Region

RIYADH — Saudi Arabia has decided to host US troops in a joint move with Washington to boost regional security, the kingdom's defence ministry said, as tensions soar in the Gulf. 

"Based on mutual cooperation between Saudi Arabia and the United States of America, and their desire to enhance everything that could preserve the security of the region and its stability... King Salman gave his approval to host American forces", a ministry spokesman was quoted by Saudi state news agency SPA as saying.

Saudi Arabia has not hosted US forces since 2003 when they withdrew following the end of the war with Iraq. 

The US presence in Saudi Arabia lasted 12 years, starting with Operation Desert Storm in 1991, when Iraq invaded Kuwait. 

As many as 200 US aircraft were stationed at the Prince Sultan airbase situated around 80 kilometres south of the capital at the peak of the Iraq war, and as many as 2,700 missions a day were handled by the headquarters in Saudi Arabia.

But relations between the two countries were not always easy during the 12 years of cooperation, particularly following the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York which were orchestrated by Saudi-born Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden. 

Tensions in the Gulf increased further on Friday as Iran said it had confiscated a British-flagged tanker in the Strait of Hormuz and as US President Donald Trump insisted that the US military had downed an Iranian drone that was threatening a US naval vessel, despite denials from Tehran.

KHARTOUM — She may have spent 40 days in jail for demonstrating against president Omar Al Bashir who has since been toppled but activist Amani Osmane says the battle for women's rights in Sudan is far from over.

Women have been at the forefront of the revolt which led to Bashir's overthrow by the military on April 11 after three decades of iron-fisted rule.

Osmane, who is also a lawyer, was detained on the evening of January 12 and escorted to “the fridge”, a grim room where interrogations are paired with extreme cold.

“There are no windows, nothing, just air conditioning at full blast and the lights on 24/7,” she told AFP.

The fridge is part of a detention centre run by the all-powerful National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) in a building on the Blue Nile that runs through Khartoum.

Dozens of activists and political opponents of Bashir’s regime have passed through what NISS agents cynically refer to as “the hotel”.

Osmane, who spent 40 days behind bars after a frigid seven hours of questioning, said she was arrested “contrary to all laws... because I stand up for women in a country where they have no rights”.

Another activist, Salwa Mohamed, 21, took part each day in protests at a camp outside the army headquarters in central Khartoum that became the epicentre of the anti-Bashir revolt.

Her aim was “to have the voice of women heard” in a Muslim country where she “cannot go out alone, study abroad or dress the way I want”.

Student Alaa Salah emerged as a singing symbol of the protest movement after a picture of her in a white robe leading chanting crowds from atop a car went viral on social media.

Portraits of Salah — dubbed “Kandaka”, or Nubian queen, online — have sprouted on murals across Khartoum, paying tribute to the prominent role played by women in the revolt.

‘We will no longer wait’ 

Unrest which has gripped Sudan since bread riots in December that led to the anti-Bashir uprising left scores dead.

Doctors linked to the protest movement say that 246 people have been killed since the nationwide uprising erupted, including 127 people on June 3 when armed men raided the protest camp in Khartoum.

On Wednesday, protesters and the generals who took over from Bashir finally inked a deal that aims to install a civilian administration, a key demand of demonstrators since his fall three months ago.

The accord stipulates that a new transitional ruling body be established, comprised of six civilians and five military representatives.

A general will head the ruling body during the first 21 months of a transition, followed by a civilian for the remaining 18 months, according to the framework agreement.

“We will no longer wait for our rights, we will fight to obtain them,” said Osmane, stressing that women wanted 40 per cent of seats in parliament.

Amira Altijani, a professor of English at the all-female Ahfad University in Omdurman, Khartoum’s twin city, said: “This movement is an opportunity for women to have their voice heard.”

For Osmane, Bashir “hijacked” sharia laws for three decades to oppress women.

“But a new Sudan is rising, with a civilian government that will allow equality,” she said.

