Gulf states can deliver ‘transformational results’ for the world: Blinken

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken attends breakfast with the Foreign Ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) on September 18, 2023 in New York. Right is GCC Secretary General Jasem Mohamed Al-Budaiwi. (AFP)
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Updated 18 September 2023
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Gulf states can deliver ‘transformational results’ for the world: Blinken

  • US secretary of state meets with Gulf Cooperation Council foreign ministers
  • Washington ‘has invested in our relationships with you, and we’re invested for the long haul’

NEW YORK: Gulf states’ building of a “more stable, secure and integrated region” could reap “genuinely transformational results” for the world, the US secretary of state said at a meeting on the sidelines of the 78th UN General Assembly.

Antony Blinken was speaking on Monday at a meeting with the foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council states.

US-GCC partnerships have “benefited people in the Gulf, and also people around the world,” he said.

Blinken highlighted the signing of an agreement at the G20 several weeks ago to create a rail, shipping, digital and energy corridor spanning the Indo-Pacific, the Middle East and Europe. Saudi Arabia and the UAE were among the major signatories of the deal.

The Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment reflects the US conviction that “a more integrated Gulf and a more integrated Middle East can deliver genuinely transformational results for the region and for the world,” Blinken said.

He also lauded the role of Saudi Arabia in forging a UN-led truce in Yemen, as well as the Kingdom’s partnership in offloading oil from the FSO Safer tanker in the Red Sea last month, which averted an environmental disaster.

Both the US and GCC remain committed to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Blinken said, adding that Washington is working to advance normalization with Tel Aviv among countries in the Middle East.

The US “has invested in our relationships with you and with your countries, and we’re invested for the long haul,” he told the GCC foreign ministers.

Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Al-Busaidi highlighted the GCC’s insistence on “welcoming a dialogue with everyone,” saying “substantive progress” can be built on the back of agreement and convergence.

He added that the GCC states intend to “take further steps” in enhancing the bloc’s relationship with the US.

GCC Secretary-General Jassem Al-Budaiwi noted the improvements that had been made in the relationship since the last meeting, which took place in Riyadh in June.

He listed the greatest regional challenges as “nuclear proliferation, threats to maritime security and freedom of navigation, and political instability and internal conflicts in Yemen, Sudan, Syria, Lebanon, Afghanistan and elsewhere.”

Al-Budaiwi added: “The Palestinian-Israeli conflict remains unresolved, with frequent flare-ups threatening peace and security, and preventing it from reaching its full potential.”

He said the GCC’s strategic partnership with the US “is at the forefront of our priorities, and this meeting underscores that fact.”

He added that there are more than 10 GCC-US working groups and task forces “covering areas such as integrated air and missile defense, maritime security, cybersecurity, military logistics, military training exercises, special operations, counterterrorism, trade, investment and other areas of cooperation.”

Al-Budaiwi said he hopes for further meetings of all working groups by the end of the year, as part of efforts to achieve common objectives in the realms of cybersecurity, military and defense capabilities.


Israel’s attorney general tells Netanyahu to reexamine extremist security minister’s role

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Israel’s attorney general tells Netanyahu to reexamine extremist security minister’s role

  • National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir criticized for interfering in police matters

JERUSALEM, Nov 14 : Israel’s Attorney General told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reevaluate the tenure of his far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, citing his apparent interference in police matters, Israel’s Channel 12 reported on Thursday.
The news channel published a copy of a letter written by Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara in which she described instances of “illegitimate interventions” in which Ben-Gvir, who is tasked with setting general policy, gave operational instructions that threaten the police’s apolitical status.
“The concern is that the government’s silence will be interpreted as support for the minister’s behavior,” the letter said.
Officials at the Justice Ministry could not be reached for comment and there was no immediate comment from Netanyahu’s office.
Ben-Gvir, who heads a small ultra-nationalist party in Netanyahu’s coalition, wrote on social media after the letter was published: “The attempted coup by (the Attorney General) has begun. The only dismissal that needs to happen is that of the Attorney General.”


Israeli forces demolish Palestinian Al-Bustan community center in Jerusalem

Updated 56 min 41 sec ago
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Israeli forces demolish Palestinian Al-Bustan community center in Jerusalem

  • Al-Bustan Association functioned as a primary community center in which Silwan’s youth and families ran cultural and social activities

LONDON: Israeli forces demolished the office of the Palestinian Al-Bustan Association in occupied East Jerusalem’s neighborhood of Silwan, whose residents are under threat of Israeli eviction orders. 

The Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Culture condemned on Thursday the demolition of Al-Bustan by Israeli bulldozers and a military police force. 

The ministry said that “(Israeli) occupation’s arrogant practices against cultural and community institutions in Palestine, and specifically in Jerusalem, are targeting the Palestinian identity, in an attempt to obliterate it.” 

