Yemen’s information minister praises Saudi Arabia’s constructive, supportive stance

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In its latest project, the Saudi Program for the Development and Reconstruction constructed a 23-kilometer-long internal road rehabilitation project in the Yemeni city of Al-Ghaydah. (X: @SaudiDRPY)
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Updated 10 February 2024
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Yemen’s information minister praises Saudi Arabia’s constructive, supportive stance

RIYADH: Yemen’s Minister of Information Moammar Al-Eryani has said he appreciates Saudi Arabia’s constructive stance toward his country’s government, and its support of the Yemeni people.

He stated his thanks for the second installment of the Kingdom’s grant to support the state’s general budget, amounting to $250 million, and its transfer to the central bank in the temporary capital Aden, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Friday, citing the official Yemen News Agency.

Al-Eryani said: “This support will contribute to supporting the efforts of the Yemeni government to normalize the situation, and enable it to carry out its responsibilities, including paying the salaries of state employees, recovering the national economy, restoring it to its balance, and stabilizing the national currency.

“This step comes in the context of the continuous support that the Kingdom provides to Yemen through grants, bank deposits, grants of oil derivatives, and development projects and initiatives implemented by the Saudi Program for the Development and Reconstruction of Yemen, and the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center.”

The minister also gave his appreciation for the generous and unlimited support provided by the Kingdom under the leadership of King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

He added: “The support is an expression of the firm position in support of the Presidential Leadership Council and the legitimate government in the country.”


Detained Tunisian opponents demand public trial in ‘plot against state’ case

Updated 41 min 45 sec ago
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Detained Tunisian opponents demand public trial in ‘plot against state’ case

  • Around 40 people are facing charges of “conspiracy against internal and external state security” and “belonging a terrorist group“
  • With the trial set to begin on March 4, judicial authorities have scheduled a remote hearing for eight of the defendants

TUNIS: Several jailed Tunisian opposition figures demanded a public trial, their relatives and lawyers said Thursday on their behalf at a press conference.
Around 40 people — including prominent politicians, lawyers, and media personalities — are facing charges of “conspiracy against internal and external state security” and “belonging a terrorist group.”
A number were detained in a wave of arrests in February 2023, after President Kais Saied had dubbed them “terrorists.”
With the trial set to begin on March 4, judicial authorities have scheduled a remote hearing for eight of the defendants, which their lawyers and relatives said was unfair.
They include politician Jawhar Ben Mbarek, Islamist-inspired Ennahdha party leader Abdelhamid Jelassi, and Issam Chebbi, a leader of the opposition National Salvation Front.
“We want a public trial, neither remote nor behind closed doors,” Ben Mbarek wrote in a letter read by his father, leftist activist Ezzeddine Hazgui, at the press briefing in Tunis.
“We are certain of our innocence, and if the regime shuts the courtroom doors to the public, it’s because they are ashamed of their fabricated case,” he added, denouncing what he said was “judicial harassment” against politicians, unionists and activists.
Ridha BelHajj, a former minister also detained, echoed the demand for a transparent hearing.
“Our trial on March 4 must be public, with our physical presence in court, and open to the press and people to guarantee fairness,” he wrote.
Lawyer Dalila Msaddek, from the detainees’ defense committee, said that while many are in custody, some remain free pending trial, while others have fled abroad.
The case has also named Bochra BelHajj Hmida, a former member of parliament and human rights activist now living in France, along with National Salvation Front coalition leader Ahmed Nejib Chebbi and lawyer Ayachi Hammami, both prominent critics of President Kais Saied.


US aid cuts force UNICEF to reduce Lebanon nutrition programs, official says

Updated 28 February 2025
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US aid cuts force UNICEF to reduce Lebanon nutrition programs, official says

  • “We have been forced to suspend or cut back or drastically reduce many of our programs and that includes nutrition programs,” UNICEF’s deputy representative in Lebanon said
  • “The assessment revealed a grim picture of children’s nutrition situation, particularly in the Baalbeck and Bekaa governorates

