Region

RAFAH, Palestinian Territories —  Gaza's Hamas-run government on Monday temporarily re-opened the border crossing with Egypt, shut due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, to allow hundreds of Palestinians to return.

One-way traffic into the coastal enclave through the Rafah crossing would be allowed for the coming four days, Gaza's interior ministry said.

All those returning would be put into compulsory 21-day quarantine which could be extended, interior ministry spokesman Iyad Al Bozm said.

So far, only 13 COVID-19 infections have been confirmed in Gaza, all from people returning to the territory or those in contact with them while in quarantine.

But the Strip, under an Israeli-imposed blockade since 2007, is one of the most densely-populated territories on earth and has a struggling health system.

Hamas has imposed a series of measures including closing markets, schools and mosques.

Gaza, ruled by the Islamist group since 2007, had run out of COVID-19 testing kits last week but the World Health Organisation delivered 480 kits on Sunday.

At the Rafah arrivals hall on Monday, returning residents were met by dozens of police officers, doctors and nurses wearing protective medical equipment.

Among the returnees were students and people who had been outside Gaza for treatment for other diseases, said doctor Mohamed Abu Salamieh.

The Rafah border crossing with Egypt is the only exit from Gaza apart from into Israel.

TRIPOLI — Libya's unity government said on Monday its forces had seized two coastal cities between Tripoli and the Tunisian border from troops backing military commander Khalifa Haftar.

"Our forces took control of Sorman and Sabratha and are pursuing [Haftar's forces]," said a statement by Mohammed Gnunu, spokesman for the forces of the United Nations-recognised Government of National Accord(GNA).

Control of war-torn Libya is largely divided between pro-GNA forces and those of eastern-based Haftar, who launched an offensive to try to capture the capital on April 4 last year.

On their Facebook page, GNA forces published images of Grad rocket launchers, 10 tanks and armoured vehicles they said they had captured in the cities, which had been controlled by Salafist militias allied with Haftar.

Mohammad al-Gammoudi, a GNA commander on the ground, said Sorman and Sabratha had been seized after "six hours of fighting with air cover".

GNA chief Fayez Al Sarraj also said his forces had taken the cities.

Haftar's forces did not immediately comment.

Libya has suffered almost a decade of conflict since longtime dictator Muammar Qadhafi was brought down and killed in a 2011 uprising backed by several Western powers.

Russia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and others have fuelled fighting in the oil-rich but impoverished North African country.

The UN says hundreds have been killed and over 200,000 displaced since Haftar launched his battle for Tripoli.

Several UN-backed attempts to reach a ceasefire have failed and the UN has slammed repeated violations of a 2011 weapons embargo.

On March 17, the world body and nine countries called on Libya's warring parties to cease hostilities to allow health authorities to fight against the new coronavirus.

The GNA and Haftar's forces welcomed calls for a humanitarian pause, but the GNA said it reserved "the right to respond to daily assaults targeting civilians and public facilities".

Repeated UN efforts to mediate a ceasefire have yielded few results and have been on hold since envoy Ghassan Salame quit in early March, citing health reasons.

Former Algerian foreign minister Ramtane Lamamra had appeared set to take up the post but the United States refused to endorse him, diplomats told AFP.

On Saturday the UN's humanitarian coordinator for the country said water had been cut off to millions of residents of Tripoli and surroundings in an "abhorrent" act of collective punishment.

The water supply was disrupted by members of an armed group in an area 350 kilometres southeast of Tripoli under control of pro-Haftar forces who are demanding the release of family members detained in Tripoli.

TEHRAN — Iran on Sunday announced 117 new deaths from the novel coronavirus, bringing the overall official toll to 4,474, even as it eased some restrictions that had been imposed to slow the spread of the illness.

Health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour also told a news conference that 1,657 new infections had been confirmed in the past 24 hours, taking the total to 71,686.

Iran has carried out 263,388 tests for the virus so far, he added.

Of those confirmed to be infected with COVID-19 and admitted to hospitals, 43,894 have recovered and been discharged, while 3,930 are in a critical condition.

