Region

ADEN — Southern separatists vacated key public buildings in Yemen's second city Aden on Saturday that they had seized from unionist forces loyal to President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, his information minister said.

The supporters of the separatist Southern Transitional Council pulled out of the headquarters of Hadi's government, the supreme court and the central bank as well as Aden's main hospital, Muammar Al Iryani said on Twitter.

Hadi's government has refused to enter talks with the separatists until they withdraw from the positions they seized in deadly fighting last week.

Iryani said preparations were also underway for a pullout by the fighters — trained by the United Arab Emirates — from the interior ministry and the Aden oil refinery.

The start of the withdrawal had been announced by the Saudi-led military coalition which has been backing Hadi's government against northern-based Houthi rebels since 2015.

The UAE is Saudi Arabia's main partner in that coalition but trained and equipped the separatists as part of its efforts to consolidate control of the south.

The fighters of the so-called Security Belt forces last week ousted unionist troops loyal to Hadi from what was the capital of the formerly independent south in clashes that left around 40 people dead.

The Saudi-led coalition condemned the takeover of the city and urged the Security Belt to withdraw to clear the way for peace talks.

On Thursday, a joint Saudi-UAE military delegation travelled to Aden to discuss the details of a separatist pullback.

AFP journalists saw Saudi and Emirati military vehicles deployed around the positions vacated by the separatists on Saturday.

The presidential palace was also placed under Saudi and Emirati protection, they said.

‘Unite against Iran’ 

The coalition said in a statement Saturday that the positions occupied in Aden would be handed over to the government under coalition supervision.

Several other installations, including military camps, remain under separatist control and it was not immediately clear if they too would be vacated.

The coalition also called on all forces “to unite in order to foil Iran’s destructive plan in Yemen” and prevent attacks by extremist factions such as Al Qaeda and the Daesh group.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE have repeatedly accused Iran of supplying weapons, including ballistic missiles, to the Houthi rebels, an accusation Tehran has consistently denied.

The Yemeni embassy in Washington earlier this week Tweeted a foreign ministry statement welcoming the Saudi initiative to address the “coup” in Aden.

It said the separatists “must first commit to total withdrawal from areas forcibly seized by STC in past few days before start of any talks”.

The STC has accepted the call for peace talks.

South Yemen was an independent country until it merged with the north in 1990. An armed secession bid four years later ended in occupation by northern forces, giving rise to resentments which persist to this day.

Analysts say the break between Hadi’s government and the separatists reflects a wider rift between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi that threatens to undermine their common battle against the Houthis.

Despite four and a half years of military intervention by the coalition, the Houthi rebels remain in control of the capital Sanaa and much of the more populous north. 

The rebels have also carried out a spate of cross-border missile and drone attacks targeting Saudi air bases and other facilities in recent months in what it says is retaliation for the Saudi-led air war in Yemen.

On Saturday the Houthis said they launched an attack on a gas installation in Saudi Arabia, using 10 drones.

Saudi energy giant Aramco later reported a “limited” fire at the Shaybah natural gas liquefaction facility, which it said caused no casualties or disruption to production.

Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al Falih condemned what he described as “sabotage” and said “booby-trapped drones” were used in the attack.

GIBRALTAR — A last-minute US warrant to seize an Iranian oil tanker preparing to leave Gibraltar after weeks of detention cast doubt over its departure on Saturday, prolonging a diplomatic spat between Tehran, London and Washington.

The US Justice Department alleged the ship was part of a scheme "to unlawfully access the US financial system to support illicit shipments to Syria from Iran by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps," which Washington has designated a foreign terrorist organisation.

There was no comment from Britain or Gibraltar, its overseas territory.

Any detention order would ultimately have to come from Gibraltar’s supreme court. So far, that has not happened and the ship is still free to sail.

Richard de la Rosa, managing director of Astralship, the vessel’s shipping agent, told AFP the ship was preparing for departure.

“Within the next two days, she’ll be going,” he said.

“They’re performing crew changes. She needs some reprovisioning,” he said, adding new Indian and Ukrainian crew members were due to arrive on Sunday.

Gibraltar seized the ship on July 4 on suspicion it was transporting oil to Syria in breach of European Union sanctions, triggering a sharp deterioration in relations between Tehran and London. Iran has repeatedly denied this.

