Region

BRUSSELS — The European Union called on Syria's regime and its allies to halt "indiscriminate" military attacks on civilians in the country's northwest, where an intensifying bombardment by Damascus and Russian forces has displaced tens of thousands.

Civilians have streamed out of affected areas of extremist-dominated Idlib province in recent weeks to escape heightened attacks on the southern edge of the final major opposition-held pocket of Syria, eight years into the country's devastating war.

"The escalation of violence in the northwest of Syria by the Syrian regime and its allies must cease," the EU said in a statement by spokesperson for European Foreign Minister Josep Borrell, which said airstrikes and shelling had led to "countless civilian deaths".

"All parties have the obligation to protect civilians. The regime and its allies must cease indiscriminate military attacks and respect international humanitarian law," the statement said.

Violence has intensified since mid-December despite an August ceasefire deal and international calls for a de-escalation.

More than 235,000 people fled the area between December 12 and 25, mostly from the beleaguered city of Maaret Al Numan, according to the United Nations' humanitarian coordination agency OCHA.

The EU called for urgent unhindered humanitarian access to the three million civilians thought to be living in Idlib province.

It acknowledged that "terrorist groups" were operating in the region, but stressed that combating these networks "does not permit the undermining of international humanitarian law or the targeting of civilians".

The Idlib region is dominated by the country's former Al Qaeda affiliate, Hayat Tahrir Al Sham.

Residents in the province mainly depend on critical cross-border aid, which came under threat in December after Russia and China vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that would have extended such deliveries for a year.

The move raised fears that vital UN-funded aid could stop entering Idlib from January unless an alternative agreement is reached.

The Damascus regime, which now controls 70 per cent of Syria, has repeatedly vowed to take back the region.

Backed by Moscow, Damascus launched a blistering offensive against Idlib in April.

Syria's war has killed over 370,000 people and displaced millions since beginning in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests.

TEHRAN — Iran accused France on Sunday of "interference" in the case of an Iranian-French academic held in the Islamic republic, saying she is considered an Iranian national and faces security charges.

France said on Friday it summoned Iran's ambassador to protest the imprisonment of Fariba Adelkhah and another academic, Roland Marchal of France, saying their detention was "intolerable".

Their imprisonment has added to distrust between Tehran and Paris at a time when French President Emmanuel Macron is seeking to play a leading role in defusing tensions between Iran and its arch-foe the United States.

"The statement by France's foreign ministry regarding an Iranian national is an act of interference and we see their request to have no legal basis," Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said in a statement.

"The individual in question [Adelkhah] is an Iranian national and has been arrested over 'acts of espionage'," he said, adding that her lawyer had knowledge about the details of the case which is being investigated.

Iran does not recognise dual nationality and has repeatedly rebuffed calls from foreign governments for consular access to those it has detained during legal proceedings.

In its statement on Friday, the French foreign ministry reiterated its call for the release of Adelkhah and Marshal.

It also reaffirmed France's demand for consular access.

In response, Mousavi said Marshal was detained for "conspiring against national security", that he has had "consular access multiple times" and that his lawyer was in touch with the judiciary.

Hunger strikes 

A specialist in Shiite Islam and a research director at Sciences Po University in Paris, Adelkhah's arrest for suspected "espionage" was confirmed in July.

Her colleague Marchal was arrested while visiting Adelkhah, according to his lawyer.

The university and supporters said this week that Adelkhah and another detained academic, Australian Kylie Moore-Gilbert, had started an indefinite hunger strike just before Christmas.

The French statement said the ministry had made clear to the ambassador "our grave concern over the situation of Mrs Fariba Adelkhah, who has stopped taking food".

"Creating hype cannot stop Iran's judiciary from handling the case, especially considering the security charges the two face," Mousavi said.

The latest tensions come after Xiyue Wang, an American scholar who had been serving 10 years on espionage charges, was released by Iran this month in exchange for Massoud Soleimani, an Iranian who had been held in the US for allegedly breaching sanctions.

Iran has said it is open to more such prisoner swaps with the United States.

Tehran is still holding several other foreign nationals in high profile cases, including British-Iranian mother Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Iranian-American businessman Siamak Namazi and his father Mohammad Bagher Namazi.

US-Iran tensions have soared since Washington pulled out of a landmark nuclear agreement with Tehran last year and reimposed crippling sanctions.

ISTANBUL — Turkey will not withdraw from its observation posts in the Syrian rebel bastion province of Idlib which has seen an increase in violence amid intensified fighting between the Syrian army and extremist groups.

The posts were established under a September 2018 deal between Moscow and Ankara, which backs the rebels.

