Tag Archives: civil war

Saudi Arabia announced that it was opening the consular section in its embassy in the Afghani capital of Kabul as of Tuesday to provide consular services to Afghani citizens, state news agency (SPA) reported. In August, Saudi evacuated all of its diplomats from the embassy in Kabul after the Taliban …

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Sunday lauded the latest decision by the Court of Cassation on the flurry of lawsuits and legal motions that had paralyzed the probe into the catastrophic Beirut port blast. “The unanimous decision of the general commission of the Court of Cassation confirmed the rightfulness of …

Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Friday decried anew the presence of what he called selectivity and politicization in the Beirut port blast probe as well as in the judiciary’s response to legal motions filed by the accused ex-PM and former ministers. “The judicial decisions of the past two days …

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi has warned that the postponement of the upcoming parliamentary elections would lead to “the total destruction of the country.” “It is very necessary to hold the parliamentary and presidential elections next year, or else we will face the total destruction of the country,” al-Rahi said. Moreover, …

The Saudi-led coalition battling the Houthis in Yemen had on Friday said it destroyed three drones launched towards southern Saudi Arabia and a fourth over Yemen. It said the group “failed to launch two ballistic missiles” and they fell inside Yemen. Saudi Aramco, the state oil firm, said that it …

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati announced on Friday that he will soon call a cabinet session, saying that the situation in the country is “very difficult and the people should not have to deal with more crises.” His remarks came after protesters stormed the Ministry of Health building in Beirut …

The United States condemns the detention of Yemeni staff of the U.S. embassy in Sanaa by the Houthi movement and demands their immediate release, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement on Friday. Dozens of Yemeni citizens and their family members have been detained and mistreated by the …

The U.N. envoy to Afghanistan on Wednesday delivered a bleak assessment of the situation following the Taliban takeover, saying that an affiliate of the Islamic State group has grown and now appears present in nearly all 34 provinces. U.N. Special Representative Deborah Lyons told the U.N. Security Council that the …

Israel launched two missiles targeting an empty building in southern Damascus from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, Syrian state TV said early on Wednesday. It said one of the missiles was shot down and there were no losses. There was no immediate confirmation from Israel on the strike. Source: Reuters

The Japanese government has no plans at the moment to reopen its embassy in Syria’s capital Damascus, foreign minister HAYASHI Yoshimasa said citing security reasons. “The resumption of the embassy’s operations in Damascus will be decided while closely monitoring the local situation,” Hayashi told Arab News Japan at a press …

President Michel Aoun on Monday said “efforts are underway to address the situation that erupted between Lebanon, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and a number of Gulf countries.” He added that the efforts are based on “Lebanon’s keenness to establish the best relations with the brotherly Arab countries, especially KSA …

Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, son of slain Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi, registered Sunday to run in December presidential polls seen as crucial to helping the country turn a page on a decade of conflict. Libya’s first ever direct presidential poll, with a first round on December 24, is the climax of …

Yemen’s warring sides clashed south of the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah late on Saturday, after Iranian-backed Houthi fighters moved into territory ceded by forces allied to a Saudi-led coalition, military sources and witnesses said. Yemeni forces backed by the United Arab Emirates had on Friday announced they were …

Leaders of both the US Senate and House Foreign Relations committees on Friday condemned the Iranian-backed Houthis who recently breached the US Embassy in Sana’a, Yemen, and are holding staff hostage. Washington closed the embassy in 2015 amid escalating violence in the country and American diplomats left the country. However …

Qatar is not considering normalising ties with Syria and hopes other countries will be discouraged from taking further steps with President Bashar al-Assad’s government, foreign minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said on Friday. His comments at a joint news conference with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington …

Yemeni forces under a Saudi-led coalition said on Friday they had withdrawn from around the main Red Sea port of Hodeidah held by their foes the Houthis to help deter the Iran-aligned group’s advances in other parts of Yemen. A joint statement by United Arab Emirates-backed forces, including the Giants …

President Michel Aoun on Friday told a visiting EU official that Lebanon has “suspicions” that some forces are seeking to “keep” Syrian refugees in Lebanon. “Lebanon hosts more than 1.5 million displaced Syrians and around 500,000 Palestinian refugees, and this hosting has left numerous repercussions on the Lebanese economy and …

Information Minister George Kordahi announced Friday that he would consider resigning if Saudi Arabia offers Lebanon “guarantees” on reversing the measures it has taken since the eruption of the diplomatic row related to his remarks on the Yemen war. “I’m not clinging to any ministerial post and I don’t want …

Syria has signed a deal with United Arab Emirates firms for the construction of a solar power plant near Damascus, state media said Thursday, in a sign of growing economic ties. The accord comes two days after UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan met President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus …

Guns supplied by Iran to its Houthi allies in Yemen are being smuggled across the Gulf of Aden to Somalia, according to a Geneva-based think tank, where al Qaeda-linked al Shabab insurgents are battling a weak and divided government. The Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime said its study drew …

The United States is concerned by a meeting between the Emerati foreign minister and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Tuesday, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said, urging states in the region to carefully consider “atrocities” perpetrated by Assad. The meeting was a sign of improving ties between Assad and a …

The US on Monday called for Ethiopian rebel forces to halt their offensive towards the capital Addis Adaba. Speaking at the US Security Council, US ambassador Linda Thomas Greenfield said the war waged by “angry belligerent men victimizing women and children has to stop.” She called on the Tigray People’s …

Syria’s state media said on Monday that its air defences intercepted an Israeli missile attack on sites in its central and coastal regions. State media had said earlier that air defences were intercepting “hostile targets” over the countryside around the city of Homs, after explosions were heard over Homs and …