Iran announced its first coronavirus cases on February 19 and has so far become the worst-hit country in the Middle East.

The new tolls come as Iran has started a gradual reopening of its sanctions-hit economy.

On Saturday, it allowed small businesses to reopen outside the capital and this will be extended to the capital Tehran on April 18.

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani also announced in a cabinet meeting that an intercity travel ban in place since last month would be lifted on April 20.

But he repeated calls on Iranians to limit movements outside to "necessary" tasks and remain vigilant, as it remains difficult to "comment on the future" of Iran's battle with the virus.

Schools and universities are still shut across the Islamic republic, as are cinemas, sports stadiums and revered Shiite Muslim shrines.

SANAA —The Saudi-led coalition began a unilateral ceasefire in Yemen's long war on Thursday, saying it hoped the initiative to prevent coronavirus in the impoverished country would lead to a wider political solution.

The Iran-backed Houthi rebels have not formally responded to the the coalition's declaration of a two-week pause in the five-year conflict that took effect from 09:00 GMT.

However Yasser Al Houri, secretary of the Houthis' political council, poured cold water on the idea, saying that the Saudis "are dishonest and violate every truce they announce".

"The announcement of this truce is to evade the true national vision that offers real solutions," he said, referring to a roadmap for peace that the rebels unveiled on Wednesday shortly before the Saudi offer.

If the ceasefire does hold, it would be the first breakthrough since the warring parties agreed to a UN-brokered truce in the port city of Hodeida during talks in Sweden in late 2018.

The United Arab Emirates, a key ally in the coalition which drew down its troops last year as the conflict became increasingly intractable, applauded the Saudi move as "wise and responsible".

"Hope the Houthis rise to the occasion. The COVID-19 crisis eclipses everything -- the international community must step up efforts & work together to protect the Yemeni people," UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash tweeted.

"It is an important decision that must be built on, on both humanitarian and political levels," he added.

The conciliatory gesture follows an escalation in fighting between the warring parties despite a call by the United Nations for an immediate cessation to protect civilians in the Arab world's poorest nation from the pandemic.

Saudi Arabia, which launched its military intervention to support Yemen's internationally recognised government in March 2015, said on Wednesday that the truce, which could be extended, could pave the way for a wider political solution.

Officials indicated they are keen for a UN-sponsored face-to-face meeting with the rebels to achieve a permanent ceasefire.

But hours before the announcement, the Houthis released a comprehensive document that called for a withdrawal of foreign troops and the end of the coalition's blockade on Yemen's land, sea and air ports.

They also demanded that the coalition pay government salaries for the next decade, and hand over compensation for the rebuilding of the country including homes destroyed in airstrikes.

'Utmost urgency'

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who has called for an "immediate global ceasefire" to help avert disaster for vulnerable people in conflict zones, welcomed the truce offer and urged the government and Houthis to enter negotiations.

"Only through dialogue will the parties be able to agree on a mechanism for sustaining a nationwide ceasefire, humanitarian and economic confidence-building measures to alleviate the suffering of the Yemeni people, and the resumption of the political process to reach a comprehensive settlement to end the conflict," he said.

The ceasefire comes as Saudi Arabia, reeling from plunging oil prices, seeks to extricate itself from the costly conflict that has killed tens of thousands of Yemeni people and triggered what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

Yemen's broken healthcare system has so far recorded no cases of the COVID-19 illness, but aid groups have warned that when it does hit, the impact will be catastrophic.

Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit also hailed the ceasefire offer as a "rare opportunity to stop the bloodshed in Yemen".

Fatima Abo Alasrar, a scholar at the Middle East Institute, said observers will focus on whether the Houthis now stop their military operations.

"That will be the real litmus test of a successful ceasefire as the Houthis have currently opened multiple battlefronts they cannot afford to close."

Fighting recently escalated again between the Houthis and Riyadh-backed Yemen government troops around the strategic northern provinces of Al Jouf and Marib, ending a months-long lull.

