Kuwait ruler urges ‘immediate ceasefire’ for Gaza at 45th GCC Summit

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman being received by Kuwait Emir Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. (X: spagov)

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Updated 01 December 2024

Arab News

December 01, 2024 17:48

Kuwait ruler urges ‘immediate ceasefire’ for Gaza at 45th GCC Summit

The summit aims to underscore the importance of collective action among nations in the region
Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah echoed support for a two-state solution on Palestinian issue

Updated 01 December 2024

Arab News

December 01, 2024 17:48

RIYADH: Kuwait’s Emir Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah has called for an immediate ceasefire and has renewed condemnation of the Israeli occupation of Palestine.

In his opening speech for the 45th GCC Summit being hosted by his country, the Kuwait ruler also called international community “to play its role in implementing Security Council resolutions on Gaza.”

“Civilians in Gaza must be protected and provided with aid,” he said.

“We reiterate our unwavering support to Palestine and to end the Israeli occupation, attain all their political rights, and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, in accordance with international resolutions,” he stressed.

“We also commend Qatar, Egypt, and the US for their mediation efforts in achieving a ceasefire in Gaza and welcome the ceasefire in Lebanon as a step toward de-escalation.”

The Emir also echoed support for a two-state solution on the Palestinian issue, and reiterated “We support Saudi efforts to push for two-state solution.”

Gulf leaders earlier arrived in Kuwait ahead of the 45th GCC summit, which aimed to underscore the importance of collective action among nations in the region.

GCC Secretary General Jassem Al-Budaiwi, said the summit was yet another milestone in the chain of accomplishments for attaining the aspired pan-GCC merger, in a statement published by Kuwaiti state news agency KUNA.

It is rather a platform for the leaders to coordinate their visions and stands toward regional and international issues, said Al-Budaiwi, revealing that leaders would look into strategic files designed to strengthen regional security and stability, in addition to backing up sustainable economic development in the six countries, members of the bloc.

“We recall with pride the developments and innovations that all Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries have reached, becoming an example to be followed in security, development, flourishing as well as a destination for regional excellence in overall progress,” according to Saudi Ambassador to Kuwait Prince Sultan bin Saad Al-Saud, in a separate KUNA report.

The Saudi envoy affirmed that the GCC had carried out its international duties within the frame of the international community, championing wisdom and balance in the regional and international arenas.

The GCC is a beacon of hope in the region and it has worked as a unifier of efforts by all GCC citizens, he added.

Among those who have arrived in Kuwait, which hosts the event, are Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Qatar’s Ruler Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, Bahraini Crown Prince and Prime Minister Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, UAE Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Presidential Court Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al-Nahyan and Oman’s Deputy Prime Minister for the Council of Ministers Sayyed Fahad bin Mahmoud Al-Said.

The Saudi official delegation includes Minister of State and Member of the Council of Ministers Prince Turki bin Mohammad, Minister of Sports Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki, Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan, Minister of State, Member of the Council of Ministers and National Security Advisor Dr. Musaid Al-Aiban, Minister of Finance Mohammad Al-Jadaan, Minister of Transport Saleh Al-Jasser and other senior officials, KUNA reported.

Syria de facto leader Al-Sharaa phones congratulations to Lebanon’s newly elected President Aoun

Updated 22 min 2 sec ago

Agencies

January 12, 2025 02:49

Syria de facto leader Al-Sharaa phones congratulations to Lebanon’s newly elected President Aoun

Call followed talks between Al-Sharaa and Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati in Damascus
Al-Sharaa said he hoped Joseph Aoun’s presidency would usher in an era of stability in Lebanon

Updated 22 min 2 sec ago

Agencies

January 12, 2025 02:49

DAMASCUS: Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa called newly elected Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on the phone and congratulated him for assuming the presidency, Syria’s ruling general command reported on Sunday.

The phone call followed talks between Al-Sharaa and Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, who was in the Syrian capital on Saturday with a mission to restore ties between the two neighbors.

