Region

CAPE TOWN — The Libyan National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) has said that 78.1 per cent of the country's Covid-19 infections were from the capital, Tripoli. 

On Tuesday, the centre said it had tested 66 new samples, 64 being negative for the virus, with two testing positive. The positive cases were reported to have had no prior contact with positive patients. 

Tripoli had registered 78.1per cent of the total number of coronavirus infections in the north African country since the first case was reported on March 24, reported English-Arabic online daily newspaper, The Libya Observer.

According to real-time tracker Worldometers, the country to date had 77 Covid-19 cases, 34 being active. Forty Libyans had recovered from the virus, while three had died of coronavirus-related complications. 

The country of  6,861,969 million has tested 5,154 citizens since the start of the outbreak.

Among other measures to contain the spread of the virus, the NCDC recently launched the Aspetar Covid-19 application, which connects citizens experiencing Covid-19 symptoms directly to the centre.  

The application allows users to determine the risk level of infection and to communicate with the centre's doctors, who are available 24-hours a day. 

Infections in Africa are relatively low compared to the rest of the world, but experts believe that the continent should brace itself for a peak, which will cause mass devastation and strain on its poor health systems.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said that despite Africa reaching the grim milestone of 100, 000 infections, with every country affected, the pandemic seems to be taking a different pathway on the continent. 

According to a recent report, early analysis by WHO suggested that Africa’s lower mortality rate may be the result of, among other things, demography, with the virus being more deadly on the elderly. 

The continent has the youngest populations in the world, according to the United Nations, with 60 per cent of inhabitants being under 25-years-old. 

TEHRAN — Iranian President Hassan Rouhani urged lawmakers to "cooperate" with his government in a speech on Wednesday during the inaugural session of the new parliament following a February election swept by conservatives.

Many MPs are ultra-conservatives who oppose Rouhani on almost all issues, from running the sanctions-hit economy and combating the coronavirus outbreak to managing relations with arch foe the United States.

The parliament, which shapes debate in Iran, had been closed for six weeks until April 7 as part of measures aiming to curb the spread of COVID-19.

Iran has been hit by the Middle East's deadliest outbreak. The health ministry said the virus had claimed another 56 lives in the past 24 hours, taking the overall toll to 7,564 dead out of 141,591 cases.

"I hope that in the year that remains for this government, we will be able to cooperate and work together," Rouhani said in the address before the parliament, or Majles.

Iran held a legislative election on February 21 and is scheduled to hold a presidential poll in around 12 months.

The 11th parliament since the 1979 Islamic Revolution opened as the country's economy gradually returns to normal amid the health crisis.

In a sign that the fight against the virus is still far from over, however, a seat was left vacant between each deputy. But many wore no masks.

 'Olive branch' 

Rouhani, who is in the last year of his second and final term, called on MPs to place the "national interest above special interests", "party interests" or "constituency interests".

The moderate president defended the performance of his government, which has faced criticism from its conservative and ultra-conservative opponents who now form a parliamentary majority.

For many, the record abstention in February's election reflected the people's disenchantment with broken promises.

Less than 43 per cent of voters cast ballots, according to official results.

They stayed away after the Guardian Council, a watchdog dominated by ultra-conservatives, disqualified many moderate and reformist candidates.

The signing of an international agreement on Iran's nuclear programme in 2015 had raised hopes for a bright economic future and an opening up of the country after years of isolation.

But these hopes were dashed before being buried in 2018 when US President Donald Trump withdrew from the accord and began reimposing sanctions on Iran.

In his speech, Rouhani denounced what he called the "psychological war" and "economic and medical terrorism" that he said Washington was waging against Tehran.

But he said the Iranian nation had stood up against "the enemy" and that its resistance had won.

The president praised his government's performance in dealing with the virus as a source of "great pride", adding that Iran was "among the countries that have succeeded".

 Balance of power 

Fereshteh Sadeghi, a political journalist in Tehran, expressed doubt the new parliament would cooperate.

"Rouhani again offers olive branch to new parliament, saying he doesn't seek confrontation but friendship," she tweeted in English.

"He knows these rivals can't be controlled as Ali Larijani did it for him in the past 7 years. God helps him!" she said, referring to the outgoing parliament speaker.

Lawmakers are set to elect a successor to Larijani on Saturday.

That vote is expected to give an idea of the balance of power between conservatives, who might agree with the government on certain issues, and ultra-conservatives, who are opposed to Rouhani on virtually everything.