GENEVA: US aid cuts have forced the UN children’s agency UNICEF to suspend or scale back many programs in Lebanon, with more than half of children under the age of two experiencing severe food poverty in the country’s east, a UNICEF official said on Friday.
“We have been forced to suspend or cut back or drastically reduce many of our programs and that includes nutrition programs,” UNICEF’s deputy representative in Lebanon, Ettie Higgins, told reporters in Geneva via video link from Beirut.
More than double the number of children faced food shortages in the eastern Bekaa and Baalbek regions of the country compared to two years ago, according to a UNICEF report that studied the impact of 14 months of hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel that began in October 2023.
“The assessment revealed a grim picture of children’s nutrition situation, particularly in the Baalbeck and Bekaa governorates, which remained densely populated when they were repeatedly targeted by air strikes,” said Higgins.
Nearly 80 percent of families were in need of urgent support and 31 percent of households did not have enough drinking water, putting them at risk of disease, the report found.
UNICEF raised alarm about the impact of US aid cuts and a broader decline in global humanitarian funding.
“More than half a million children and their families (in Lebanon) risk losing critical cash support from UN agencies this month. These cuts would strip the most vulnerable of their last lifeline, leaving them unable to afford even the most basic necessities,” Higgins added.
Only 26 percent of UNICEF’s 2025 Lebanon appeal is funded.
A ceasefire ended the conflict in Lebanon in November, which began when Hezbollah opened fire on Israel on October 8, 2023 in support of its Palestinian ally Hamas. Some 3,800 people were killed and more than a million people were displaced by Israeli air strikes in Lebanon, while tens of thousands of Israelis were displaced in northern Israel.
President Donald Trump ordered a 90-day pause on all foreign aid in January to carry out a review to ensure all the projects were aligned with his “America First” policy. On Wednesday his administration said it was cutting more than 90 percent of the US Agency for International Development’s aid contracts.


Kurdish militants in Iraq, Syria must lay down weapons, Erdogan’s party says

Updated 28 February 2025
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Kurdish militants in Iraq, Syria must lay down weapons, Erdogan’s party says

  • The Syrian Kurdish YPG has said Ocalan’s message did not apply to them
  • AK Party spokesman Omer Celik said the call would advance the government’s ambitions of a “terror-free Turkiye” if heeded

ANKARA: All Kurdish militants in Iraq and Syria, including US-allied Syrian Kurdish forces, must lay down their weapons after the peace call from the jailed leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), Turkiye’s ruling AK Party said on Friday.
Thursday’s call from PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan for the group to disarm and disband could potentially lead to ending a 40-year conflict and have far-reaching political and security consequences for the region.
The PKK has not yet reacted to the call, but the Syrian Kurdish YPG, the spearhead of a key US ally against Daesh in Syria that Ankara views as an extension of the PKK, has said Ocalan’s message did not apply to them.
Speaking to reporters in Istanbul, AK Party spokesman Omer Celik said the call would advance the government’s ambitions of a “terror-free Turkiye” if heeded, but added that there would be no negotiating or bargaining with the PKK.
“Regardless of what name it uses, the terrorist organization must lay down its weapons and disarm itself, along with all its elements and extensions in Iraq and Syria,” Celik said.
The PKK launched its insurgency against the Turkish state in 1984 and is now based in the mountains of northern Iraq. It is designated a terrorist organization by Turkiye, the United States and European Union. More than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict.
Ankara has repeatedly called on the YPG to disarm since the fall of former Syrian President Bashar Assad last year, warning that it would face military action otherwise.
Ocalan’s call, prompted by a surprise proposal
last October from an ultra-nationalist ally of the Turkish president, has been
welcomed by the United States, European Union, and other Western allies, as well as Turkiye’s neighbors Iraq and Iran.


Saudi crown prince, Egypt congratulate Salam on government gaining parliament’s confidence

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam
Updated 28 February 2025
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Saudi crown prince, Egypt congratulate Salam on government gaining parliament’s confidence

  • Prime minister: We have begun contacts with companies and countries to expedite exploration

BEIRUT: Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam received a congratulatory message from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman after forming a government and gaining parliamentary confidence.

In his message, the crown prince wished Salam “success, and continued progress and prosperity for the brotherly people of the Lebanese Republic.”

For its part, Egypt’s Foreign Ministry said that “the Lebanese government gaining Parliament’s confidence marks the beginning of a new phase that contributes to restoring security and stability in Lebanon.”

Salam's government secured the confidence of 95 MPs, including Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc, while 12 voted “no confidence,” most of whom were from the Free Patriotic Movement. Four MPs abstained from expressing their opinion.

The vote came after marathon parliamentary sessions over the past two days to discuss the ministerial statement, which serves as a government action plan. The statement outlines policies for approximately a year and three months, which is the government’s expected term until the next parliamentary elections.

