TUNIS: The families of detained Tunisian pro-migrant and anti-racism activists, imprisoned since May, launched an appeal on Tuesday for their release.
Romdhane Ben Amor, the head of FTDES, an NGO, said the 10 detainees’ organizations “were engaged in humanitarian work, not political advocacy.”
The authorities, however, “criminalized their actions,” he said at a press conference.
The aim, Ben Amor said, was to “further weaken migrants and refugees and to push them to accept ‘voluntary returns’ organized by the (UN’s) International Organization for Migration.”
Tunisia is a major transit country for African migrants hoping to cross the Mediterranean to Europe in search of economic opportunities and a better life.
In 2023, Tunisian president Kais Saied denounced what he called “hordes of sub-Saharan migrants” who threatened to “change the country’s demographic composition.”
That was followed by a crackdown on migrants and last year’s arrest of activists.
Among those at the press conference was Emna Riahi, the mother of Sherifa Riahi, the former head of Terre d’Asile Tunisie.
She demanded that her daughter, a parent of two young children, be released and have a trial after charges against her of money laundering and terrorism were dropped.
Also present were the daughters of Mustapha Djemali, the 80-year-old founder of the Tunisian Council for Refugees and former North Africa chief for the UN’s refugee agency.
Yusra and Emna Djemali said their father had lost 35 kilogrammes (77 pounds) while in prison and had been denied medication “for four or five months.”
All these activists “are imprisoned to make it seem as though the president’s racist rhetoric was based on real facts,” said Ben Amor, lamenting what he called the “complicit silence” of the European Union and international organizations.
Families urge Tunisia to release detained pro-migrant activists
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Families urge Tunisia to release detained pro-migrant activists
- Romdhane Ben Amor, the head of FTDES, an NGO, said the 10 detainees’ organizations “were engaged in humanitarian work, not political advocacy“
- The authorities, however, “criminalized their actions“
Putin offers cooperation to Syrian leader, backs efforts to stabilize country
- Russia, which has two strategically important military bases in Syria, was one of the main supporters of former President Bashar Assad
MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent a message to Syria’s interim President Ahmed Al-Sharaa supporting efforts to stabilize the situation in the country and saying Russia is ready to engage in “practical cooperation,” Russian state news agency TASS reported on Thursday.
Putin confirmed “Russia’s continuing readiness to develop practical cooperation with the Syrian leadership on the whole range of issues on the bilateral agenda in order to strengthen traditionally friendly Russian-Syrian relations,” it quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying.
Syria has been rocked by a wave of sectarian killings. The Kremlin
said
earlier this month it wanted to see a united and “friendly” Syria because instability there could affect the whole of the Middle East.
Russia, which has two strategically important military bases in Syria, was one of the main supporters of former President Bashar Assad, who fled to Russia after he was toppled in December.
UN raises alarm on civilian deaths in Khartoum attacks
Geneva: Dozens of civilians have been killed by shelling and bombardments in and around Khartoum, the United Nations said Thursday, as fighting for control of the Sudanese capital intensifies.
The UN Human Rights Office demanded an end to the “lawlessness and impunity” in war-ravaged Sudan, where the SAF regular army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been locked in a battle for power since April 2023.
“We are receiving troubling reports of escalating violence against civilians in Khartoum, amid continued intense hostilities,” spokesman Seif Magango said in a statement.
“Dozens of civilians, including local humanitarian volunteers, have been killed by artillery shelling and aerial bombardment by the Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces in eastern Khartoum and north Omdurman since March 12.”
The war has escalated in recent months, with the army seeking to reclaim territory in Khartoum and beyond.
Less than a kilometer now separates army units in central Khartoum from the presidential palace, overrun by RSF troops at the start of the war.
Nearly two years of fighting have left large swathes of the capital unrecognizable.
Magango said credible reports indicated that the RSF and allied militia had raided homes in eastern Khartoum, carrying out summary killings and arbitrary detentions, and looted food and medical supplies from community kitchens and medical clinics.
