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Egypt unveils 3,000-year-old 'lost' city near Luxor

By - Apr 11,2021 - Last updated at Apr 11,2021

A photo taken on Saturday, shows workers carrying a fossilised fish uncovered at the archaeological site of a 3,000-year-old city, dubbed The Rise of Aten, dating to the reign of Amenhotep III, uncovered by the Egyptian mission near Luxor (AFP photo)

LUXOR, Egypt — Archaeologists on Saturday showed off their finds at what they say is the "largest" ancient city ever found in Egypt, dating to a golden age of the pharaohs 3,000 years ago.

At the site near Luxor, home of the legendary Valley of the Kings, workers carefully carried ancient pots and showed human and animal remains dug up from the earth as members of the media toured around curved brick walls and rudimentary streets.

"This is a large city that was lost. It was connected with the god Aton and Amenhotep III," famed Egyptologist Zahi Hawass enthusiastically told reporters Saturday.

"We found three major districts: one for administration, one for workers to sleep in and another for industry," he said.

Spaces include workshops for drying meat, making clothes and sandals, and crafting amulets and small statues.

Mostafa Waziri, head of the country's Supreme Council of Antiquities said the site was not limited to buildings.

"We can see... economic activity, workshops and ovens," he said.

Hawass had announced earlier this week the discovery of a "lost golden city", and the archaeological team said the find was "the largest" ancient city ever uncovered in Egypt.

"We found one portion of the city only," Hawass told AFP Saturday. "The city extends to the west and the north."

 

Jewellery, 'golden fish' 

 

The team began excavations in September between the temples of Ramses III and Amenhotep III near Luxor, some 500 kilometres south of Cairo.

Amenhotep III inherited an empire that stretched from the Euphrates River in modern Iraq and Syria to Sudan and died around 1354 BC, ancient historians say.

He ruled for nearly four decades, a reign known for its opulence and the grandeur of its monuments, including the Colossi of Memnon — two massive stone statues near Luxor that represent him and his wife.

Betsy Bryan, professor of Egyptian art and archaeology at Johns Hopkins University, had said in a statement this week that the find was the “second most important archaeological discovery since the tomb of Tutankhamun” nearly a century ago.

“The archaeological layers have laid untouched for thousands of years, left by the ancient residents as if it were yesterday,” the team’s statement said.

Archaeologists have unearthed items of jewellery, coloured pottery vessels, scarab beetle amulets and mud bricks bearing seals of Amenhotep III.

Hawass said “a large fish covered in gold” may have been venerated.

 

‘Fantastic discovery’ 

 

Jose Galan, head of a separate Spanish archaeological mission near the Valley of the Kings, told AFP Saturday that the site was “a fantastic discovery”.

“We are used to discoveries related to temples and tombs so we know about religious life and funerary habits. But we don’t know much about settlements,” he said.

The team have said they were optimistic that further important finds would be revealed, noting the discovery of groups of tombs reached through “stairs carved into the rock”, a similar construction to those found in the Valley of the Kings.

But since the announcement, some scholars have disputed that Hawass and his team have succeeded where others had failed by locating the city.

Egyptologist Tarek Farag posted Friday on Facebook that the area was first excavated more than a century ago by a team from New York’s Metropolitan Museum.

Waziri dismissed these concerns, saying previous digs had taken place further afield to the south the site.

After years of political instability following the 2011 Arab Spring uprising, which dealt a severe blow to its tourism industry, Egypt is seeking to bring back visitors, in particular by promoting its ancient heritage.

Last week, the mummified remains of 18 ancient kings and four queens were transported across Cairo from the Egyptian Museum in iconic Tahrir Square to the new National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation, in a procession dubbed the “Pharaohs’ Golden Parade” watched by millions.

 

Iran starts up advanced centrifuges in nuclear deal breach

US unilaterally withdrew from the nuclear deal in 2018

By - Apr 11,2021 - Last updated at Apr 11,2021

This file handout satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies on January 28, 2020, shows an overview of Iran's Natanz nuclear facility, south of the capital Tehran (AFP photo)

TEHRAN — Iran announced on Saturday it has started up advanced uranium enrichment centrifuges in a breach of its undertakings under a troubled 2015 nuclear deal, days after the start of talks on rescuing the accord.