And Saudi air defences intercepted Yemeni rebel missiles over Riyadh and the border city of Jizan late last month, leaving two civilians wounded in the curfew-locked capital, state media reported.

It was the first major assault on Saudi Arabia since the Houthi rebels offered last September to halt attacks on the kingdom after devastating missile and drone strikes on Saudi oil installations.

Last week, the coalition carried out multiple air strikes on Yemen's rebel-held capital Sanaa in retaliation for the missile strikes.

KHARTOUM — A year after one of Africa's longest serving leaders, Omar Al Bashir, was ousted from power in the face of mass street protests, Sudan is still reeling from daunting crises including deep economic woes.

Bashir was overthrown on April 11, 2019 by the military, which was responding to mounting public anger against his three decades of iron-fisted rule.

He was arrested and detained in a Khartoum jail and in December ordered to serve two years in a correctional centre for corruption.

He still faces separate charges over the killing of protesters and the 1989 coup that brought him to power.

Authorities have also agreed that Bashir should stand trial before the International Criminal Court on charges of genocide and war crimes committed from 2003 in the Darfur conflict between the Arab-dominated government and ethnic minority rebels.

Since August last year a transitional government -- comprised of civilians and military officials -- has taken over the reins of power in Sudan.

But the political transition to full civilian rule is fragile in a country where a creaking economy -- its dysfunction largely blamed on Bashir-era policies -- risks a collapse that could spark fresh social unrest.

The protests against Bashir erupted in December 2018 after the government in effect tripled the price of bread.

"By far the main challenge facing the transitional period is the very same constellation of factors that contributed to the demise of Bashir's rule," said Magdi El Gizouli of the Rift Valley Institute.

The main problems Sudan's new leaders now face, he said, are the "reconstitution of the political order... the deep and punishing economic crisis and the multiplying costs of maintaining social peace".

 'A long road'

In August, Sudan formed a technocratic government on the back of a power-sharing deal between top military brass and protest leaders.

The cabinet, headed by seasoned economist Abdalla Hamdok, is tasked with steering the country during a three-year transition through myriad obstacles.

Soaring inflation, a huge public debt and tricky efforts to forge peace with rebels are among the major challenges.

Sudan's economy, already suffering from long-running US sanctions, was badly hit in 2011 when oil-rich South Sudan broke away in a negotiated divorce with Bashir's government.

The US announced an end to its 20-year-old trade embargo against Sudan in October 2017, but kept the country on its state sponsors of terrorism list.

Hamdok's administration is now hoping that the lifting of US sanctions on 157 Sudanese firms in March will help attract foreign investment, but the future still looks grim.

Households still suffer frequent power cuts and some Sudanese still queue for hours to buy staple foods like bread or petrol.

"Economic recovery in Sudan will be a long road and will require the thoughtful, sustained and coordinated support of traditional donors such as the EU, UK, Japan and the US as well as Gulf states," said Jonas Horner of the International Crisis Group.

"Long-term external technical and financial support is required to pull Sudan out of its economic mire."

Hamdok's government has been pushing to boost the country's international standing and ease tensions with the US, and in December the premier visited Washington.

Authorities in February said they had agreed to compensate families of the victims of the USS Cole bombing in Yemen's Aden harbour, for which Al Qaeda claimed responsibility.

The United States said the bombers who had carried out the attack in 2000 were supported and trained in Sudan.

Khartoum had always denied the charges but agreed to the settlement to fulfil a key US condition for removing it from the terrorism blacklist.

"While such measures are important steps in trying to re-establish Sudan's credibility abroad, they are controversial at home particularly with people close to the old regime," said Marina Ottaway, Middle East fellow at the Wilson Centre.

Outbursts of violence

Sudan's political transition has also been tested by several security incidents in recent months.

In January, five people including two soldiers were killed when Sudanese troops crushed a rebellion by Bashir loyalists at the long-feared security agency who were angered by a retirement plan.

And in March, Hamdok survived unharmed after an unclaimed bomb and gun attack targeted his convoy in Khartoum.

