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Israel says it thwarted Hezbollah plot to kill former defense official

Israel says it thwarted Hezbollah plot to kill former defense official
A drone flies in the sky near the Israel-Lebanon border on its Israeli side, after it was launched towards Israel from Lebanon. (File/Reuters)
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Updated 17 September 2024
Reuters
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Israel says it thwarted Hezbollah plot to kill former defense official

Israel says it thwarted Hezbollah plot to kill former defense official
  • The Shin Bet agency did not name the official
  • The attempted attack was similar to a Hezbollah plot foiled in Tel Aviv a year ago
Updated 17 September 2024
Reuters
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JERUSALEM: Israel’s domestic security agency said on Tuesday that it had foiled a plot by Lebanese militant group Hezbollah to assassinate a former senior defense official in the coming days.
The Shin Bet agency did not name the official. It said in a statement that it had seized an explosive device attached to a remote detonation system, using a mobile phone and a camera, that Hezbollah had planned to operate from Lebanon.
Shin Bet said the attempted attack was similar to a Hezbollah plot foiled in Tel Aviv a year ago, without giving further details.
Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have been trading fire across the Lebanese border since October, in the worst escalation of violence there in two decades.

Topics: Lebanon Israel Lebanon-Israel border

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Morocco’s King lauds new allies in Western Sahara dispute after European court ruling

Morocco’s King lauds new allies in Western Sahara dispute after European court ruling
Updated 4 sec ago
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Morocco’s King lauds new allies in Western Sahara dispute after European court ruling

Morocco’s King lauds new allies in Western Sahara dispute after European court ruling
Updated 4 sec ago
The king noted that the United States, Spain and most recently France had backed Morocco’s autonomy plan for the disputed territory
“So it is that the French Republic supports Morocco’s sovereignty over the entire Sahara territory,” he said

RABAT: King Mohammed VI on Friday reaffirmed that settling sovereignty disputes over the Western Sahara remains the driving force behind Morocco’s foreign policy, lauding diplomatic triumphs and framing them as progress toward resolving the decades-long conflict in Morocco’s favor.
In an annual speech to members of parliament, the king noted that the United States, Spain and most recently France had backed Morocco’s autonomy plan for the disputed territory. He thanked President Emmanuel Macron for his “frank support for the ‘Moroccanness’ of the Sahara.”
“So it is that the French Republic supports Morocco’s sovereignty over the entire Sahara territory,” he said.
Mohammed VI invited Macron to visit Morocco after France shifted its position in July, a gesture reflecting how relations between Paris and Rabat have warmed.
The disputed territory, which Morocco considers to be its “southern provinces,” is among the most sensitive topics in the North African Kingdom and a common theme in royal speeches.
Morocco has pushed countries that partner with it economically and on security and managing migration to back its 2007 autonomy plan, which would grant it sovereignty over the region in question. Doing so, however, risks angering Algeria — a key player in the conflict as well as a security partner and gas supplier to many of the same countries.
The Western Sahara is a former colony that has been a lightning rod in regional politics since the 1970s. The United Nations categorizes it as among Africa’s last “non-self-governing territories” and has since 1979 considered a pro-independence movement called the Polisario Front to be a legitimate representative of the Sahrawi people.
Most of the territory is controlled by Morocco, while the Polisario operates out of refugee camps in Algeria, which supports it both financially and politically. Efforts to resolve the conflict span back to 1991, when the UN brokered a ceasefire and negotiations began over the territory’s future.
With discussions long stalled, Morocco has sought recognition among its political and economic allies while the Polisario has pursued legal routes, challenging Morocco’s claims in international courts.
The United States backed Morocco’s plan as part of an agreement that saw Morocco normalizing its ties with Israel in 2020. Countries including Saudi Arabia and 18 European Union members have since followed suit, according to Morocco’s tally.
In July, France amended its longstanding position to begin backing Morocco’s plan. Algeria subsequently withdrew its ambassador from France and its president indefinitely postponed a planned visit to Paris.
Weeks ago, Europe’s Court of Justice issued a ruling in favor of the Polisario, invalidating expired fishing and agricultural agreements between Morocco and the European Union pertaining to exports from the territory because they didn’t take the people of the Western Sahara into account.
Morocco has also recruited allies in the Middle East and Africa and struck ground on infrastructure projects including a territory-spanning highway and an Atlantic port that it plans to use to grow its influence as an Atlantic and African power.
Mohammed VI on Friday said Morocco’s African allies consider the territory “the heart of strategic continental initiatives,” including a planned pipeline extending from Nigeria and an initiative announced last year to give countries in the Sahel additional access to Atlantic trade routes.
“The fundamentals of Morocco’s position need to be explained to the small number of countries that continue to turn the logic of law on its head and deny the facts of history,” he told members of parliament.
The opening of parliament is one of the rare instances in which Mohammed VI gives public speeches. During his address, the king was flanked by his brother, Prince Moulay Rachid, and son, Prince Moulay Hassan, who is expected to succeed him.
The king spent much of the summer at a palace in the northern city of Tetouan, where he received Morocco’s central bank governor, Olympic Gold-winning runner Soufiane El Bakkali and celebrated the 25th anniversary of his ascension to the throne, according to Morocco’s state news agency.