DUBAI () — Tensions in the Gulf have escalated in recent months amid a deepening stand-off between Iran and United States over Tehran’s nuclear programme, with a string of incidents involving tankers and drones.

Here is a recap:

 ‘Credible threat’ 

On May 5, the United States says it is sending an aircraft carrier strike group and a bomber task force to waters near Iran in response to “indications of a credible threat by Iranian regime forces”.

The Pentagon also sends B-52 bombers to the region and, later, an amphibious assault ship and Patriot missile defence battery.

US officials do not give more details on the threats, but the move comes amid heightened tensions over Iran’s nuclear programme.

Washington reimposed sanctions on Tehran last year after quitting a multilateral 2015 deal meant to control its nuclear drive.

On May 8, Iran announces it will drop certain commitments under the agreement, including increasing enriched uranium and heavy water production.

US President Donald Trump responds with new sanctions on Iran’s steel and mining sectors.

Tanker ‘sabotage’ 

On May 12, the United Arab Emirates says four commercial oil tankers had been targeted by “acts of sabotage” in Gulf waters off its coast.

Saudi Arabia says later two of its tankers suffered “significant damage” but no casualties or oil spill. 

The other vessels were Norwegian and Emirati.

Washington and Riyadh blame Tehran, which denies involvement.

A UAE investigation finds later that a “state actor” was likely responsible for the attacks, probably using limpet mines, but does not specifically blame Iran.

Tankers in flames 

In the early hours of June 13, two fuel-loaded tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz towards the Indian Ocean are hit by mysterious blasts that cause major fires.

One is a Norwegian vessel and the other is Japanese-owned. Their crews are rescued.

The Strait is a vital corridor connecting the petroleum-rich states of the Middle East with markets around the world.

Washington, London and Riyadh accuse Tehran of being behind the attacks, which it denies.

Rocket attacks on Iraq

On June 18, rockets strike an oil field in Iraq’s Basra region, near a camp used by a company of US industrial conglomerate General Electric.

It is the latest in a nearly week-long barrage of anonymous shelling attacks on American interests across Iraq.

The incidents are not claimed, but largely originate from areas where Shiite-dominated armed groups loyal to Tehran have free rein.

 US drone downed 

On June 20, Iran’s revolutionary guard say they shot down a US drone which violated Iranian airspace.

The Pentagon says the drone was in international airspace and denounces an “unprovoked attack”.

Trump says he approved a retaliatory strike the next day but cancelled it at the last minute.

On June 24, he announces “hard-hitting” financial sanctions against Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and senior Iranian military leaders.

Tankers seized and searched 

On July 11, Britain says three Iranian military vessels had tried the previous day to “impede the passage” of a UK oil tanker in Gulf waters but were warned off by a British warship.

Iran’s revolutionary guard deny there was any confrontation, but warn that US and Britain will “strongly regret” the seizure in early July of a tanker off Gibraltar, a British overseas territory in the Mediterranean.

On July 18, Iran’s Guards say they have detained a “foreign tanker” and its crew for allegedly smuggling fuel. 

The tanker was seized south of the Iranian island of Larak, according to the Guards, who do not detail the name or provenance of the vessel.

US shoots down Iranian drone 

On July 18, Trump says the US military has taken down an Iranian drone that came within 1,000 yards of one of its naval vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.

The USS Boxer “took defensive action” against the Iranian drone as it was “threatening the safety of the ship and the ship’s crew”, Trump says.

Iran denies the claim and suggests American forces may have shot down their own drone by mistake.

 UK-flagged tanker seized 

On July 19, Iran’s Guards seize British-flagged tanker Stena Impero in the Strait of Hormuz for “failing to respect international maritime rules”.

Following the seizure, UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt warns of “serious consequences” unless the situation is resolved.

JUBA — South Sudan’s armed forces and rebels were ordered on Friday to report to military camps, a much-awaited step towards creating a unified national army as part of a peace accord.

