UN seeks agreement on Libya vote sticking points

UN seeks agreement on Libya vote sticking points
The United Nations said Thursday it would work towards helping Libya's rival factions agree on contested points preventing long-delayed presidential and legislative elections being held in the conflict-scarred nation. (Reuters/File)
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Updated 08 June 2023
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UN seeks agreement on Libya vote sticking points

UN seeks agreement on Libya vote sticking points
  • Envoys of Libya's factions said after more than two weeks of talks in Morocco they had agreed on the legal steps required for new elections
  • The United Nations Support Mission in Libya said in a statement it "takes note" of the outcome of the Morocco talks

TRIPOLI: The United Nations said Thursday it would work toward helping Libya’s rival factions agree on contested points preventing long-delayed presidential and legislative elections being held in the conflict-scarred nation.
Early Wednesday, envoys of Libya’s factions said after more than two weeks of talks in Morocco they had agreed on the legal steps required for new elections.
But they stopped short of signing an agreement, indicating that they had differences that still need to be resolved.
Elections in the North African country had been due in December 2021 but were never organized, as disputes persisted on key issues including who should stand in the polls.
Libya has been torn by more than a decade of stop-start conflict since a 2011 revolt toppled strongman Muammar Qaddafi, with myriad militias forming opposing alliances backed by foreign powers.
The country remains split between a nominally interim government in Tripoli in the west, and another in the east backed by military strongman Khalifa Haftar.
On Thursday, the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) said in a statement it “takes note” of the outcome of the Morocco talks.
It said UNSMIL will work “to facilitate a process among all actors to address the contested elements of the electoral framework” with the aim of securing “the necessary political agreement on the path to elections.”
The UN mission urged everyone involved “in a spirit of compromise, to address all outstanding issues and create a safer and more conducive environment for the holding of elections in 2023.”
Among the contested points are the candidacy of dual nationals and soldiers.
Haftar also hold US citizenship, and his detractors accuse him of seeking to restore military dictatorship in Libya.
The UN envoy to Libya Abdoulaye Bathily did not attend the talks in Morocco, but on Thursday the UNSMIL statement urged “all players to refrain from delay tactics aimed at prolonging the stalemate.”
The UN appeal was supported by representatives in Tripoli of both the United States and the European Union.


Egypt condemns Israel’s decision to build new settlement in East Jerusalem

Egypt condemns Israel’s decision to build new settlement in East Jerusalem
Updated 06 December 2023
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Egypt condemns Israel’s decision to build new settlement in East Jerusalem

Egypt condemns Israel’s decision to build new settlement in East Jerusalem
  • First settlement plan to be fully approved by the Israeli government since 2012
  • About 700,000 Israeli settlers are living in 164 settlements and 116 outposts in the occupied West Bank

CAIRO: Egypt has condemned Israel’s decision to build a new settlement in occupied East Jerusalem.

According to left-wing Israeli organization Ir Amim, which monitors the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in Jerusalem, it is the first settlement plan to be fully approved by the Israeli government since 2012.

In a statement, Egypt’s Foreign Ministry called the move “a new blatant violation of international decisions and the UN Security Council resolutions regarding the illegitimacy of Israeli settlement in the occupied Palestinian territories.”

The ministry stressed Egypt’s categorical rejection of the Israeli settlement policies in the entire occupied territories, including East Jerusalem, and its repeated attempts to undermine the existing legal, historical, and demographic context in an effort to separate parts of the land from its Palestinian surroundings.

It demanded that Israel halt its illegal settlement activities.

The statement reiterated Egypt’s call to influential international parties, including the UN and its relevant bodies, to shoulder their responsibilities in protecting the rights of the Palestinian people and to halt unilateral Israeli settlement operations that undermine the foundations of peace.

The statement stressed the need for Israel to stop exploiting the world’s preoccupation with the war it is waging against the Palestinian people in Gaza to intensify its illegal practices in the West Bank, including settlement activities.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. It annexed the entire city in 1980 in a move never recognized by the international community.

About 700,000 Israeli settlers are living in 164 settlements and 116 outposts in the occupied West Bank, adjacent to East Jerusalem.


CNN producer Ibrahim Dahman loses nine relatives in Israeli strike on Gaza

CNN producer Ibrahim Dahman loses nine relatives in Israeli strike on Gaza
Updated 06 December 2023
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CNN producer Ibrahim Dahman loses nine relatives in Israeli strike on Gaza

CNN producer Ibrahim Dahman loses nine relatives in Israeli strike on Gaza
  • Israel resumed combat operations after a seven-day temporary truce with Hamas
  • Dahman’s childhood home in Gaza City has been destroyed in the Israeli offensive

DUBAI: CNN producer Ibrahim Dahman lost nine relatives in an Israeli air strike in northern Gaza, CNN reported.

Dahman had escaped to Egypt with his family, but on Sunday heard news that at least nine family members were killed when the building they were living in Beit Lahia took a direct hit by an Israeli strike.