Saudi Arabia must realize that “the approach of besiegement and pressures on Lebanon will not achieve any results,” Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman has said. The spokesman, Said Khatibzadeh, added that holding a new round of Iranian-Saudi talks hinges on “Riyadh showing more seriousness.” Khatibzadeh’s remarks are related to the diplomatic …

Libya’s government has rejected a decision by the country’s presidential council to suspend the foreign minister over allegations of monopolizing foreign policy. The standoff between the two bodies is likely to increase political tensions in the North African county less than seven weeks before planned elections. It also comes a …

The United States has called on Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies to restore relations with Lebanon, saying the struggling nation needed international support. “Our position is that diplomatic channels should remain open if we are to seek to improve the humanitarian conditions of the Lebanese people,” State Department spokesman …

Israeli air strikes hit positions held by the Syrian government and its pro-Iranian allies near Damascus overnight, a war monitor said on Wednesday. It was the second Israeli attack to target areas near the capital in four days. Syrian state news agency SANA confirmed the raids and said they caused …

Expecting a possible siege, pro-government forces in central Yemen are preparing to defend Marib city, their last northern stronghold, against advancing Houthi fighters bent on taking full control of one of Yemen’s key energy-producing regions. Should Marib governorate fall to the Houthis it would deal a blow to the military …

Israel launched an aerial attack with a number of missiles targeting an area on the outskirts of the Syrian capital of Damascus, Syrian state TV said early on Wednesday citing a military source. It added the attack resulted in some material damage. There was no immediate comment from Israeli officials. Source: English …

Embattled Information Minister George Kordahi has announced that the diplomatic crisis with Saudi Arabia “has turned into an issue of national dignity.” “I totally understand and feel the plight of the Lebanese abroad and their fear of any measures that might target them, but the matter has turned into an …

Yemen’s Houthis on Sunday put up posters in support of a Lebanese minister whose criticism of the Saudi-led war in Yemen sparked a diplomatic row between Lebanon and Gulf states. Saudi Arabia has expelled Lebanon’s envoy and recalled its ambassador from Beirut, with Bahrain and Kuwait following suit. The UAE …

Prime Minister Najib Miqati met Monday with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani and the two discussed the bilateral relations between the two countries. The Qatari leader affirmed that he will dispatch Qatar’s Foreign Minister to Beirut soon to find ways to support Lebanon and to address the Lebanon-Gulf …

Information Minister George Kordahi on Sunday stressed that he will not resign despite the growing diplomatic crisis with Saudi Arabia and the Gulf countries. In remarks to al-Jadeed television, Kordahi emphasized that such a move is “out of the question.” The crisis erupted Friday when Saudi Arabia gave Lebanon’s ambassador …

Embattled Information Minister George Kordahi on Saturday visited Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi in Bkirki and left without making a statement, amid a diplomatic storm sparked by his remarks on Yemen’s war. Asked upon his arrival whether he intends to resign, Kordahi told reporters that he would wait to “see what …

Saudi Arabia is seeking Washington’s help in bolstering its defences as it comes under intense U.S. pressure to end a blockade of Yemeni ports that its Houthi enemies say is an obstacle to ceasefire talks, two sources with knowledge of efforts to end the Yemen war and a U.S. official …

Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Wednesday distanced himself from comments made by the country’s Information Minister George Kordahi suggesting that the Iran-backed Houthis were “defending themselves” in Yemen. Kordahi had been responding to a question from the host of “Barlamanasha3b,” an Al Jazeera-affiliated youth TV show, asking about his …

The Houthi militia’s planned attacks using explosive-rigged boats in the Red Sea pose a threat to global maritime trade lines in the area, Yemen’s information, culture and tourism minister Moammar Al-Eryani warned. The Arab coalition earlier said it destroyed four Houthi boats loaded with explosives during an airstrike in Yemen’s …

Pope Francis on Sunday called on the global community to resolve the Libyan migrant crisis, even as EU leaders disagree on how to best manage flows of migrants crossing to Europe. “I express my closeness to the thousands of migrants, refugees and also others in need of protection in Libya. …

Head of Hizbullah’s Loyalty to Resistance bloc MP Mohammed Raad has lashed out at Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea for refusing to appear before the Military Court over the deadly Tayyouneh incidents. “Those who have honor must apologize when they do a mistake. The perpetrator knows that he made a …

The Arab coalition on Saturday said it had destroyed four explosive-laden Houthi boats in Yemen’s western province of Hodeidah. A coalition statement said warplanes targeted Al-Jabanah coastal base, east of Hodeidah city, where the vessels had been prepared to attack international ships sailing through the Red Sea. “The coalition efforts …

Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government benefited from variations in foreign currency exchange rates, boosting state coffers with at least $100 million in international aid money over the last two years, according to new research. The currency manipulation deprives Syrians, most of them impoverished after a decade of war, of much …

A senior al-Qaida leader was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Syria, the Pentagon said. The strike comes two days after a base in southern Syria, used by the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group, was assaulted. “A U.S. airstrike today in northwest Syria killed senior al-Qaida leader Abdul Hamid …

The leader of the Christian Lebanese Forces party denied on Thursday his group has fighters, dismissing accusations by Hezbollah that it has a militia and seeks civil war as the fallout of deadly violence in Beirut continues to roil Lebanon. Already suffering a devastating economic meltdown, Lebanon has been overshadowed …

The United Arab Emirates’ crown prince received a rare telephone call from Syrian President Bashar Assad in which they discussed strengthening relations and cooperation, Syria’s state media reported Wednesday. The call between Assad and UAE’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed came as some Arab countries are improving relations with Syria, …