Mikati’s visit was the first by a Lebanese head of government to Damascus since the Syrian civil war started in 2011.

Previous Lebanese governments refrained from visits to Syria amid tensions at home over militant group Hezbollah’s support for then ruler Bashar Assad during the conflict.

Syria’s new leader Al-Sharaa said he hoped to turn over a new leaf in relations, days after crisis-hit Lebanon finally elected a president this week following two years of deadlock.

“There will be long-term strategic relations between us and Lebanon. We and Lebanon have great shared interests,” Sharaa said in a joint press conference with Mikati.

It was time to “give the Syrian and Lebanese people a chance to build a positive relationship,” he said, adding he hoped Joseph Aoun’s presidency would usher in an era of stability in Lebanon.

Sharaa said the new Syria would “stay at equal distance from all” in Lebanon, and “try to solve problems through negotiations and dialogue.”

Mikati said ties should be based on “mutual respect, equality and national sovereignty.”

Syria was the dominant power in Lebanon for three decades under the Assad family, with president Hafez Assad intervening in its 1975-1990 civil war and his son Bashar Assad only withdrawing Syria’s troops in 2005 following mass protests triggered by the assassination of Lebanese ex-prime minister Rafic Hariri.

After mending ties with Damascus, his son Saad Hariri was the last Lebanese premier to visit the Syrian capital in 2010 before the civil war.

Taking office on Thursday, Aoun swore he would seize the “historic opportunity to start serious... dialogue with the Syrian state.”

With Hezbollah weakened after two months of full-scale war with Israel late last year and Assad now gone, Syrian and Lebanese leaders seem eager to work to solve long-pending issues.

Among them is the presence of some two million Syrian refugees Lebanon says have sought shelter there since Syria’s war started.

Their return to Syria had become “an urgent matter in the interest of both countries,” Mikati said.
Lebanese authorities have long complained that hosting so many Syrians has become a burden for the tiny Mediterranean country which since 2019 has been wracked by its worst-ever economic crisis.
Mikati also said it was a priority “to draw up the land and sea borders between Lebanon and Syria,” calling for creation of a joint committee to discuss the matter.
Under Assad, Syria repeatedly refused to delimit its borders with its neighbor.
Lebanon has hoped to draw the maritime border so it can begin offshore gas extraction after reaching a similar agreement with Israel in 2022.

The Lebanese premier said both sides had stressed the need for “complete control of (land) borders, especially over illicit border points, to stem smuggling.”
Syria shares a 330-kilometer (205-mile) border with Syria with no official demarcation at several points, making it porous and prone to smuggling.
Syria imposed new restrictions on the entry of Lebanese citizens last week, following what Lebanon’s army said was a border skirmish with unnamed armed Syrians.
Lebanese nationals had previously been allowed into Syria without a visa.
Several foreign dignitaries have headed to Damascus in recent weeks to meet the new leaders, with a delegation from Oman also in town earlier Saturday.
Unlike other Arab Gulf states, Oman never severed diplomatic ties with Assad during the war.
Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani visited Damascus on Friday, while France’s Jean-Noel Barrot and his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock did last week.
Shaibani has visited Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Jordan this month, and said Friday he would head to Europe soon.
Syria’s war has killed more than half a million people and ravaged the country’s economy since starting in 2011 with the brutal crackdown of anti-Assad protests.

Topics: Fall of Assad Battlefield Lebanon Joseph Aoun Ahmed Al-Sharaa

Eight killed, 50 injured in explosion of gas station, gas storage tank in Yemen’s Al-Bayda, sources say

A Yemeni walks and looks through debris and rubble at a destroyed gas station in the northwestern Hajjah province. (AFP)

Updated 12 January 2025

Reuters

January 12, 2025 02:35

Eight killed, 50 injured in explosion of gas station, gas storage tank in Yemen’s Al-Bayda, sources say

Updated 12 January 2025

Reuters

January 12, 2025 02:35

CAIRO: Eight people were killed and 50 others injured in an explosion of a gas station and a gas storage tank in Yemen’s Al-Bayda province, a medical source and a local official said.

