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At least six die in Palestinian faction clashes in Lebanon
  + stars: | 2023-07-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com   time to read: +2 min
BEIRUT, July 30 (Reuters) - At least six people were killed in two days of clashes in a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon, where the mainstream faction Fatah fought against rival groups that support Islamists, security sources said. Four of the aides later died of their injuries, a security source said, adding that sporadic clashes in the camp intensified later on Sunday. Fighting subsided but did not completely stop after a ceasefire was reached at a meeting between rival Palestinian factions that included representatives of pro-Iranian Hezbollah group and its ally Shi'ite Amal movement that hold sway in southern Lebanon. Shops had earlier closed their doors and some people fled the camp, the largest refugee camp in Lebanon, as tensions between the rival groups mounted on Sunday, a witness said. The U.N. agency responsible for the welfare of Palestinian refugees that provides basic services to nearly 50,000 people living in Ain el-Hilweh said it was suspending all operations in the camp.
Persons: Fatah, Hilweh, Dorothee Klaus, Najib Mikati, Suleiman Al, Khalidi, Nidal al Mughrabi, Frances Kerry Organizations: Fatah, Iranian Hezbollah, Caretaker, Thomson Locations: BEIRUT, Lebanon, Ain, Sidon, Ain el, Israel, Gaza
US central command says it killed ISIS leader in Eastern Syria
  + stars: | 2023-07-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com   time to read: +1 min
CAIRO/AMMAN, July 9 (Reuters) - The U.S. Central Command said on Sunday it conducted a drone strike on July 7 that killed an ISIS leader in Eastern Syria. "U.S. Central Command conducted a strike in Syria that resulted in the death of Usamah al-Muhajir, an ISIS leader in eastern Syria," it said without giving any more details on al-Muhajir. U.S. military commanders say ISIS remains a significant threat within the region, however, though its capabilities have been degraded and its ability to re-establish its network weakened. Islamic State controlled one-third of Iraq and Syria at its peak in 2014. Reporting by Adam Makary and Omar Abdel Razek and Suleiman al Khalidi; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle and Hugh LawsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Persons: Usamah, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, Adam Makary, Omar Abdel Razek, Suleiman al Khalidi, Elaine Hardcastle, Hugh Lawson Organizations: U.S . Central Command, ISIS, Thomson Locations: CAIRO, AMMAN, Eastern Syria, Russian, U.S, Syria, . Washington, Turkey, Iraq
"Given the events, their relationship with the Syrian defence ministry is now over." Mali authorities did not respond to a request for comment on the flights and whether any Wagner fighters had been redeployed from Syria to Mali. Wagner fighters secured Syrian oilfields and Western officials say Wagner is linked to Evro Polis, a company that profits from those assets. Reuters was unable to determine the fate of those commercial interests in the wake of the Russian defence ministry's moves against Wagner in Syria and Russia. In the wake of the Wagner uprising, Syria's leadership quickly restated publicly the importance of its military alliance with Russia.
Persons: Wagner, Nawar Shaban, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Bashar al, Assad, Vladimir Putin, Prigozhin, Russian Wagner, Evro Polis, Asmaa al, Laila Bassam, Tom Perry, Ed McAllister, Joanna Plucinska, Mike Collett, White, Daniel Flynn Organizations: Omran Center, Strategic Studies, Syrian Republican Guard, Republican Guard, Reuters, Russian Reconciliation Center, Moscow State University, Thomson Locations: BEIRUT, Moscow, Syria, Russian, Russia, Istanbul, Damascus, Ukraine, Belarus, Syrian, Syria's, Homs, Hmeimim, Latakia, Bamako, West African, Mali, Evro Polis, Libya, elswhere, Africa, Western, U.S, Deir, Beirut, London
White Helmets/Handout via REUTERSAMMAN, June 25 (Reuters) - Russian jets bombed villages and towns near the northwestern Syrian city of Idlib on Sunday, killing at least nine civilians and wounding dozens in a major flare-up of violence in the country's last opposition stronghold, witnesses and rescuers said. No immediate comment was available from Russia or its allies in the Syrian army, whose artillery pounded rebel areas in the countryside west of Aleppo. During past outbreaks of fighting, Damascus and Russia have said they only target insurgent groups and deny indiscriminate attacks on civilians. Damascus has in recent rounds of Russian-brokered talks with Ankara demanded that Turkey withdraw a formidable military presence in the last foothold of the Syrian rebellion. Turkish troops based in the region have held back Russia and Damascus from a final assault to wrest back control of the enclave.
