Son of murdered Palestinian cartoonist Naji Al-Ali seeks justice 30 years on

Naji Al-Ali with his youngest son Osama in London in 1986.
Updated 06 September 2017
Follow

Son of murdered Palestinian cartoonist Naji Al-Ali seeks justice 30 years on

LONDON: Murdered cartoonist Naji Al-Ali’s sons hope a new police appeal will provide fresh clues 30 years after their father was shot on a London street.
“My father was a modest man, he loved his family and he loved Palestine and his people. He was willing to go all the way in defending the rights of his people,” Khalid Al-Ali, the late cartoonist’s eldest son, told Arab News. “We didn’t ask for this appeal, but we found out there was one being planned for the 30th anniversary of the case.”
Al-Ali was shot in the back of the neck as he walked to his office in Ives Street, Knightsbridge, in the early evening of July 22, 1987. He was taken to hospital, where he remained in a coma until he died on Aug. 29.
The controversial political cartoonist worked for the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Qabas. His cartoons were drawn from his experience as a Palestinian refugee child and clearly reflected his political stance, which was often critical of Arab regimes and Israel. He had received a number of death threats in the years before his murder.
“We have been told that the investigation is now formally reopened, but the case was never closed — it was just unsolved,” said Khalid, 50, who was living with his father in London at the time of the murder.
“Unsolved cases are reviewed from time to time and the police decided to do a new appeal for information, which then led to it becoming a reopening of the investigation itself.”
Khalid hopes the case will be resolved with the new appeal.
“The inspector in charge of the case 29 years ago was fairly confident of the assassin’s identity,” he said, “so I hope that they will just close the case this time around. They had a wanted man for questioning but he was never charged and that was as far as the case got then.”
Al-Ali’s youngest son, Osama, said: “Lots of questions are unanswered and we would like to have that closure, so we are encouraged by the fact that the investigation is being reopened and we have some path toward resolution, so we know what happened.
“If anybody has any information they should come forth and reach out through the correct channels. Don’t make an assumption as to whether or not you think information is important. Let the professionals be the best judge of how important that information is.
“It is 30 years ago, it is a long time ago, memories may be cloudy. That said, anything you have may be that missing piece that’s required to get to the next step and for that, if you can come forward, we are grateful.”




Naji Al-Ali with his family.



Commander Dean Haydon, head of the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command, which is running the investigation, said: “The gunman was seen following Mr. Al-Ali for about 40 seconds before he shot him. Despite the briefness of the attack, witnesses were able to give investigators a good description of the suspect.
“We believe that he may have arranged to meet a man seen driving a silver-gray Mercedes straight after the murder. We believe that this driver was seen hiding the weapon in his coat, intending to dispose of it.
“The gun, a 7.62 Tokarev pistol, was found in open space on an estate in Paddington almost two years after the murder, on April 22, 1989.
“Specialists carried out forensic analysis of the gun, including test firing the pistol, and identified that the marks from the firing pin left on the ejected cartridge case recovered from the scene matched those left on bullets during test firing.
“An image of the pistol has also been released.”
Anyone with information is urged to call the investigation team on 020 3276 9014, or 0044 203 276 9014 if calling from outside the UK, or to remain anonymous call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. Alternatively, e-mail amazon@met.pnn.police.uk. In each, case please quote “Operation Amazon.”


Biden spoke with Netanyahu, source says; Sullivan says hostage deal very close

Smoke rises from a building destroyed in Israeli airstrike at the Bureij camp for Palestinian refugees in the central Gaza Strip
Updated 48 min 31 sec ago
Follow

Biden spoke with Netanyahu, source says; Sullivan says hostage deal very close

  • Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN’s “State of the Union” program earlier on Sunday that the parties were “very, very close” to reaching a deal

WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden spoke on Sunday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a source familiar with the matter said, as US officials race to reach a Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal before Biden leaves office on Jan. 20.
Biden and Netanyahu discussed efforts under way to reach a deal to halt the fighting in the Palestinian enclave and free the remaining 98 hostages held there, the source said.
Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN’s “State of the Union” program earlier on Sunday that the parties were “very, very close” to reaching a deal, but still had to get it across the finish line.
He said Biden was getting daily updates on the talks in Doha, where Israeli and Palestinian officials have said since Thursday that some progress has been made in the indirect talks between Israel and militant group Hamas.
“We are still determined to use every day we have in office to get this done,” Sullivan said, “and we are not, by any stretch of imagination, setting this aside.”
He said there was still a chance to reach an agreement before Biden leaves office, but that it was also possible “Hamas, in particular, remains intransigent.”
Israel launched its assault in Gaza after Hamas fighters stormed across its borders in October 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.
Since then, more than 46,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to Palestinian health officials, with much of the enclave laid to waste and gripped by a humanitarian crisis, and most of its population displaced.
Vice President-elect JD Vance told the “Fox News Sunday” program in an interview taped on Saturday that he expects a deal for the release of US hostages in the Middle East to be announced in the final days of the Biden administration, maybe in the last day or two.
President-elect Donald Trump, a staunch supporter of Israel, has strongly backed Netanyahu’s goal of destroying Hamas. He has promised to bring peace to the Middle East, but has not said how he would accomplish that.