Topics: Yemen

Russia eyes Libya to replace Syria as Africa launchpad

Updated 12 January 2025

AFP

January 12, 2025 01:19

Russia eyes Libya to replace Syria as Africa launchpad

On December 18 the Wall Street Journal, citing Libyan and American officials, said there had been a transfer of Russian radars and defense systems from Syria to Libya, including S-300 and S-400 anti-aircraft batteries

Updated 12 January 2025

AFP

January 12, 2025 01:19

PARIS: The fall of Russian ally Bashar Assad in Syria has disrupted the Kremlin’s strategy not only for the Mediterranean but also for Africa, pushing it to focus on Libya as a potential foothold, experts say.
Russia runs a military port and an air base on the Syrian coast, designed to facilitate its operations in the Mediterranean, the Middle East, and sub-Saharan Africa, especially the Sahel, Sudan, and the Central African Republic.
However, this model is in jeopardy with the abrupt departure of the Syrian ruler.
Although Syria’s new leader, Ahmed Al-Sharaa, has called Russia an “important country,” saying “we do not want Russia to leave Syria in the way that some wish,” the reshuffling of cards in Syria is pushing Russia to seek a strategic retreat toward Libya.
In Libya, Russian mercenaries already support Khalifa Haftar, a field marshal controlling the east of the country, against the Tripoli-based Government of National Unity (GNU) which has UN recognition and is supported by Turkiye.
“The goal is notably to preserve the ongoing Russian missions in Africa,” said Jalel Harchaoui at the RUSI think tank in the UK.
“It’s a self-preservation reflex” for Russia which is anxious “to mitigate the deterioration of its position in Syria,” he told AFP.
In May 2024, Swiss investigative consortium “All Eyes On Wagner” identified Russian activities at around 10 Libyan sites, including the port of Tobruk, where military equipment was delivered in February and April of last year.
There were around 800 Russian troops present in February 2024, and 1,800 in May.
On December 18 the Wall Street Journal, citing Libyan and American officials, said there had been a transfer of Russian radars and defense systems from Syria to Libya, including S-300 and S-400 anti-aircraft batteries.

Since Assad’s fall on December 8, “a notable volume of Russian military resources has been shipped to Libya from Belarus and Russia,” said Harchaoui, adding there had been troop transfers as well.
Ukrainian intelligence claimed on January 3 that Moscow planned “to use Sparta and Sparta II cargo ships to transport military equipment and weapons” to Libya.
Beyond simply representing a necessary replacement of “one proxy with another,” the shift is a quest for “continuity,” said expert Emadeddin Badi on the Atlantic Council’s website, underscoring Libya’s role as “a component of a long-standing strategy to expand Moscow’s strategic foothold in the region.”

According to Badi, “Assad offered Moscow a foothold against NATO’s eastern flank and a stage to test military capabilities.”
Haftar, he said, presents a similar opportunity, “a means to disrupt western interests, exploit Libya’s fractured politics, and extend Moscow’s influence into Africa.”
The Tripoli government and Italy, Libya’s former colonial master, have expressed concern over Russian movements, closely observed by the European Union and NATO.
Several sources say the United States has tried to persuade Haftar to deny the Russians a permanent installation at the port of Tobruk that they have coveted since 2023.
It seems already clear the Kremlin will struggle to find the same level of ease in Libya that it had during Assad’s reign.
“Syria was convenient,” said Ulf Laessing, the Bamako-based head of the Sahel program at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.
“It was this black box with no Western diplomats, no journalists. They could basically do what they wanted,” he told AFP.
“But in Libya, it will be much more complicated. It’s difficult to keep things secret there and Russian presence will be much more visible,” he said.
Moscow will also have to contend with other powers, including Turkiye, which is allied with the GNU, as well as Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, who are patrons of Haftar.
In Libya, torn into two blocs since the ouster of longtime leader Muammar Qaddafi in February 2011, “everybody’s trying to work with both sides,” said Laessing.
Over the past year, even Turkiye has moved closer to Haftar, seeking potential cooperation on economic projects and diplomatic exchanges.
Russia will also be mindful to have a plan B should things go wrong for its Libyan ally.
“We must not repeat the mistake made in Syria, betting on a local dictator without an alternative,” said Vlad Shlepchenko, military correspondent for the pro-Kremlin media Tsargrad.
Haftar, meanwhile, is unlikely to want to turn his back on western countries whose tacit support he has enjoyed.
“There are probably limits to what the Russians can do in Libya,” said Laessing.