Persons: Sham, jihadists, Suleiman Al, Khalidi, Giles Elgood Organizations: REUTERS, Russian Sukhoi, Ankara, Thomson Locations: Russian, Jisr, Shughour, Syria, REUTERS AMMAN, Syrian, Idlib, Jabal al, Russia, Turkey, Aleppo, Damascus, Turkish, Hayat, Qardaha, Latakia, Moscow
BEIRUT, June 4 (Reuters) - Lebanon's disparate opposition, independent and main Christian parties said on Sunday they had nominated IMF official Jihad Azour for the presidency in a challenge to Hezbollah-backed candidate Suleiman Franjieh. A meeting of the parties endorsed the nomination of Azour, currently director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund and also a former Lebanese finance minister. Pro-Iranian Hezbollah, the country's main armed political force, and its Shi'ite ally Amal, had backed Franjieh, 56, heir of an old Lebanese Christian political dynasty and an ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad with strong ties to the ruling political establishment in Damascus. "This new candidate that was announced is for us a candidate for confrontation," Hezbollah deputy Hassan Fadlallah said on Sunday, without naming Azour. Washington has warned that the administration was considering sanctions on Lebanese officials for their continued obstruction of the election of a new president and warned the paralysis could only worsen the country's crisis.
Persons: Azour, Suleiman Franjieh, Michel Aoun's, Amal, Bashar al, Assad, Michel Mouawad, Lebanon's, Beshara al, Rai, , Hassan Fadlallah, Suleiman Al, Khalidi, Maya Geibeily, David Holmes Organizations: Central Asia Department, International Monetary Fund, Hezbollah, Lebanese Christian, Maronite, Thomson Locations: BEIRUT, East, Lebanese, Lebanon, Damascus, Azour, Syria, Iran, Arab, Washington
Prince Mohammed last visited Jordan a year ago following years of tensions, also prompting hopes then that warmer ties would unlock more fulsome economic support. KING-IN-WAITING[1/10] Jordan's Crown Prince Hussein and Rajwa Al Saif are seen together at their royal wedding ceremony, in Amman, Jordan, June 1, 2023 in this screen grab taken from a video. At the Arab League summit in Jeddah last month, he walked alongside his father to greet Crown Prince Mohammad. Washington's desire for a stable ally in an otherwise volatile region meant it too has often turned a blind eye to Jordan's slow democratic reforms and mixed human rights record. It's the prince's wedding, not ours," said Abdullah al-Fayez, a retired servicemen living on slim savings on the outskirts of Amman.
Persons: Prince Hussein, Rajwa Al Saif, Britain's William, Kate AMMAN, King Abdullah, Jordan, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Lady Jill Biden, Britain's Prince, Princess of Wales, William, Kate, Prince Mohammed, Hamza, Hussein, Joe Biden, Prince Mohammad, Prophet Mohammed, Alia Ibrahim, Abdullah al, Suleiman Al, Khalidi, John Stonestreet Organizations: West, Saudi, U.S, Royal Hashemite, REUTERS, Georgetown, Sandhurst, League, International Monetary Fund, Thomson Locations: Saudi, West, U.S, Amman, Jordan, Jeddah, Mecca, Iraq, Syria
Syria says Israeli missiles target sites near Damascus
  + stars: | 2023-05-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com   time to read: +1 min
AMMAN, May 29 (Reuters) - Syrian army air defences on Sunday confronted an Israeli missile strike on the outskirts of the Syrian capital Damascus, and there were no casualties, state media said. Citing a Syrian military source, state media said missile strikes coming from the direction of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights had targeted several sites it did not identify. "Our air defences confronted the aggressors' missiles and downed some of them with only material losses," the Syrian military source said. The strikes are part of an escalation of what has been a low-intensity conflict with a goal of slowing Iran's growing entrenchment in Syria, Israeli military experts say. Fighters allied to Iran, including Hezbollah, now hold sway in vast areas in eastern, southern, and northwestern Syria and in several suburbs around the capital.