The United States had said Friday that it had offered "very serious" ideas on reviving the hobbled agreement but was waiting for Tehran to reciprocate, something Saturday's move signally failed to do.

President Hassan Rouhani inaugurated a cascade of 164 IR-6 centrifuges for producing enriched uranium, as well as two test cascades — of 30 IR-5 and 30 IR-6S devices respectively — at Iran's Natanz uranium enrichment plant, in a ceremony broadcast by state television.

State TV aired no images of the injection of uranium hexafluoride gas into the cascades, but broadcast a link with engineers at the plant who said they had started the process and showed rows of centrifuges.

Rouhani also launched tests on the "mechanical stability" of its latest-generation IR-9 centrifuges, and remotely opened a centrifuge assembly factory to replace a plant that was badly damaged in a July 2020 "terrorist" blast.

Under the 2015 deal between Tehran and world powers, Iran is currently only allowed to use "first-generation" IR-1 centrifuges for production, and to test a limited number of IR-4 and IR-5 devices.

The US unilaterally withdrew from the nuclear deal in 2018 under then-president Donald Trump, who reimposed crippling sanctions on Tehran, which responded by stepping back from several of its commitments under the deal.

Trump's successor Joe Biden has said he is prepared to return, arguing the deal had — until Washington's withdrawal — been successful in dramatically scaling back Iran's nuclear activities.

Iran's latest move to step up uranium enrichment follows an opening round of talks in Vienna on Tuesday with representatives of the remaining parties to the deal on bringing the US back into it.

The Vienna talks are focused not only on lifting the crippling economic sanctions Trump reimposed, but also on bringing Iran back into compliance.

All sides said the talks, in which Washington is not participating directly but is relying on the European Union as an intermediary, got off to a good start.

Iran has demanded that the US first lift all sanctions imposed by Trump, including a sweeping unilateral ban on its oil exports, before it falls back in line.

The “US — which caused this crisis — should return to full compliance first,” Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted, adding that “Iran will reciprocate following rapid verification”.

 

‘Seriousness of purpose’ 

 

Washington has demanded movement from Tehran.

“The United States team put forward a very serious idea and demonstrated a seriousness of purpose on coming back into compliance if Iran comes back into compliance,” a US official told reporters as talks broke for the weekend.

But the official said the United States was waiting for its efforts to be “reciprocated” by Iran.

The US official indicated the major stumbling block in the initial talks was not the order of compliance but rather which sanctions were under discussion, as Iran is demanding an end to all US restrictions.

The nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, covers only nuclear sanctions and not US measures taken in response to human rights or other concerns, the official said.

The far more powerful centrifuges started up on Saturday allow uranium to be enriched quicker and in greater amounts than Iran’s first-generation devices.

Uranium enrichment can produce the fuel for a nuclear reactor, or in highly extended form, the fissile core of an atomic warhead. It is one of the most sensitive nuclear activities carried out by Iran.

Rouhani again underlined at the ceremony, which coincided with Iran’s National Nuclear Technology Day, that Tehran’s nuclear programme is solely for “peaceful” purposes.

Battle for Yemen's Marib heats up, 53 dead in 24 hours

By - Apr 11,2021 - Last updated at Apr 11,2021

A fighter with forces loyal to Yemen's Saudi-backed government holds a position against Houthi rebels in Yemen's northeastern province of Marib, on April 6 (AFP photo)

DUBAI — Fighting for the key Yemeni region of Marib has intensified, with 53 pro-government and Houthi rebel fighters killed in the past 24 hours, loyalist military officials said Saturday.

The Houthis have been trying to seize oil-rich Marib, the government's last significant pocket of territory in the north, since February.

"The rebels have managed to seize a bit of territory" in the latest fighting northwest of the city, a pro-government military source said, assessing the city of Marib itself was not under threat.

The same source said 22 government soldiers including five officers had been killed, along with 31 rebels.

The Houthis rarely announce casualties on their own side.

The Iran-backed rebels in late 2014 overran the capital Sanaa, 120 kilometres to the west of Marib, along with much of northern Yemen.

That prompted a Saudi-led coalition to intervene in March 2015 to prop up the government.