Four candidates are in the running: conservative former Tehran mayor Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf; Hamid-Reza Hajibabai and Shamseddin Hosseini, both ministers under former populist and ultra-conservative president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad; and Mostafa Mirsalim, a losing candidate in the 2017 presidential election who backs a hard line against the Western "cultural invasion".

Wednesday's parliament session was attended by 268 lawmakers.

It opened ahead of a second round to elect another 11 deputies that had been postponed to September 11 due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Of the 279 MPs elected in February, two died of the virus and nine were disqualified by the outgoing parliament, although it is not yet known whether their seats will be up for grabs in September.

BETHLEHEM, Palestinian Territories — Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity, built on the spot where Christians believe Jesus was born, reopened on Tuesday more than two months after closing in the face of the coronavirus.

A handful of priests from different Christian denominations stood watch as the door to the church in the Israeli-occupied West Bank was opened, an AFP photographer reported.

Once inside, the head of the Greek Orthodox Church in Bethlehem, Bishop Theophylactos, kissed an icon while a priest sprayed holy water in the grotto of the church, where Christians believe Christ was born in a manger.

The church had been closed since March 5 when an outbreak of COVID-19 was detected in Bethlehem.

Initially only 50 people will be allowed in the church at one time and visitors must wear face coverings and observe social distancing, a joint statement from the churches that control the site said.

Kissing or touching the stones, including in the grotto where Christians believe Jesus was born, will be forbidden.

The Bethlehem outbreak began with a group of Greek tourists who visited the city, including the Church of the Nativity, prompting church authorities to sterilise the site.

The Palestinian government swiftly took measures to prevent the spread of the disease and in recent weeks few new cases have been reported in the West Bank.

On Monday, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh announced an end to the lockdown.

Separately, in Jerusalem the Church of the Holy Sepulchre built on the spot most Christians believe Jesus was crucified and then resurrected, has partially reopened in recent days.

The main door to the church remains closed to prevent overcrowding, but groups of worshippers can enter in coordination with the Christian denominations that control the site, a church official said.

CAPE TOWN — Libya’s coast guard intercepted 400 Europe-bound migrants off the country’s Mediterranean coast over the past two days, after which the migrants were brought to detention centres near the capital, Tripoli, reported broadcaster Al Jazeera.

About 1,000 migrants have attempted to traverse the dangerous Mediterranean Sea crossing this month, said Al Jazeera.

A spokesperson for the UN's International Organisation for Migration , Safa Msehli, said in a tweet: “As more migrants embark on the most dangerous sea crossing trying to flee Libya, and in the absence of dedicated search-and-rescue vessels, the risk of invisible shipwrecks increases.”

On Twitter, the UN Refugee Agency  in Libya said the coast guard returned to Tripoli 315 migrants who were intercepted and rescued at sea aboard several boats.

The agency also confirmed the death of two people, whose bodies were recovered at sea.

UNHCR Libya confirmed that it had partnered with the International Rescue Committee and they were on site to provide urgent medical care to all survivors.

Msehli added that departures from Libya have increased, which is especially worrying amid a sharp decrease in search-and-rescue capacity, reported Al Jazeera.

As global calls mount for a humanitarian ceasefire to take place in Libya so that the country can focus on the coronavirus pandemic, fighting continues unabated between the two rival administrations seeking to control the seat of power in Tripoli.

Recently, Libya’s UN-recognised Government of National Accord recaptured a key airbase in the south of Tripoli from Khalifa Haftar's Libyan National Army. Thousands have been displaced and scores have been killed as weeks of fighting continue in the oil-rich nation.

TEHRAN — Iran further eased restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of the novel coronavirus on Tuesday by allowing restaurants to accept customers, as it announced another 57 deaths from the virus.

Since the first cases of COVID-19 appeared on its soil in mid-February, the Islamic republic has sought to halt the spread of the virus without imposing lockdowns.

A deputy health minister signalled the easing of restrictions on eateries.

"Restaurants which before this decree were only allowed to distribute food will be allowed to accept customers from today," Mohsen Farhadi told state television.

Farhadi called on restaurants to respect health protocols to ensure distancing of two metres, a measure he said would reduce client numbers by 50 per cent.

Health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour reported 57 additional COVID-19 deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of fatalities in the country to 7,508.