Topics: Fall of Assad Libya Russia Turkiye Syria

Turkiye’s Kurdish leaders meet jailed politician as the two sides inch toward peace

Updated 12 January 2025

January 12, 2025 01:05

Turkiye’s Kurdish leaders meet jailed politician as the two sides inch toward peace

The armed conflict between the PKK and the Turkish state, which started in August 1984 and has claimed tens of thousands of lives, has seen several failed attempts at peace

Updated 12 January 2025

January 12, 2025 01:05

ISTANBUL: A delegation from one of Turkiye’s biggest pro-Kurdish political parties met a leading figure of the Kurdish movement in prison Saturday, the latest step in a tentative process to end the country’s 40-year conflict, the party said.
Three senior figures from the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party, or DEM, met the party’s former co-chairperson, Selahattin Demirtas, at Edirne prison near the Greek border.
The meeting with Demirtas — jailed in 2016 on terrorism charges that most observers, including the European Court of Human Rights, have labelled politically motivated — took place two weeks after DEM members met Abdullah Ocalan, the imprisoned head of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK.
While the PKK has led an armed insurgency against the Turkish state since the 1980s, the DEM is the latest party representing left-leaning Kurdish nationalism. Both DEM and its predecessors have faced state measures largely condemned as repression, including the jailing of elected officials and the banned of parties.
In a statement released on social media after the meeting, Demirtas called on all sides to “focus on a common future where everyone, all of us, will win.”
Demirtas credited Ocalan with raising the chance that the PKK could lay down its arms. Ocalan has been jailed on Imrali island in the Sea of Marmara since 1999 for treason over his leadership of the PKK, considered a terrorist organization by Turkiye and most Western states.
Demirtas led the DEM between 2014 and 2018, when it was known as the Peoples’ Democratic Party, or HDP, and he is still widely admired. He said that despite “good intentions,” it was necessary for “concrete steps that inspire confidence … to be taken quickly.”
One of the DEM delegation, Ahmet Turk, said: “I believe that Turks need Kurds and Kurds need Turks. Our wish is for Turkiye to come to a point where it can build democracy in the Middle East.”
The armed conflict between the PKK and the Turkish state, which started in August 1984 and has claimed tens of thousands of lives, has seen several failed attempts at peace.
Despite being imprisoned for a quarter of a century, Ocalan remains central to any chance of success due to his ongoing popularity among many of Turkiye’s Kurds. In a statement released on Dec. 29, he signaled his willingness to “contribute positively” to renewed efforts.
Meanwhile, in an address Saturday to ruling party supporters in Diyarbakir, the largest city in the Kurdish-majority southeast, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for the disbandment of the PKK and the surrender of its weapons.
This would allow DEM “the opportunity to develop itself, strengthening our internal front against the increasing conflicts in our region, in short, closing the half-century-old separatist terror bracket and consigning it to history ... forever,” he said in televised comments.
The latest drive for peace came when Devlet Bahceli, leader of the far-right Nationalist Movement Party and a close ally of Erdogan, surprised everyone in October when he suggested that Ocalan could be granted parole if he renounced violence and disbanded the PKK.
Erdogan offered tacit support for Bahceli’s suggestion a week later, and Ocalan said he was ready to work for peace, in a message conveyed by his nephew.

