Region

ISTANBUL  — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan paid a surprise visit to Hagia Sofia on Sunday just days before the first Muslim prayers are due to be held at the Istanbul landmark since it was reconverted to a mosque last week.

In a lightning visit billed as an inspection, Erdogan took stock of the conversion work, the president's office said, providing pictures showing scaffolding inside the building.

Diyanet, the country's religious authority, said Christian icons would be curtained off and unlit "through appropriate means during prayer times".

It was unclear whether Erdogan planned to be among some 500 worshippers set to attend Friday prayers.

Turkey’s top court paved the way for the conversion in a decision to revoke the edifice’s museum status conferred nearly a century ago.

The sixth-century building had been open to all visitors, regardless of their faith, since its inauguration as a museum in 1935.

Earlier this week, Diyanet said the building would continue to be open to all visitors outside the hours given over to prayer.

The UNESCO World Heritage site was built as a cathedral during the Byzantine empire but converted into a mosque after the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453.

It was designated a museum in a key reform of the post-Ottoman authorities under the modern republic’s founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

Erdogan said last year it had been a “very big mistake” to convert the Hagia Sofia into a museum.

The reconversion sparked anger among Christians and tensions between historic foes and uneasy NATO allies Turkey and Greece.

BAGHDAD — A rare daytime rocket attack hit Baghdad's Green Zone on Sunday, security sources said, as Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif met top Iraqi officials.

At least two rockets hit outside the US embassy in the high-security zone, they told AFP.

Diplomats based in the neighbourhood said they could hear sirens blaring for around an hour after the attack.

The embassy's C-RAM rocket defence system was not triggered, possibly because the missiles' trajectory meant they would not strike within the compound.

Three dozen rocket attacks have targeted US military and diplomatic installations since October, but usually under cover of darkness.

This time, the attack took place in the searing afternoon heat as Iran's top diplomat held back-to-back meetings with senior Iraqi officials nearby.

Zarif first met his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein early on Sunday, then Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kadhemi, President Barham Saleh, Parliament Speaker Mohammed Al Halbussi and the head of Iraq's Supreme Judicial Council, Faeq Zeidan.

Zarif is also set to travel north to the Kurdish regional capital of Arbil to meet with officials there.

The trip comes ahead of Kadhemi's own diplomatic flurry: he will visit Iran's regional rival Saudi Arabia on Monday, heading a delegation including his oil, electricity, planning and finance ministers.

Balancing act 

The Iraqi officials are to stay in NEOM, an area in the kingdom's northwest currently being developed as a futuristic city.

Kadhemi will meet Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, with whom he is known to have warm personal ties.

The delegation will then travel directly to Tehran late Tuesday, where Kadhemi is expected to meet Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Pairing the two trips is an attempt to balance Iraq’s complicated ties with both countries, observers say.

Iran has major military and political sway in Baghdad and is the second-largest exporter of consumer goods to Iraq.

But its influence irks both Saudi Arabia and the United States, which is urging Iraq to develop its diplomatic and economic ties to its Gulf neighbours.

Kadhemi rose to the premiership in May after serving as the head of Iraq’s National Intelligence Service for nearly four years.

He formed close ties to Tehran, Washington and Riyadh during that time, prompting speculation he could serve as a rare mediator among the capitals.

Kadhemi is also set to visit Washington in the coming weeks, a major milestone in the strategic dialogue currently underway between the US and Iraq.

As part of the dialogue, the Iraqi government has pledged to better protect American installations from rocket attacks while the US vowed to keep drawing down its troop numbers across the country.

BAGHDAD — Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kadhemi will travel to Saudi Arabia and Iran back-to-back next week, carefully balancing ties to regional rivals in his first foreign trip as premier, officials said Saturday.

Baghdad has often found itself caught in the tug-of-war between Riyadh, Tehran and even Washington, which the premier is also set to visit within the next few weeks.

On Sunday, Kadhemi will host Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Baghdad, before travelling with Iraq's ministers of oil, electricity, planning and finance to Saudi Arabia the following day, Iraqi officials said.

They are set to stay in NEOM, an area in the kingdom's northwest that is currently under development, and are scheduled to meet Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, with whom Kadhemi is known to have warm personal ties.

