CAIRO: President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said he would not allow a water crisis to happen in Egypt, stressing that the authorities are fully prepared to confront any such problem the country may face.
El-Sisi added that he did not want to talk more about the Egyptian preparations. The Egyptian president was most likely referring to a possible shortage of Egypt’s share of water from the Nile if Ethiopia starts storing water behind its Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam without reaching an agreement with Egypt on the rules of the operation of both the dam and water.
Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri said during a news conference with his Irish counterpart in Cairo that his country has not received a reply from Ethiopia or Sudan so far to Egypt’s request to involve the World Bank as a neutral party in the stalled negotiations between the three countries on the dam crisis.
Shoukri presented this proposal to the Ethiopian authorities during his visit to Addis Ababa in December last year. “Egypt’s goal is not just to maintain its share of water in the context of the stalled negotiations with Ethiopia and Sudan, but to develop ways to exploit this share and to maximize efficiency in exploiting Egypt’s water shares as well,” El-Sisi said as he inaugurated some construction projects on Monday.
El-Sisi announced that three months ago Egypt started the implementation of the largest cost-effective water treatment and desalination project in its history.
He said the cost of this program exceeds 70 billion Egyptian pounds ($3.96 billion). “Water for agriculture and drinking must be secured for all Egyptians.”
He added that the implementation of these mega projects for water treatment “is not for luxury,” rejecting claims that these projects have no direct benefit for citizens. He stressed that “preventing the occurrence of a water crisis comes first in the interest of the citizen.”
The Egyptian president pointed out that desalination plants being established depend on the triple water treatment technology, and that water treated under such technology has no risk on the citizens’ lives.
On the other hand, Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri said Sudan’s decision to withdraw its ambassador for consultation is fully evaluated by Cairo as taking action against this development.
Shukri stressed that Egypt values its relations with Sudan, but that the direction of relations needs to be corrected so that there will be no negative effects on the peoples of the two nations.
We are ready to confront any water crisis: El-Sisi
We are ready to confront any water crisis: El-Sisi
Aoun seeks French support for Israeli troop withdrawal
- Joseph Aoun called for pressure to be applied to halt daily violations and to work toward the release of Lebanese prisoners within the specified timeframe
- Israeli forces are positioned behind earthen barriers and barbed wire, with a warning sign reading Do not approach, at the entrances of Yaroun and Maroun Al-Ras
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun has urged France to back demands for a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanese border areas occupied during the recent conflict.
In a meeting with the French Ambassador to Lebanon, Herve Magro, on Wednesday, Aoun also called for “pressure to be applied to halt daily violations and to work toward the release of Lebanese prisoners within the specified timeframe.”
Israeli forces are still entrenched behind an earthen barrier created a week ago west of the town of Mays Al-Jabal, while Lebanese troops are deployed dozens of meters away.
Several houses in the town of Rab El Thalathine in the Marjeyoun district were destroyed by Israeli troops a day after homes in the town of Yaroun in the Bint Jbeil district were also razed.
Israeli forces are positioned behind earthen barriers and barbed wire, with a warning sign reading “Do not approach,” at the entrances of Yaroun and Maroun Al-Ras.
They are supported by snipers hidden among the trees, while elements of the Lebanese army are deployed just meters away.
Israeli forces are expected to withdraw from the border area on Feb, 18, following a 23-day extension of the withdrawal deadline with the approval of the US.
Wajih Zahwi, 7, from Majdal Selem, on Wednesday died from head injuries sustained in an Israeli military drone strike on Jan. 29 while civilians were returning to their villages. The attack was in violation of the ceasefire agreement.
The border municipality of Ramiyah said that it was “informed by the military intelligence that two army posts will be established within the town. Additionally, efforts will be made to open several secondary roads, and on Friday, engineering teams from the army will conduct surveys and inspections for remnants of the Israeli aggression in the area.”
Meanwhile, a foreign photojournalist working in the Middle East claimed that she was threatened by the Israeli army in southern Lebanon.
Courtney Bonneau posted on Instagram that at around 11:45 a.m. on Tuesday, while she was in a building in the town of Taybeh in southern Lebanon, where the Lebanese army has redeployed, the Israeli army called UNIFIL to inform her and another photographer that if they did not vacate the premises, they would be shot.
As part of military and security agencies’ efforts to combat illegal weapons, the General Directorate of Internal Security Forces said that it had seized a four-wheel-drive vehicle driven by a 43-year-old Lebanese man, whose name was not disclosed.
Weapons and ammunition were found after the vehicle was stopped at the Dahr Al-Baydar checkpoint on the Bekaa-Beirut road. The man admitted bringing the weapons from Syria, and another Lebanese man accompanying him was also arrested.