Factbox: Then and now: How Arab states changed course on Syria
  + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com   time to read: +6 min
May 19 (Reuters) - President Bashar al-Assad's attendance at an Arab Summit in Saudi Arabia on Friday is the result of big policy shifts by Arab states that once backed his opponents in Syria's civil war. The support was a point of rivalry with another Gulf Arab state, Qatar, which backed Islamist groups espousing ideologies viewed with suspicion by Riyadh. It also worked with the United States in a programme to support rebels deemed moderate by Washington. As some Arab states changed course on Assad, notably the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia showed no sign of bringing him in from the cold. Like other Arab states, Saudi Arabia is also expecting Assad to curb the trade in narcotics smuggled out of Syria.
After years of war, Assad returns to Arab fold
  + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com   time to read: +5 min
* Aug. 2011 - U.S. President Barack Obama says Assad has lost legitimacy to rule and should surrender power. * Nov. 2011 - The Arab League suspends Syria and urges its army to stop killing civilians. * Sept. 2015 - Russia joins the war on Assad's side, deploying war planes that bomb rebel-held areas - a turning point in the conflict. * March 2022 - Assad visits the United Arab Emirates and meets its leaders, his first trip to an Arab state since 2011. Assad says he will only meet Erdogan when Turkey is ready to withdraw forces from Syria.
"With unemployment still high, and particularly among the youth and women, structural reforms are essential for achieving strong and inclusive growth and creating more jobs," IMF official Ron van Rooden told reporters. “Despite a challenging global and regional environment, Jordan has maintained macroeconomic stability," van Rooden said. Jordan's macroeconomic stability had helped it tap more favourable interest rates from international capital markets than other sovereign countries when it issued last months' Eurobond worth $1.25 billion, he said. "We are calling Jordan a success story because they have consistently implemented sound macroeconomic policy, fiscal policy, monetary policy," he said. Inflation was on track to moderate to 2.7% in 2023 from earlier projections of 3.8% with a tight monetary policy that helped to curb global inflationary pressures, van Rooden said.
While denying any role in the trade, for which Syrian officials and Assad relatives have faced Western sanctions, Damascus has sought leverage from the issue. Hezbollah, which deployed fighters to Syria to aid Assad's war efforts, has denied any role in the drugs trade. Aided by Iran and Russia, Assad steadily beat back his rebel enemies, some of whom had support from U.S.-allied Arab states that have now restored ties. The Syrian source confirmed Riyadh had proposed a sum that would be paid as humanitarian aid, but could not say how much. "I would put ending the captagon trade right at the top alongside the other issues", she said.
Hezbollah, which deployed fighters to Syria to aid Assad's war efforts, has denied any role in the drugs trade. Aided by Iran and Russia, Assad steadily beat back his rebel enemies, some of whom had support from U.S.-allied Arab states that have now restored ties. The United States, United Kingdom and European Union have all placed new sanctions on Damascus in recent weeks over captagon. The United States has said it will not normalize ties with Assad and its sanctions remain in full effect. "I would put ending the captagon trade right at the top alongside the other issues", she said.
The sources said one strike hit an abandoned drug facility in Syria's southern Deraa province linked to the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah, which is allied to Syria's government. Ramthan, a major drug dealer in southern Syria, has recruited hundreds of Bedouin transporters who join the ranks of Iran-linked militias that hold sway in southern Syria, Jordanian and regional intelligence sources say. He had been sentenced to death on several occasions in recent years in absentia by Jordanian courts for drugs trafficking, judicial sources say. The incident comes only days after Safadi threatened to strike inside Syria if Damascus would not rein in smuggling. The Iran-linked drug war posed a threat not only to Jordan's national security but also to Gulf countries, Safadi said.
It would mean a return to implementing scores of ordinary laws that were suspended as the government enacted many defence orders that touched every aspect of public life, according to government officials. Advocacy group Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Jordan had in the last few years intensified persecution and harassment of political opponents and ordinary citizens using a string of laws to silence critical voices. "Shelving the emergency law would be a good first step in increasing respect for basic rights," Coogle added. Dozens of activists were imprisoned and harassed and officials deny widespread abuses but said they would not tolerate civil unrest in Jordan at a time of economic hardship. Reporting by Suleiman Al-Khalidi; Editing by Angus MacSwanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
AMMAN, May 1 (Reuters) - A group of Arab foreign ministers held a landmark meeting with their Syrian counterpart in Jordan on Monday to discuss how to normalise ties with Syria as part of a political settlement of the country's more than decade-old conflict, officials said. Jordan has called on Syria to engage with Arab states jointly on a step-by-step roadmap to end the conflict, tackling the issues of refugees, detainees, drug smuggling and Iran-backed militias in Syria - all of which affect its neighbours. Amman has been fighting armed groups smuggling narcotics from Syria, including the highly-addictive amphetamine captagon. Arab states and those most impacted by the conflict are trying to reach consensus on whether to invite Assad to the Arab League summit on May 19 in Riyadh, to discuss the pace of normalising ties with Assad and on what terms Syria could be allowed back. Washington, which said it would not change its policy towards the Syrian government which it terms a "rogue" state, has urged Arab states to get something in return for engaging with Assad.