Loyalist military officials said Saturday that coalition aircraft had carried out strikes against the rebels, but the Houthis had pushed on with their offensive.

The loss of Marib would be a heavy blow for the Yemeni government, currently based in the southern city of Aden, and for its Saudi backers.

It could also lead to humanitarian disaster, as huge numbers of civilians displaced from fighting elsewhere have sought refuge in Marib camps.

Around 140 sites have sprung up in the region to provide basic shelter for the displaced, who number up to two million, according to Yemen’s government.

The rebels have stepped up missile and drone strikes against neighbouring Saudi Arabia in recent months, demanding the opening of Yemen’s airspace and ports.

They have rejected a Saudi proposal for a ceasefire.

In early March, at least 90 fighters on both sides were killed in clashes to the west of Marib.

The United Nations last month condemned the “escalation” and warned of a looming humanitarian disaster.

The UN Security Council said the fighting “places one million internally-displaced persons at grave risk and threatens efforts to secure a political settlement when the international community is increasingly united to end the conflict”.

The UN called on all sides to de-escalate and condemned “the use of child soldiers” in Marib.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also urged the Houthis on Monday to halt their offensive, as he announced $191 million in aid at a donor conference.

But he warned that the suffering would not stop until a political solution is found between the Houthis and the internationally-recognised government.

The conflict in Yemen has killed tens of thousands of people and pushed millions to the brink of famine, according to aid agencies.

The United Nations says Yemen is suffering the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

Biden resumes Palestinian aid, urges two-state solution

By - Apr 08,2021 - Last updated at Apr 08,2021

A Palestinian rides a bicycle past the closed gate of a school run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) in the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, on Tuesday, amidst a lockdown due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic (AFP photo)

WASHINGTON — US President Joe Biden on Wednesday restored aid to the Palestinians to a tune of $235 million, drawing a rebuke by ally Israel, as he promised to press for a two-state solution.

In his sharpest break on the conflict yet from the staunchly pro-Israel Donald Trump, Biden said the United States would resume funding for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees that his predecessor had severed.

The State Department said the United States would contribute $150 million to the UN agency and offer $75 million in economic and development assistance for the West Bank and Gaza as well as $10 million for peacebuilding efforts.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the US assistance to the Palestinians "serves important US interests and values" as "a means to advance towards a negotiated two-state solution".

"It provides critical relief to those in great need, fosters economic development and supports Israeli-Palestinian understanding, security coordination and stability," Blinken said in a statement.

Israel, which had held off on criticism of Biden in his first months, denounced the assistance to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, or UNRWA, which provides housing, schools and other care to more than six million Palestinian refugees and their descendants.

"We believe that this UN agency for so-called 'refugees' should not exist in its current format," said Gilad Erdan, the Israeli ambassador to the United States.

Israel argues that the education provided by the UN-backed schools includes incitement against Israel.

"I have expressed my disappointment and objection to the decision to renew UNRWA's funding without first ensuring that certain reforms, including stopping the incitement and removing anti-Semitic content from its educational curriculum, are carried out," Erdan said.

Asked about the Israeli criticism, State Department spokesman Ned Price said that the United States took oversight of UNRWA "extraordinarily seriously" and that it would now have "a seat at the table".

The Israeli anger comes as the United States takes part in indirect, European-led talks in Vienna with Iran on returning to a denuclearization deal which was bitterly opposed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

 

No political push yet 

 

The Palestinian leadership hoped that the aid would mark the start of a concerted effort by Biden to pressure Israel, including on stopping settlements in the occupied West Bank.

“We are eagerly awaiting the resumption not only of financial assistance but of political relations with the United States to allow the Palestinian people to achieve their legitimate rights for an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital,” said Mohammed Shtayyeh, the Palestinian prime minister.

Shortly after Biden’s inauguration in January, the United States said it would restore the Palestine Liberation Organisation’s liaison office that was shut down by Trump.

But Biden has held off on any major peace initiative, with even supporters of a two-state solution expecting near-term chances for a breakthrough to be slim, especially amid turbulence in Israel following its latest election.

Blinken has indicated no change to one of Trump’s signature decisions — recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and moving the US embassy to the hotly disputed holy city.

Trump had ended UNRWA assistance by arguing that the refugees, some of whom have lived in camps for generations, needed to be permanently resettled.