Baghdad proposed a package of energy-focused development opportunities in Iraq to Saudi Arabia earlier this month, and the talks will likely focus on financing for those proposals, other infrastructure projects, and a reopening of the Arar border crossing between the two countries, the officials said.

They said the delegation will then travel directly to Tehran late Tuesday, where Kadhemi is expected to meet Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Kadhemi rose to the premiership in May after serving as the head of Iraq’s National Intelligence Service for nearly four years, which helped him form a close relationship with Prince Mohammed.

He is also known to be respected by Iran’s intelligence services and government circles, which prompted speculation he could mediate between the two regional foes.

And Kadhemi is well-liked in Washington, where he is expected later this month or in early August to pursue a strategic dialogue between Iraq and the US.

It would be the first visit by an Iraqi premier to the White House in three years. US officials never extended an invitation to previous prime minister Adel Abdel Mahdi, whom they saw as too close to Iran.

Tensions skyrocketed following a US drone strike on Baghdad in January that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi commander Abu Mahdi Al Muhandis.

It appears Washington is now encouraging a rapprochement between Baghdad and Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia.

Earlier this week, officials from Iraq, the US and the Gulf Cooperation Council discussed over teleconference an arrangement for Iraq to import electricity from Kuwait, a deal which was agreed last year but has yet to come into effect.

TEHRAN — President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday that 35 million Iranians may contract the coronavirus, as the country still did not have herd immunity although a quarter of the population may have already been infected.

It appears to be the first time a senior Iranian official has indicated the country is seeking to defeat COVID-19 via herd immunity.

The virus has killed more than 588,000 people and infected nearly 14 million around the world since first being detected in China late last year.

Iran has been battling a resurgence of COVID-19, with figures showing a rise in both new infections and deaths since a two-month low in May.

On Saturday, the health ministry reported another 188 coronavirus deaths and 2,166 cases of infection in the past 24 hours.

That took the overall toll to 13,979 dead out of 271,606 cases since Iran reported its first cases in mid-February.

The rising toll has prompted authorities to reimpose restrictions in worst-hit provinces after being lifted country-wide in April, with Tehran extending them for an extra week on Friday.

"Our estimate is that up to now, 25 million Iranians have been infected with this virus," Rouhani said during a televised meeting of the country's virus-fighting taskforce.

"We have to consider the possibility that 30 to 35 million more may face infection," he added, citing the results of a study by the health ministry.

"We have not yet achieved herd immunity and we have no choice but to be united and break the chain of transmission of the coronavirus."

Rouhani's deputy head of communications, Alireza Moezi, said on Twitter hours later that the 25 million in fact refers to "those who have encountered the virus and achieved complete immunity".

Rouhani also said that Iran may have to prepare itself for double the amount of hospitalisations it has had in the past five months, according to the study.

The study shows that "out of every 1,000 infected, 500 show no symptoms" Rouhani added, warning that they present the main challenge by "spreading more virus and over a longer period" than those identified.

The health ministry does not report the overall amount of hospitalisations over COVID-19.

The Islamic republic has been struggling to contain the Middle East's worst COVID-19 outbreak since announcing its first cases in mid-February.

Iran has refrained from imposing full lockdowns but closed schools, cancelled public gatherings and banned travel between provinces in March, before lifting the restrictions the next month to reopen its sanctions-hit economy.

ALGIERS — A former Algerian Cabinet minister detained in a corruption case has died from the COVID-19 illness, his brother said on Saturday.

Ex-telecom minister Moussa Benhamadi, 67, who was close to ousted president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, contracted the novel coronavirus earlier this month and died on Friday, his brother Abdelmalek Benhamadi told AFP.

He had contracted the disease in prison and been transferred to an Algiers hospital where he died.

Another brother, Hocine Benhamadi, told the website of French-language daily Liberte that the ex-minister had fallen ill on July 4 and was only hospitalised nine days later.

Algeria has declared some 22,000 cases of COVID-19, including more than 1,000 deaths.

Moussa Benhamadi had been held in pre-trial detention at El Harrach Prison since September 2019 as part of an investigation into corruption involving the Algerian high-tech firm Condor Electronics.