The deal, signed in September 2018 in a bid to end almost six years of conflict, has suffered heavy delays.

One of its biggest hurdles has been the logistics of creating so-called cantonment sites, where troops and rebels are screened, trained and integrated into a single force.

The Joint Defence Board (JDB), comprising military commanders from the army and rebel forces, told a press briefing on Friday it had secured food and other essentials to begin the programme.

“JDB today made a very big decision,” rebel SPLA-IO spokesman Col. Lam Paul Gabriel told the media in Juba.

“Today they have made it very clear that forces by tomorrow should report to cantonment sites immediately.” The forces have been told to report by July 30.

The government’s military spokesman Maj. Gen. Lul Ruai Koang said all the government forces were also ordered to report to their barracks.

The warring parties were supposed to assemble and train their forces together within eight months of the signing of the deal.

But this failed to happen and a six-month extension was agreed in May.

More than 20 cantonment sites have been selected across the country, but forces have complained there is insufficient food, shelter and medicine for them to move there.

South Sudan’s war broke out in 2013, two years after independence, after President Salva Kiir accused his former deputy Riek Machar of plotting a coup against him.

The fighting has left 380,000 people dead and forced more than 4 million South Sudanese — almost a third of the population — to flee their homes. Numerous attempts at peace have failed.

Under the terms of the agreement, Machar is to return from exile to serve as vice president in a power-sharing government which must now be in place by November.

KHARTOUM — Sales have tumbled at Hashem Abul Fadel's shopping centres in Sudan, where he and fellow business owners fear that months of political turmoil could bring on a full-scale economic collapse.

Sudan's ruling generals and protesters inked a deal on Wednesday aimed at installing a civilian administration and breaking months of political deadlock.

But the country's fragile economy has already been hard hit by months of mass protests which led to the military council's toppling of president Omar Al Bashir in April.

Demonstrators have continued to demand a transition to civilian rule, keeping up their campaign despite a June 3 crackdown on a protest sit-in that left dozens dead.

Abul Fadel said the unrest had slashed his overall sales by 20-25 per cent — or as much as 40 per cent for some items.

“The government has yet to announce its economic policies, and as an investor, I can't take any decisions in the current climate,” he said.

The millionaire businessman depends heavily on imports to stock his five Khartoum malls, but he said many firms have stopped bringing in goods due to the uncertainty.

Fellow entrepreneur Mohammad Hussein Madwi, who owns a string of agricultural and manufacturing firms, echoed his concerns.

“Sales are down by at least 30 per cent because of the lack of demand and the collapse of the Sudanese pound,” Madwi said.

“The state of political uncertainty makes me hesitant to invest or import goods, so things have pretty much come to a standstill.”

Since the last devaluation of the pound in October by the then Sudanese authorities, the currency has plunged by a further 70 per cent against the dollar on the black market.

Inflation has meanwhile fallen from a high of 70 per cent in December to below 50 per cent, according to the country's central statistics bureau.

Mother of seven Hanadi Mohammad, shopping at one of Abul Fadel's malls in northern Khartoum, said the lack of liquidity was stopping her spending.

“I don't know how long we can live like this,” she said, walking past household appliances which, despite heavy discounts, were sitting unsold on the shelves.

 ‘Rock bottom’ 

Economic concerns were among the initial sparks for the protests, which broke out in December when the government announced it would triple the price of bread.

Months later, the army and protest leaders have agreed on the form of the country's governing institutions, but further talks will be needed to settle other contentious issues.

That means political uncertainty — and economic woes — are likely to haunt the country for some time to come.

Decades of US sanctions had already devastated Sudan's economy before the protests broke out in December.

The demonstrations quickly burgeoned into a nationwide movement against Bashir — and the resulting unrest, along with persistent power cuts, soon hit the economy.

“Trade activity has been at rock bottom since January,” said Khaled Al Tijani, a prominent business journalist.

“The economy is suffering from a lack of confidence because of the lack of a government to oversee it.”