Israel to use withheld Palestinian tax income to pay debt to state-run electric company

Updated 12 January 2025
Follow

Israel to use withheld Palestinian tax income to pay debt to state-run electric company

  • Israel withheld Palestinian Authority's sums earmarked for administration expenses in the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, 2023

JERUSALEM: Israel plans to use tax revenue it collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority to pay the PA’s nearly 2 billion shekel ($544 million) debt to state-run Israel Electric Co. (IEC), the far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Sunday.
Israel collects tax on goods that pass through Israel into the occupied West Bank on behalf of the PA and transfers the revenue to Ramallah under a longstanding arrangement between the two sides.
Since the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Smotrich has withheld sums earmarked for administration expenses in the Gaza Strip.
Those frozen funds are held in Norway and, he said at Sunday’s cabinet meeting, would instead be used to pay debt owed to the IEC of 1.9 billion shekels.
“The procedure was implemented after several anti-Israeli actions and included Norway’s unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state,” Smotrich told cabinet ministers.
“The PA’s debt to IEC resulted in high loans and interest rates, as well as damage to IEC’s credit, which were ultimately rolled over to the citizens of Israel.”
The ultranationalist Smotrich has been opposed to sending funds to the PA, which uses the money to pay public sector wages.
Israel also deducts funds equal to the total amount of so-called martyr payments, which the PA pays to families of militants and civilians killed or imprisoned by Israeli authorities.


UAE ship delivers 3,000 tonnes of relief supplies to Lebanon

Updated 12 January 2025
Follow

UAE ship delivers 3,000 tonnes of relief supplies to Lebanon

  • Items include food, essentials for women and children, winter necessities

LONDON: The second aid ship from the UAE arrived at Beirut port on Sunday, carrying 3,000 tonnes of relief supplies as part of the UAE Stands with Lebanon campaign.

The UAE launched its campaign to support Lebanon last October as Israel’s war with the Iran-backed Hezbollah escalated in the south of the country.

Nasser Yassin, Lebanon’s environment minister and head of the government’s emergency committee, and Brig. Gen. Bassem Nabulsi, the chairman of the Supreme Relief Authority, received the ship at Beirut port.

Supplies included food, essentials for women and children, winter necessities, and shelter equipment, the Emirates News Agency reported.

Sultan Mohammed Al-Shamsi, the vice chairman of the UAE Aid Agency, said that the UAE’s moral obligation to support the Lebanese people “stems from the humanitarian legacy of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyan, who dedicated himself to helping nations in need.”

The UAE announced its plan to reopen the embassy in Beirut following a phone call between the newly elected Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and the UAE’s President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, on Saturday.

The leadership in Saudi Arabia welcomed the election of Aoun after a two-year political void in Lebanon. Riyadh has dedicated efforts to help the Lebanese people cope with the devastation caused by the Israeli war and has dispatched several aid planes since 2024.


King of Jordan meets Vatican secretary of state in Amman

Updated 12 January 2025
Follow

King of Jordan meets Vatican secretary of state in Amman

  • Cardinal Pietro Parolin was in Jordan for the inauguration of the Church of John the Baptist
  • King Abdullah praises Pope Francis’s support for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip

LONDON: King Abdullah of Jordan welcomed Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, at Al-Husseiniya Palace in Amman on Sunday.

King Abdullah sent his greetings to Pope Francis during a meeting attended by several senior royal advisers and aides. Cardinal Parolin thanked King Abdullah for his support and patronage of the Christian communities in Jordan.

The Jordanian king praised the pope’s support for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, who since late 2023 have suffered the effects of an Israeli military campaign.

They agreed on the need to stop Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip, and increase the flow of humanitarian aid. They also warned of aggressive Israeli policies in occupied East Jerusalem and its effect on the Islamic and Christian holy sites, the Petra news agency reported.

Parolin on Friday attended the inauguration of the Church of John the Baptist on the east bank of the Jordan River.


15 killed in an explosion and fire at a gas station in central Yemen

An explosion at a gas station triggered a massive fire in central Yemen, killing at least 15 people, officials said Sunday.
Updated 12 January 2025
Follow

15 killed in an explosion and fire at a gas station in central Yemen

  • At least 67 others were injured, including 40 in critical condition
  • Footage circulated online showing a massive fire that sent columns of smoke into the sky and left vehicles charred and burning

CAIRO: An explosion at a gas station triggered a massive fire in central Yemen, killing at least 15 people, health officials said Sunday.
The explosion occurred Saturday at the Zaher district in the province of Bayda, the Houthi-run Health Ministry said in a statement. At least 67 others were injured, including 40 in critical condition.
The ministry said rescue teams were searching for those reported missing. It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the explosion.
Footage circulated online showing a massive fire that sent columns of smoke into the sky and left vehicles charred and burning.
Bayda is controlled by the Houthis, who have been at war with Yemen’s internationally recognized government for more than a decade.
Elsewhere in Bayda, the Houthis attacked and looted Hanaka Al-Masoud village in the Al-Qurayshiya district last week, according to the internationally recognized government. It said there were fatalities but gave no figures.
Information Minister Moammar Al-Eryani said the attack came after a weeklong siege of the village.
“This horrific attack targeted citizens’ homes and mosques, and resulted in many casualties, including women and children, and the destruction of property,” he said.
Rights activist Riyadh Al-Dubai said the Houthis detained dozens of men and looted homes, seizing valuables such as gold, money, daggers and other possessions. He said shelling by the Houthis had continued relentlessly day and night for more than five days.
The US Embassy in Yemen condemned the attack, saying in a statement that the “deaths, injuries, and wrongful detentions of innocent Yemenis perpetrated by Houthi terrorists are depriving the Yemeni people of peace and a brighter future.”
Yemen’s civil war began in 2014, when the Houthis took control of the capital, Sanaa, and much of the country’s north, forcing the government to flee to the south, then to Saudi Arabia. 
The war has killed more than 150,000 people including civilians and combatants, and in recent years deteriorated largely into a stalemate and caused one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.