The Syrian army surrounded one of 12 Turkish observation posts in Idlib province on Monday after overrunning nearby areas in a push to take the last opposition holdout, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

"We respect the agreement reached with Russia and we expect Russia to abide by this agreement," Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar said in comments published on Sunday on the defence ministry's Twitter account.

“We will by no means empty those 12 observation posts, we will not leave there,” Akar said.

His comments came during a visit, together with top army commanders, to the southern province of Hatay on the Syrian border to inspect Turkish troops on Saturday.

Turkey, worried over a new wave of refugees from the Idlib region, is pressing for a fresh ceasefire deal, as it sent a delegation to Moscow on Monday.

The latest violence has displaced more than 235,000 people and killed scores of civilians, despite an August ceasefire deal and international calls for a de-escalation.

The Idlib region hosts some three million people including many displaced by years of violence in other parts of Syria.

“As long as this pressure remains in place, it will trigger a new migrant wave and put further burden on Turkey which is already hosting nearly four million Syrian brothers,” said Akar.

“The Turkish Armed Forces are ready for whatever task is given in order to protect our country and people’s interests,” Akar said.

BEIRUT — Dozens of protesters gathered outside the Beirut home of Lebanon's new prime minister on Saturday, calling for Hassan Diab's resignation less than 10 days after he was appointed.

Lebanon is without a Cabinet and in the grips of a deepening economic crisis after a two-month-old protest movement forced Saad Hariri to stand down as prime minister on October 29.

Anti-government protests continued after Hariri's resignation, while political parties negotiated for weeks before nominating Diab, a professor and former education minister, to replace him on December 19.

Echoing protester demands, Diab promised to form a government of independent experts within six weeks — in a country where appointing a Cabinet can take months.

But protesters on Saturday were unconvinced by his promise.

"We're here to bring down Hassan Diab. He doesn't represent us. He's one of them," said one young demonstrator, referring to the country's ruling elite, who protesters despise collectively.

Lina, another protester agreed, saying: "It's the revolution that must name the prime minister, not them."

The 60-year-old Diab, who has a low public profile and styles himself as a technocrat, last week called protester demands legitimate but asked them to give him a chance to form "an exceptional government".

"We are willing to give him a chance, but let us at least give him a roadmap," Lina told AFP.

"The names don't matter to us, we want policy plans, what is his programme?" she asked.

Protesters decry Diab's participation as a minister in a government deemed corrupt.

The support given to him by powerful Shiite movement Hizbollah also angers many protesters and pro-Hariri Sunnis.

Protesters also gathered in the northern Sunni majority city of Tripoli on Saturday, an AFP photographer said.

The protests and political deadlock have brought Lebanon to its worst economic crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war.

The international community has urged a new Cabinet to be formed swiftly to implement economic reforms and unlock international aid.

ATHENS — Greece wants to be included in UN-sponsored talks in January on the Libya conflict, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said Sunday, as tensions escalate with neighbours Turkey over the issue.

Libya has become another diplomatic front for Greece and Turkey as the traditional rivals jostle over Mediterranean maritime rights and the competing camps in the North African country's conflict.

"We do not want a source of instability in our neighbourhood. Therefore we want a say in developments in Libya," Mitsotakis told To Vima weekly in an interview.

"We want to be part of the solution in Libya, as it concerns us too," he said.

The UN has said an international conference will be held next month in Berlin to pave the way for a political solution to Libya’s ongoing conflict.

Libya has been beset by chaos since a NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed dictator Muammar Qadhafi in 2011, with rival administrations in the east and the west vying for power.

“I have requested, and will do so again with greater insistence, that we participate in the Berlin process,” Mitsotakis said.

In November, Ankara signed a contentious maritime and military deal with the embattled UN-recognised government in Tripoli.

Greece immediately rejected it as baseless, arguing that Turkey and Libya share no maritime border.

“[Libya] is our natural maritime neighbour, not Turkey’s,” Mitsotakis said on Sunday.

The Turkish deal lays claim to much of the Mediterranean for energy exploration, conflicting with rival claims by Greece and Cyprus.

At the same time, Turkey is stepping up military aid to Tripoli, which is battling the forces of military strongman Khalifa Haftar for control of the capital.

Mitsotakis on Sunday also addressed recent statements by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that called into question sovereignty treaties with Greece.

Turkey maintains that several islands and islets near its coasts that are claimed by Greece under longstanding postwar treaties are actually “grey zones”.

“No one should try to blockade us, to trap us in our own coasts or trample on our economic rights,” Erdogan said last week.

Mitsotakis on Sunday said: “If we cannot work things out, then we should agree to settle the one case that is acknowledged by Greece at an international judicial body, such as the International Court [of Justice] at the Hague.”

“I am referring to the continental shelf and maritime zones in the Aegean and the eastern Mediterranean,” he added.