Jahanpour said 1,787 new cases of infection over the same period brought the Islamic republic's caseload to 139,511.

"We are seeing a stable process in the majority of provinces," Jahanpour said, adding that the southwestern province of Khuzestan was still classified "red", although the number of infected cases was declining.

Red is the highest level on the country's colour-coded scale of risk in relation to its coronavirus outbreak -- the deadliest in the Middle East.

Experts both at home and abroad have voiced scepticism about Iran's official figures, saying the real toll could be much higher.

BOMA, South Sudan — The light plane banked sharply to circle back over the plains. The pilot had spotted something below: antelope, first one, then many, the stragglers of a million-strong migration across this vast wilderness.

But there are other wonders out here on the savanna. A trio of extremely rare Nubian giraffe lumber by, the seldom-seen, majestic giants casting long shadows over the grasslands.

"There's only a few hundred left in the world," said Albert Schenk, of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), surveying the landscape below.

"So you're seeing something spectacular," he added.

This is South Sudan: one of Africa's wildlife Edens, a global biodiversity hotspot wedged between the continent's tropical jungles and dry, desolate deserts.

But it's almost never seen by outsiders.

Ruinous civil wars have left South Sudan with few paved roads or airstrips. It is the size of France but huge swathes are isolated or impenetrable.

These are some of the least-explored, and most remarkable, wild habitats in Africa.

Against the odds 

South Sudan boasts Africa's biggest wetland, the Sudd, and its largest intact savanna, a stretch of untouched wilderness east of the White Nile that reaches all the way to Ethiopia.

Every year, some 1.2 million antelopes and gazelles cross this enormous ecosystem -- at 95,000 square kilometres, it is the size of Hungary.

The mega-herds leave miles-long scars in the grasslands, clearly visible from the sky.

In scale and scope, the migration is rivalled only by the fabled wildebeest crossing in the Mara and Serengeti.

But South Sudan is also custodian to hardy populations of lions, elephants and countless other endangered species that survived -- against all odds -- decades of war and near-decimation by poachers.

Vanishing species 

"There are still wild animals in South Sudan," said former wildlife minister Alfred Akwoch Omoli, the shelf behind him decorated with miniatures of elephants and giraffes.

"It may be the envy of other countries that we have such animals."

This natural heritage, however, is under constant threat, and wildlife conservation, where it is done at all, is difficult and dangerous.

Researchers and rangers contend with rebel militias and well-armed poachers in remote, often lawless terrain where government control is weak.

Some 15 percent of the country is national parks and reserves, land in theory protected by law, but overseen by an underfunded wildlife department stretched too thin to police its realm.

On the day an AFP team visited Boma National Park, before the coronavirus pandemic, rangers unfurled two leopard skins seized from a local man who caught the endangered cats in a snare.

"There used to be plenty of wildlife here, living close to the community," William Til, the acting park warden in Boma, deep in the country's eastern interior, told AFP.

"Before the war people would use dogs, or spears, and just catch a few animals, and were satisfied with that. But now with automatic rifles, it's become harder for wildlife. Bigger species have vanished from the area."

In the decades-long war for liberation from Sudan, zebras and rhinos, once abundant in the southern region that became the new nation of South Sudan in 2011, were hunted to extinction.

Antelope and giraffe were slaughtered to feed soldiers on all sides.

Elephants -- numbering some 80,000, 50 years ago -- were wholesale massacred for ivory to fund the fighting.

Their numbers are reduced to an estimated 2,000 today.

Sights on safari 

Protecting the country's wildlife isn't a burning priority for the fragile state, which only this year formally ended a six-year civil war that killed close to 400,000 people.

However, the government is aware of the benefits it could bring.

South Sudan’s tattered economy is hinged on oil and any other ways of generating jobs and revenue -- such as conservation management or ecotourism -- will be critical in future, Omoli said.

"What does it [the wildlife] do? It brings tourists... They will pay the money, and the money will be used for development," Omoli, who was replaced in February when South Sudan formed a new coalition government, told AFP.

South Sudan takes inspiration from neighbours like Uganda and Rwanda.

Also convulsed by past conflict, today they are safe and popular destinations for tourists and their holiday money.

A viable tourism sector could take years, even decades, to develop and would require significant outside investment, likely to be scarce given the impact that the coronavirus has wreaked on the global economy.

Conflict conservation 

Schenk said that maintaining peace and security, which has so far eluded South Sudan in its short and troubled history, was critical to wildlife and habitat protection.