Bouteflika, who was Algeria's longest-serving president, was forced to resign in April last year after losing the backing of the army amid massive street protests against his decision to seek a fifth term.

Following his departure, authorities launched a string of graft investigations into members of his entourage accused of abusing their power.

Bouteflika's powerful brother Said and two former intelligence chiefs have been jailed, as have powerful businessmen and former government ministers.

Benhamadi's brother and head of Condor Electronics, Abderahmane Benhamadi, was released in April from provisional detention on suspicion of corruption.

Another brother, Omar Benhamadi, director general of the family business Condor, is still behind bars.

ADEN (Yemen) — At a time when the Black Lives Matter movement is reshaping societies, black Yemenis have scant hope for an end to centuries of discrimination that has only worsened during the country's civil war.

The life of Haitham Hassan in the capital Sanaa remains unchanged despite the global wave of protests sparked by the death in May of an unarmed black man, George Floyd, who was pinned down under a white US police officer's knee.

Hassan gives no flicker of recognition when asked about Black Lives Matter. But he can recount how he faces racism on a daily basis, often having to tolerate slurs that mean "slave" or "servant" because of the colour of his skin.

In Sanaa, members of the minority group known as "Muhamasheen" -- literally the "Marginalised" -- live in dismal conditions in densely populated slums.

They count among the poorest of the poor in the Arab world's most impoverished country blighted by more than five years of conflict.

In the narrow streets of a shantytown in southern Sanaa, lined with makeshift tents and cardboard homes along with a few simple brick structures, women cook outside on stoves fuelled with scraps of rubbish.

"It's as if we are not part of Yemeni society, even though we hold Yemeni identification papers," Hassan told AFP.

"Our children in schools are treated differently... and we are looked at sideways on the streets and in markets."

 Debate over origins

Most black Yemenis live in the Red Sea coastal plain of Tihama, which extends from the Bab Al Mandab Strait to the western port city of Hodeida.

Others live in Sanaa in the north and Aden in southern Yemen.

There is debate over the ethnic origins of the community, says the London-based Minority Rights Group International.

"Some believe they are descended from African slaves or Ethiopian soldiers from as far back as the sixth century. Others nevertheless think they are of Yemeni origin," it said in a report.

"They have suffered from higher rates of unemployment and generally live in poverty, lacking access to basic services such as water, sanitation and education, as well as economic opportunities."

Black Yemenis -- who make up between two and 10 percent of the population, according to various estimates -- have long struggled to survive, confined as they are to low-paying jobs like street sweeping or collecting garbage.

They exist outside the country's tribal social structure, a life on the margins, which increases their vulnerability.

"We suffer from racial discrimination... they have given us no rights, but it is time that we are granted those rights," said Moujahid Azzam, a community leader in the rebel-held city of Sanaa.

The country's conflict pits Iran-backed Houthi rebels against the government, which is supported by a Saudi-led military coalition.

Last month, rebel chief Abdulmalik Al Houthi called for the integration of black Yemenis into society under a long-term national programme, raising hope but also sparking scepticism.

According to the president of the National Union of the Marginalised, which advocates for the community in Yemen, the rebels' call is merely a ploy to draw them into their ranks.

"The goal is to play on the emotions of the marginalised and recruit them to fight on the front lines," Nuaman Al Hudhaifi told AFP.

'Bottom of the pile'

Since the start of the war, which saw the rebels seize Sanaa in 2014 before going on to capture much of the north, tens of thousands of people have been killed and millions displaced in what the United Nations calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

Even before the conflict, "Yemen's caste system put Al Muhamasheen at the very bottom of the social hierarchy," Afrah Nasser, Yemen researcher at Human Rights Watch, told AFP.

Their suffering has only worsened since war broke out, she said.

"It's like hell on Earth."

Hudhaifi said that when popular protests broke out in 2011 demanding political change, inspired by the "Arab Spring" uprisings, black Yemenis joined the demonstrations hoping their own situation would change.

But the war, which has created widespread hunger and desperation across Yemeni society, has slowed any momentum towards reform, and ensured that Black Lives Matter will have little impact.

