ENTEBBE: Sudanese rebels on Sunday released at least 125 prisoners they had captured in fighting with government forces, most of them soldiers, an AFP journalist said.
Their release was secured thanks to mediation from Uganda, while the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) played a facilitating role.
The rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) had captured the prisoners in Blue Nile and South Kordofan states, where the group has been fighting Sudanese government forces for years.
The longest-held prisoners had been captured in June 2009 and the most recent about six months ago.
While the ICRC said 125 people had been freed, Sudanese military spokesman Brig. Ahmed Khalifa Al-Shami put the number at 127 — including 109 soldiers and 18 civilians.
“The Sudanese Army recognizes this as a positive step toward achieving peace in the country,” Shami said in a statement.
Ethnic minority rebels in Blue Nile and South Kordofan have been fighting government forces since 2011, accusing President Omar Bashir’s Arab-dominated government of politically and economically marginalizing the two regions.
Fighting in the two areas and in Darfur has left tens of thousands of people dead and displaced millions.
Khartoum announced a unilateral cease-fire in June 2016 in all three conflict zones, which it extended by six months in January.
UN officials say that for years Blue Nile and South Kordofan have been no-go areas for aid officials, leaving thousands of people without access to humanitarian relief.
In a statement, the ICRC said it had “facilitated the release and repatriation of 125 people.”
The agency said it had transported the released prisoners from South Sudan to Entebbe in Uganda and onward to Sudan.
“The entire transfer operation took place over four days,” the ICRC said, adding that it had followed a request from Kampala, Khartoum, Juba and the SPLM-N.
“We are very pleased that these people will finally return to their families,” the ICRC’s head of delegation in Sudan, Gerard Peytrignet, said.
Sudan rebels free 125 prisoners captured in fighting
Sudan rebels free 125 prisoners captured in fighting
Israeli military says it acted against targets in Syria
JERUSALEM: The Israeli military said Friday that over the source of the week it had acted in Syria against targets, just days after Syrian state media reported Israeli airstrikes killed 16 people in western Syria and wounded dozens more.
“In southern Syria, the IDF targeted several terrorists who were advancing terror activities against Israel,” a statement from the military said Friday but did not give further detail.
The Israeli military rarely comments on allegations that it acts in Syria and declined to comment on a New York Times report that Israeli special forces raided a weapons manufacturing site near the Syria-Lebanon border on Sunday.
On Sunday, Syrian state news agency SANA reported that Israel launched the strikes on “a number of military sites in the central region,” without elaborating on what was struck.
Jordan’s Safadi and EU’s Borrell meet in Madrid to discuss Palestinian statehood
- Two officials discussed escalation of violence in the West Bank and efforts to halt Israeli aggression in Gaza Strip
LONDON: Jordanian Foreign Affairs Minister Ayman Safadi met in Madrid on Friday with the EU’s foreign affairs and security chief Josep Borrell.
The two men discussed an escalation of violence in the West Bank and efforts to halt Israeli aggression in the Gaza Strip, the Jordan News Agency reported.
Safadi and Borrell also spoke about wider regional developments and the development of relations between Jordan and the EU.
They met on the sidelines of a high-level meeting involving several Muslim and European countries which looked at ways to end the Israel-Hamas conflict and called for a clear schedule for the implementation of a two-state solution.
Safadi and Borrell reaffirmed their ongoing coordination and collaboration which is focused on reducing escalation in the West Bank, achieving an immediate and complete truce in Gaza, safeguarding civilians, and ensuring sufficient and sustainable humanitarian supplies reach all areas of the Strip.
Safadi warned of dire repercussions if Israel persisted in its actions in the West Bank and violation of Islamic and Christian sanctities in Jerusalem.
Deadly floods bring relief to Moroccan farmers
- The torrential rains at the weekend triggered floods that killed at least 18 people in areas of southern Morocco that straddle the Sahara desert
RABAT: When powerful thunderstorms hit Morocco’s arid south, they brought deadly floods but also provided some relief to farmers as the country grapples with its worst drought in nearly 40 years.
The torrential rains at the weekend triggered floods that killed at least 18 people in areas of southern Morocco that straddle the Sahara desert.
While the rain was devastating in part, it also brought some relief to farmers growing crops like almonds, dates and cereals.
“These rains will bring a breath of fresh air” to the south, said agronomist Mohamed Taher Srairi.
“But it has not rained elsewhere, and the country remains under a heavy structural drought.”
The unusual rainfall resulted from a tropical air mass shifting northward, according to Lhoussaine Youabd, spokesman for Morocco’s General Directorate of Meteorology.
Experts say climate change is making extreme weather, such as storms and droughts, more frequent and intense.
Morocco is one of the world’s most water-stressed nations, with frequent droughts affecting a third of the population employed in agriculture.
Near areas of the northwest African country lashed by the weekend’s rain, water levels in dams have risen and groundwater is expected to replenish.
The four Draa Oued Noun dams, which supply areas impacted by the floods in the Ouarzazate region, saw water levels increase by 19 percent to 191 million cubic meters, according to Youssef Ben Hamou, director of the agency managing the barrages.
The region of Ouarzazate, located in Morocco’s south, sits between the Atlantic Ocean, the Atlas Mountains and the Sahara.
Water levels of the large Ouarzazate dam climbed to 69 million cubic meters, roughly 70 percent of its capacity, while levels at the Fask dam rose by 10 million cubic meters in just 24 hours.
