Region

LATAKIA, Syria — Syrian President Ahmed Al Sharaa called for national unity and peace on Sunday, after hundreds were reportedly killed along the country's Mediterranean coast in the worst violence since the overthrow of Bashar Al Assad.

"We must preserve national unity [and] civil peace as much as possible and, God willing, we will be able to live together in this country," Sharaa said from a mosque in Damascus.

The interior ministry said on Sunday that government forces were conducting "sweeping operations in Qadmous and the surrounding villages" in Tartus province to "pursue the remnants of the toppled regime".

State news agency SANA quoted a defence ministry source as saying there were violent clashes ongoing in Tanita, another Tartus village.

An AFP photographer in the city of Latakia reported a military convoy entering the Bisnada neighbourhood to search homes.

Defence ministry spokesman Hassan Abdul Ghani said on Saturday the security forces had "reimposed control" over areas that had seen attacks by Assad loyalists.

 Roads blocked 

Education Minister Nazir Al Qadri announced that schools would remain shut on Sunday and Monday in both Latakia and Tartus, while SANA reported a power outage throughout Latakia province due to attacks on the grid by Assad loyalists.

A defence ministry source told SANA that troops had blocked roads leading to the coast to prevent "violations", without specifying who was committing them.

Latakia province security director Mustafa Kneifati told the news agency: "We will not allow for sedition or the targeting of any component of the Syrian people."

BAGHDAD - Washington has declined to renew a sanctions waiver that allowed Iraq to buy electricity from neighbouring Iran, a spokesperson for the American embassy in Baghdad said on Sunday. 

Despite having immense oil and gas reserves, Iraq remains dependent on imports to meet its energy needs, and Iran supplies a third of the country's gas and electricity.

The Baghdad government, which hopes to achieve energy self-sufficiency by 2028, said it had prepared "for all scenarios" regarding the waiver.

"On March 8, the US Department of State did not renew the waiver for Iraq to purchase Iranian electricity," the US embassy spokesperson said.

The decision "ensures we do not allow Iran any degree of economic or financial relief", the spokesperson added.

The statement did not mention Iranian gas imports, which are crucial for Iraq's domestic electricity generation.

The waiver was introduced in 2018, when Washington reimposed sanctions on Tehran after US President Donald Trump abandoned a nuclear deal with Iran during his first term in office.

Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has reinstated his policy of exerting "maximum pressure" against Iran.

"The President's maximum pressure campaign is designed to end Iran's nuclear threat, curtail its ballistic missile program, and stop it from supporting terrorist groups," the embassy spokesperson said on Sunday.

Calling Iran "an unreliable energy supplier", the spokesperson urged Baghdad "to eliminate its dependence on Iranian sources of energy as soon as possible".

"Electricity imports from Iran do not contribute substantially to power delivered to the Iraqi people," the spokesperson added.

'All scenarios' 

Decades of war have left Iraq's infrastructure in a pitiful state, with chronic power cuts that become worse during the blistering summer when temperatures often reach 50 Celsius.
Many households receive just a few hours of mains electricity per day, and those that can afford it use private generators to keep appliances such as fridges running.

Tehran also regularly cuts off its supply, worsening the power shortages that affect the daily lives of 46 million Iraqis.

Government spokesman Bassem Al Awadi told state media on Saturday that the authorities had prepared "for all scenarios" regarding the waiver, including the use of gas platform vessels via a pipeline connected to power stations in the southern province of Basra.

Gulf Analyst Yesar Al Maleki, of the Middle East Economic Survey (MEES), said "Iranian electricity was never reliable" because of "Iraq's inability to pay the Iranians due to US sanctions on Iran's banking system", and Tehran prioritising meeting its own growing demand.

He added that imports of Iranian electricity "have declined", especially over the past three years. But ending the waiver still means Iraq will face challenges in providing electricity, especially during summer.

To alleviate the impact, Iraq has several options which are mostly connected to the northern autonomous region of Kurdistan, including procuring electricity "via independent power providers" and increasing imports from Turkey.

What's next? 

Iraq hopes to increase its natural gas production to help reduce dependence on imports, and has repeatedly stressed the need to diversify energy sources.

Last year it began importing electricity from Jordan and Turkey, and it also hopes to connect to the electricity grid of Gulf countries.

The government's plans also include recovering flared gas, which is natural gas produced during crude oil extraction.