"If Yemen was a stable country, we would have been part of this global movement on the streets protesting at this historic moment, but the war has prevented us from doing so," Hudhaifi said.

"Unfortunately, the situation in Yemen will remain the same because of these complicated social and tribal structures, in which discrimination is embedded and based on tribe, region and religion."

Black Yemenis count among the poorest of the poor in the Arab world's most impoverished�country blighted by more than five years of conflict

Members of Yemen's minority group known as "Muhamasheen" -- literally the "Marginalised" -- in a slum in the capital Sanaa

At a time when the Black Lives Matter movement is reshaping societies, black Yemenis have scant hope for an end to centuries of discrimination that has only worsened during the civil war

Black Yemenis exist outside the country's tribal social structure, a life on the margins which increases their vulnerability

The war, which has created widespread hunger and desperation across Yemeni society, has slowed any momentum towards reform, and ensured that Black Lives Matter will have little impact

DUBAI — "Don't touch the screen!" warned an organiser as participants attempted to print their badges, via barcodes sent to their phones, at Dubai's first "real life" business conference since the coronavirus shutdown hit in March.

The glitzy emirate hosts dozens of conventions every year, from political events to technology and lifestyle forums, but for months the virus forced the lucrative sector to move from conference halls to computer screens.

Now, 10 days after reopening its doors to tourists, the city that received more than 16.7 million visitors last year has also restarted its conference business, with an event focusing on the artificial intelligence industry.

In a vast hall at the city's World Trade Centre, until recently converted into a field hospital for coronavirus patients, it was a full house on Thursday as hundreds of attendees at the AI Everything conference occupied rows of chairs spaced far apart under social distancing guidelines.

Others were outside the hall, listening to the event on screens as they waited for someone to leave their seat so they could enter.

"It's good to be here, face to face with others," said Reem Al Hashimi, minister of state for international cooperation, in one of the opening sessions.

"What this pandemic has taught us is that we need to be conscious and careful, but we also need to live our lives, so finding that healthy proper scientific balance is critical."

The four-hour event looked very different from what the glittering city used to offer pre-COVID -- with no crowded foyers or waiters bearing trays of drinks, and packaged energy bars and fruit replacing gourmet buffets.

A badge printing station was set up next to the hall entrance, with organisers in face shields and black suits advising attendees on how to get their credentials without touching anything.

Colourful signs on the floor adorned with smiley faces reminded participants to "keep a safe distance" and told them "don't forget your mask".

Dubai is betting that pent-up demand for tourism, and a quick adaptation to life under COVID-19, will see its tourism industry bounce back quickly after the painful shutdown, billing itself as a safe destination with the resources to ward off the virus.

The reopening comes even as the United Arab Emirates, made up of seven sheikhdoms including Dubai, battles coronavirus infection rates that have climbed to more than 55,800 with 335 deaths.

However, the field hospital at the World Trade Centre discharged its last patient on July 8 and closed its doors before turning the wards back into event halls bearing the slogan "Restart Dubai".

DAMASCUS — Syria prepared for parliamentary elections to be held on Sunday as President Bashar Assad marked a second decade in power mired by war, international sanctions and economic woes.

The legislative polls, to be held across 70 per cent of territory under government control, are the country's third since the start of the war in 2011.

As the war-battered economy wanes, some 2,100 candidates -- including prominent businessmen under Western sanctions -- are competing for 250 seats.

Several lists were allowed to run across the country but any real opposition is absent from the poll, no surprises are expected and the ruling Baath party's hegemony is guaranteed.

The elections, held every four years and so far always won by Assad's Baath Party and its allies, were due in April but twice postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The global economic carnage wreaked by coronavirus has compounded Syria's woes, which include stinging inflation and the free fall of the national currency on the black market.

With many Syrians choking from the soaring cost of living, most candidates have pledged to stem the price hikes.

Food prices have doubled nationwide over the past year, in a country where more than 80 per cent of people already live in poverty, the World Food Programme says.

Others candidates are running on promises of reconstruction, fixing war-ravaged infrastructure and bringing home millions of refugees.

Translator Abeer Deebeh, 32, said voters would likely choose whoever seemed best positioned to improve their living conditions.

"People's demands are always the same and tied to living standards" and public services, she said.

