocco considers the former Spanish colony an integral part of its kingdom, but Algeria has backed the Polisario movement which seeks independence there.

Last month, Algeria recalled its ambassador in Morocco for consultations after Morocco’s envoy to the United Nations, Omar Hilale, expressed support for self-determination for the Kabylie region.

At the time, Algeria’s foreign ministry said Morocco thus “publicly and explicitly supports an alleged right to self-determination of the Kabylie people”.

BAGHDAD — After decades of conflict, Iraq will pitch itself as a regional mediator as it hosts a leaders' summit this week — despite foreign influence on its territory and a grinding financial crisis.

The meeting in Baghdad on Saturday seeks to give Iraq a "unifying role" to tackle the crises shaking the region, according to sources close to Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kadhemi.

His Majesty King Abdullah, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi have said they plan to attend, as has French President Emmanuel Macron, the only official expected from outside the region.

Leaders from Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey have also been invited.

Kadhemi came to power in May last year after months of unprecedented mass protests against a ruling class seen as corrupt, inept and subordinate to Tehran.

The new premier had served as the head of Iraq's National Intelligence Service for nearly four years, forming close ties to Tehran, Washington and Riyadh.

His appointment prompted speculation he could serve as a rare mediator among the capitals.

"In the past, under Saddam Hussein, Iraq was a state that was feared and despised in the region and everyone saw it as a threat," said Iraqi political expert Marsin Alshamary.

After the 2003 US-led invasion, it became "a weak state", prone to external influences and meddling.

But Saturday's summit, she said, could be "a positive thing for Iraq".

‘Not just a playground’ 

Renad Mansour of Chatham House said the aim was to transform Iraq from “a country of messengers to a country that is leading negotiations”.

Organisers have been tight-lipped on the meeting’s agenda.

But Baghdad has already hosted closed-door encounters in recent months between Tehran and US ally Riyadh.

The powerful regional arch-rivals had broken off ties in 2016.

If confirmed, the presence of Iranian and Saudi officials this weekend would be notable in itself.

Iraq, for its part, has been caught for years in a delicate balancing act between its two main allies Iran and the United States.

“The ambition is for Iraq to not just be a playground but actually have a role potentially as a mediating force,” Mansour said.

Iran exerts major clout in Iraq through allied armed groups within the Hashed Al Shaabi, a powerful state-sponsored paramilitary network.

Since the 2019 anti-government protests, dozens of activists have been killed or abducted.

Some say the killers are known to the security services and despite government promises of arrests, remain at large, due to their ties to Iran.

Shiite factions operating under the Hashed are also accused of dozens of attacks this year against US interests in Iraq.

Kadhemi is under pressure from pro-Tehran armed factions, who demand the withdrawal of 2,500 US troops still deployed in Iraq.

‘Take back control’ 

Turkey is another regional power with an outsized presence in Iraq.

Ankara regularly targets Iraq’s northwest in operations against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which Turkey considers a terrorist organisation.

The Kurdish separatists, who have waged a decades-long insurgency against Ankara, have bases in the rugged mountains on the Iraqi side of the border.

The Turkish operations, have sometimes killed civilians and have irked Baghdad, but it remains reluctant to alienate a vital trading partner.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been invited to Saturday’s conference, though his attendance has not yet been confirmed.

By convening the summit, Kadhemi is also taking a gamble on the domestic front, less than two months before general elections.

Though he is not facing reelection himself, he will have much at stake.

“There will be another coalition government and the different parties will have to settle on a compromise prime minister,” Alshamary said.

Iraq, long plagued by endemic corruption, poor services, dilapidated infrastructure and unemployment, is facing a deep financial crisis compounded by lower oil prices and the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Iraqis are struggling,” said Mansour, adding that many were facing “the brunt of corruption”.

“It has been the summer of hospital fires and lack of electricity, drought... and more generally a political system that neither responds to the needs of Iraqis nor represents Iraqis,” Mansour said.

But Saturday’s conference is mainly about the country’s standing in the region.

“Iraq wants to take back control of its trajectory,” said one foreign observer on condition of anonymity.

“Above all, it no longer wants to be subjected to the effects of regional tensions on its territory.”

ERBIL, Iraq — Two civilians were killed Sunday in Iraq's northern Kurdistan region by a Turkish army bombardment as forces battled the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) rebels, local officials said.

Turkey regularly targets northwest Iraq in operations against the PKK, which Ankara considers a terrorist organisation.

The Kurdish separatists have waged a decades-long insurgency against Turkey, and maintain bases in the rugged mountains across the border in Iraq.

The latest violence comes six days before a regional summit in Baghdad.

The Iraqi civilians were killed in Iraq's Zakho district, an area bordering Turkey, said local mayor Farhad Mahmoud.

"They had gone to an area where it is advised not to go," Mahmoud said, adding that they were not from the area, but had been visiting from the city of Mosul. "They were caught in a Turkish bombing and died."

PKK fighters said clashes were ongoing on Sunday.

Turkey has installed around a dozen military bases over the past 25 years in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, and it launched a new cross-border offensive in April against the PKK, consisting of both aerial and ground attacks.

Residents of dozens of villages in the area have fled the conflict.

On Tuesday, eight people died in a Turkish airstrike in northern Iraq's Sinjar region.

Repeated Turkish raids have stoked tensions with Baghdad, but President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned that his country will "deal with" the PKK presence if Iraq is unable to do so.

On Wednesday, Iraq’s national security council condemned “unilateral military actions” and rejected “the use of Iraqi land for settling scores”, but did not specifically mention of Turkey.

Ankara is one of Baghdad’s key trading partners, and Erdogan has been invited to next week’s regional summit in Baghdad.

But it is not known if Erdogan will attend, or if Turkish operations in Iraq will be discussed.