"There is no shortage of possible suspects," said Ottaway, adding however that the most threatening scenario would be "if elements of the military were found to be involved".

And while Sudan continues to face sporadic communal violence in the country's far-flung regions, including Darfur, authorities have started thorny talks with rebel groups over a possible peace deal in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states.

"We have come a long way with armed rebel groups," information minister and government spokesman Faisal Saleh has said.

"The outstanding issues are not big but they are complicated."

BAGHDAD — Iraqi President Barham Saleh nominated spy chief Mustafa Kadhemi on Thursday as the country's third prime minister-designate this year, moments after his predecessor ended his bid to form a government.

Kadhemi, the 53-year-old head of the National Intelligence Service, has ascended to the role as Iraq faces a budget crisis brought on by the collapse in world oil prices and the spread of the novel coronavirus.

"This is a huge responsibility, and a difficult task," said Saleh in his nominating speech, describing Kadhemi as someone with integrity and reason.

His nomination was attended by ministers, political rivals and even the United Nations' representative in Iraq, indicating widespread support for Kadhemi that neither of the previous PM-designates had enjoyed.

Moments before the ceremony, his predecessor Adnan Zurfi announced he was withdrawing his candidacy due to "internal and external reasons", without elaborating.

Zurfi had been staunchly opposed by hardline Shiite factions with close ties to Iran, which enjoys vast political and military influence in Baghdad.

Any candidate for the premiership, observers say, must have a green light from Iraq's Shiite, Kurdish and Sunni communities -- as well as Iran and its rival, the US.

'A win for Iraq'

Kadhemi was able to secure that support after weeks of lobbying that peaked in a flurry of meetings in Baghdad over the last week, sources close to him told AFP.

Among them were gatherings attended by Iranian General Ismail Qaani, who has headed Iran's powerful Quds Force foreign operations unit since a US drone strike in Baghdad killed his predecessor Qassem Soleimani in January.

One hardline Iraqi faction accused Kadhemi of conspiring with Washington to carry out the strike, but the spy chief was able to repair his ties to Iran, several political sources close to the talks told AFP.

"Kadhemi recently travelled to Beirut to overcome this obstacle," said one source close to Lebanon's pro-Iran movement Hizbollah.

That paved the way for Qaani to endorse Kadhemi in his meetings with top Iraqi Shiite leaders in Baghdad last week, a second source confirmed.

Iraq has long feared being caught in spiralling tensions between Iran and the United States, which has blamed the Islamic republic and its allies for dozens of rocket attacks on American troops and citizens in Iraq in recent months.

Washington has also imposed crippling sanctions on Tehran, granting Iraq a series of temporary waivers to allow it to keep importing vital Iranian gas to feed its dilapidated power grid, the latest of which will expire in late April.

With ties to both Washington and Tehran, and particularly close links to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, Kadhemi may be best equipped to steer Iraq through the brewing political storm, observers say.

"It's a win for Iraq, especially in this difficult economic phase, as he could ensure the renewal of Baghdad's waiver to the US sanctions imposed on Iran," a senior political figure in the Iraqi capital told AFP.

Third time's the charm?

But first, he must submit a Cabinet lineup to Iraq's 329-member parliament for a vote of confidence by May 9.

That will require a long process of consultations with various political parties, as top positions in Iraq's sectarian power-sharing system are typically doled out through horsetrading and consensus.

Neither of the previous candidates for prime minister -- Zurfi nor former minister Mohammad Allawi -- had been able to reach that step.

If he succeeds, Kadhemi would replace Iraq's caretaker premier Adel Abdel Mahdi, who came into power in 2018 when political blocs opted for him over Kadhemi.

Abdel Mahdi resigned in December following months of anti-government protests, becoming the first premier in the country's post-2003 order to step down.

But if the intel leader fails, political sources close to the talks told AFP, Shiite blocs would struggle to find another consensus candidate -- leaving Abdel Mahdi in place for the foreseeable future.