Years of conservation and community work at Boma National Park derailed in 2013 when fighting erupted between government and rebel forces, turning the savanna into a battlefield.

The rangers deserted, and the park warden was executed.

"Our compound was completely looted," said Schenk, of the field site WCS established in Boma in 2008 to spearhead their programme.

"The only thing left was the concrete slabs on which we had our safari tents. We had to build it all up again."

But a peace deal was signed in September 2018, halting armed combat, and aerial surveys and camera traps revealed all was not lost.

The wildlife endured, hiding out in mighty swamps and dense bushland, just as during past conflicts.

And the great columns of antelope and gazelle that first put South Sudan on the global conservation map continued their circular movements.

Cause for hope 

The country's wild reaches keep throwing up surprises, too, buoying optimism for the future.

In recent years, rare and elusive species like bongos, painted dogs and red colobus monkeys have been photographed by conservation group Fauna and Flora International, inviting speculation about what else lurks in this underexplored land.

"There's a hell of a lot more out there than we know yet," said Schenk.

Last year, the US government donated $7.6 million to a three-year programme to protect wildlife and spur economic opportunities in the Boma-Bandingilo landscape, including through ecotourism.

WCS has also co-drafted legislation to expand protection to the migratory corridor between Boma and Bandingilo national parks -- critical given oil and mineral claims in the area, and "pressure" to open habitats to exploration, Schenk said.

Til, patrolling on foot in his fatigues, clings to hope that conservation will one day "help in bringing development" to this remote corner of South Sudan, where lions growl in the darkness.

"We're not giving up," he said.

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre will reopen Sunday after a two-month closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Christian authorities in the holy city said.

"Starting on Sunday 24th this Holy Place will be accessible again to the faithful for visits and prayers," leaders of the three denominations that share the site said in a statement on Saturday.

They said measures will be enforced to "avoid the risk of a new spread of the COVID-19 infection".

"At the beginning the number will be limited [to 50 persons] and the Basilica will be accessible only to those who have no fever or symptoms of infection and are wearing suitable face coverings," the statement said.

Visitors will be required to wear masks and maintain a two-metre  distance from each other.

Worshippers will also be asked to "avoid any act of devotion that might include physical contact such as touching and kissing the stones, icons, vestments and the personnel in the Basilica", the statement added.

The church was closed on March 25 ahead of the Easter holiday as part of measures imposed to combat the spread of the virus.

The Greek Orthodox, Armenian and Roman Catholic denominations share custody of the Holy Sepulchre.

More than 16,600 cases of the COVID-19 disease have been recorded in Israel, including 279 deaths.

In the occupied West Bank, Palestinian authorities have reported 368 cases and two deaths from the virus.

The church, located in Israeli-occupied and annexed East Jerusalem, is visited every year by millions of pilgrims.

Religious sites were authorised to reopen on Wednesday on the condition that access be limited to 50 people at a time.

The Al AqsaMmosque -- Islam's third holiest site -- will reopen after Eid  Al Fitr, the festival marking the end of holy fasting month of Ramadan on Sunday, the site's governing body announced on Tuesday.

RABAT — Prisoners in Morocco are doing their bit in the country's fight against the spread of coronavirus -- by making thousands of face masks for fellow inmates.

"We feel like we are contributing to the collective effort, even if it's from behind prison walls," 40-year-old Khalid, wearing a white coat and a face mask, told AFP during an interview in the presence of prison management.

An inmate at Casablanca's Ain Sebaa prison -- the kingdom's most crowded jail, with some 8,000 inmates -- Khalid leaves his cell every day for the sewing workshop, passing through long corridors that reek of disinfectant.

He finishes off the masks while others cut the fabric or pack the protective items into plastic bags for distribution to some 80,000 prisoners across the country.

The North African kingdom has officially declared 7,300 coronavirus infections, including 197 deaths.

It has extended its lockdown until June 10, and anyone going outdoors requires authorisation and must wear a mask.

Police checks are frequent, and those caught risk up to three months in prison and a fine of up to 1,300 dirhams ($130) for violating the rules.

'Spirit of citizenship' 

One of the aims of the pilot programme, launched at Ain Sebaa prison at the start of May, is to "foster a spirit of citizenship" among detainees and "help them to manage their detention during the lockdown", prison management said.

Since Morocco declared a medical state of emergency in mid-March, prison visits and any activities that require outside intervention have been halted.