 

‘Right signal’ 

 

The latest announcement is still well below the $355 million contributed to UNRWA in 2016 by the United States, then its largest contributor. 

Price, the State Department spokesman, did not rule out further US contributions but said the United States was encouraging other donors to do more.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric welcomed the restored US assistance, which German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said “sends the right signal” amid growing needs due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The new funding is in addition to $15 million earlier announced by the United States in COVID assistance to the Palestinians amid criticism that Israel, a leader in vaccinating its own people, has not taken similar initiatives in territories under its occupation.

Israel argues that vaccination is the responsibility of the Palestinian Authority.

UNRWA said its needs have been rising due to COVID and the hardships faced by Palestinians living in war-battered Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.

Ethiopia to go on filling Nile mega-dam despite impasse — minister

By - Apr 08,2021 - Last updated at Apr 08,2021

A general view of the Blue Nile River as it passes through the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (AFP photo)

ADDIS ABABA — Ethiopia said on Wednesday it would not be deterred from impounding water at its Nile mega-dam, sparking new warnings from downstream countries Sudan and Egypt, which are worried about their water supply.

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam has been a source of tension in the Nile River basin ever since Ethiopia broke ground on it in 2011.

Downstream neighbours Egypt and Sudan view the dam as a threat because of their dependence on Nile waters, while Ethiopia considers it essential for its electrification and development.

The latest round of talks concluded on Tuesday in Kinshasa with no resolution to long-running disputes over how the dam will be operated.

But Ethiopian water minister Seleshi Bekele told a press conference on Wednesday that Ethiopia would continue filling the dam's massive reservoir during the upcoming rainy season, which normally begins in June or July.

"As construction progresses, filling takes place," Seleshi said.

"We don't deviate from that at all."

But Sudan's irrigation minister warned on Wednesday that his country stood ready to harden its stance in the dispute and lobby afresh at the highest international levels.

"For Sudan, all options are possible, including returning [the matter] to the UN Security Council and hardening policy... [if] Ethiopia embarks on a second filling [of the dam] without agreement," Yasser Abbas told reporters.

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi also warned Ethiopia over the dam on Wednesday.

"I tell our Ethiopian brothers — don't touch a drop of Egypt's water, because all options are open," Sisi said, echoing comments he made last week.

The reservoir has a capacity of 74 billion cubic metres.

Filling began last year, with Ethiopia announcing in July 2020 it had hit its target of 4.9 billion cubic metres — enough to test the dam's first two turbines, an important milestone on the way towards actually producing energy.

The goal is to impound an additional 13.5 billion cubic metres this year.

Fears of 'instability'

Egypt and Sudan wanted a trilateral agreement on the dam's operations to be reached before reservoir filling began.

But Ethiopia says filling is a natural part of the dam's construction, and is thus impossible to postpone.

Last year Sudan said the filling process caused water shortages including in the capital Khartoum.

Seleshi disputed this Wednesday but said Ethiopia had offered to share data with Sudan during filling this year, adding that officials "don't want to be made accountable for problems that we haven't created".

He complained, though, that Sudan and Egypt spent most of the time in Kinshasa pushing for an elevated role in negotiations for observers from South Africa, the United States and the European Union.

Ethiopia has rejected this, saying it would undermine the process headed by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the current chair of the African Union.

Ethiopia's foreign ministry said on Tuesday it expected talks to resume later this month.

Egypt has described them as the last chance to reach an agreement, after Sisi said last week that the region faces "unimaginable instability" over the project.

Sudan's foreign minister, Mariam Al Sadiq Al Mahdi, told reporters Tuesday that Ethiopia "threatens the people of the Nile basin, and Sudan directly".

Seleshi on Wednesday played down the possibility that tensions over the dam would lead to conflict.

"This kind of thinking is unnecessary, and exaggerating this kind of thing doesn't benefit any country," he said.

Toll in Sudan clashes rises to 87 dead — Darfur medics

By - Apr 08,2021 - Last updated at Apr 08,2021

KHARTOUM — Five days of fighting in Sudan's West Darfur region has left at least 87 people dead, medics said Wednesday, with thousands fleeing the latest outbreak of violence.