Summary Meeting brings Syrian FM together with group of Arab statesJordan seeks an Arab-led peace road mapAMMAN, April 30 (Reuters) - Jordan will host a meeting of Arab foreign ministers and Syria's top diplomat on Monday to discuss Syria's return to the Arab League as part of a broader political settlement of Syria's more than decade-old conflict, officials said. The meeting comes two weeks after talks in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia between the Gulf Cooperation Council, as well as Egypt, Jordan and Iraq, failed to reach agreement on Syria's possible return to the Arab fold. Arab states and those most affected by the conflict are trying to reach consensus on whether to invite Assad to the Arab League summit on May 19 in Riyadh, to discuss the pace of normalising ties with Assad and on what terms Syria could be allowed back. Officials said the Jordanian initiative calls on Damascus to engage with Arab governments collectively on a step-by-step road map to end the conflict. At the Jeddah meeting there was resistance to the move to invite Assad to the Arab League summit, with Qatar, Jordan and Kuwait saying it was premature before Damascus accepts to negotiate a peace plan.
AMMAN, April 23 (Reuters) - Israel has detained a Jordanian lawmaker on suspicion of smuggling arms and gold into the West Bank and Amman is working to secure his release, the kingdom's foreign ministry said on Sunday. A spokesperson for Israel's foreign ministry declined to comment on reports of the arrest. Prominent lawmaker Khalil Atiya, known for his vocal opposition to Israel and who has led campaigns to repeal the country's peace treaty with Israel, said the government would be held responsible if it failed to act quickly. "There should be no room left for the enemy to harm the dignity of Jordanians by detaining and jailing a member of the parliament," Atiya said. Reporting by Suleiman Al-Khalidi, additonal reporting by Ari Rabinovitch in Jerusalem, editing by Deepa BabingtonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Summary Sources: Military equipment disguised as relief suppliesSyria is a conflict zone for Israel and IranIsrael mounts swift campaign against IraniansAMMAN, April 12 (Reuters) - Iran has used earthquake relief flights to bring weapons and military equipment into its strategic ally Syria, nine Syrian, Iranian, Israeli and Western sources said. The sources told Reuters that the goal was to buttress Iran's defences against Israel in Syria and to strengthen Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The supplies included advanced communications equipment and radar batteries and spare parts required for a planned upgrade of Syria's Iran-provided air defence system in its civil war, said the sources, two regional sources and a Western intelligence source said. Regional sources told Reuters that Israel quickly became aware of the flow of weapons into Syria and mounted an aggressive campaign to counter it. A radar station used for drones was also hit on April 3, the regional source added, corroborating what two Western intelligence sources had told Reuters.
Syrian says air defenses confront Israeli attack over Homs area
  + stars: | 2023-04-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com   time to read: +1 min
AMMAN, April 2(Reuters) - Israel targeted outposts in Syria's Homs province in a raid early on Sunday, the Syrian defence ministry said, while Western intelligence sources said the strikes hit a series of air bases in the central region of the country where Iranian personnel are based. The strikes pointed to intensifying Israeli efforts to counter Tehran's foothold in the country, analysts said. Two Western intelligence sources said the rocket strikes targeted the T4 air base located west of the ancient city of Palmyra, and al Dabaa airport near al Qusayr city near the Lebanese border where Iranian backed Hezbollah are entrenched. Iranian military personnel alongside fighters from Lebanon's Hezbollah are stationed at both airports and there is a strong presence of pro-Iranian militias in that area of Homs province, the sources said. A Syrian military source said on state media that the strikes caused some material damage with five military personnel injured.