Hospital visits are limited to emergencies, while court attendance has also been suspended, with hearings held via video conference.

Over 300 virus cases have been recorded among inmates in the country's prisons, with about a quarter of infections among personnel, according to official figures.

Rights groups have urged authorities to release some detainees to limit the risk of infection among the country's notoriously overcrowded prisons.

At the start of April, King Mohammed VI pardoned more than 5,600 prisoners.

No cases have been registered at the Ain Sebaa facility, which has "rigorously" applied preventive measures, director Abderrahim Kerrari said.

Disinfectant has been installed at the main entrance and in areas leading to the cells, and sanitising gel stands on every table in the workshop.

 'Modest contribution' 

Some of the mask-makers, like 54-year-old Mustafa, worked in the clothing industry before their arrest.

He said he was happy to be "useful to society", while fellow inmate Wafaa, 37, said he'd signed up to develop skills and gain experience.

The programme also aims to "prepare inmates for reintegration into society by instilling in them values such as solidarity", Kerrari said.

Those taking part were already involved in the prison's sewing workshops, and received two days of training on mask-making.

Participants are paid for their efforts, based on the number of days worked, although the amount was not disclosed.

The administration chose them for their "good conduct", giving priority to inmates serving shorter sentences, Kerrari added.

Collectively, some one hundred prisoners in around 20 Moroccan facilities are making 20,000 masks a day -- just a drop in the ocean when compared to the 10 million produced daily in local factories repurposed in the fight against the pandemic.

But in the workshop of the women's wing, 35-year-old Meriem expressed a sense of satisfaction in taking part.

"I am very happy to be doing a job that's useful for our people during the pandemic," she said.

"I feel I am doing my duty, even if it's just a modest contribution."

PARIS — Thirty years after unification, Yemen is on the verge of fragmentation as a result of armed conflicts, regional rivalries and foreign interference.

On May 22, 1990, to popular acclaim, the leaders of the former North and South Yemen states announced from Sanaa the formation of a new republic that was seen as "the dream of an entire generation of Yemenis", according to political analyst Saleh Al Baidhani.

But 30 years on, that dream has faded and the impoverished country has turned into a patchwork of rival zones mired in endless conflicts.

Yemen has been embroiled in civil war since 2014 between the government -- supported by a Saudi-led military coalition -- and Iran-backed Houthi rebels, who now control much of the north, including the capital Sanaa.

The government still holds the central district of Marib and the eastern provinces, while the south is in the hands of the separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC) -- which has made no secret of its intention to declare an independent state.

"Our strategic goal, on which we will not concede, is the establishment of an independent state," STC official Thabet Al Awlaki told AFP.

According to Ali Al Sarari, an aide to Yemen's prime minister, the country appears to be faced with two options.

Either "fragmentation" as already in place or a "federal nation" resulting from a political agreement which seems a remote possibility, he told AFP.

Short honeymoon 

Yemen's unity was the result of "revolutionary transformations", Baidhani said.

The Zaidi monarchy in North Yemen was overthrown in a 1962 coup by nationalist officers.

South Yemen, for its part, gained independence in 1967 after a four-year armed revolt against the British, which controlled the key port city of Aden.

The political rhetoric of nationalists in the north and socialists in the south -- which in 1970 became the only communist state in the Arab world -- focused on unification.

That was achieved in 1990 despite a host of obstacles, including border clashes between the two states' forces in 1979.

Ali Abdullah Saleh, who ruled the north since 1978, became president and Ali Salem Al Beidh from the south was the vice president.

But the honeymoon was short-lived, as officials in the south felt they had been sidelined from power.

An attempt by the south to break away in 1994 sparked a brief civil war that ended with it being overrun by northern troops.

According to Hussein Hanachi, director of the Aden Centre for Studies, unification was founded on shaky foundations.

"It was then destroyed after the ruling class in the north transformed the situation into one of military occupation after the 1994 conflict," he told AFP.

Hanachi was referring to the dismantling of southern enterprises in favour of northern businessmen and to the distribution of land to supporters of the president.

'New reality' 

Saleh clung on to power despite the rise of jihadist groups, economic hardships and ongoing violence.

The first real challenge to his rule came with the eruption in 2011 of Arab Spring-inspired protests that brought thousands of Yemenis onto the streets.

Saleh finally ceded power in February 2012 after 33 years in charge and his deputy, Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, took over.