"The committee has recorded a new toll of... a total of 87 dead and 191 injured," the West Darfur Doctors' Committee said, after clashes involving gunfire and shelling in El Geneina, state capital of West Darfur.

The last toll issued late Tuesday by the United Nations had stood at 56.

Fighting between the Massalit and the Arab communities broke out on Saturday, with thousands fleeing the latest outbreak of violence, some escaping into neighbouring Chad, according to the United Nations.

El Geneina residents and the UN have reported days of fighting including gunfire and shelling, with a power station destroyed, an ambulance attacked and a rocket-propelled grenade hitting the key Sultan Tajeldin Hospital.

The Doctors' Committee said it condemned "in the strongest terms" attacks against hospitals and staff, calling them "barbaric behaviour which cannot be justified under any circumstances".

It is the latest outbreak between the communities since January, which has forced over 100,000 people to flee their homes, according to the UN.

The government on Monday declared a state of emergency and deployed troops to West Darfur.

The UN said it had suspended flights and aid operations to the city, a key hub for humanitarian assistance — a decision the world body said would affect upwards of 700,000 people.

On Tuesday, the UN warned that the “inter-communal violence further deteriorates an already dire situation for vulnerable people”.

The vast Darfur region was ravaged by a civil war that erupted in 2003, leaving around 300,000 people dead and 2.5 million displaced, according to the UN.

It flared when ethnic minority rebels rose up against dictator Omar Al Bashir’s Arab-dominated government.

Khartoum responded by unleashing a notorious Arab-dominated militia known as the Janjaweed, recruited from among the region’s nomadic tribes.

The conflict has subsided over the years, and the latest in a string of peace deals was agreed in October.

But after years of conflict, the region is awash with automatic weapons and clashes still erupt, often over land and access to water.

Residents long displaced during the worst years of the war are returning to find others have occupied their lands.

Sudan is in the midst of a rocky transition following the toppling of long-time president Omar Al Bashir in April 2019, following mass protests against his rule.

The transitional government has pushed to build peace with rebel groups in Sudan’s main conflict zones, including Darfur.

Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of genocide during the Darfur conflict.

Iran's Rouhani says Vienna talks open 'new chapter'

By - Apr 07,2021 - Last updated at Apr 07,2021

This handout photo provided by the Iranian presidency on Wednesday shows President Hassan Rouhani speaking during a Cabinet meeting in the capital Tehran (AFP photo)

TEHRAN — Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday that talks in Vienna on rescuing a troubled 2015 nuclear deal had opened a "new chapter".

An Iranian delegation met on Tuesday with representatives of the remaining parties to the agreement to discuss how to bring Washington back into it and end crippling US sanctions and Iranian countermeasures.

US President Joe Biden has said he is ready to reverse the decision of his predecessor Donald Trump to withdraw from the agreement and reimpose unilateral sanctions.

But differences remain over the mechanics of the move as Tehran has since responded by suspending compliance with some of its own obligations under the deal.

The United States was not present at Tuesday's discussions because Iran has refused to meet the US delegation so long as its sanctions remain in place.

Instead, the European Union acted as an intermediary, but all sides gave a positive assessment of the opening talks.

"A new chapter has just been opened yesterday," Rouhani told a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

"If [Washington] shows it is honest and sincere, that's all we ask... I think we'll be able to negotiate in a short time, if necessary, with the [other parties to the deal]."

The talks are to resume in Vienna on Friday, a diplomat familiar with the discussions said.

The US delegation is to gather in a different hotel, with EU negotiators acting as go-betweens.

At the same time, two groups of experts — on lifting sanctions and nuclear issues — are working "to identify concrete measures to be taken by Washington and Tehran" to restore the deal, Russian Envoy Mikhail Ulyanov said.

Washington gave an upbeat assessment of the opening session.

"We do see this as a constructive and certainly welcome step," State Department spokesman Ned Price said.

Turkey jails 32 ex-soldiers for life over 2016 coup bid

By - Apr 07,2021 - Last updated at Apr 07,2021

Riot police enter the courthouse of Sincan, outside Ankara, on Wednesday, before the verdict hearing in the trial of 497 defendants over the 2016 failed coup attempt (AFP photo)

ANKARA — A Turkish court on Wednesday jailed 32 former soldiers for life in a mass trial involving nearly 500 military defendants implicated in a failed 2016 bid to oust President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

In one of the last mammoth trials stemming from a bloody night an Ankara court heard evidence against the presidential guard.