In April, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates announced a joint $3 billion package of economic aid for Sudan, including a $500 million deposit in Khartoum's central bank to strengthen the currency. 

The remainder is allocated for food, medicine and petrochemicals purchases.

Agriculture is a major sector and a key source of income for most of Sudan's 40 million inhabitants. 

The latest crisis has hit farmers hard, particularly as the collapsing pound has stopped them importing agricultural chemicals.

On Sunday, Riyadh and Abu Dhabi sent Sudan an emergency batch of more than 50,000 tonnes of fertilisers and other agricultural supplies, according to the official Saudi Press Agency.

Faisal Mohammad, an importer of agricultural supplies, said the lack of foreign currency had hit imports hard.

“Even if they are available, we're hit by the weakness of the pound and the rising price of goods, as well as a lack of confidence among buyers, all of which negatively impacts farming operations,” he said.

Tijani warned that damage to such a vital sector could harm Sudan's economy more broadly — bad news for entrepreneurs like Abul Fadel.

“Everyone is alert and waiting," Abul Fadel said. "If this state of tension and uncertainty continues, the economy will collapse.”

For the tycoon, there is only one way forward.

“A political deal between the military council and [protest leaders] is the only way out of the current economic situation,” he said.

KHARTOUM — Thousands of Sudanese demonstrators converged Thursday on a prominent square in Khartoum in a march through the capital to honour comrades killed in the months-long protest movement that has rocked the country.

The rallies came a day after protest leaders and army rulers inked a power-sharing deal to form a joint civilian-military body tasked with installing a civilian administration — the main demand of demonstrators.

Witnesses said men, women and school children waved Sudanese flags as they headed towards the Green Yard from different parts of the capital. 

As they marched, the demonstrators shouted slogans that have been the rallying cries of the uprising that led to the toppling in April of Omar Al Bashir: “Civilian rule, civilian rule!” and “Freedom, peace, justice!”

The marches were held in response to calls from a key protest group.

“The rallies are a tribute to those honourable martyrs of the December revolution,” the Sudanese Professionals Association said in a statement.

Riot police fired tear gas to disperse a rally at a central bus station in downtown Khartoum, witnesses said.

“Protesters who were dispersed are trying to mobilise again and continue with the rally. It’s like a game of cat and mouse between them,” a witness told AFP from the capital’s Jackson bus station.

One onlooker said that many who arrived at the Green Square were in tears as they chanted slogans in honour of those killed in the protests.

“We are here to hold on to our demands since the military council is not responding to our demands. We will not give up,” said Shaima Ahmed, as crowds of protesters arrived behind her.

‘No more concessions’ 

The SPA spearheaded the initial campaign which erupted in December against the government of Bashir over its decision to triple the price of bread.

Those protests swiftly escalated into a nationwide movement that led to the army’s overthrow of Bashir.

But protesters kept up the pressure after his fall, rallying against the military council that took Bashir’s his place.

More than 200 people been killed since December in protest-related violence, according to doctors close to the movement.

Tensions between the generals and protesters surged after a June 3 raid against a weeks-long Khartoum sit-in that left dozens of demonstrators dead.

On Wednesday, the protesters and generals finally agreed a deal paving the way to a transitional civilian administration that would govern for just over three years.

The talks, however, are set to continue Friday as the two sides push to resolve remaining issues, including whether to grant immunity to generals for violence against protesters.

“The Alliance for Freedom and Change has made too many concessions already,” said protester Safaa Mudawi as she arrived in the square.

“We are asking them not to make any more concessions.”

Demonstrator Ammar Zubeir said Thursday’s rally was to build “pressure ahead of tomorrow’s meeting”.

“This is a reflection of people’s demands, so that the agreement that is reached reflects what the streets want,” he said.

A western troika of the United States, the United Kingdom and Norway, which have been involved in mediating previous Sudanese conflicts, welcomed the deal and called for the speedy formation of the civilian-led administration.