Saleh was killed in 2017 by his former H0uthi rebel allies.

In 2014, the Houthis seized vast swathes of the country including the capital, prompting the intervention of the Saudi-led coalition to support the government.

Since then, tens of thousands of people, mostly civilians, have been killed in a conflict that has triggered what the United Nations terms the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

The country is also faced with the coronavirus pandemic which has so far officially killed 20 people, widely considered a vast underestimate given Yemen's collapsing healthcare system.

A power struggle in the south between the government and separatists -- part of the anti-Houthi camp -- has further complicated the situation.

Just last month, the STC declared self-rule in southern Yemen.

"Yemeni unity in its current state has ceased to exist," Maged Al Madhaji, executive director of the Sanaa Centre for Strategic Studies, told AFP.

"The war has created a new reality on the ground," he said.

DAMASCUS — In a Damascus flea market, Sham Alloush rummaged through a pile of clothes for something nice to wear for Eid Al Fitr that was not too expensive.

"The flea market is the only place I can buy something new to wear for the Eid holidays," the 28-year-old, dressed casually in large sunglasses and a tight yellow top, told AFP.

"Had it not been for this place, I wouldn't have been able to buy new clothes at all."

Ravaged by war since 2011, heavily sanctioned Syria is also grappling with a severe economic crisis that has been compounded by a coronavirus lockdown and a dollar liquidity crunch in neighbouring Lebanon.

Prices have doubled over the past year, while the Syrian pound has reached record lows against the dollar this week, further driving up inflation.

With most of the population living in poverty, Syrians have increasingly turned to flea markets to purchase clothes at an affordable price.

In a large street market in Damascus, customers perused stalls days ahead of the Eid Al Fitr holiday, which marks the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

"The quality of the second-hand clothes is good, their price is acceptable and they suit people with limited income," said Sham, who has been visiting the flea market for years, usually around the holiday season.

But even this thrift haven is not immune to the soaring inflation gripping the entire country, she added.

"The selection of clothes this year is limited and the prices are higher," Sham said, inspecting a pile of second-hand tops arranged haphazardly on a table.

"But it is still cheaper than new ones."

Impact of COVID-19 

The value of the Syrian pound had plunged to more than 1,700 to the dollar this week in an all-time low, while the official rate remains fixed at 700.

The devaluation has meant that a wide range of products, both imported and local, are now more expensive for war-weary Syrians already struggling to survive.

In a rare acknowledgement of the currency crisis, the central bank warned on Tuesday it would clamp down on currency "manipulators" driving up the market exchange rate.

A coronavirus lockdown since March has aggravated the economic crisis, forcing businesses to temporarily close and leaving many daily wage earners without an income.

Malek Abul Atta has just reopened his small shop ahead of Eid Al Fitr, after closing for weeks because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I memorise my clients' faces and this year I have noticed new ones ahead of the holidays," he said.

For him and most of his customers, the flea market is the only "window for those who can't afford new clothes", the 52-year-old told AFP, as he arranged t-shirts and dresses on a rack by the side of the road.

"The average monthly salary of an employee is simply not enough."

In another shop in the market, Ghassan Tabbah said business had never been so bad.

"This is the worst holiday season we have seen in years," said the merchant, who had initially hoped he would recover losses sustained during the coronavirus lockdown this week.

No holiday cheer 

With the Syrian pound dropping to unprecedented lows, Tabbah's business is just not reaping a profit.

The businessman said he is offering items of clothing for 500 Syrian pounds (less than a dollar at the official rate) and yet no one is buying.

Before Syria's economy crumbled, his customers included poor people searching for "anything to cover their bodies" to middle-class shoppers looking to buy "international brands" at a bargain, he said.

But now, "food is the main priority for everyone and clothes have become a secondary" luxury, Tabbah told AFP.

With business slowing to a near-halt, the cost of keeping up shop has become too high for the merchant, forcing him to put his store up for sale a few days ago.

He expects others will follow suit if the situation remains unchanged.

"There is no holiday cheer this year," he said. "We haven't had a holiday in nearly ten years."

But for university student Dana Shawka, bargain shopping is in itself a source of joy.

"I can buy three or four items from the flea market for the price of one new item" at a retail store, the 28-year-old told AFP as she scoured the market for a "catch".

"Shopping in the flea market and searching for beautiful cheap clothes has become a tradition before the holiday."