The UN rights office has also received allegations of sexual violence in the Al Giraif Gharb neighborhood.
Meanwhile SAF and affiliated fighters are also reported to have engaged in looting and other criminal activities in areas they control in Khartoum North and East Nile, Magango said, amid widespread arbitrary arrests in East Nile.
“We call once again on both parties — and all states with influence over them — to take concrete steps to ensure the effective protection of civilians, and to bring an end to the continuing lawlessness and impunity,” Magango said.
The fighting has plunged Sudan into what the UN calls the world’s largest humanitarian catastrophe.
Istanbul’s mayor still held as new rally called
- Imamoglu is President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s main political rival
- His detention came just days before the party was expected to name him as its candidate for the 2028 presidential election
ISTANBUL: Istanbul’s powerful mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, remained in police custody Thursday over graft and terror allegations after being held the day before, as his party called for more protests in Turkiye’s largest city.
Imamoglu is President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s main political rival and his detention came just days before the party was expected to name him as its candidate for the 2028 presidential election.
Financial markets in Turkiye fell shortly afterwards in what analysts said indicates investors’ serious concerns that the move was politically motivated.
The leader of the main opposition CHP, of which the mayor is a member, is expected to address supporters outside Istanbul’s City Hall at 1730 GMT on Thursday, a party spokesman told AFP.
University students also planned several demonstrations in the city.
The governor has banned all protests in Istanbul for four days.
Hundreds of police joined the pre-dawn raid on Imamoglu’s home in Istanbul on Wednesday, he posted on X before being taken away, with the authorities then blocking access to social networks.
Access to the Internet and social media was still slow early Thursday.
Thousands of angry protesters gathered outside City Hall late on Wednesday, chanting slogans including “Erdogan, dictator!” and “Government, resign!“
Already facing an array of legal battles, the two-time Istanbul mayor is now under investigation for “aiding and abetting a terrorist organization” — namely the banned Kurdish militant group PKK.
He is also being probed for “bribery, extortion, corruption, aggravated fraud, and illegally obtaining personal data for profit as part of a criminal organization” along with around 100 other suspects.
CHP leader Ozgur Ozel, who traveled from Ankara to Istanbul immediately after the mayor was held, branded it a “coup” as he attended Wednesday night’s protest.
“Imamoglu’s only crime was that he was taking the lead in opinion polls,” he said alongside Imamoglu’s wife Dilek.
“His only crime was that he won the hearts of the people. His only crime was he would be the next president,” he added.
Local media said the other suspects were being interrogated at police headquarters but that Imamoglu has not yet been questioned.
Hamish Kinnear, a senior analyst with Verisk Maplecroft, a risk consultancy, said the arrest had sparked “a heightened risk of civil unrest, which the government appears to have anticipated by introducing a four-day ban on protests in Istanbul.”
The analyst warned Imamoglu’s detention could spoil the government plans to change the constitution so that Erdogan can run another term.
“If Imamoglu’s arrest unites the opposition and provokes a political backlash, it could upset the government’s plan to push through constitutional change that would enable Erdogan to run for a third term,” he said.
Under the constitution, Erdogan — who has been president for more than a decade — cannot run again for the presidency. He already changed the constitution to introduce the presidential system after serving as prime minister for 11 years.
The Turkish lira fell sharply against the dollar after Imamoglu’s detention, trading at 37.99 on Thursday morning.
At least 70 Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes across Gaza, health authorities say
- Medics say Israeli strikes targeted several houses in northern and southern areas of the Gaza Strip
- Since Tuesday, airstrikes have killed 510 Palestinians, with more than half of them women and children
GAZA/CAIRO: At least 70 Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded in Israeli airstrikes across Gaza on Thursday, after Israel resumed its bombing campaign on the enclave, a Gaza health official said.
Medics said Israeli strikes targeted several houses in northern and southern areas of the Gaza Strip. There was no immediate comment from Israel.