Iran subsequently detained the British-flagged tanker Stena Impero in what was seen as a tit-for-tat move.

On Thursday, Gibraltar’s supreme court ordered the tanker released after the British overseas territory said it had received assurances from Iran that the Grace 1 would not head to any country subject to EU sanctions.

But in a last-minute twist on Friday, the United States, which is at loggerheads with Iran, issued the warrant.

It says the vessel and all the oil aboard are subject to forfeiture based on violations of US sanctions.

It also cites violations of bank fraud, money laundering and terrorism statutes.

The US State Department has also threatened to issue a visa ban on anyone working on the ship.

The US move comes after it tried — and failed — to block the tanker’s release on Thursday.

The July 4 seizure came amid surging tensions in the Gulf after several alleged Iranian attacks on smaller tankers.

The US — citing Tehran’s threat to American allies — expanded its military presence in the region with a new aircraft carrier task force, missile batteries and strategic bombers.

Iran called the detention of the Grace 1 an “illegal interception” staged by the United States, while Washington cheered it as “excellent news”.

Ties between Tehran and Washington are at a low point since US President Donald Trump withdrew last year from a landmark 2015 nuclear deal between major powers and Iran, reimposing crippling unilateral sanctions.

On Friday, Iranian officials said the tanker was preparing to set sail under an Iranian flag and would be renamed the Adrian Darya for the voyage.

Tehran also denied it had made any promises about the ship’s destination to secure the release.

BAGHDAD — Hundreds of Iraqi teenagers clapped along exuberantly to techno beats pumping across a makeshift dance hall on Friday night, a scene their capital had not witnessed in decades.

Neon red, yellow and white stage lights helped transform the basketball court in the People's Stadium in central Baghdad into a club for the "Summer Festival", the first celebration of its kind in the city.

The party started at noon with a car show: classic cars, souped-up four-wheelers and motorcycles with proud owners revving their engines.

As the DJ took the stage, boys and girls alike swayed and sang along to Western tunes, alternated with popular Iraqi hits.

Though there were only a few young women among the 1,000 or so revellers, their presence was notable in a country where public spaces remain conservative.

"I love this type of music," said Layan, a 19-year-old woman in a leather black top and full makeup. 

"I hear a lot of people say that we're influenced by the West. Fine, there's no difference to me — the important thing is I don't have to listen to this music at home in secret anymore," she said, pumping her fist into the air.

Just a few years ago, the sound of staccato gunfire or the echo of car bombs was more common in Baghdad than the resounding bass of electronic music. 

Iraq has been hit by nearly four decades of conflict, from a devastating war with Iran in the 1980s to the US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003. 

Sectarian warfare followed, then the onslaught of the Daesh group in 2014, only defeated territorially in late 2017.

Friday's festival was the latest indication that Iraq is entering a phase of relative stability, with blast walls and checkpoints coming down across the capital.

Restaurants are again abuzz with families and coffee shops full of young people watching cover bands late into the night, something that not so long ago was considered too dangerous because of the risk of suicide bombers. 

BEIRUT  — Hizbollah released footage of what it says are anti-ship missiles of the kind it used 13 years ago against Israel before marking on Friday its self-declared "victory" in the 2006 war.

Israel has fought several conflicts against the Iran-backed Hizbollah, the last in 2006.

More than 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians, and more than 160 Israelis, the majority soldiers, died during the last conflict but many in Israel consider the war a failure as Hizbollah was not defeated.

Since 2006, Israeli officials have repeatedly warned that the Shiite group maintains an arsenal of several hundred long-range missiles that could be used to target Israel. 

On Thursday night, a series of videos on Hizbollah-run media purported to show at least five anti-ship missiles stored inside metallic containers in an unknown location.

Hizbollah's logo could be seen printed on the warheads. 

It was not clear when the footage was filmed.

A Hizbollah naval commander, identified as Haj Jalal, told Hizbollah's Al Manar TV on Thursday that the anti-ship missiles are of the same kind used in a 2006 attack on one of the Israeli navy's top warships, the INS Hanit.

The warship was struck off the coast of Beirut in July 2006, killing four soldiers and causing extensive damage to the corvette.

