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Daesh terror group abducts 19 in Syria — monitor

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

 

BEIRUT — The Daesh radical group on Tuesday abducted 19 people, mostly civilians, in the centre of war-torn Syria, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The extremists attacked government forces in the Badia desert, before kidnapping eight policemen and 11 civilians from a small village.

Syria's state news agency SANA said the extremists had taken "a number of inhabitants" from the village of Al Saan in Hama province, after they went looking for truffles, fungi used in cooking.

Others were wounded and taken to hospital, it said.

Daesh fighters have ramped up their attacks in the past months against government forces in the vast desert that stretches across central Syria to the eastern border with Iraq.

They have abducted civilians, shepherds and soldiers, observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said.

"Those abducted are usually killed, especially if they are members of the regime forces," he said.

He added the kidnapping was the largest by the extremists since they lost the last scrap of their cross-border proto-state in 2019.

Daesh overran large swathes of Syria and neighbouring Iraq in 2014.

Macron urged to freeze 'doubtful' Lebanese assets

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

A retired army officer protests in front of the Lebanese Central Bank in Beirut on May 13, 2019 (AFP photo)

PARIS — President Emmanuel Macron should freeze suspect assets held by Lebanese officials in France to break a "political-economic mafia" that has plunged Lebanon into crisis and misery, an open letter said on Tuesday.

Macron called for radical reform in Lebanon after a deadly Beirut Port blast and has expressed exasperation at the lack of change, as the former French mandate territory remains mired in political stalemate.

Analysts have said that sanctions such as asset freezes could be the most effective lever for Paris to pressure Beirut, even if France has so far not explicitly indicated it is ready for such a measure.

Macron should issue instructions "with a view to implementing the legal mechanism for freezing assets of doubtful origin held in France by Lebanese political and economic leaders," said the letter published in France's Le Monde daily signed by more than 100 Lebanese civil society figures.

It said that a "political-economic mafia is responsible for the misery, hunger and insecurity from which more and more Lebanese suffer".

The letter suggested that such a legal process should draw on the precedent set over ill-gotten assets owned in France by some African leaders and former Syrian vice president Rifaat Al Assad.

"This endemic corruption on a grand scale has scandalously enriched Lebanese political leaders" by emptying the treasury and embezzling aid sent after the civil war, the letter alleged.

It was signed by lawyers, doctors, journalists and activists, including prominent political scientist Karim Emile Bitar, former Lebanese culture minister and UN Libya envoy Ghassan Salame and former MP and TV host Paula Yacoubian.

The letter was drafted after French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said in March that "the time has come" to raise international pressure on Lebanon to form a government.

Lebanon's prime minister-designate, Saad Hariri, and President Michel Aoun again failed last month to agree on a new government Cabinet after months of deadlock, as the country sinks deeper into economic crisis.

A steep depreciation of the Lebanese pound along with an explosion of poverty and unemployment have eroded purchasing power and fuelled anger among the population.

The outgoing government of premier Hassan Diab resigned in the wake of an August 4 explosion at Beirut's port that killed more than 200 people and sparked protests against the entrenched ruling class.

Nile dam talks extended in Kinshasa after draft communique setback

Negotiations aim to reach compromise between involved parties

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

This photo shows Ethiopia’s Grand Renaissance Dam (AFP photo)

KINSHASA — Talks gathering Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan on Addis Ababa's contested dam on the Nile were being extended on Tuesday after Sudan objected to the terms of a draft communique, a Congolese mediator said.

Hosted by the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in Kinshasa, the meeting bringing together foreign ministers from the three countries began on Sunday and had been scheduled to end on Monday.

"Ethiopia and Egypt accepted the terms contained in the draft final communique. But Sudan felt that its interests in the River Nile were at threat," said the DRC source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Talks resumed on Tuesday aimed at finding common ground, the source said.

The long-running dispute centres on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), a huge hydro-electric project across the Blue Nile.

Upstream Ethiopia says power produced by the GERD will be vital to meet the development needs of its 110 million people.

But the two countries downstream fear their lifeline could be threatened.

The talks are being hosted by DRC President Felix Tshisekedi, who became chairman of the African Union (AU) in February.

The US ambassador in Kinshasa, Mike Hammer, is also attending, and met during the night on Monday with the delegation chiefs of the three countries.

Their three-hour meeting took place in a room in the hotel hosting the talks.

“This communique will determine whether the meeting in Kinshasa is a success or a failure,” the Congolese negotiator said.

“This is why the heads of delegation want to give prior approval to its contents — their respective governments will be bound by it in the future.”

The GERD, whose planned capacity of 6,500 megawatts will make it the biggest dam in Africa, has been a source of tension since its first stone was laid in April 2011.

Downstream countries are especially worried about operations to fill the vast proposed lake behind the dam.