Iran overturns death sentence for woman labor activist: media

Iran overturns death sentence for woman labor activist: media
Updated 22 min 56 sec ago
AFP
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Iran overturns death sentence for woman labor activist: media

Iran overturns death sentence for woman labor activist: media
  • “The Supreme Court... has overturned the verdict against my client, Ms Sharifeh Mohammadi,” her lawyer Amir Raisian was quoted as saying
  • Iran carries out the highest number of executions annually after China, according to rights groups including Amnesty International
Updated 22 min 56 sec ago
AFP

TEHRAN: Iran’s highest court has overturned the death sentence of a woman labor rights activist who was accused of links to an outlawed Kurdish group, local media reported Saturday.
“The Supreme Court... has overturned the verdict against my client, Ms Sharifeh Mohammadi,” her lawyer Amir Raisian was quoted as saying by the reformist Shargh daily.
He added that the case was referred for a re-trial.
Iran carries out the highest number of executions annually after China, according to rights groups including Amnesty International.
Mohammadi, 45, was sentenced to death in early July following her arrest in the northern city of Rasht, according to rights groups.
She has since been accused of being a member of the Komala party, an exiled Iraq-based Kurdish separatist group that Tehran considers to be a terrorist organization.
Tehran accused Kurdish groups in Iraq of fomenting months-long nationwide mass protests triggered by the September 2022 death in custody of Mahsa Amini.
Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd, died following her arrest over an alleged violation of the Islamic republic’s strict dress code for women.
The Islamic republic uses capital punishment for major crimes including terror convictions, murder and drug trafficking, as well as rape and sexual assault.

Topics: Iran Execution activist Sharifeh Mohammadi Kurdish

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US forces strike Daesh group in Syria

US forces strike Daesh group in Syria
Updated 46 min 34 sec ago
AFP
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US forces strike Daesh group in Syria

US forces strike Daesh group in Syria
  • US military has around 900 troops in Syria as part of the international coalition against Daesh group
Updated 46 min 34 sec ago
AFP

Washington: US forces have conducted air strikes against multiple Daesh group sites in Syria, the military said Saturday, as ally Israel battles other militants in Gaza and Lebanon.
US forces “conducted a series of airstrikes against multiple known Daesh camps in Syria in the early morning of Oct. 11,” the US Central Command said in a statement on X, using an acronym for the Islamist militant group.
“The strikes will disrupt the ability of Daesh to plan, organize, and conduct attacks against the United States, its allies and partners, and civilians throughout the region and beyond.”
The US military has around 900 troops in Syria as part of the international coalition against Daesh group.
The coalition was established in 2014 to help combat the armed group, which had taken over vast swaths of Iraq and Syria.
Anti-IS coalition forces have been targeted dozens of times with drones and rocket fire in both Iraq and Syria, as violence related to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza since last year has drawn in militants across the Middle East, including Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.
US forces have carried out multiple retaliatory strikes against militant factions in both Iraq and Syria.
In September, US forces conducted two separate strikes in Syria, killing 37 “terrorist operatives” including members of IS and Al-Qaeda affiliate Hurras Al-Din.
US Central Command said Saturday that its damage assessments were underway and “do not indicate civilian casualties.”