It was the first direct strike on an Israeli warship in decades and Hizbollah celebrated it as among its biggest victories of the 34-day war.

An investigation found that the missile hit because officials did not believe Hizbollah had such sophisticated technology and so did not turn on anti-missile systems.

On Thursday, Hizbollah released what it said are videos of the 2006 missile attack. 

One clip purported to show men dressed in Hizbollah uniform tracking the Israeli warship using a radar. 

It also purported to show a truck-mounted launcher firing two anti-ship missiles, that were filmed streaking through the night sky. 

Shortly after, the video shows a distant blaze. 

In the years since the 2006 war, the discovery of offshore gas fields in Israeli waters has prompted investment in new warships to protect non-moving gas platforms.

Haj Jalal on Thursday told Al Manar that an anti-ship arsenal is significant to Hizbollah because the "sea serves as an economic lung for the Zionist enemy" .

He mentioned "offshore gas fields, some of which are still being explored".

"A threat at sea is a threat to Israel's national security," said Haj Jalal, whose face was blurred during the interview, a common security measure by the Shiite group.

On Friday, Hizbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah gave a televised speech as the movement marked the anniversary of what it called its military "victory" in Bint Jbeil in southern Lebanon near the Israeli border

He said that the 2006 war has helped Hizbollah develop "a military system to defend our villages, towns and cities".

"If [Israel] enters southern Lebanon... you will see a live broadcast of the destruction of Israeli brigades," he warned.

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — Palestinian-American lawmaker Rashida Tlaib on Friday turned down Israel's offer to let her visit her grandmother in the occupied West Bank, owing to restrictions she termed oppressive.

It was the latest twist in a saga hinging on Israel's war against those who would boycott it over its treatment of the Palestinians.

On Thursday, Israel barred from entry the US Congress' first Muslim female lawmakers, Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, on the grounds that they support the boycott movement, and after President Donald Trump urged the Jewish state to block the two Democrats.

But it held out the carrot of allowing Tlaib to make a private visit to her elderly grandmother, if she agreed to abide by conditions including a pledge not to advocate boycotting Israel.

"This could be my last opportunity to see her. I will respect any restrictions and will not promote boycotts against Israel during my visit," she initially wrote.

On Friday, Israel's Interior Minister Aryeh Deri announced that she would be permitted a "humanitarian visit", but a few hours later Tlaib announced a change of heart.

Oppressive conditions 

"I have decided that visiting my grandmother under these oppressive conditions stands against everything I believe in — fighting against racism, oppression & injustice," she wrote in a series of Tweets.

"When I won, it gave the Palestinian people hope that someone will finally speak the truth about the inhumane conditions," added the 43-year-old congresswoman, elected in January.

"I can't allow the State of Israel to take away that light by humiliating me & use my love for my sity to bow down to their oppressive & racist policies," she said, referring to her grandmother.

"Silencing me & treating me like a criminal is not what she wants for me. It would kill a piece of me."

On Friday, Palestinian activists had been urging Tlaib on social media not to visit her grandmother under the Israeli terms.

Trump weighed in late Friday, calling Tlaib's turnaround "a complete setup".

"Rep. Tlaib wrote a letter to Israeli officials desperately wanting to visit her grandmother. Permission was quickly granted, whereupon Tlaib obnoxiously turned the approval down, a complete setup."

He added: "The only real winner here is Tlaib's grandmother. She doesn't have to see her now!"

In the family's village of Beit Ur Al Foqa, Muftia Tlaib had been excitedly awaiting her granddaughter's arrival.

She intended to slaughter a sheep in her honour, in accordance with custom

"I see her coming to the village in traditional [Palestinian] dress," she told AFP on Thursday, before the latest development.

Boycott movement 

The United States, particularly under Trump, is Israel's strongest ally.

But the two congresswomen are seen by many as enemies of Israel because of their support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

Israel sees the movement as a strategic threat and accuses it of anti-Semitism — a claim activists deny — and in 2017 passed a law banning entry to foreigners supporting a boycott.

Israel occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War and has for decades built settlements considered illegal under international law.

Settlement growth has accelerated under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a close Trump ally who is seeking reelection next month.

More than 600,000 Israelis live in the settlements, alongside nearly 3 million Palestinians, in uneasy proximity throughout the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem.