Iranian military personnel alongside fighters from Lebanon's Hezbollah are stationed at both airports and there is a strong presence of pro-Iranian militias in that area of Homs province, the sources said. Syria denies Western and Israeli allegations that Iran, whose top military officials frequently visit Syria, has an extensive military presence in the country. A Syrian military source said on state media that the strikes caused some material damage with five military personnel injured. Israel has intensified strikes in the last year on Syrian airports and air bases to disrupt what it says is Iran's use of aerial supply lines to deliver arms to militias. read moreIran declined to comment on the Western and Israeli accusations.
AMMAN March 22 (Reuters) - An Israeli air strike hit near Syria's Aleppo airport early Wednesday, causing "material damage" and shutting down operations there, Syrian officials said, while regional intelligence sources said the attack hit an Iranian arms depot. In the third attack on Aleppo airport in six months, Israel launched "a number of missiles from the Mediterranean Sea, west of the coastal city of Latakia, at 3:55 a.m.", the Syrian defence ministry said in a statement on state media. Two regional intelligence sources said the strike hit an underground munitions depot linked to the nearby Nairab military airport, where missile systems delivered on several Iranian military planes had been stored. Nairab military airport has been used regularly for Iranian arms deliveries and the movement of troops, the intelligence sources said. An Israeli strike on March 7 that knocked Aleppo airport out of service blew up an Iranian arms cargo shipment hours after it was delivered by a plane that Damascus said was carrying aid, the Western intelligence sources say.
Syria's Assad arrives in United Arab Emirates in official visit
  + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com   time to read: +3 min
[1/5] Syria's President Bashar al-Assad meets with President of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates March 19, 2023. Hamad Al Kaabi/UAE Presidential Court/Handout via REUTERSDUBAI, March 19 (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al Assad arrived in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Sunday for an official visit, accompanied by his wife Asma al Assad, at a time when more Arab states have signalled openness to easing the isolation of Damascus. "We held constructive talks aimed at developing relations between our two countries," Sheikh Mohammed later said in a Twitter post. The Syrian presidency said Asma al Assad, on her first known official visit abroad with Assad since 2011, would meet with Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak who is the Emirati president's mother and regarded in the UAE as the "Mother of the Nation". Saudi Arabia, Qatar and, to a lesser extent the UAE, once backed rebels against Assad.
AMMAN, March 12 (Reuters) - Israel launched several rocket strikes on areas in Syria's Hama province and the coastal Tartous countryside on Sunday, Syrian state media reported. Rockets flew from across northern Lebanon towards their targets, with three military personnel injured according to the report, which gave no further details. An Israeli military spokesperson declined comment. An Israeli air strike knocked Aleppo airport out of service on Tuesday and caused "material damage" to the airport, according to Syrian state media. Iran's proxy militias, led by Hezbollah, now hold sway in vast areas in eastern, southern and northwestern Syria and in several suburbs around the capital.
AMMAN, March 12 (Reuters) - Jordan's King Abdullah and his wife Queen Rania's eldest daughter Princess Iman on Sunday married a New York-based financier from a prominent Greek family in a private ceremony attended by some Gulf royals and family friends. Earlier Princess Iman, wearing a white dress with a long train and lace-cuffed sleeves with a diamond tiara, was escorted through the palace gardens by Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah, her eldest brother. "Congratulations my dearest Iman, your smile has always been a gift of love that I’ve cherished since the day you were born. King Abdullah's eldest son Crown Prince Hussein is set to marry Rajwa Al Saif, the youngest daughter of Saudi businessman Khaled Al Saif on June 1. The Hashemite ruling monarchy enjoys solid support in a kingdom that has escaped relatively unscathed the upheaval that has swept the Middle East.
[1/3] Jordan's king Abdullah II meets with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in Amman, Jordan March 5, 2023. Jordanian Royal Palace/Handout via Reuters REUTERSAMMAN, March 5 (Reuters) - Jordan's King Abdullah told U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Sunday a surge in West Bank violence threatened regional stability and asked for assistance to fight a growing drug war along its borders with Syria blamed on Iranian-backed militias, Jordanian officials said. He wrote on Twitter before his departure that he would meet key leaders and "reaffirm the U.S. commitment to regional stability and advancing the shared interests of our allies and partners." The U.S. Defense Department said ahead of the visit that discussions would focus on the growing threat Iran poses to regional stability, and on advancing multilateral security cooperation with integrated air and missile defenses. Amman wants more U.S. military aid to bolster security on the border, where Washington has since the more than decade-long conflict began given around $1 billion to establish border posts, Jordanian officials say.
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