“We encourage the parties to quickly conclude the parallel constitutional agreement and form the civilian-led transitional government, which the Sudanese people have courageously and peacefully demanded since December 2018,” they said in a joint statement.

“The troika looks forward to engaging a civilian-led transitional government as it works to achieve the Sudanese people’s aspirations for responsive governance, peace, justice and development.”

TEHRAN — Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Thursday they had detained a "foreign tanker" and its crew for allegedly smuggling fuel, the latest incident in a tense standoff in the Gulf.

The announcement came after Tehran said it had come to the aid of a foreign tanker after receiving a distress call — making no mention of the vessel being seized.

The guards did not confirm whether the vessel they had detained Sunday in the highly sensitive Strait of Hormuz was the same ship as that mentioned Tuesday by the foreign ministry.

"With a capacity of two million barrels and 12 foreign crew on board, the vessel was en route to deliver contraband fuel received from Iranian boats to foreign ships in farther regions when it was intercepted," the force's Sepahnews website said.

It was seized south of the Iranian island of Larak, the guards said, without detailing the name or provenance of the vessel.

The guards' statement came after officials said Iran had come to the rescue of an ailing tanker on Sunday.

"Iranian forces approached it and using a tugboat brought it into Iranian waters for necessary repairs," foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said.

Oil shipping monitor TankerTrackers reported that the Panamanian-flagged tanker Riah, used in the Strait of Hormuz "for fuelling other vessels", had crossed into Iranian waters on Sunday.

It said the tanker’s automatic identification system had then stopped sending signals.

The incident is the latest of a series of events that have raised fears of a regional conflict involving the US and its Gulf allies.

US President Donald Trump ordered air strikes against Iran in June after Tehran downed an American drone, but called them off at the last minute.

Washington has blamed Tehran for a series of tanker attacks in recent months in the Gulf, charges Iran denies.

Tanker tensions 

US Central Command chief Kenneth McKenzie pledged Thursday to work “aggressively” to ensure freedom of navigation in the highly sensitive Gulf waters, a conduit for much of the world’s crude oil.

“We are going to work very aggressively with our partners... to come to a solution that will enable the free passage of critical oil and other commodities... through the region,” McKenzie told reporters at an airbase in Saudi Arabia, a key US ally.

The tensions come after Trump last year withdrew from a multinational deal under which Iran drastically scaled back its nuclear programme in exchange for relief from sanctions.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron agreed Thursday on the need to “consolidate efforts” to save the deal, an “important factor in ensuring security in the Middle East”, the Kremlin said.

The United States said last week it was discussing military escorts for vessels in the Gulf after Britain claimed Iranian boats threatened one of its tankers.

London said three Iranian vessels had attempted to “impede the passage” of a British oil tanker in Gulf waters, forcing its warship HMS Montrose to intervene.

Iran has rejected the accusation, which followed Tehran warning of “consequences” over an Iranian tanker being seized off the coast of Gibraltar earlier this month.

British Royal Marines helped the Gibraltar authorities detain the vessel, which US officials believe was trying to deliver oil to Syria in violation of separate sets of EU and US sanctions — a claim denied by Iran.

ERBIL, Iraq — The death toll from Wednesday's attack on Turkish consular employees in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region has risen to three after one victim died of his wounds, his family told AFP.

The Turkish vice consul and one Iraqi citizen were shot dead by at least one attacker on Wednesday in a restaurant in the northern regional capital of Erbil, a police source told AFP.

The shooting also wounded another Iraqi, 26-year-old Bashdar Ramadan, who died overnight, his cousin told AFP on Thursday.

According to Turkish state media, the lone attacker was dressed in plainclothes and carried two guns when he stormed the restaurant in Arbil's Ainkawa district.

Checkpoints were quickly erected in and around the neighbourhood, but the perpetrators are still on the run.

"The relevant authorities have launched a thorough investigation to find and prosecute the perpetrators of this criminal act," said the Kurdistan Regional Government in an online statement.