President Joseph Aoun on Thursday praised the “confidence granted by the MPs” and said he respects “the position of those who did not grant it, as opposition in our parliamentary democratic system is a right, a duty, a necessity, and a responsibility.”

The prime minister responded to the deputies’ discussions on his government’s statement, by affirming that his cabinet will deal with the deputies’ remarks “with all seriousness.”

Salam promised “to boost the trust of the parliament and the people in the government.”

He said: “We are committed to listening to constructive criticism, away from bickering, incitement, or stirring sectarian tensions.”

The prime minister said that the Israeli withdrawal and reconstruction are the government’s top priority.

“Achieving the complete withdrawal of the Israeli troops from Lebanese territories is a top priority for our government,” he said. “Our stance is clear and unambiguous, and we will call for the implementation of the withdrawal according to the international borders stipulated in the 1949 truce agreement.

“We have launched a wide diplomatic campaign to explain our stance and gain the international and Arab support to force Israel to stop its violations of the Lebanese sovereignty, implement Resolution 1701 and fully withdraw from our territory.”

The prime minister announced his government’s commitment to establishing a transparent, independent reconstruction fund to rebuild war-damaged areas and address social consequences of the conflict.

“We recognize our responsibility to create a fund that will gain the confidence of the Lebanese people, international community, and potential donors,” Salam said. He emphasized that Lebanon would reject any attempts to impose political conditions on reconstruction assistance.

Additionally, he revealed that his government has initiated communications with relevant companies and countries regarding oil and gas exploration, with plans to accelerate extraction operations to benefit Lebanon’s economic interests.

Salam said that the return of Syrian refugees to their country requires “a sustainable return, which means a clear plan and a frank and serious dialogue with the Syrian authorities, along with coordination with the relevant UN agencies.”

Meanwhile, the Lebanese Armed Forces announced the “discovery of two spy devices planted by the Israeli enemy, during engineering survey operations carried out by a specialized unit of the army in the southern regions.”

The army called on citizens to “avoid approaching or touching these objects, as they pose an imminent danger to their lives, and to report them to the nearest military center for their safety.”

Meanwhile, Hezbollah continued to bury dead members whose bodies were found in villages from which the Israeli forces had withdrawn after their incursion in the border region during the war. The forces Israelis control five strategic hills overlooking southern Lebanon and Israeli settlements, but have not specified a date for their withdrawal.
 

 


Israel says killed Hezbollah militant in Lebanon strike

Updated 28 February 2025
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Israel says killed Hezbollah militant in Lebanon strike

  • The slain militant had “recently been involved in transporting weapons from Syria to Lebanon“
  • A Lebanese lawmaker for Hezbollah, Ihab Hamadeh, condemned the strike

JERUSALEM: Israel’s military said Friday it had killed a Hezbollah weapons smuggler in a strike on eastern Lebanon a day earlier, the latest attack since a November ceasefire halted the Israel-Hezbollah war.
Lebanon’s health ministry on Thursday reported one death and one injury in a strike on a vehicle in Hermel, the area the Israeli military said it had targeted.
In a statement, the military said the Israeli air force “conducted an intelligence-based strike in the area of Hermel and eliminated the terrorist Mohammed Mahdi Ali Shaheen... who had been coordinating terrorist transactions for the purchase of weapons.”
It added that the slain militant had “recently been involved in transporting weapons from Syria to Lebanon.”
His actions, according to the military statement, “posed a threat to the State of Israel and constituted a violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon” that ended the war with Hezbollah.
A Lebanese lawmaker for Hezbollah, Ihab Hamadeh, condemned the strike on the group’s Telegram channel, saying it had targeted “innocent civilians.”
The November 27 truce agreement ended more than a year of hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel, including two months of all-out war during which Israel sent in ground troops.
Israel continues to carry out regular strikes on Lebanese territory and the two sides regularly accuse each other of violating the truce, which nevertheless has largely held.
Israeli forces were to pull out from Lebanon on February 18 under the agreement, but kept troops at five locations that authorities deemed “strategic” in Lebanon’s south, near the border.
On Thursday, Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israeli forces would remain indefinitely in what he called a “buffer zone” in southern Lebanon.
The conflict significantly weakened Hezbollah and decimated its leadership.
The hostilities were initiated by Hezbollah in support of its Palestinian ally Hamas after the unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack on Israel sparked the war in Gaza.