BEIRUT — The head of Hizbollah in Lebanon on Sunday promised that deliveries of Iranian fuel would arrive "in the days to come" to help solve the beleaguered country's dire shortages.

For the second time in four days, Hassan Nasrallah said in a televised address that fuel shipments would leave the Islamic republic for Lebanon.

Nasrallah also dismissed as "illusions" a reported US-backed initiative to ease Lebanon's energy crisis.

On Sunday alone, fuel prices soared by up to 70 per cent after yet another subsidy cut, piling more pressure on people struggling to make ends meet.

The cost of hydrocarbons in Lebanon has now roughly tripled in the two months since the central bank started cutting its support for imports.

The latest cut, which is expected to cause knock-on price hikes on other key commodities, adds to the Mediterranean country's economic crisis, one of the world's worst since the 1850s.

Fuel shortages have forced businesses and government offices to close, even threatening blackouts at hospitals.

In his first televised address on Thursday, Nasrallah announced the departure "in the coming hours" of a shipload of fuel for Lebanon in defiance of US sanctions on Iran.

On Sunday, Nasrallah said the first Iranian ship loaded with fuel was "at sea".

"A second ship will set sail in the next few days, and it will be followed by others," he said.

Hizbollah, a close ally of Iran designated as a terrorist group by much of the West, is a major political force in Lebanon but its leaders are under US sanctions.

"We will continue this process as long as Lebanon needs it," Nasrallah said.

"The aim is to help all Lebanese, [not just] Hizbollah supporters or the Shiites."

Questions remain over how Iranian shipments of fuel could reach their destination.

BEIRUT — Lebanese leaders agreed to a short-term compromise to maintain fuel subsidies on Saturday, the presidency and prime minister's office said, in a move set to trigger more price hikes.

Earlier this month, the central bank said it could no longer support fuel imports at a preferential exchange rate, in what many saw as a de facto end to subsidies.

Widespread panic ensued, with distributors scaling back deliveries until new prices were announced and desperate motorists forming long queues outside petrol stations.

At a time when state electricity supply is almost non-existent, fuel oil has also been in short supply to run back-up generators to power homes, businesses and even hospitals.

On Saturday evening, the presidency announced approval of a "request for the Bank of Lebanon to open a temporary account to cover urgent and exceptional subsidies for fuel".

A kitty of up to $225 million would be set aside to subsidise imports of petrol, fuel oil and cooking gas until the end of September, it said.

The decision was taken at a meeting attended by the president, the central bank chief and the caretaker prime minister, as well as the outgoing ministers of finance and energy.

Lebanon’s currency, the Lebanese pound, remains officially pegged at 1,507 to the dollar, but it has lost more than 90 per cent of its value on the black market.

The central bank previously provided fuel importers with dollars at an intermediate exchange rate of 3,900 pounds to the greenback, and fuel prices were fixed by the energy ministry based on this rate.

The Bank of Lebanon would now ensure the ministry could set prices based on an exchange rate of 8,000 pounds to the dollar, the presidency and the prime minister’s office said, signalling a new increase in the price of petrol and fuel oil.

Threat of water shortages 

Lebanese officials have blamed the fuel crisis on hoarding by distributors seeking to sell at higher prices, as well as smuggling to war-torn Syria.

Lebanese economist Nassib Ghobril said the agreement was a “compromise” that sought to allow fuel importers to release more stock and reduce shortages.

“But it will not solve the problem,” the chief economist at the Byblos Bank Group said.

“The solution is to lift subsidies completely. That would lead to the disappearance of these long lines at the gas stations and discourage smuggling,” he said.

In recent days, the army has forced filling stations hoarding petrol to sell it, and security forces have cracked down on smuggling.

Saturday’s decision comes a week after a fuel tank blast killed more than 30 people clamouring for petrol in northern Lebanon.

Lebanon is mired in what the World Bank has described as one of the world’s worst economic crises since the 1850s, and more than three-quarters of the population now live in poverty.

The prime minister’s office said it was also decided Saturday “to pay a month’s salary in two instalments to all public sector workers”, but gave no timeline for disbursement.

The UN children’s agency earlier on Saturday warned power cuts were also impeding access to safe water.

“More than four million people across Lebanon... face the prospect of critical water shortages or being completely cut off from safe water supply in the coming days,” UNICEF said in a statement.

“UNICEF is calling for the urgent restoration of the power supply — the only solution to keep water services running.”

The government stepped down a year ago after a massive blast in Beirut Port that killed more than 214 people, but has stayed on in a caretaker capacity amid deadlock over a replacement line-up.

RABAT — Morocco wants to keep open a pipeline supplying Algerian gas via the kingdom to consumers in Europe, a senior official has said, despite a downturn in relations between the North African rivals.

The operating contract for the Moroccan section of the Maghreb-Europe Gas Pipeline, which links fields in Algeria with Spain, runs out in October.

There had been concern its renewal might fall foul of the latest spat between the two countries.

"Morocco's desire to retain this export route has been expressed clearly and consistently at all levels for more than three years," the head of the National Office for Hydrocarbons and Mines, Amina Benkhadra, told state media.

"We have said so verbally and in writing, publicly and in private discussions, always with the same clarity and the same consistency," she said on Wednesday.

Relations between Rabat and Algiers have been strained for decades amid deep differences over the Western Sahara, a disputed but largely Moroccan-controlled territory where Algiers supports a longstanding independence movement.

The border between the two countries has been closed since 1994.

The situation further deteriorated this week when Algeria said it would “review” relations after accusing Morocco of complicity in deadly forest fires that killed at least 90 people.

Algerian authorities have blamed the fires on widespread arson, singling out the independence movement in the mainly Berber region of Kabylie, which was hardest hit.