Saudi Arabia to offer ‘home-grown’ solutions to regional challenges at Arab League summit: Analysts 

Special Delegates attend the Arab Foreign Ministers Preparatory Meeting ahead of the 32nd Arab League Summit in Jeddah on May 17, 2023. (AFP)
Delegates attend the Arab Foreign Ministers Preparatory Meeting ahead of the 32nd Arab League Summit in Jeddah on May 17, 2023. (AFP)
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Updated 21 May 2023
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Saudi Arabia to offer ‘home-grown’ solutions to regional challenges at Arab League summit: Analysts 

Saudi Arabia to offer ‘home-grown’ solutions to regional challenges at Arab League summit: Analysts 
  • Jeddah summit was preceded by Saudi-led initiatives aimed at building a unified Arab position on regional crises
  • Analysts say the Kingdom’s ascent to regional authority sets this year’s summit apart from previous meetings

AMMAN: Saudi Arabia’s coastal city of Jeddah is hosting the 32nd Arab League summit at a time of change and upheaval in many parts of the Arab world. It also coincides with a desire for greater unity and sense of purpose among members of the pan-Arab group.

According to analysts who spoke to Arab News ahead of the event, Saudi Arabia’s growing authority and its support for “home-grown” solutions to regional problems have provided much of the impetus for this collective call for cooperation.

The summit is happening in the shadow of a deadly conflict and humanitarian emergency in Sudan. Fresh tensions between Israelis and Palestinians are also expected to feature prominently in the discussions.

There will no doubt be some positive developments, including progress on resolving the war in Yemen. This is also the first Arab League summit attended by the Syrian leadership since its suspension in 2011, marking the country’s reintegration into the Arab fold.

Overall, there is a pervasive mood of optimism prevailing at the summit, which analysts say will not be merely a “ceremonial” affair or “a meeting for meeting’s sake” as in previous years, but a practical and proactive gathering to offer leadership on multiple regional files.

“Since its establishment in 1945, all previous Arab League summits had been marred by regional crises and much disagreement within the pan-Arab body to the point that many of those meetings had been either canceled or yielded no tangible outcomes,” Omar Ayasrah, a Jordanian lawmaker and political analyst, told Arab News.

“But the summit in Jeddah seems to be different. It has been preceded by a number of Saudi-led initiatives and practical steps aimed first at laying down positive grounds for the meeting and consequently building a unified Arab position on regional crises and the necessary collective framework to address them.”

For Ayasrah, it is Saudi Arabia’s ascent to regional authority, its keenness to alleviate tensions among Arab states, and its aim to solidify a unified Arab front on the world stage that set this year’s summit apart from previous editions.

“A Saudi-led project to formulate home-grown solutions to regional crises will be the theme of the summit in Jeddah,” he said.

Echoing Ayasrah’s remarks, geopolitical analyst Amer Sabaileh says that the simple act of holding the summit in Jeddah makes the occasion more “important, glamorous and rewarding.”




Smoke rises above buildings in Khartoum, as violence between two rival Sudanese generals continues, on May 17, 2023. Khartoum was again rocked by battles on May 17, more than a month into a brutal war that has made "more than half" of the already impoverished country in need of aid, according to the United Nations. (AFP)

Furthermore, “the Saudis are involved in all issues,” he said, highlighting the Kingdom’s “tremendous” diplomatic efforts ahead of the summit to build an Arab consensus and set out a well-defined agenda for the meeting.

Although less optimistic about the outcomes of the gathering, Samih Maaytah, Jordan’s former minister of media, also expects it to be different from past gatherings, citing, in particular, the reintegration of Syria.

The 22-member Arab League agreed to reinstate Syria earlier this month, ending a 12-year suspension imposed in response to the Bashar Assad regime’s crackdown on nationwide protests in 2011, which later escalated into a brutal civil war.

The formulation of an Arab-led plan to end the conflict will likely feature prominently on the summit agenda.




An Israeli soldier aims his rifle at a Palestinian man during clashes in which Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian residents and shops in the town of Huwara in the occupied West Bank on October 13, 2022. (AFP/File Photo)

“The major components of the road map for Syria have been agreed upon in Jeddah and Amman,” said Ayasrah. “I think the summit in Jeddah will outline the mechanism for implementation.”