Egypt, which depends on the Nile for about 97 per cent of its irrigation and drinking water, has warned of an existential threat.

Sudan fears its own dams will be compromised if Ethiopia proceeds with filling the GERD before a deal is reached.

Egypt has sounded loud warnings to coincide with the Kinshasa meeting.

Its foreign minister, Sameh Shoukry, told Egyptian media that the negotiations represented “the last chance... to reach an accord”.

President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi separately declared: “Nobody will be permitted to take a single drop of Egypt’s water, otherwise the region will fall into unimaginable instability.”

Iran notches new daily record of coronavirus cases

By - Apr 06,2021 - Last updated at Apr 06,2021

People wearing protective masks amid the coronavirus pandemic walk near the shore of Chitgar Lake in Iran's capital Tehran, on Monday (AFP photo)

TEHRAN — Iran on Tuesday announced a new record number of daily coronavirus cases, as authorities warned of a "major increase" in infections to come as the country faces its fourth wave.

Over the past 24 hours, the Islamic republic officially recorded 17,430 cases of infection, health ministry spokesperson Sima Sadat Lari said.

The figure eclipses a previous peak in late November of 14,051 daily cases, and brings Iran's total number of cases to 1,963,394.

Iran also recorded 174 additional virus deaths, Lari said, bringing the total to 63,506.

Lari warned the population of a "major increase in infections" to come.

The Islamic republic is battling the Middle East's deadliest coronavirus outbreak, and case numbers have risen following a surge in trips during the Iranian new year holidays in recent weeks.

Iran is facing "one of the most severe waves" of its coronavirus outbreak, Health Minister Saeed Namaki had said on Monday.

"We've now lost the reins of the virus,” he said.

Some officials, including Namaki, have admitted in the past that the virus numbers are likely higher than official figures.

Authorities had warned of a concerning rise in the spread of the more contagious British variant of the disease and of a "fourth wave" prior to the holidays.

Dozens of towns and cities including the capital Tehran are classified as "red", the highest rating on the country's coronavirus risk scale, requiring all non-essential businesses to close.

Iran has avoided imposing a full lockdown on its population of 82 million since the pandemic started.

Instead, it has resorted to limited and shifting measures, such as temporary bans on travelling or businesses.

Authorities announced overnight Monday to Tuesday the arrival of more than 700,000 doses of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine, its first delivery via the Covax vaccine-sharing programme.

Iran began its vaccination campaign in February, but it has progressed more slowly than authorities had hoped.

UN to reduce peacekeepers in South Sudan

By - Apr 06,2021 - Last updated at Apr 06,2021

In this file photo taken on February 2, 2020 a man hacks at logs with an axe as people walk past at an open market in Wau (AFP photo)

JUBA — The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) said on Tuesday it plans to reduce troop numbers by 7 per cent this year, due to a drop in violence in the conflict-torn country.

UNMISS chief David Shearer said the drawdown is also a result of UN troops withdrawing from camps where civilians had sought protection during the country’s six-year civil war, handing control of the sites to Juba.

“Over the coming year, there will be reduction of our military and police peacekeepers by around seven percent,” Shearer told journalists during his last press conference after four years in the job.

He said the decision was also a result of a “reduction in violence” following the signing of a peace deal in 2018.

UNMISS currently has 14,500 military and 2,000 police peacekeepers across the country.

The mission announced its withdrawal from the so-called protection of civilians sites in September 2020, when some 180,000 still lived in the camps where they had fled amid brutal ethnic atrocities which characterised the conflict.

The government has not announced how many still remain.

Despite the reduction in the number of peacekeepers, Shearer cautioned “the peace process remains fragile and there is still much to be done”.

Shearer said, however, that more troops could be brought in if violence rose again.

President Salva Kiir and Vice President Riek Machar, for years on opposing sides of the battlefield, formed a coalition government on February 22, 2020 after nearly a year of delays.

However, almost none of the other provisions of the truce have been honoured, and analysts have warned of a return to war.

Shearer urged the leaders to pick up the pace on the implementation of a new constitution, formation of a national army and economic reform.

Some 400,000 people are estimated to have died as a result of the war which broke out in 2013 — two years after independence from Sudan — when Kiir accused Machar of plotting a coup against him.

The oil-rich country remains severely underdeveloped and poorly managed.

Despite the peace deal, brutal communal conflicts — often over cattle raiding — continue, with more than 1,000 killed in violence between rival communities in the last six months of 2020.

The UN warned last month that parts of South Sudan were facing famine, with some 7.2 million going hungry in the coming months.

The International Monetary Fund has approved $174 million (148 million euros) in emergency assistance to South Sudan, much of which will be used to pay long overdue salaries for civil servants.