“The rains have proved to be a boon for the region, because these reserves will be able to ensure drinking water supply which remains a priority,” said Ben Hamou.
Mohamed Jalil, a water resources consultant, said the downpours would help to replenish soil saturation levels, although that usually requires rainfall over time after a long drought.
“This will bring respite to the oases, particularly for agriculture,” he said.
The psychological impact of the long-awaited rains was also significant, he said, especially after a harsh, dry summer.
The massive rainfall had “brought hope” to the drought-hit area, he said.
The Moroccan government has pledged financial aid to the flooded areas.
During a visit to Ouarzazate this week, Agriculture Minister Mohammed Sadiki announced the allocation of $4.1 million to repair damaged infrastructure, support agriculture and help those affected by the floods.
Although no further downpours are expected in the immediate future, climatologists warn that Morocco must better prepare for weather disasters driven by global warming.
Moroccans should be ready “for new phenomena whose frequency and violence are unknown, given the effects of climate change,” said Mohamed Said Karrouk, a climatology professor at Hassan II University in Casablanca.
Iran upping repression of women 2 years after Mahsa Amini’s death: UN experts
- Iranian Kurdish Mahsa Amini died while in custody, sparking nationwide protests
- UN experts say repression had stepped up noticeably since April in fresh update
Geneva: UN experts accused Iran Friday of “intensifying” its repression of women two years after Mahsa Amini’s death in custody, which sparked nationwide protests, including an apparent pattern of sentencing women activists to death.
Amini, 22, was an Iranian Kurdish woman who died three days after her arrest in Tehran in September 2022 for allegedly breaching Iran’s dress code which requires women to wear a headscarf.
Two years on, “Iran has intensified its efforts to suppress the fundamental rights of women and girls and crush remaining initiatives of women’s activism,” the independent UN fact-finding mission on Iran warned in a statement.
The UN Human Rights Council appointed the experts to investigate the deadly crackdown on nationwide protests that rocked Iran after Amini’s death.
“Although mass protests have subsided, the unabated defiance of women and girls is a continuous reminder that they still live in a system that relegates them to ‘second class citizens’,” said the experts, who do not speak on behalf of the United Nations.
In a fresh update, they said repression had stepped up noticeably since April.
State authorities had “increased repressive measures and policies” through the so-called “Noor Plan,” which encourages sanctioning rights violations against women and girls who flout the mandatory hijab, they said.
“Security forces have further escalated pre-existing patterns of physical violence, including beating, kicking, and slapping women and girls who are perceived as failing to comply with the mandatory hijab laws and regulations,” the team said in a statement.
They also warned that state authorities had enhanced surveillance for hijab compliance, including in private spheres like vehicles, and with a range of tools, including drones.
At the same time, a new “Hijab and Chastity” bill, which is in the final stages of approval, provides for harsher penalties for women who do not wear the mandatory hijab — including soaring fines, long prison sentences and travel bans.
In their statement, the experts expressed particular concern about “an apparent new pattern of sentencing to death of women activists... following their convictions for national security offenses.”
“Over the last two years, the death penalty and other domestic criminal law provisions, in particular those related to national security, have been used as instruments to terrorize and deter Iranians from protesting and expressing themselves freely,” they said.
Tunisians set to protest against authoritarianism ahead of upcoming presidential election
- Newly-formed ‘Tunisian Network for the Defense of Rights and Freedoms’ hopes to draw attention to what it has called a surge in authoritarianism
TUNIS: Tunisians are expected to take to the streets on Friday to denounce the tumult that’s plagued the country’s upcoming election, with candidates arrested, kicked off the ballot or banned from politics for life.
The newly-formed “Tunisian Network for the Defense of Rights and Freedoms” hopes to draw attention to what it has called a surge in authoritarianism.
“Protesting this Friday is a reaction to the violation of rights and freedoms we’re seeing in Tunisia today. The other reason is seeing some citizens being deprived of their right to run in the presidential vote,” said Mohieddine Lagha, Secretary-General of the Tunisian League for Human Rights.
The North African country’s Independent High Authority for Elections has sparred with judges over which candidates will be allowed to appear on the ballot in the October 6 election.
The commission’s detractors have accused it of lacking independence and acting on behalf of President Kais Saied, who appoints its members.
The commission has rejected organizations that have applied to be election observers, and it has said it will not add three candidates to the ballot who won court appeals challenging the authority’s earlier rejections.
That includes former health minister Abdellatif Mekki, a former member of the Islamist movement Ennahda now running with his own party, Work and Accomplishment. Mekki was arrested in July on charges his attorneys said were political and banned from politics for life.
A court ordered the election authority to put him on the ballot last month, and his candidacy was reinstated for a second time earlier this week. ISIE dismissed the first court’s ruling and has not commented on the most recent one.
“We called for a large participation of the population in this protest as we’re hoping to pressure for a massive mobilization,” Ahmed Neffati, Mekki’s campaign manager, said.
“Tunisians won’t let go of their right for a free and democratic election,” he added.
Despite expectations of a barely-contested vote, Saied has upended Tunisian politics in recent months. Last month he sacked the majority of his cabinet, and his critics decried a wave of arrests and gag orders on leading opposition figures as politically driven.
The International Crisis Group last week said Tunisia was in a “deteriorating situation,” and Human Rights Watch called on the election commission to reinstate the candidates.
“Holding elections amid such repression makes a mockery of Tunisians’ right to participate in free and fair elections,” said Bassam Khawaja, the group’s deputy Middle East and North Africa director.