The putsch attempt included a raid on Turkey's main state television broadcaster, whose newscaster was forced to read out a statement from the military junta leaders.

Although both the presidential palace and the parliament building were bombed, Erdogan escaped capture because he was on holiday in a Turkish seaside resort town.

The private DHA and state Anadolu new agencies said 32 suspects received life terms.

A lawyer for the president initially told AFP 22 suspects had received life sentences before a more detailed verdict was reported by the agencies later on Wednesday.

These included former lieutenant colonel Umit Gencer, convicted of "violating the constitutional order" by making TRT television read out a "coup declaration".

The court also handed ex-major Fedakar Akca an aggravated life sentence for leading a team from the regiment to the general staff headquarters on the night on July 15, 2016, Anadolu reported.

Former Col. Muhammet Tanju Poshor received his sentence for directing the occupation of the TRT building.

Poshor was given a separate aggravated life sentence for the crime of attempting to "assassinate the president".

An aggravated life sentence, which has tougher terms of detention, replaced the death penalty after it was abolished in 2004.

Another ex-major, Osman Koltarla, was in charge of the presidential palace's security at the time. The court handed him a life sentence.

Anadolu said 106 suspects were given sentences of between six and 16 years in jail for other crimes.

 

Final Ankara trial 

 

The verdict was read out in the country's largest courtroom which was especially built to hear coup trials at Sincan prison complex in Ankara province.

The case into the regiment began in October 2017, with 243 hearings, the state news agency said.

According to Anadolu, the end of the trial marks the end of the cases heard in the capital, nearly five years later.

In an unprecedented legal process, more than 2,500 suspects have been given life sentences in trials across Turkey, the indictments spanning thousands of pages.

The failed coup left some 250 people dead, excluding 24 putschists killed on the night.

Turkey accuses US-based Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen of masterminding the failed coup, a claim he strongly denies.

Tens of thousands of people have been arrested over alleged links to Gulen since 2016, and the police raids continue, drawing constant criticism from Turkey's Western allies.

More than 100,000 people have also been sacked or suspended from the public sector over similar allegations.

The aftermath of the coup attempt has transformed every aspect of contemporary Turkish politics, with Erdogan becoming especially sensitive to the military's role in the country's political life.

Earlier this week he accused 104 retired admirals of "hinting at a political coup" after they criticised his plans for a new canal in Istanbul.

Police have arrested 10 of the former navy commanders and ordered four others to turn themselves in.

Iraqi engagement with US, allies upsets pro-Iranians

By - Apr 07,2021 - Last updated at Apr 07,2021

BAGHDAD — Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kadhemi faces daily pressure from pro-Iranian groups at home, but that has not stopped him from reaching out to Tehran's enemies.

After recently visiting or hosting senior figures from pro-US Arab states, his government on Wednesday joins a new "strategic dialogue" with Washington under President Joe Biden.

It is a fine balancing act for Kadhemi, a former intelligence chief who is a political independent with no party or popular base, and who has now been in office for one year.

Iraq — still battered and impoverished after the 2003 US-led invasion and the turmoil that followed — is now a battleground for influence between arch-foes Washington and Tehran.

Not a day goes by without a rocket or bomb attack on US troops, contractors or diplomats, or harsh insults levelled against Kadhemi from pro-Iranian groups who accuse him of being an American lackey.

The paramilitaries, and the politicians who back them, insist that Baghdad follow through on the Iraqi parliament's decision to expel the 2,500 US troops who are still in the country, to help fight the Daesh group.

The legislature demanded their withdrawal in January 2020 when anger was boiling over the US drone killing ordered by Donald Trump of revered Iranian general Qassem Soleimani and his Iraqi lieutenant in Baghdad.

Despite facing anger from pro-Iran forces, Kadhemi has cultivated ties with Washington's allies, recently visiting Riyadh and Abu Dhabi and receiving the Egyptian and Jordanian foreign ministers.

With this, he is sending a clear message to Iran, said analyst Ihsan Al Shammari of the Iraqi Centre for Political Thought: "Iraq does not depend on Tehran for its diplomatic decisions, as Iran and its allies demand."