Gas flaring is the polluting practice of burning off excess gas during oil drilling. The government has made eliminating this a priority, and plans to halt it by the end of 2027.

The cancelled waiver concerns only "electricity imports", Maleki said, adding that "gas imports currently fall under a separate US legislation and it remains to be seen whether Washington would move to cancel that next".

DAMASCUS - Syrian leader Ahmed Al Sharaa called on Sunday for peace and national unity after days of clashes between security forces and loyalists of the former government that have killed more than 1,000 people, most of them Alawite civilians.

"We must preserve national unity (and) civil peace as much as possible and, God willing, we will be able to live together in this country," Sharaa said in a speech delivered from a mosque in a neighbourhood of Damascus where he spent part of his childhood.

He added that as long "the mosques have taught their children morality... and fairness and justice among the people, there is no fear for Syria, God willing".

The clashes along Syria's Mediterranean coast have escalated into the largest challenge to the new government's security forces since Sharaa's Islamist-led coalition toppled Assad in December.

The coastal provinces of Latakia and Tartus are the heartland of the country's Alawite minority, the religious group to which the Assad family belonged.

The fighting has killed 125 members of the new government's security forces and 148 pro-Assad fighters, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights figures, taking the overall death toll to 1,018.

Restoring security is a major challenge for the new government after more than 13 years of civil war, while Sharaa has sought to reassure minorities their rights will be protected.

DUBAI — Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani has warned that an attack on Iran's Gulf coast nuclear facilities would leave countries across the region without water.

In an interview with United States media personality Tucker Carlson, the premier said Doha had simulated the effects of an attack. 

The sea would be "entirely contaminated" and Qatar would "run out of water in three days", he said.

The construction of reservoirs since then had increased water capacity, he added, but the risk remained for "all of us" in the region. 

"No water, no fish, nothing... no life," Sheikh Mohammed added in the interview published on Friday, the same day that Trump said he had invited Iran to nuclear talks.

Alluding to military action, Trump said he would "rather see a peace deal" but that "the other will solve the problem". 

Qatar, which sits 190 kilometres south of Iran, relies heavily on desalination for its water supply, as do other Gulf Arab countries in the arid desert region. 

Iran has a nuclear power plant at Bushehr on the Gulf coast, though its uranium enrichment facilities, key to building atomic weapons, are located hundreds of kilometres inland.

Referring to sites "on the other side of the coast", Sheikh Mohammed said Qatar had "not only military concerns, but also security and... safety concerns".

He said Qatar opposed military action against Iran and that it would "not give up until we see a diplomatic solution between the US and Iran".

Tehran was "willing to engage", he said. 

"They are willing to get to a level that creates comforts for everybody. And most importantly, they are focused on mending their relationship with the region, and that's something in itself."

Western powers have long accused Iran of pursuing nuclear weapons, which it denies. In 2015, it signed a deal to lift sanctions in exchange for reining in its nuclear programme, but Trump withdrew from the deal in 2018 during his first term.

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Israel will send a delegation to Doha on Monday in an "effort to advance negotiations" on the fragile ceasefire in Gaza.

"Israel accepts the invitation from US-backed mediators, will send a delegation to Doha on Monday in an effort to advance negotiations," a statement from Netanyahu's office said Saturday.

Hamas said on Saturday that there were "positive" signs regarding the start of negotiations for the second phase of the fragile Gaza ceasefire, as a delegation from the Palestinian militant group met with mediators in Cairo.

“The efforts of the Egyptian and Qatari mediators are ongoing to complete the implementation of the ceasefire agreement," Hamas spokesperson Abdel Latif Al Qanoua said in a statement, adding that "the indicators are positive regarding the start of negotiations for the second phase," without providing further details. 

DAMASCUS — Syria's leader Ahmed Al Sharaa on Friday urged insurgents loyal to ousted president Bashar Al Assad to lay down their arms and surrender after the fiercest attacks the the war-torn country has yet seen. 

"You attacked all Syrians and made an unforgivable mistake. The riposte has come, and you have not been able to withstand it," Sharaa said in a speech broadcast on Telegram by the Syrian presidency. 

"Lay down your weapons and surrender before it's too late." 

Restoring security has been one of the most complex tasks for Syria's new authorities, installed after Islamist-led forces ousted Assad in a lightning offensive in December.