Meanwhile the Israeli military said on Thursday it had begun conducting ground activities in the northern Gaza Strip, along the coastal route in the area of Beit Lahia.
On Wednesday, the Israeli military said its forces had resumed ground operations in central and southern Gaza, after a ceasefire that had broadly held since January collapsed.
The renewed ground operations came a day after more than 400 Palestinians were killed in airstrikes in one of the deadliest episodes since the beginning of the conflict in October 2023.
Since Tuesday, airstrikes have killed 510 Palestinians, with more than half of them women and children, the health official said.
The Israeli military said its operations extended Israel’s control over the Netzarim Corridor, which bisects Gaza, and were a “focused” maneuver aimed at creating a partial buffer zone between the north and the south of the enclave.
The Palestinian militant group Hamas said the ground operation and the incursion into the Netzarim Corridor were a “new and dangerous violation” of the two-month-old ceasefire agreement. In a statement, the group reaffirmed its commitment to the deal and called on mediators to “assume their responsibilities.”
Speaking to Reuters on Thursday, a Hamas official said mediators had stepped up their efforts with the two warring sides but added that “no breakthrough has yet been made.”
The group has made no clear threats to retaliate.
The war started after Hamas militants attacked Israeli communities on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 and taking more than 250 hostages, by Israeli tallies.
More than 49,000 Palestinians have been killed in the ensuing conflict, according to Gaza’s health authorities, with the enclave reduced to rubble.
Sudan army close to taking control of Presidential Palace from RSF, state TV says
- Marks a significant shift in the two-year-old conflict that threatens to fracture the country
- The war has led to what the UN calls the world’s largest humanitarian crisis
Sudan’s army is close to taking control of the Presidential Palace in Khartoum from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, state TV reported on Thursday, in a significant milestone in a two-year-old conflict that threatens to fracture the country.
The RSF quickly took the palace and most of the capital at the outbreak of war in April 2023, but the Sudanese Armed Forces have in recent months staged a comeback and inched toward the palace along the River Nile.
The RSF, which earlier this year began establishing a parallel government, maintains control of parts of Khartoum and neighboring Omdurman, as well as western Sudan, where it is fighting to take control of the army’s last stronghold in Darfur, Al-Fashir.
The taking of the capital could hasten the army’s full takeover of central Sudan, and harden the east-west territorial division of the country between the two forces.
Both sides have vowed to continue fighting for the remainder of the country, and no efforts at peace talks have materialized.
The war erupted amid a power struggle between Sudan’s army and the RSF ahead of a planned transition to civilian rule.
World’s largest humanitarian crisis
The conflict has led to what the UN calls the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, causing famine in several locations and disease across the country. Both sides have been accused of war crimes, while the RSF has also been charged with genocide. Both forces deny the charges.
The fight for the Presidential Palace has raged over the past several weeks, with the RSF fighting fiercely to maintain control, including via snipers placed around surrounding downtown buildings. Its leader, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, instructed troops earlier this week not to give up the palace.
Late on Wednesday into Thursday morning, explosions could be heard from airstrikes and drone attacks by the army targeting central Khartoum, witnesses and military sources told Reuters. The army has long maintained the advantage of air power over the RSF, though the paramilitary group has shown evidence of increased drone capabilities recently.
On the Telegram messenger app, the RSF said its forces were making advances toward the Army General Command, also in central Khartoum, and eyewitnesses said the force was attacking from southern Khartoum.
The army’s advance in central Sudan since late last year has been welcomed by many people, who had been displaced by the RSF, which has been accused of widespread looting and arbitrary killings, and of occupying homes and neighborhoods.
The RSF denies the charges and says individual perpetrators will be brought to justice.
Hundreds of thousands of people have returned to their homes in Central Sudan, though late on Wednesday activists in Omdurman warned that some soldiers have engaged in robbery. The military has routinely denied such allegations.