Kadhemi's nomination was attended by ministers and political rivals

TUNIS — Tunisia's interior ministry warned on Tuesday that people infected with coronavirus could be prosecuted for manslaughter if they contaminate others by disobeying the health ministry's instructions.

"If someone who is sick does not self-isolate as required in line with health ministry instructions, and they contaminate someone else, we will pursue them under the penal code," Interior Minister Hichem Mechichi told reporters.

"If that cross-contamination results in death, they can be prosecuted for manslaughter."

Testing has confirmed some 600 cases of coronavirus in Tunisia, among which there have been 22 fatalities.

Since April 5, three hotels across the country have been equipped to take care of up to 1,500 coronavirus patients outside hospitals, according to authorities.

Around 120 people are currently staying in those hotels.

But some infected people have been reluctant to remain in quarantine.

"We will be strict in applying the law... our responsibility is to protect the people," Mechichi said.

Tunisia imposed a 6.00 pm to 6.00 am curfew from March 18, and imposed daytime movement restrictions on citizens on March 22, in a bid to forestall the spread of the virus.

Hundreds have been arrested for breaking daytime rules and around 1,000 for breaching the nighttime curfew, according to authorities.

BEIRUT — Millions in Lebanon risk food insecurity due to a coronavirus lockdown unless the government provides urgent assistance, Human Rights Watch (HRW)warned on Wednesday.

Lebanon in mid-March ordered residents to stay at home and all non-essential businesses to close to halt the spread of COVID-19, which has officially infected 575 people and killed 19 nationwide.

Before the pandemic erupted, Lebanon was struggling with its worst economic crisis in decades, with 45 per cent of the population facing poverty according to official estimates.

Lockdown measures to slow the spread of the virus have made matters worse with "millions of Lebanon's residents... at risk of going hungry", HRW said in a statement.

Lebanon is home to 4.5 million people, and also hosts around 1.5 million Syrians who have fled the nine-year war next door, most of whom rely on aid to survive.

"The lockdown... has compounded the poverty and economic hardship rampant in Lebanon before the virus arrived," said HRW senior researcher Lena Simet.

"Many people who had an income have lost it, and if the government does not step in, more than half the population may not be able to afford food and basic necessities."

The economic crisis since last year had already caused many people to lose their jobs or take salary cuts, and stay-at-home measures to counter the virus have now prevented even more from earning a wage.

Media has carried reports of a taxi driver who set his car on fire after security forces fined him for breaking the lockdown rules.

And an unemployed Lebanese construction worker unable to afford rent offered to sell his kidney, in an image widely shared online.

HRW Lebanon researcher Aya Majzoub said many families are struggling due to a lack of savings.

The government has said it will pay out 400,000 Lebanese pounds (less than $150 at the market rate) to the most vulnerable.

HRW said the government should also consider suspending rent and mortgage payments throughout the lockdown.

Majzoub said Syrian refugees were also affected.

"Many of them were seasonal workers -- they worked in agriculture, they worked in the service industry -- and they're not able to do that anymore," she said.

But their ability to cope will depend largely on international aid, as before the pandemic.

The World Bank last week said it had re-allocated $40 million from its support to Lebanon's health sector to fight the virus, including for tests and ventilators.

And it has also been discussing "assistance to help mitigate the impact of the economic and financial crisis on the poor through emergency social safety nets", World Bank spokeswoman Zeina El-Khalil told AFP in March.

On Monday, Lebanon's President Michel Aoun urged the international community to provide financial assistance to back economic reforms.

TEHRAN — Iran on Wednesday reported 121 new deaths from the novel coronavirus, bringing its overall number of fatalities to 3,993.

In the past 24 hours, 1,997 new cases of COVID-19 infection were detected in Iran, state news agency IRNA quoted health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour as saying.

That put the number of confirmed cases at 64,586, he added.

Iran, which announced its first COVID-19 cases on February 19, is by far the worst hit by the pandemic in the Middle East, according to official tolls.

But there has been speculation abroad that the real number of deaths and infections in the country could be higher.