"During the war, the priority might have been security but now it's gone back to the economy."

Economy and sanctions

Syrians have been called to cast their votes in 7,313 polling stations nationwide, some of them in areas the government did not control the last time polls were held.

"These parliamentary polls are being held at a moment when the Syrian army... has seized back most regions once held by armed groups," said Heba Fatoum, a judge and a member of the electoral commission.

Russian-backed government forces have retaken control of several regions, Eastern Ghouta on the capital's doorstep in 2018 and the southern part of Idlib province in the northwest earlier this year.

Those displaced from areas still outside government control will be able to cast their ballots in polling stations set up specially for them across the country.

But Syrians outside the country, including millions of refugees, cannot take part.

"Expatriates are not allowed to vote in the parliamentary elections except in the polling centres inside the country according to the elections law," electoral commission member Riad Al Qawas told Al Watan online newspaper.

The streets in Damascus and its countryside are lined with posters of candidates.

Among them are businessmen under Western sanctions, including the US Caesar Act implemented last month.

They include lawmaker Mohammed Hamsho, who is running for re-election, and has been blacklisted since 2011 for his support to Assad.

Also running is Khaled Zubaidi, who has been targeted by US and European Union sanctions over winning a government contract to build a luxury tourist resort near Damascus airport.

Syria's war has killed 380,000 people since it started with the repression of protests in 2011, but also laid waste to much of the country's economy.

'International consensus'

The new parliament will be expected to sign off on a new constitution and approve candidates for the next presidential poll.

Assad, who first came to power in 2000 after three decades of his father's rule, is expected to name a new prime minister after Sunday's vote.

Sworn in at the age of 34, the London-trained ophthalmologist briefly embodied the hope for change and economic liberalisation.

But 20 years on, nearly half of which marked by war, Assad's government is crippled by Western sanctions.

The war has spiralled into a complex battlefield involving foreign armies, militias and extremists.

Years of UN-brokered peace negotiations have yielded nothing and a parallel track led by government ally Russia and rebel backer Turkey has in recent years taken precedent.

With 2021 presidential elections approaching, there is no political solution to the war in sight.

Damascus-based analyst Osama Danura said he thought the Syrian government would be open to a political solution to end the war.

But "international consensus is a long-term and complicated issue. It's clear there is no understanding between the countries that have become actors in the Syrian war", he said.

Foreign Minister Walid Al Muallem last month said Assad would remain in power "as long as the Syrian want him to stay".

Danura said any presidential candidate next year will need "written approval from 35 members of parliament at least".

DOHA — Qatar will kick off the 2022 World Cup at Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor, organisers announced on Wednesday, as they revealed the schedule for the finals.

In a joint statement, FIFA and Qatar's Supreme Committee organisational body said that the gas-rich Gulf nation will start the World Cup at the 60,000-capacity ground on November 21.

The final will be held at the 80,000-seat Lusail Stadium in Doha nearly a month later on December 18.

The opening match will begin a group stage that will feature four matches a day for 12 days, spread over eight stadiums around Qatar.

Group matches will kick off at three-hour intervals, beginning at 1.00pm local time (1000 GMT), with the late match kicking off at 10:00pm local time.

The tournament will then jump straight to the last 16, with two matches a day until two rest days and the start of the quarter- and semi-finals, which will both be spread over two days.

Qualification for the World Cup has begun in Asia and Africa but is yet to start in Europe, the Americas and Oceania. Organisers said on Wednesday that the draw for the finals would be made “after the March 2022 international match calendar qualifying window”.

Both the Al Bayt and Lusail stadiums are still under construction, although the Al Bayt ground — which takes its shape from the traditional tents used by nomadic peoples in the Gulf region — is nearing completion, according to World Cup organisers.

Last week rights group Amnesty International claimed that around a hundred migrant workers at the Al Bayt stadium, which is 50 kilometres north of Doha, have yet to receive outstanding wages in full after not being paid for up to seven months.

Earlier this month several sources told AFP that World Cup organisers will lay off an undisclosed number of staff as Qatar cuts costs amid the coronavirus economic downturn.

Qatar has one of the world’s highest per capita infection rates.