His uncle, and the uncle’s wife, daughter and two grandchildren, as well as his aunt, her husband and two children perished, while at least two other relatives are in critical condition and others are still buried under the rubble.

Dahman’s childhood home in Gaza City was also destroyed in a separate strike on an adjacent building the same day, CNN reported.

“I will never be able to forget every stone and corner of the house in which I was born and raised and in which my children were born,” Dahman said in the CNN report.

“They were extremely peaceful and simple people, and their entire lives were devoted solely to work and raising their sons and daughters. They have no affiliation with any organization or group… Pray to God to have mercy on them all.”

Dahman’s brother had earlier called to tell him that his home in Gaza City, where he was born and grew up, has been reduced to ruins by the Israeli bombardment.

He had just finished renovating the apartment months before the Hamas attack, and told CNN he had fond memories living there, including celebrating his sons’ birthdays with cake and candles surrounded by family.

“Unfortunately, I left all my memories, my belongings, and the gifts that my bosses sent me at work in this house, all of which were lost under the rubble now.”

Israel’s military resumed combat operations against Hamas in Gaza last week after accusing Hamas of violating a seven-day temporary truce by firing toward Israeli territory.

The seven-day pause, which began on Nov. 24 and was extended twice, had allowed for the exchange of dozens of hostages held in Gaza for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and facilitated the entry of humanitarian aid into the shattered coastal strip.

Israel has sworn to annihilate the Palestinian militant group, which rules Gaza, in response to the Oct. 7 rampage when Hamas gunmen killed 1,200 people and took 240 hostages.


Russia’s Putin meets with UAE president in Abu Dhabi during Middle East visit

Russia’s Putin meets with UAE president in Abu Dhabi during Middle East visit
Updated 30 min 10 sec ago
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Russia’s Putin meets with UAE president in Abu Dhabi during Middle East visit

Russia’s Putin meets with UAE president in Abu Dhabi during Middle East visit
  • UAE President welcomes Russian leader at official reception held at Qasr Al-Watan

ABU DHABI: President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday landed in the UAE for a rare visit outside the former Soviet Union, UAE state media reported, as Moscow seeks to reassert itself on the global stage.

“Putin’s plane has landed in Abu Dhabi,” the state-run RIA Novosti also reported on social media, while Russian state television showed Putin being greeted by officials on the runway.

The Russian president’s plane was accompanied by a number of military aircraft to greet Putin upon entering the UAE airspace.

UAE President Sheikh Mohamed greeted Putin at an official reception held at Qasr Al-Watan. The Russian leader’s convoy was accompanied by a group of honor guards mounted on Arabian horses.

Sheikh Mohamed welcomed his “dear friend” and UAE jets greeted the Kremlin chief with a fly-past trailing the colours of Russia's flag.

The two countries’ national anthems were played and a 21-gun salute fired as part of a welcoming ceremony, WAM reported.

An Emirati air display then followed, painting the sky in the colors of the Russian flag.


Iran says it sent a capsule with animals into orbit as it prepares for human missions

Iran says it sent a capsule with animals into orbit as it prepares for human missions
Updated 06 December 2023
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Iran says it sent a capsule with animals into orbit as it prepares for human missions

Iran says it sent a capsule with animals into orbit as it prepares for human missions
TEHRAN, Iran: Iran said Wednesday it sent a capsule into orbit carrying animals as it prepares for human missions in coming years.
A report by the official IRNA news agency quoted Telecommunications Minister Isa Zarepour as saying the capsule was launched 130 kilometers (80 miles) into orbit.
Zarepour said the launch of the 500-kilogram (1,000-pound) capsule is aimed at sending Iranian astronauts to space in coming years. He did not say what kind of animals were in the capsule.
State TV showed footage of a rocket named Salman carrying the capsule into space.
Iran occasionally announces successful launches of satellites and other space crafts. In September, Iran said it sent a data-collecting satellite into space. In 2013, Iran said it sent a monkey into space and returned it successfully.
It says its satellite program is for scientific research and other civilian applications. The US and other Western countries have long been suspicious of the program because the same technology can be used to develop long-range missiles.

Iran Revolutionary Guards seize two vessels smuggling 4.5 million liters of fuel — Tasnim

Iran Revolutionary Guards seize two vessels smuggling 4.5 million liters of fuel — Tasnim
Updated 06 December 2023
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Iran Revolutionary Guards seize two vessels smuggling 4.5 million liters of fuel — Tasnim

Iran Revolutionary Guards seize two vessels smuggling 4.5 million liters of fuel — Tasnim

DUBAI: Iran’s Revolutionary Guards’ Navy have seized two vessels smuggling 4.5 million liters of fuel, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Wednesday.
Tasnim said 34 foreign crew have been detained by the Guards in the operation.
Iran, which has some of the world’s cheapest fuel prices due to heavy subsidies and the plunge in the value of its national currency, has been fighting rampant fuel smuggling by land to neighboring countries and by sea to Gulf Arab states.