Israel's initial refusal to allow Tlaib and Omar to transit Israel on their way to the West Bank sparked outrage among Palestinians and debate about the intimate ties between Netanyahu and Trump.

 Clash of interests 

Despite fierce criticism of Tlaib and BDS on the Israeli side, the country's media largely slammed Netanyahu over the affair.

The premier was accused of putting loyalty to Trump and the Republican Party ahead of Israel's clear interest in maintaining bipartisan US support.

"After countless zigzags between what is right for Israel and what is right for Trump, Netanyahu chose Trump," analyst Shimrit Meir wrote in the top-selling Israeli daily Yediot Aharonot.

The affair could cause US Democrats to rally around the two Muslim congresswomen, commentators said, in a way which could prove detrimental to Israel.

Ben Caspit, a journalist with the Maariv newspaper, said Thursday's decision to block the politicians' entry "set new records for shortsightedness and wretchedness".

"It will turn them into martyrs, it will turn Israel into a threshold dictatorship lacking self-confidence that is closed onto itself, that bans elected American officials, critical as they may be," he said.

GIBRALTAR — Gibraltar's Supreme Court on Thursday ruled in favour of releasing an Iranian supertanker seized on suspicion of shipping oil to Syria in breach of international sanctions, in a blow to the US which had tried to block the vessel's departure.

The Grace 1 "is no longer subject to detention", Chief Justice Anthony Dudley said in court.

The decision came after Gibraltar's government said it had received written assurances from Iran that the Grace 1 would not be headed for countries "subject to European Union sanctions".

"There are no longer reasonable grounds to suspect that the detention of the Vessel is required," chief minister Fabian, Picardo, said in a statement.

Hours before the announcement, the US launched a last-minute legal move demanding that the British overseas territory detain the ship.

The move had delayed the court decision on the vessel's fate but Judge Dudley said during his ruling that he had not received a written request from US.

However, Washington can make another bid for the supertanker's detention as long as the vessel has not left Gibraltar's waters. 

The Grace 1, carrying 2.1 million barrels of Iranian oil, was seized by Gibraltar police and British special forces on July 4, provoking a diplomatic crisis.

It was suspected of carrying the crude oil to war-torn Syria in violation of separate EU and US sanctions.

Tehran retaliated by seizing a British tanker, the Stena Impero, on July 19 in the strategic Strait of Hormuz — the conduit for much of the world’s crude — for breaking “international maritime rules”.

‘Piracy’ 

Tehran repeatedly called for the release of Grace 1, insisting it had been in international waters and not headed to Syria.

Iranian authorities believe Britain detained the ship at the behest of US President Donald Trump’s administration.

Following Thursday’s decision, Iran’s foreign minister said a US attempt at “piracy” had failed.

“Having failed to accomplish its objectives through its #EconomicTerrorism — including depriving cancer patients of medicine — the US attempted to abuse the legal system to steal our property on the high seas,” Mohammad Javad Zarif Tweeted.

“This piracy attempt is indicative of Trump admin’s contempt for the law.”

The captain and three officers from Grace 1 had their police bail lifted and were formally released without any charges, a Gibraltar government spokesman said earlier.

The capture of the tankers heightened tensions just as European nations scramble to try to save a landmark nuclear deal with the Islamic republic after the US pulled out of the accord in May last year and started imposing sanctions on Iran.

Iran responded by suspending some of its commitments under the nuclear deal.

The situation threatened to spiral out of control with ships attacked, drones downed and oil tankers seized.

At the height of the crisis, Trump called off air strikes against Iran at the last minute in June after its forces shot down a US drone.

President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday that Iran favours talks with the US if it lifts sanctions against the Islamic republic.

“Peace for peace and oil for oil,” he said. “You cannot say that you won’t allow our oil to be exported.

“It cannot be that the Strait of Hormuz is free for you and the Strait of Gibraltar is not free for us.”

ANKARA — Ankara will not tolerate any delay from the US over setting up a safe zone in northern Syria, Turkey's foreign minister said on Thursday.

"They [the US] first need to be sincere and need to understand that Turkey won't tolerate delaying tactics," Mevlut Cavusoglu said during a press conference in Ankara.