Beirut's blast-hit silos must be demolished, experts warn

By - Apr 06,2021 - Last updated at Apr 06,2021

BEIRUT — A section of the grain silos that absorbed much of last year’s Beirut port blast must be demolished to avoid collapse, experts warned in a report published on Monday.

Swiss company Amann Engineering, which has offered laser scanning assistance to Lebanon since the cataclysmic August 4 explosion, called the most damaged of the disembowelled silos an “unstable, moving structure”.

“Our recommendation is to proceed with the deconstruction of this block,” the company said in a report.

“As it becomes more obvious the concrete piles have been heavily damaged... new silos will have to be built at a different location,” it warned.

Economy Minister Raoul Nehme had said in November that Lebanon will demolish its largest grain store over public safety concerns, but authorities have yet to take action.

Once boasting a capacity of more than 100,000 tonnes, the imposing 48 metre-high structure has become emblematic of the catastrophic port blast that killed more than 200 people and damaged swathes of the capital.

Authorities say the blast was caused by a shipment of ammonium nitrate fertiliser that caught fire after being impounded for years on end.

The silos absorbed much of the blast’s impact, shielding large swaths of west Beirut from its ravaging effects.

“As much as the structure can be iconic, facts do show there is no way to ensure safety on even the medium term with the north block remaining as is,” Amann said in its report.

It warned that the damage to some of the silos was so severe that they were tilting at an alarming rate.

“The inclination proceeds at the rate of 2 millimetres per day, which is a lot structurally speaking,” it said.

“By comparison, the Tower of Pisa in Italy was leaning about 5mm per year until it was stabilised by very special works.”

Lebanon relies on imports for 85 per cent of its food needs.

Confirmation that the silos cannot be salvaged for future use compounds an already alarming food supply outlook.

The country, grappling with its worst economic crisis in decades, has received donations of grain and flour in the aftermath of the explosion.

Saudi Arabia to allow only 'immunised' pilgrims to Mecca

By - Apr 06,2021 - Last updated at Apr 06,2021

RIYADH  — Saudi authorities said Monday only people immunised against COVID-19 will be allowed to perform the year-round umrah pilgrimage from the start of Ramadan, the holy fasting month for Muslims.

The Hajj and umrah ministry said in a statement that three categories of people would be considered "immunised" — those who have received two doses of the vaccine, those administered a single dose at least 14 days prior, and people who have recovered from the infection.

Only those people will be eligible for permits to perform umrah, as well as to attend prayers in the Grand Mosque in the holy city of Mecca.

It added that the condition also applies for entry into the Prophet's Mosque in the holy city of Medina.

The ministry said the policy starts with Ramadan, which is due to begin later this month, but it was unclear how long it would last.

It was also not clear whether the policy, which comes amid an uptick in coronavirus infections in the kingdom, would be extended to the annual Hajj pilgrimage later this year.

Saudi Arabia has reported more than 393,000 coronavirus infections and 6,700 deaths from COVID-19.

The kingdom's health ministry said it has administered more than five million coronavirus vaccines, in a country with a population of over 34 million.

Last month, King Salman replaced the Hajj minister, months after the kingdom hosted the smallest hajj in modern history due to the pandemic.

Mohammad Benten was relieved from his post and replaced by Essam Bin Saeed, according to a Royal Decree published by official Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

The kingdom hosted the Hajj in late July last year.

Only 10,000 Muslim residents of Saudi Arabia itself were allowed to take part, a far cry from the 2.5 million Muslims from around the world who participated in 2019.

It is unclear how many pilgrims will be allowed for Hajj this year.

According to the pro-government Okaz newspaper, only vaccinated pilgrims will likely be permitted this year.

In a relaxation of coronavirus curbs last October, Saudi Arabia opened the Grand Mosque for prayers for the first time in seven months and partially resumed the umrah pilgrimage.

At least 40 dead in fighting in Sudan's Darfur — UN

By - Apr 06,2021 - Last updated at Apr 06,2021

KHARTOUM — At least 40 people have been killed and 58 injured in three days of clashes in Sudan's West Darfur state, the United Nations said on Monday.

"Since April 3, 40 people have been killed," the UN humanitarian coordination office OCHA said in a statement.

It said the clashes pitted Arab groups against the non-Arab Massalit ethnic community in the city of El Geneina, where the situation remained "tense".

After clashes at the weekend, residents of El Geneina, capital of West Darfur and close to the border with Chad, said gunfire erupted in the city at dawn on Monday, with shells exploding in the suburbs.

Plumes of smoke rose high into the sky as people fled the violence, witnesses reported.

"On Monday, we woke up to the sound of gunfire," Abdelrahman Ahmed, an eyewitness, told AFP. Clashes "spread to the western suburbs".

It is unclear what sparked the latest violence.

 

Women and children fleeing 

 

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.

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

But clashes still erupt, often over land and access to water.