Military police on Tuesday also intercepted a weapons shipment in Wardaniyeh that was being moved from a Hezbollah warehouse to an undisclosed location.
In a related development, Iran’s Tasnim News Agency reported that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has designated Hezbollah Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem as his “representative for Hussainiyah affairs and religious administration in Lebanon.”
Qassem is believed to have remained in Iran since assuming his new role.
His appointment was announced by Hezbollah on Oct. 29, following the death of Hassan Nasrallah in Israeli airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs.
Nasrallah had served as Khamenei’s representative in Lebanon before his death.
Indonesia ‘strongly rejects’ Trump’s Gaza plan
- “Indonesia strongly rejects any attempt to forcibly displace Palestinians or alter the demographic composition of the Occupied Palestinian Territory,” the Foreign Ministry said
- Jakarta also called on the international community to respect international law
JAKARTA: Indonesia “strongly rejects” the proposal made by President Donald Trump for the United States to assume control of Gaza and resettle Palestinians elsewhere, the Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.
Trump announced the stunning proposal Tuesday, without detailing his plans on how to move out nearly two million Palestinians from the enclave, claiming that the US will rebuild the territory and turn it into the “the Riviera of the Middle East.”
Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, has consistently called for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“Indonesia strongly rejects any attempt to forcibly displace Palestinians or alter the demographic composition of the Occupied Palestinian Territory,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement posted on social media X, formerly Twitter.
Jakarta also called on the international community to respect international law, “particularly the right to self-determination of the Palestinians as well as their inalienable right to return to their homeland,” the ministry added.
Trump claimed there was support from the “highest leadership” in the Middle East and upped pressure on Egypt and Jordan to take displaced Palestinians — despite both countries flatly rejecting the idea.
Jakarta said addressing the “root cause” of the conflict, namely “the illegal and prolonged Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territory,” was the only path to achieve a lasting peace in the region, the statement added.
Kuwaiti emir appoints new defense minister
- Sheikh Abdullah Ali Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah took the oath as minister of defense
LONDON: Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Meshaal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah appointed a new defense minister to succeed Sheikh Fahad Youssef Saud Al-Sabah.
During the swearing-in ceremony at Bayan Palace on Tuesday, Sheikh Abdullah Ali Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah took the oath as minister of defense.
Sheikh Fahad has assumed the position of first deputy prime minister and minister of interior following an emiri decree, according to the Kuwait News Agency.
Crown Prince Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah and other senior Kuwaiti officials attended the ceremony.
Deportation from occupied territory ‘strictly prohibited’: UN on Gaza
- “The right to self-determination is a fundamental principle of international law and must be protected by all states,” Turk said
GENEVA: UN rights chief Volker Turk insisted Wednesday that deporting people from occupied territory was strictly prohibited, after US President Donald Trump’s shock proposal for the United States to take over Gaza and resettle its people.
“The right to self-determination is a fundamental principle of international law and must be protected by all states, as the International Court of Justice recently underlined afresh. Any forcible transfer in or deportation of people from occupied territory is strictly prohibited,” Turk said in a statement.
Iraq restoration work brought back Mosul’s ‘identity’: UNESCO chief
- The director-general of United Nations heritage body UNESCO hailed the completion of their restoration work in the Iraqi city of Mosul, saying on Wednesday it had allowed it to recover its “identity”
MOSUL: The director-general of United Nations heritage body UNESCO hailed the completion of their restoration work in the Iraqi city of Mosul, saying on Wednesday it had allowed it to recover its “identity” after destruction inflicted by the Daesh group.
Mosul’s historic Al-Nuri Mosque with its famed leaning minaret, nicknamed Al-Hadba or “hunchback,” has been restored using its original brickwork, years after it was reduced to rubble under Daesh group rule.
“I am very happy to stand before you and before the minaret over 850 years old... and the fact to have it here behind me in front of you is like history coming back... is like the identity of the city coming back,” Audrey Azoulay said.
The mosque and minaret were destroyed in June 2017 during the battle to oust IS from Mosul, and Iraq’s authorities accused the jihadists of planting explosives before their withdrawal.
They are the latest landmarks in Mosul to be restored by UNESCO, whose teams have worked for five years to revive several sites.
“The reconstruction of this minaret needed to reuse nearly 45,000 original bricks,” the UNESCO chief said, adding that traditional techniques were used to rebuild the iconic structure.
Azouley said residents had wanted the rebuilt minaret to resemble the original. “The people of Mosul wanted it tilted,” she said.
Eighty percent of Mosul’s old city was destroyed in the fight against IS.
UNESCO restoration project also include Al-Tahira and Our Lady of the Hour churches and 124 heritage houses.
Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani will inaugurate the restored landmarks in the coming weeks.