 

'End the occupation' 

 

Kadhemi — who is only supposed to lead Iraq until early elections, possibly in October — has to balance the interests of the pro-Iranian Shiite camp with those of the Kurdish and Sunni Arab minorities.

Those groups, and Washington's Gulf allies, see the US presence in Iraq as protection from Iran, which backs Shiite proxy forces forces in several regional countries.

Western and Iraqi officials say Kadhemi expects the Americans to set a timetable for their withdrawal, but likely over several years.

This timetable would maintain international military support against Daesh remnants while allowing the premier to tell pro-Iranians that he is working to implement the parliamentary vote.

But an Iraqi official told AFP that Soleimani's successor as Iran's pointman in Iraq, Brig. Gen. Ismail Qaani, was in Baghdad in recent days to demand that Iraqi politicians impose a withdrawal date on Washington.

Before the talks with the United States even began on Wednesday, a spokesman for the Hizbollah Brigades, one of Iraq's most radical pro-Iran factions, rejected the dialogue.

"It has no value because the Iraqi people have already decided that they want an end to the American occupation," Jaafar Al Husseini said, promising to "continue to put pressure on America".

Kadhemi has received support from a powerful Shiite voice: Moqtada Sadr, the former militia leader who 18 years ago urged his followers to take up arms against the US-led occupation.

"The opening to Arab countries is a step in the right direction," Sadr wrote on Twitter, having himself visited Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in 2017.

With Daesh terrorists in Iraq now reduced to clandestine cells holed up in mountains and deserts, the real threat today, according to the US and Iraqi militaries, is posed by pro-Iran factions that fire rockets or plant bombs and sometimes even claim attacks outside Iraq.

 

Attack on Riyadh 

 

That issue came up when Kadhemi visited Riyadh last week and met de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman.

In January, explosive-laden drones crashed into the main royal palace in Riyadh, with American media citing US officials as saying they were launched from neighbouring Iraq.

A relatively unknown militant group in Iraq considered by security experts to be a front for more entrenched Iran-backed groups claimed responsibility.

Kadhemi said this claim was "not true" and insisted that "there haven't been any attacks" from Iraq and that "we will not allow any attack on the kingdom".

The Iraqi premier had planned to make his first official foreign trip to Saudi Arabia last July, but the visit was cancelled when King Salman was hospitalised.

Instead of Riyadh, Kadhemi went to Tehran to meet with Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei last summer.

After his recent trip to Riyadh, Kadhemi returned home with a Saudi promise to multiply its investments in Iraq fivefold, to more than $2.6 billion, this year.

The Iraqi premier also went to another oil-rich Gulf destination, Abu Dhabi, where he talked about the economy and investments.

"We don't want to be on any single side," said an Iraqi official, requesting anonymity. "We will work hard to bring investments to Iraq from neighbouring countries and beyond."

Sudan abolishes Israel boycott law — Cabinet

By - Apr 07,2021 - Last updated at Apr 07,2021

KHARTOUM — Sudan's Cabinet approved a bill on Tuesday abolishing a 1958 law on boycotting Israel, after Khartoum and Israel struck a deal.

"The council of ministers approved a bill repealing the 1958 boycott of Israel law," it said in a statement.

It also emphasised "Sudan's firm position on the establishment of a Palestinian state within the framework of a two-state solution".

The 1958 law was in line with the policies of Arab nations at the time towards Israel.

Penalties for those who violated its stipulations, such as trading with Israelis, included up to 10 years in jail and a hefty fine.

But the political landscape has changed as Sudan, along with Gulf countries and Morocco, have built bridges with Israel in deals mediated by the administration of former US president Donald Trump.

Sudan agreed to establish ties with Israel in October last year, in a quid pro quo for Washington removing the country from its "state sponsors of terrorism" blacklist months later.

Khartoum maintained a rigid anti-Israel stance during the three-decade Islamist rule of former president Omar Al Bashir, who was ousted amid mass protests in April 2019.

A post-Bashir transitional government has been pushing for re-integration with the international community and to rebuild the country's economy after decades of US sanctions and internal conflict.

The bill will be presented for final approval from the country's ruling Sovereign Council, made up of military and civilian figures, before it is passed into law.

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