His comments come as an American military delegation headed by Lieutenant General Stephen Twitty, deputy commander of the US European Command, was expected in the southeastern province of Sanliurfa.

He will supervise the establishment of the joint operations centre as part of the effort to organise a “safe zone” in northern Syria, the Turkish defence ministry.

The Pentagon on Wednesday said the agreement would be “implemented in stages”.

The goal of the zone is to create a buffer between the Turkish border and areas controlled by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG).

Turkey has repeatedly threatened to launch an assault east of the Euphrates river against the YPG, which it says is a “terrorist” offshoot of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, which has waged an insurgency inside Turkey since 1984.

But Washington has worked closely with the YPG in the fight against the Daesh group.

Little is known about the size of the safe zone and how it will work, but Cavusoglu said there would be observation posts and joint patrols.

He said US President Donald Trump had previously promised it would be 32-kilometre wide.

Turkey previously conducted two offensives into Syria, against Daesh and the YPG, in 2016 and 2018.

KHARTOUM — Sudan's military rulers and protest leaders on Saturday are scheduled to sign a landmark deal reached after a bloody uprising which is meant to pave the way for civilian rule.

The ceremony will officialise a constitutional declaration inked on August 4 between the country's Transitional Military Council and the opposition coalition of the Alliance for Freedom and Change.

The deal brought an end to nearly eight months of upheaval that saw masses mobilise against the 30-year rule of Omar Al Bashir, who was eventually ousted in April.

The deal brokered by the African Union and Ethiopia was welcomed with relief by both sides, with protesters celebrating what they saw as the victory of their "revolution" and generals taking credit for averting civil war.

While the compromise meets several of the protest camp's key demands, its terms leave the military with ample powers and its future civilian government with dauting challenges.

With the official signing of the transitional documents on Saturday, Sudan will kick off a process that will include important immediate first steps.

The composition of the new transitional civilian-majority ruling council is due to be announced on Sunday, followed two days later by the naming of a prime minister.

The Cabinet is due to be unveiled on August 28, with the newly-appointed ministers due to meet the sovereign council on September 1 for the first time.

Elections must be held after the 39-month transitional period that began on August 4.

Just paper? 

Until then, the country of 40 million people will be ruled by the 11-member sovereign council and by a government which the deal makes clear will be dominated by civilians.

There are exceptions for the posts of interior and defence ministers, which are to be chosen by military members of the council.

The move towards civilian rule could lead the African Union to lift the suspension slapped on Sudan in June after a bloody crackdown on a sit-in in Khartoum.

The legislative body to be formed within three months will be at least 40 per cent female, reflecting the significant role played by women in the protest movement.

The paramilitary force and intelligence services blamed for some of the worst abuses under Bashir and against the protesters are to be brought under the authority of the army and sovereign council respectively.

With many issues still unaddressed, however, observers warn that describing the latest events as successful regime change would be premature.

“Political dynamics will matter more than pieces of paper,” said Rosalind Marsden from London’s Chatham House think tank.

“The biggest challenge facing the government will be dismantling the Islamist deep state... which took control of all state institutions and key sectors of the economy, including hundreds of businesses owned by the military-security apparatus,” she said.

Whitewashing 

The rise of Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who is better known by his nickname “Hemeti” and commands the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, as Sudan’s new military strongman is causing some concern.

He has close ties to Gulf monarchies, has amassed huge wealth since wresting control of gold mines in western Sudan and was a leader of the infamous Janjaweed militia accused of a genocidal campaign in the Darfur region.

The fate of deposed ruler Bashir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court over Darfur, is also unclear.

He is due to appear in a Khartoum court on corruption charges on the day of the official signing.

Some within the protest camp feel the power-sharing deal did not do enough to curb the powers of the military and guarantee justice for demonstrators killed by security forces.

The whitewashing in recent days of walls that bore some of the many murals painted during the protests was seen as a bad omen.

“The signals we are getting tell us that there is no real change, no real freedom,” graffiti artist Lotfy Abdel Fattah told AFP.

Absent from Saturday’s ceremony are also the various rebel groups from marginalised regions such as Darfur, Blue Nile and Kordofan.

The Sudan Revolutionary Front that unites these movements has supported the protest movement but rejected the constitutional declaration, demanding representation in the government and more guarantees on peace talks.