Topics: Syria Daesh

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Iran bans pagers, walkie-talkies on flights after Lebanon attacks

Iran bans pagers, walkie-talkies on flights after Lebanon attacks
Updated 52 min 26 sec ago
AFP
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Iran bans pagers, walkie-talkies on flights after Lebanon attacks

Iran bans pagers, walkie-talkies on flights after Lebanon attacks
  • Ban imposed weeks after deadly sabotage attacks in Lebanon which were blamed on Israel
Updated 52 min 26 sec ago
AFP

TEHRAN: Iran has banned pagers and walkie-talkies on all flights, local media reported Saturday, weeks after deadly sabotage attacks in Lebanon which were blamed on Israel.
“The entry of any electronic communication device, except mobile phones, in flight cabins or ... in non-accompanied cargo, has been banned,” ISNA news agency reported, citing the spokesman for Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization Jafar Yazerlo.
The decision came over three weeks since sabotage attacks targeting members of the Iran-allied Hezbollah group in Lebanon that saw pagers and walkie-talkies explode, killing at least 39 people.
Nearly 3,000 others were wounded in the attack, which Iran and Hezbollah blamed on Israel, including Tehran’s ambassador to Lebanon Mojtaba Amani.
Earlier this month, Dubai-based airline Emirates banned pagers and walkie-talkies onboard its planes.
Regional tensions have soared since the outbreak of the Gaza war in October last year, drawing in Iran-aligned groups from Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Yemen.
Multiple airlines have in recent weeks suspended flights to Iran following Tehran’s missile attack on Israel on October 1.
Iran fired some 200 missiles at Israel to retaliate against the killing of Tehran-aligned militant leaders in the region and a general in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.
Israel has since vowed to retaliate, with defense minister Yoav Gallant saying the response will be “deadly, precise, and surprising.”

Topics: Battlefield Lebanon Iran Israel

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Iran parliament speaker visits site of deadliest Israeli strike in central Beirut

Iran parliament speaker visits site of deadliest Israeli strike in central Beirut
Updated 12 October 2024
AFP
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Iran parliament speaker visits site of deadliest Israeli strike in central Beirut

Iran parliament speaker visits site of deadliest Israeli strike in central Beirut
  • Israeli air raid on Thursday night in the densely populated Basta area killed at least 22 people
  • Attack targeted the Iran-backed group’s security chief Wafiq Safa, but his fate remains unknown
Updated 12 October 2024
AFP

Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf on Saturday denounced Israel’s “crimes” as he visited the site of the deadliest Israeli strike on central Beirut in recent weeks, an AFP photographer said.

A source close to Hezbollah has said that the air raid on Thursday night in the densely populated Basta area, which killed at least 22 people, had targeted the Iran-backed Lebanese group’s security chief Wafiq Safa.

But neither the Israeli military nor Hezbollah confirmed that he was the target of the strike, nor did they remark on his fate.

Speaking to the press, accompanied by two Hezbollah lawmakers, Ghalibaf denounced what he called Israel’s “crimes.”

“International organizations and the UN Security Council have the capability (to stop Israel) but they are unfortunately keeping silent,” he said.

Earlier Saturday, Ghalibaf met Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, who told him his government’s priority was “to work toward a ceasefire,” Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA) said.

The premier on Friday urged the United Nations to pass a resolution calling for an “immediate” ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

Ghalibaf was also expected to meet his Lebanese counterpart Nabih Berri, a powerful Hezbollah ally, before heading to Geneva later the same day, according to Berri’s office and Iran’s state news agency IRNA.

When he visited Lebanon on Friday last week, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said his country backed efforts for a simultaneous ceasefire with Israel in both Gaza and Lebanon.

Topics: Battlefield Lebanon Iran Lebanon Israel

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