During these preparatory meetings, attended by the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Iraq and Syria, Damascus pledged to combat illicit drug production and trafficking and to launch practical steps to ensure the safe voluntary return of refugees.

“The summit in Jeddah will push for a political solution to the Syrian crisis to be formulated from within the Arab League,” Maaytah said. “Arabs are taking the lead on Syria.”

The euphoria marking Syria’s return to the Arab fold will likely be tempered, however, by the situation in Sudan, where the Sudanese Armed Forces are locked in combat with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

“This will have a negative impact on the summit,” said Maaytah. “Arab leaders meeting in Jeddah will be faced by the crisis in Sudan, fully realizing that it is a conflict that will not come to an end until one of the warring parties is completely defeated.”

According to analysts, Arab leaders meeting in Jeddah will call on Sudan’s feuding parties to engage in dialogue and resume the Saudi-hosted talks to end the conflict that has killed hundreds of people and sent hundreds of thousands fleeing to neighboring countries.

Analysts also expect the latest clashes between Israel and Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, Israeli activities in Jerusalem and the West Bank, and the policies of Israel’s hardline government to feature on the agenda.

“Arabs will also offer peace during the summit and will reaffirm the two-state solution proposed in the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative,” said Ayasrah.

The Arab Peace Initiative, proposed by Saudi Arabia, calls for an end to the decades-old conflict and the normalization of relations between Israel and the entire Arab world in exchange for an independent Palestinian state based on the pre-1967 borders. The Arab League re-adopted the plan in 2007.




Deputy Minister for International Multilateral Affairs Dr. Abdulrahman Al-Rassi chaired the meeting of the representatives and senior officials for the Foreign Ministers Preparatory Meeting for the 32nd session of the Arab Summit. (Twitter/@KSAmofaEN)

“Although little space is left for political solutions to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict as a result of the Israeli government and society both leaning more toward the extreme right, a re-emphasis of the two-state solution according to relevant international resolutions should be made during the summit,” said Maaytah.

In spite of these challenges, the mood surrounding the summit remains overwhelmingly positive, with a widely felt sense that several long-running issues are finally being addressed by the Arab community itself.

“Reaching consensus on the major topics and then acting accordingly is what matters most during the Jeddah summit,” said Sabaileh.

“Reactivating joint Arab action and regaining momentum to initiatives will be the major achievements of the summit.”

 


Tunisia detains Abir Moussi, prominent opponent of president

Tunisia detains Abir Moussi, prominent opponent of president
Updated 18 sec ago
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Tunisia detains Abir Moussi, prominent opponent of president

Tunisia detains Abir Moussi, prominent opponent of president

TUNIS: Tunisia’s public prosecutor detained Abir Moussi, a prominent opponent of President Kais Saied, after she was arrested at the entrance to the presidential palace on Tuesday, lawyers said, the latest arrest targeting Saied’s political rivals.

“Moussi was detained for 48 hours in charges of processing personal data, obstructing the right to work, and assault intended to cause chaos,” lawyer Aroussi Zgir said.

Authorities were not immediately available to comment.

Police this year have detained more than 20 leading political figures, accusing some of plotting against state security. Saied has described those detained as “terrorists, traitors and criminals.”

An assistant of Moussi said in a video on Facebook that Moussi was “kidnapped” in front of the Carthage Palace.

Moussi leads the Free Constitutional Party and is a supporter of late president Zine El Abidine ben Ali who was toppled by mass protests in 2011.

In recent months, the party has organized protests against Saied. Moussi accuses Saied of ruling outside the law, and said that she is ready to make personal sacrifices to save Tunisia.

In front of the La Goulette police station, dozens of angry Moussi supporters protested, shouting slogans against Saied amid a heavy police contingent who cordoned off the building.

Earlier on Tuesday, Moussi said in a video that she went to the presidential reception office to file an appeal in local elections expected at the end of the year. She said that this step was necessary so that she could later file an appeal in the Administrative Court.

Saied, a retired law professor who was elected president in 2019, shut down the elected parliament in 2021 and moved to rule by decree, actions his opponents described as a coup. Saied has said he needed to save Tunisia from years of chaos, denying his actions were a coup.

On Friday, jailed opposition leader Rached Ghannouchi, another critic of Saied, began a three-day hunger strike. Later five other prominent opposition figures also went on hunger strike in prison.