Eyewitnesses said fighting still raged on Monday afternoon, as thick smoke billowed over El Geneina.

“We stayed in our homes, but we’ve been hearing gunfire close by — a shell landed at our neighbour’s home,” said Adam Issa, another resident.

The West Darfur Doctors’ Committee said an ambulance carrying wounded victims was attacked.

After years of conflict, the region is awash with automatic weapons.

Clashes often pit nomadic Arab pastoralists against settled farmers from non-Arab ethnic groups.

“I live in the eastern part of the city, and I am seeing a cloud of smoke covering the western, southern and south-western districts,” said Saleh Issa, another El Geneina resident.

“Some residents from these neighbourhoods have fled towards our area — most of are women and children,” he added.

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

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

On December 31, the UN and African Union ended a 13-year peacekeeping mission in Darfur, even as residents feared further violence.

More than 200 people were killed in clashes in January, in some of the worst bloodshed the region had witnessed in years.

Iran urges Europe to lean on US on lifting sanctions

By - Apr 06,2021 - Last updated at Apr 06,2021

TEHRAN — Iran said on Monday that the outcome of talks in Vienna aimed at salvaging its nuclear accord will depend on European parties leaning on the US to lift sanctions.

Britain, France and Germany are pushing to bring US President Joe Biden's administration back into the 2015 nuclear deal, after his predecessor Donald Trump's withdrew and reimposed sanctions on Iran.

The other participants, including China and Russia, are to meet on Tuesday in-person in the Austrian capital, with the United States indirectly taking part.

"Whether the joint commission's agenda produces a result or not depends on the Europeans and the 4+1 reminding the US of its obligations and the Americans acting on their commitments," Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said.

"How and where the 4+1 talk to the US is their own business," he told reporters, noting there will be no negotiations in Vienna.

The meeting's aim is to "talk about the path of lifting sanctions", he added.

The deal, also know as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), promised Iran relief from international sanctions in exchange for limits on its nuclear programme.

Biden has promised to rejoin the agreement on condition that Iran first returns to nuclear commitments it suspended in response to reimposed sanctions.

Tehran, however, says Washington has to end sanctions first.

The European Union has said its mediator will hold “separate contacts” with the United States in Vienna.

According to a senior EU official, two groups of experts from the other countries will work simultaneously, with one focused on US sanctions and the other on rolling back Iran’s suspended nuclear commitments.

Khatibzadeh said experts from an Iranian delegation would explain “how [we plan] to stop our remedial measures”.

“We have only one step, not step-by-step, [which] includes the lifting of all US sanctions,” he stressed.

“It will become clear tomorrow whether the 4+1 can realise the points expected by Iran or not, so that we would have a clearer path forward,” Khatibzadeh said.

The Vienna meeting comes after a video conference of a JCPOA joint commission held on Friday.

Iran urges Europe to lean on US on lifting sanctions

By - Apr 05,2021 - Last updated at Apr 05,2021

People wearing protective masks amid the coronavirus pandemic accompany children out next to Chitgar Lake in Iran's capital Tehran on Monday (AFP photo)

TEHRAN — Iran said on Monday that the outcome of talks in Vienna aimed at salvaging its nuclear accord will depend on European parties leaning on the US to lift sanctions.

Britain, France and Germany are pushing to bring US President Joe Biden's administration back into the 2015 nuclear deal, after his predecessor Donald Trump's withdrew and reimposed sanctions on Iran.

The other participants, including China and Russia, are to meet on Tuesday in-person in the Austrian capital, with the United States indirectly taking part.

"Whether the joint commission's agenda produces a result or not depends on the Europeans and the 4+1 reminding the US of its obligations and the Americans acting on their commitments," Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said.

"How and where the 4+1 talk to the US is their own business," he told reporters, noting there will be no negotiations in Vienna.

The meeting's aim is to "talk about the path of lifting sanctions", he added.

The deal, also know as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), promised Iran relief from international sanctions in exchange for limits on its nuclear programme.

Biden has promised to rejoin the agreement on condition that Iran first returns to nuclear commitments it suspended in response to reimposed sanctions.

Tehran, however, says Washington has to end sanctions first.

The European Union has said its mediator will hold "separate contacts" with the United States in Vienna.

According to a senior EU official, two groups of experts from the other countries will work simultaneously, with one focused on US sanctions and the other on rolling back Iran's suspended nuclear commitments.

Khatibzadeh said experts from an Iranian delegation would explain "how [we plan] to stop our remedial measures".

"We have only one step, not step-by-step, [which] includes the lifting of all US sanctions," he stressed.

"It will become clear tomorrow whether the 4+1 can realise the points expected by Iran or not, so that we would have a clearer path forward," Khatibzadeh said.

The Vienna meeting comes after a video conference of a JCPOA joint commission held on Friday.

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