It warned against anyone trying to "harm the security and stability" of the autonomous region. 

There was no claim of responsibility for the attack, which came as Turkey wages a ground and bombing offensive against bases of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in northern Iraq.

The PKK is classified as a "terrorist" group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union because of the three-decade insurgency it has waged against the Turkish state.

Earlier this month, the PKK announced senior leader Diyar Gharib Mohammed and two other fighters had been killed in a Turkish raid.

A spokesman for the PKK's armed branch denied the group was involved in Wednesday's shooting.

Ibrahim Kalin, spokesman for the Turkish president, vowed "the necessary response will be given to those who committed this treacherous attack".

In Baghdad, the UN mission to Iraq called for "maximum restraint" from all sides.

The US embassy offered its condolences to the Turkish mission after the "heinous" attack, calling for "the defence and safety of foreign diplomats and diplomatic missions in Iraq".

SALÉ, Morocco — Three Daesh group supporters were sentenced to death by a court in Morocco on Thursday over the beheadings of two Scandinavian women on a hiking trip in the High Atlas Mountains.

The defendants had asked God for forgiveness during their final statements at a packed courtroom in Sale, near the capital Rabat, following an 11-week trial of 24 suspects.

His expressionless face framed by a beard and a traditional kufi cap, alleged ringleader Abdessamad Ejjoud appealed to God to “forgive” him.

The 25-year-old street vendor and underground imam has confessed to orchestrating the attack with two other radicalised Moroccans last December.

He and two others admitted to killing 24-year-old Danish student Louisa Vesterager Jespersen and 28-year-old Norwegian Maren Ueland in murders that shocked the North African country.

Prosecutors and social media users had called for the death penalty for all three, despite Morocco having a de facto freeze on executions since 1993.

Younes Ouaziyad, a 27-year-old carpenter who admitted to beheading one of the tourists, also asked for “God’s forgiveness”.

“There is no god but God,” said the third alleged assailant 33-year-old Rachid Afatti, who has admitted to filming the grisly murders on his mobile phone.

Journalists had gathered outside the anti-terrorist court ahead of the ruling.

“We expect sentences that match the cruelty of the crime,” lawyer Khaled El Fataoui, speaking for Jespersen’s family, told AFP.

Helle Petersen, her mother, in a letter read out in court last week, said: “The most just thing would be to give these beasts the death penalty they deserve.”

Ueland’s family had declined to take part in the trial.

The prosecution has called for jail terms of between 15 years and life for the 21 other defendants on trial since May 2.

The court sentenced Kevin Zoller Guervos, a Spanish-Swiss convert to Islam, to 20 years for joining a “terrorist group”.

The only non-Moroccan in the group, Guervos was accused of having taught the main suspects how to use an encrypted messaging service and to use weapons.

His lawyer, Saad Sahli, said Guervos had cut all ties with the other suspects “once he knew they had extremist ideas” more than 18 months ago. 

All but three of those on trial had said they were supporters of the Daeshgroup, according to the prosecution, although Daesh itself has never claimed responsibility for the murders.

The three killers of the women were “bloodthirsty monsters”, the prosecution said, pointing out that an autopsy report had found 23 injuries on Jespersen’s decapitated body and seven on that of Ueland.

Ejjoud had confessed at a previous hearing to beheading one of the women and Ouaziyad the other while Afatti filmed.

The defence team argued there were “mitigating circumstances on account of their precarious social conditions and psychological disequilibrium”.

Coming from modest backgrounds, with a “very low” level of education, the defendants lived for the most part in low-income areas of Marrakesh.

The court however ordered the three to pay 2 million dirhams ($200,000) in compensation to Ueland’s parents.

Jespersen’s lawyers have accused authorities of failing to monitor the activities of some of the suspects before murders.

But the court rejected the Jespersen family’s request for 10 million dirhams in compensation from the Moroccan state for its “moral responsibility”.