Paramilitary shells kill 10 civilians in Khartoum: activists

Paramilitary shells kill 10 civilians in Khartoum: activists
Updated 32 min 49 sec ago
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Paramilitary shells kill 10 civilians in Khartoum: activists

Paramilitary shells kill 10 civilians in Khartoum: activists

PORT SUDAN, Sudan: Paramilitary artillery that struck a mosque and other civilian buildings in the Sudanese capital killed 10 people on Tuesday, local activists said.
It is the latest incident in which multiple civilians have been killed in Khartoum during nearly six months of war between Sudan’s army chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and his former deputy, Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.
A local resistance committee said “10 civilians were killed and 11 wounded in artillery shelling by the Rapid Support Forces in Al-Samrab neighborhood,” across the Blue Nile river to the north of central Khartoum.
The committee is one of many groups that used to organize pro-democracy protests and now provide assistance during the war.
“Some shells fell on a mosque, a health center, and citizens’ homes,” the committee said by telephone to AFP in the eastern city of Port Sudan.
On September 12 a medical source told AFP that “17 civilians were killed” by paramilitaries in northern Khartoum, where witnesses reported RSF shelling.
Those deaths came two days after at least 51 people were killed and dozens wounded in air strikes on a southern Khartoum market, according to United Nations human rights chief Volker Turk.
The worst of the violence has been concentrated in Khartoum and the western region of Darfur, but North Kordofan — a crossroads between the capital and Darfur — has also seen fighting.
Nearly 7,500 people have been killed in Sudan since the conflict broke out on April 15, according to a conservative estimate from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data project.
Battles have displaced almost 4.3 million people within Sudan, in addition to around 1.2 million more who have fled across borders, UN figures show.


Leap into future: Qatar begins construction on mega gas field expansion

Leap into future: Qatar begins construction on mega gas field expansion
Updated 03 October 2023
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Leap into future: Qatar begins construction on mega gas field expansion

Leap into future: Qatar begins construction on mega gas field expansion
  • Qatar is set to raise its output of LNG by 60 percent or more to 126 million tons a year by 2027

RAS LAFFAN, Qatar: Qatar’s state-owned energy giant began construction Tuesday on a project to expand production from the world’s biggest natural gas field through an export terminal on the country’s northeast coast.

There has been mounting demand for Qatari gas as European consumer nations have scrambled to replace lost Russian deliveries since President Vladimir Putin ordered a full-scale war on Ukraine early last year.

The emir presided over a glitzy ceremony to lay the foundation stone for the North Field expansion at Ras Laffan, QatarEnergy’s onshore gas processing base 80 km north of Doha.

Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that the project “falls within our strategy toward strengthening Qatar’s position as a global producer of liquefied natural gas.”

Qatari Energy Minister Saad Al-Kaabi called the project a “leap toward our country’s leadership in the field of energy.”

By increasing production at the field, which extends under the Gulf into Iranian territory, Qatar is set to raise its output of LNG by 60 percent or more to 126 million tons a year by 2027.

LNG from the expansion is expected to start coming on line in 2026.

Asian countries led by China, Japan and South Korea have been the main market for Qatari gas, but it has also been increasingly sought by European countries since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine early last year.

Chairman of France’s TotalEnergies, Patrick Pouyanne told reporters the North Field Expansion was a “huge project,” coming as demand for LNG from Europe increases.

“We need more supply. That’s clear. Still the market is fragile,” Pouyanne said. “This project is a major one and will give some relief to this market,” he added.

Total signed a $1.5 billion deal with QatarEnergy in September last year giving it a 9.3 percent stake in Qatar’s North Field South project, the second phase of the field’s expansion.

In June 2022, the French energy giant became the first partner in the first phase of the expansion, North Field East, investing more than $2 billion for a 25 percent share.

In June, Doha announced a 27-year deal to supply 4 million tons of gas a year to the China National Petroleum Corporation. The agreement matches the terms of a 2022 deal with China’s Sinopec that was the longest ever seen in the industry.

Britain’s Shell, Italy’s ENI and US giants ConocoPhillips and ExxonMobil have also signed deals to partner in the expansion.

Qatar is one of the world’s top LNG producers, alongside the United States, Australia and Russia.

Qatar Energy estimates the North Field holds about 10 percent of the world’s known natural gas reserves.