Topics: Turkiye Kurds

Four Daesh members, including two leaders, killed in eastern Iraq

Updated 12 January 2025

Reuters

January 12, 2025 00:15

Four Daesh members, including two leaders, killed in eastern Iraq

The caliphate collapsed in 2017 in Iraq, where it once had a base just a 30-minute drive from Baghdad, and in Syria in 2019, after a sustained military campaign by a US-led coalition

Updated 12 January 2025

Reuters

January 12, 2025 00:15

BAGHDAD: Four members of the Daesh, including two senior leaders, were killed in an airstrike carried out by Iraqi aircraft in the Hamrin Mountains in eastern Iraq, security officials said on Saturday.
The Iraqi Security Media Cell, an official body responsible for disseminating security information, said in a statement four bodies of Daesh militants were found in the area where Iraqi F-16 fighter jets carried out the strike on Friday.
Talib Al-Mousawi, an official at Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) — a grouping of armed factions originally set up to fight Daesh in 2014 that was subsequently recognized as an official security force, told Reuters the dead included two top Daesh leaders in the Diyala province in eastern Iraq.
The identity of another militant will be determined following an examination, the Security Media Cell said.
At the height of its power from 2014-2017, the Daesh “caliphate” imposed death and torture on communities in vast swathes of Iraq and Syria and had influence across the Middle East.
The caliphate collapsed in 2017 in Iraq, where it once had a base just a 30-minute drive from Baghdad, and in Syria in 2019, after a sustained military campaign by a US-led coalition.
Daesh responded by scattering in autonomous cells; its leadership is clandestine and its overall size is hard to quantify. The UN estimates it at 10,000 in its heartlands.

Topics: Iraq Daesh

Kuwait ruler urges ‘immediate ceasefire’ for Gaza at 45th GCC Summit

Kuwait ruler urges ‘immediate ceasefire’ for Gaza at 45th GCC Summit

Syria de facto leader Al-Sharaa phones congratulations to Lebanon’s newly elected President Aoun

Syria de facto leader Al-Sharaa phones congratulations to Lebanon’s newly elected President Aoun

Lebanon and Syria to strengthen border security, Lebanese PM says

Arab, international support for Lebanon pours in as Aoun set to form government

Eight killed, 50 injured in explosion of gas station, gas storage tank in Yemen’s Al-Bayda, sources say

Eight killed, 50 injured in explosion of gas station, gas storage tank in Yemen’s Al-Bayda, sources say

Tanker hit by Yemen militia that threatened Red Sea spill has been salvaged

UN envoy in rare Yemen visit to push for peace

Russia eyes Libya to replace Syria as Africa launchpad

Russia eyes Libya to replace Syria as Africa launchpad

Libya’s eastern parliament approves transitional justice law

Russia says US risks global energy instability with new sanctions

Turkiye’s Kurdish leaders meet jailed politician as the two sides inch toward peace

Turkiye’s Kurdish leaders meet jailed politician as the two sides inch toward peace

Turkiye says France must take back its militants from Syria

Erdogan expects support from Syria in Turkiye’s battle with PKK

Four Daesh members, including two leaders, killed in eastern Iraq

Four Daesh members, including two leaders, killed in eastern Iraq

US says anti-Daesh operation in Iraq kills coalition soldier

Syrian intelligence agency says it thwarted a planned Daesh attack on a Shiite shrine

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Kuwait ruler urges ‘immediate ceasefire’ for Gaza at 45th GCC Summit

Kuwait ruler urges ‘immediate ceasefire’ for Gaza at 45th GCC Summit

Syria de facto leader Al-Sharaa phones congratulations to Lebanon’s newly elected President Aoun

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