The clashes that broke out on Thursday were the fiercest since Assad was toppled in a lightning rebel offensive in December, and came after days of tensions in Latakia province that forms part of the heartland of the religious minority.

In his Friday address, Sharaa, who headed the coalition that forced out Assad, also vowed to keep working towards "monopolising weapons in the hands of the state".

"There will be no more unregulated weapons," he pledged.

Western powers and Syria's neighbours have emphasised the need for unity in the new Syria, which is seeking funds for reconstructing a nation ravaged by years of war under Assad.

‘Premeditated' 

The United Nations envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, decried "very troubling reports of civilian casualties".

He called on all sides to refrain from actions which could "destabilise Syria, and jeopardise a credible and inclusive political transition".

An interior ministry source quoted by official news agency SANA said isolated incidents had occurred on the coast and pledged to put a stop to them.

Authorities launched a sweeping security operation after Thursday's clashes, which the Observatory said left 78 people dead, including gunmen, security force members and civilians.

Mustafa Kneifati, a security official in Latakia, said pro-Assad militia fighters carried out "a well-planned and premeditated attack" on government forces' positions and patrols around the coastal town of Jableh.

Curfews 

A curfew was imposed until Saturday in the coastal provinces of Latakia and Tartus, heartland of the ousted president's Alawite religious minority, and authorities on Friday announced a security sweep in the Jableh area, between the two provinces.

Officials blamed "sabotage" for a power outage that affected much of Latakia province.

A curfew has also been imposed in Syria's confessionally divided third city Homs.

The security operation "targeted remnants of Assad's militias and those who supported them", an official cited by SANA said, as he called on civilians to stay in their homes.

"All night, we heard the sounds of gunfire and explosions," said Ali, a farmer living in Jableh, describing the urban battles in his area.

"Everyone's afraid... we are trapped at home and we can't go out."

‘Under attack' 

Forces led by Sharaa's Islamist group Hayat Tahrir Al Sham launched the offensive that toppled Assad on December 8, when he fled to Russia with his family.

Syria's new security forces have since carried out extensive campaigns seeking to root out Assad loyalists from his former bastions.

Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey have reaffirmed their support for the new authorities.

Germany meanwhile urged Syria's authorities to avoid a "spiral of violence".

The 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation on Friday readmitted Syria, which was suspended in 2012, early in the civil war under Assad, following the long-time ruler's toppling.

"This decision represents an important step towards Syria's return to the regional and international communities as a free and just state," a Syrian foreign ministry statement said.

DAMASCUS — Syrian forces were clashing with gunmen loyal to an Assad-era special forces commander in Latakia on Thursday, the province's security director said, after authorities reportedly launched helicopter strikes.

The port city of Latakia and the rest of Syria's Mediterranean coast are the heartland of the ousted president's Alawite minority and were considered bastions of support during his rule.

"The armed groups that our security forces were clashing with in the Latakia countryside were affiliated with the war criminal Suhail Al Hassan, who committed the most heinous massacres against the Syrian people," the security director told state news agency SANA.

Nicknamed "The Tiger", Hassan led the country's special forces and was frequently described as Assad's "favourite soldier". He was responsible for key advances by the Assad government in 2015.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights had earlier reported "strikes launched by Syrian helicopters on armed men in the village of Beit Ana and the surrounding forests, coinciding with artillery strikes on a neighbouring village".

SANA reported that militias loyal to the ousted president had opened fire on "members and equipment of the defence ministry" near the village, killing one security force member and wounding two.

Alawite leaders later called in a statement on Facebook for "peaceful protests" in response to the air strikes, which they said had targeted "the homes of civilians".

Tensions erupted after residents of Beit Ana, the birthplace of Suhail al-Hassan, prevented security forces from arresting a person wanted for trading arms, the Britain-based Observatory said.

Security forces subsequently launched a campaign in the area, resulting in clashes with gunmen, it added.

The Observatory said it could not verify the identity or affiliation of the gunmen.

The tensions erupted after at least four civilians were killed during a security campaign in Latakia, the monitor said on Wednesday.

Security forces launched the campaign in the Daatour neighbourhood on Tuesday after an ambush by "members of the remnants of Assad militias" killed two members of the security forces, state media reported citing security sources.

Islamist rebels led by Hayat Tahrir Al Sham led a lightning offensive that toppled Assad on December 8.

The country's new security forces have since launched extensive campaigns seeking to root out Assad loyalists from his former bastions.