Teen girl in coma after Iran metro assault: rights group

Teen girl in coma after Iran metro assault: rights group
Updated 03 October 2023
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Teen girl in coma after Iran metro assault: rights group

Teen girl in coma after Iran metro assault: rights group
  • The teenager, named as Armita Garawand, had been badly injured in a run-in on the Tehran metro with female morality police officers
  • This has already been denied by the Iranian authorities who say that the girl “fainted” due to low blood pressure

PARIS: An Iranian girl aged 16 has been left in a coma and is being treated in hospital under heavy security after an assault on the Tehran subway, a rights group said on Tuesday.
The Kurdish-focused rights group Hengaw said the teenager, named as Armita Garawand, had been badly injured in a run-in on the Tehran metro with female morality police officers.
This has already been denied by the Iranian authorities who say that the girl “fainted” due to low blood pressure and that there was no involvement of the security forces.
Iranian authorities remain on high alert for any upsurge of social tension just over a year after the death in custody of Mahsa Amini who had been arrested for allegedly violating the strict dress rules for women.
Her death sparked several months of protests that rattled Iran’s clerical leadership and only dwindled in the face of a crackdown that according to activists has seen thousands arrested and hundreds killed.
Hengaw said that Garawand was left with severe injuries after being apprehended by agents of the so-called morality police at the Shohada metro station in Tehran on Sunday.
It said she was being treated under tight security at Tehran’s Fajr hospital and “there are currently no visits allowed for the victim, not even from her family.”
Though a resident of Tehran, Garawand hails from the city of Kermanshah in Kurdish-populated western Iran, Hengaw said.
Maryam Lotfi, a journalist from the Shargh daily newspaper, sought in the aftermath of the incident to visit the hospital but was immediately detained. She was subsequently released, it added.
The case has become the subject of intense discussion on social media, with a purported video of the incident said by some to show the teen, with friends and apparently unveiled, being pushed into the metro by female police agents.
Masood Dorosti, managing director of the Tehran subway system, denied there was “any verbal or physical conflict” between the student and “passengers or metro executives.”
“Some rumors about a confrontation with metro agents... are not true and CCTV footage refutes this claim,” Dorosti told state news agency IRNA.
The IranWire news site, based outside Iran, cited a source as saying she had sustained a “head injury” after being pushed by the officers.
A year after Amini’s death, Iranian authorities have launched a renewed push to crack down on women defying the Islamic republic’s strict dress rules for women, including the mandatory hijab.
The New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) said women and girls “face increased violence, arbitrary arrests and heightened discrimination after the Islamic Republic re-activated its forced-veiling police patrols.”


Torture scandal at Syrian military hospital

Torture scandal at Syrian military hospital
Updated 03 October 2023
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Torture scandal at Syrian military hospital

Torture scandal at Syrian military hospital
  • Sick prisoners abused and left to die, new report by rights watchdog says

JEDDAH: Prisoners were routinely abused, tortured and left to die at a Syrian military hospital in Damascus, according to a damning report published on Tuesday.

Sick prisoners sent from detention centers for treatment at the Tishreen Military Hospital rarely received any medical attention. Instead, security forces and even medical and administrative staff inflicted “brutal torture” on detainees, including physical and psychological violence.

The report by the Association of Detainees and the Missing in Sednaya Prison, a watchdog in Turkey, covers abuses from the start of Syria’s civil war in 2011 to 2020, but the authors said they believed many of the practices persisted today.
Inmates arriving at the hospital were first held “in the same room where bodies of detainees were collected,”and sick detainees were forced to help transport prisoners’ corpses, the report said.
No postmortems were conducted and the hospital issued “death certificates with false information,” often giving heart attack, kidney failure or stroke as the cause of death. Sometimes inmates “between life and death”were placed among the corpses and left to die or even killed.
A survivor of the abuse, Abu Hamza, 43, was taken to the jail at the Tishreen hospital three times during his incarceration, but saw a doctor only once. “Prisoners were afraid to go to the hospital, because many did not return,” he said. “Those who were very sick would be left to die in the hospital lockup.”

The report said a jail officer would sometimes kill very sick detainees, or prisoners would be ordered to take part in doing so.
Tishreen hospital plays a “central role in enforced disappearances, covering up torture, falsifying the causes of death and other abuses amounting to crimes against humanity,” said watchdog co-founder Diab Serriya.