Jahanpour said that while 3,956 patients were in critical condition, those who recovered had reached 29,812.

The spokesman added that Iran had carried out 220,975 COVID-19 tests to date, according to IRNA.

In a bid to halt COVID-19, Iran has ordered the closure of non-essential businesses and imposed inter-city travel bans, while refraining from a lockdown.

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said a "second wave" of the fight against the coronavirus would start from Saturday, and that it would be more difficult.

"Low-risk" businesses would be allowed to reopen from Saturday, he said, because "we want to continue economic activities as much as possible while fighting coronavirus at the same time".

The decision to reopen businesses has drawn criticism from health experts and even some government officials.

But Rouhani said "there is no other way".

CAIRO — Haggard and dishevelled from the stress of making ends meet, day labourers line up in Cairo for food parcels after losing their jobs to the sharp downturn caused by the coronavirus.

Sayed Shaaban, 42, who used to work in a cafe, said for him the pandemic is not just a health scare but a crushing blow to his already precarious livelihood.

Wearing a mask and gloves, he queued outside a charity centre affiliated with the Egyptian Food Bank (EFB) in Salam City, a poor neighbourhood of eastern Cairo.

"You see how I have only one functioning arm -- I used to serve drinks and get paid," he told AFP.

"But now there's not even one piastre coming in."

EFB, a large Cairo-based charity, has been at the forefront of a public relief effort in the most populous Arab country.

One third of Egypt's population of more than 100 million lives in poverty, surviving on about $1.50 or less a day.

For many who were already struggling, meagre incomes have vanished since a curfew was imposed on March 24 to stem the spread of the virus.

Egypt has so far recorded 94 deaths out of 1,450 confirmed cases of the COVID-19 respiratory disease.

Shaaban, a father of two young children from Salam City, has been housebound since his local "baladi" cafe was shuttered.

"We have no social insurance to fall back on since the cafe has been closed," he said.

"I wouldn't have come here if I wasn't in need."

Mohamed Said, 36, a carpenter and father of three queueing behind Shaaban, said that "since this crisis started we've been sitting at home and there's no money coming in."

"We don't know how to feed our kids .... and if, God forbid, something happens to any of them, I won't be able to foot a hospital bill."

'Emergency situation'

Egypt's official unemployment rate is around 10 percent, and more than 5 million people work as day labourers in the informal economy, the government estimates, often without any form of social protection.

EFB Director Mohsen Sarhan said his charity is working to deliver 10,000 food parcels a day, containing staples such as rice, pasta, oil, sugar and canned beef -- far less than what is needed by the hundreds of thousands of struggling families.

"We felt the economy slowing down with the coronavirus pandemic, so on March 19 we launched an initiative aimed at aiding a large cross-section of society who would be adversely affected," he said.

Millions of pounds in donations have poured in over the past month, but the demand to alleviate the suffering of the working poor is at an all-time high.

EFB is committed to shipping out an initial lot of 500,000 food cartons throughout Egypt's 27 governorates with around 5,000 charities distributing the parcels.

"We are in an emergency situation," Sarhan said. "We need to feed hundreds of thousands of people in a period of weeks ... time is very critical here."

'Life has stopped'

President Abdel Fattah Sisi on Monday issued a directive to provide day labourers 500 pounds (just over $30) per month for three months to ease their financial hardship.

But experts say this will only partially cushion the blow.

"The pandemic is certainly going to mean a massive increase in the numbers of working poor in countries such as Egypt," said Adam Hanieh, who researches labour issues in the Arab world at London's School of Oriental and African Studies.

The virus and its economic impact could spawn "a range of unpredictable and unexpected consequences," he said, pointing to "significant disruptions in food supplies" and "enormous pressures on the country's healthcare system".

As COVID-19 cases mount, carpenter Said expressed his deepening sense of helplessness.

"The situation has made me want to up and leave everything -- but I can't just leave my family", he said.

"We're not begging, but life has well and truly stopped."

 Farid Farid