Founded in 2004, the Al-Bustan Association functioned as a primary community center in which Silwan’s youth and families ran cultural and social activities alongside hosting meetings for diplomatic delegations and Western journalists who came to learn about controversial Israeli policies in the area. 

Al-Bustan said in a statement that it served 1,500 people in Silwan, most of them children, who enrolled in educational, cultural and artistic workshops. In addition to the Al-Bustan office, Israeli forces also demolished a home in the neighborhood belonging to the Al-Qadi family. 

Located less than a mile from Al-Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem’s southern ancient wall, Silwan has a population of 65,000 Palestinians, some of them under threat of Israeli eviction orders.  

In past years, Israeli authorities have been carrying out archaeological digging under Palestinian homes in Silwan, resulting in damage to these buildings, in search of the three-millennial “City of David.” 


Israeli strike kills 12 after hitting civil defense center in Lebanon’s Baalbek, governor tells Reuters

Updated 14 November 2024
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Israeli strike kills 12 after hitting civil defense center in Lebanon’s Baalbek, governor tells Reuters

  • Eight others, including five women, were also killed and 27 wounded in another Israeli attack

CAIRO: An Israeli strike killed 12 people after it hit a civil defense center in Lebanon’s city of Baalbek on Thursday, the regional governor told Reuters adding that rescue operations were ongoing.
Eight others, including five women, were also killed and 27 wounded in another Israeli attack on the Lebanese city, health ministry reported on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Lebanese civil defense official Samir Chakia said: “The Civil Defense Center in Baalbek has been targeted, five Civil Defense rescuers were killed.”
Bachir Khodr the regional governor said more than 20 rescuers had been at the facility at the time of the strike.


‘A symbol of resilience’ — workers in Iraq complete reconstruction of famous Mosul minaret

Updated 14 November 2024
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‘A symbol of resilience’ — workers in Iraq complete reconstruction of famous Mosul minaret

  • Workers complete reconstruction of 12th-century minaret of Al-Nuri Mosque
  • Tower and mosque were blown by Daesh extremists in 2017

High above the narrow streets and low-rise buildings of Mosul’s old city, beaming workers hoist an Iraqi flag into the sky atop one of the nation’s most famous symbols of resilience.

Perched precariously on scaffolding in high-vis jackets and hard hats, the workers celebrate a milestone in Iraq’s recovery from the traumatic destruction and bloodshed that once engulfed the city.

On Wednesday, the workers placed the last brick that marked the completed reconstruction of the 12th-century minaret of Al-Nuri Mosque. The landmark was destroyed by Daesh in June 2017 shortly before Iraqi forces drove the extremist group from the city.

Known as Al-Hadba, or “the hunchback,” the 45-meter-tall minaret, which famously leant to one side, dominated the Mosul skyline for centuries. The tower has been painstakingly rebuilt as part of a UNESCO project, matching the traditional stone and brick masonry and incorporating the famous lean.

“Today UNESCO celebrates a landmark achievement,” the UN cultural agency’s Iraq office said. “The completion of the shaft of the Al-Hadba Minaret marks a new milestone in the revival of the city, with and for the people of Mosul. 

“UNESCO is grateful for the incredible teamwork that made this vision a reality. Together, we’ve created a powerful symbol of resilience, a true testament to international cooperation. Thank you to everyone involved in this journey.”

The restoration of the mosque is part of UNESCO’s Revive the Spirit of Mosul project, which includes the rebuilding of two churches and other historic sites. The UAE donated $50 million to the project and UNESCO said that the overall Al-Nuri Mosque complex restoration will be finished by the end of the year.

UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay celebrated the completion of the minaret by posting “We did it!” on social media site X.

She thanked donors, national and local authorities in Iraq and the experts and professionals, “many of whom are Moslawis,” who worked to rebuild the minaret.

“Can’t wait to return to Mosul to celebrate the full completion of our work,” she said.

The Al-Nuri mosque was built in the second half of the 12th century by the Seljuk ruler Nur Al-Din. 

After Daesh seized control of large parts of Iraq in 2014, the group’s leader, Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, declared the establishment of its so-called caliphate from inside the mosque.

Three years later, the extremists detonated explosives to destroy the mosque and minaret as Iraqi forces battled to expel them from the city. Thousands of civilians were killed in the fighting and much of Mosul was left in ruins.


US hands Lebanon draft truce proposal -two political sources

Updated 14 November 2024
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US hands Lebanon draft truce proposal -two political sources

  • The US has sought to broker a ceasefire that would end hostilities between its ally Israel and Hezbollah

BEIRUT: The US ambassador to Lebanon submitted a draft truce proposal to Lebanon’s speaker of parliament Nabih Berri on Thursday to halt fighting between armed group Hezbollah and Israel, two political sources told Reuters, without revealing details.
The US has sought to broker a ceasefire that would end hostilities between its ally Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah, but efforts have yet to yield a result. Israel launched a stepped-up air and ground campaign in late September after cross-border clashes in parallel with the Gaza war.