Hundreds of thousands converge on defence ministry demanding military hand over power
Huge crowds formed outside Sudan’s defence ministry to demand the country’s transitional military council hand over power to civilians.
Hundreds of thousands packed the streets by early evening on Thursday – the largest crowds to gather in the centre of the capital since last week, when the former president Omar al-Bashir was ousted and the military council took over.
Continue reading...Roger Waters’ mother imploring her son to “decide for yourself” and execute the “right thing to do” was no doubt in reference to the juvenile politics of the playground (If you believe in human rights, Madonna, don’t play Tel Aviv, 17 April). Unfortunately, these simple values can not be transposed to the labyrinthine issues of the Middle East in general and the Arab-Israeli conflict in particular.
Sadly “bad stuff” occurs in all conflicts, which are not as clearcut as Waters would suggest: baddie Israelis (“apartheid”, “ethnic cleansing”, “slaughter”) versus goodie Palestinians (“fortitude”, “grace”, “heads high”).
Continue reading...DNA research adds to evidence soldiers heading east struck up relationships with locals
Crusader armies were made up of people from remarkably genetically diverse backgrounds, hailing not just from western Europe but also much further east, according to a new study that gives unprecedented insight into the fighters’ lives.
The Crusades to the Holy Land were spread over two centuries, with many Europeans heading east to fight, and others turning up to trade.
Continue reading...UN says arrest and detention of Moncef Kartas violates diplomatic immunity
A UN-appointed expert on breaches of the Libyan arms embargo has been arrested and kept in a Tunisian jail for nearly a month.
Moncef Kartas, a Tunisian-German dual national, was arrested on 26 March. He is one of six UN experts appointed to investigate breaches of the UN-imposed embargo on arms to Libya first introduced in 2011. The UN says his detention is a violation of his diplomatic immunity.
Continue reading...As a voluntary agreement is struck for forces to withdraw from the port city, two friends recount the horror of conflict in their neighbourhood in Yemen
Friends Majed Al-Wahidi and Ali Al-Zazai remember the constant buzzing of drones overhead in Hodeidah on 18 November last year.
Majed, a teacher and father of six daughters, had left Ali’s house to return to his home nearby, but went back because he had forgotten his lighter. It was about 5pm and Majed’s daughters were in their bedroom, having taken a break from studying to pray in their modest, corrugated iron-covered home.
Continue reading...Ousted leader is being held in solitary confinement in the notorious Kobar prison
Deposed ex-Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has been moved to Khartoum’s grim high-security Kobar prison from the presidential residence, family sources said on Wednesday, as military rulers announced steps to crack down on corruption.
Bashir, 75, had been detained under heavy guard in the presidential residence inside the compound that also houses the defence ministry, before being transferred to Kobar prison late on Tuesday, the sources said. He was being held in solitary confinement at Kobar, a prison source said.
Continue reading...More than 2,000 new cases reported every day, with 25% of those affected being children under five
Yemen is facing a massive resurgence of cholera in what was already one of the world’s worst outbreaks, with more than 137,000 suspected cases and almost 300 deaths reported in the first three months of this year.
With well over 2,000 suspected cases being recorded every day – a doubling since the beginning of the year – aid agencies fear they could be facing a major new health crisis.
Continue reading...Libya’s government denounces attacks as barbaric and says evidence will be passed to ICC
Nearly 180 people have died as a result of General Khalifa Haftar’s assault on Tripoli, with at least four civilians killed in aerial bombardment on the Libyan capital overnight.
More than 800 have been wounded since the warlord who controls the east of the country began his attempt to seize the city from the UN-recognised government of national accord nearly a fortnight ago.
Continue reading...Defendants, several of whom campaigned for right to drive, given no new date for hearing
A court in Saudi Arabia has postponed a fourth hearing in the trial of several women’s rights activists, a case that has intensified western criticism of Riyadh following the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
A court official informed some of the women’s relatives that the session would not take place, citing the judge’s “private reasons”, and could not provide a new date. The public prosecutor said last May that some of the women had been arrested on suspicion of harming Saudi interests and offering support to hostile elements abroad.
Continue reading...Prosecutor general fired in latest concession by transitional council
Military rulers in Sudan have sacked a further slew of senior officials after pressure from protesters.
The move is the latest concession by the army-led transitional council, which took power last week following the fall of Omar al-Bashir after 30 years in power, and has since faced fierce pressure to rapidly give way to a civilian government.
Continue reading...Iran’s parliament has overwhelmingly approved a bill labelling US forces in the Middle East as terrorist, a day after Washington’s terrorism label for Iran’s Revolutionary Guard formally took effect.
The defence minister, Gen Amir Hatami, introduced the bill on Tuesday authorising the government to act firmly in response to “terrorist actions” by US forces. It demands authorities use “legal, political and diplomatic” measures to neutralise the American move, without elaborating.
Continue reading...MPs back longer presidential term of six years, while public opposition is suppressed
The Egyptian president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, moved a step closer to extending his rule after lawmakers approved sweeping constitutional amendments that could enable him to remain in power until 2030.
The proposed changes lengthen presidential terms to six years instead of four, including Sisi’s current mandate. They also increase his control over the judiciary and confirm the military’s role in politics.
Continue reading...President Sisi is playing cat and mouse with us, shutting down our websites and blocking our social media but we won’t give in
As the world watches the peaceful revolution that is changing Sudan in awe and amazement, it is clear that in Egypt, Sudan’s neighbour to the north, President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi is getting nervous. On the same day as the protests in Khartoum reached a head, several of us who oppose Sisi’s autocratic rule launched an online petition to declare any result from Tuesday’s referendum on proposed constitutional amendments “void”.
Among the amendments Sisi is trying to force on the Egyptian people is a provision that could allow him to remain in power until 2030. The amendments would also increase the control of the military, which would be given powers to police the political sphere in Egypt. They would also give Sisi control over the appointment of judges and the public prosecutor.
Continue reading...New Zealand prime minister unhappy that details of Lousia Akavi’s abduction were made public by the aid agency
The revelation that a New Zealand nurse has been detained in Syria for five years has prompted tensions between the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the New Zealand government, with the prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, criticising the aid agency for releasing details of the woman’s abduction.
On Monday the New York Times, in conjunction with the ICRC, revealed that New Zealander Louisa Akavi, 63, had been abducted along with two Syrian colleagues on 13 October 2013.
Continue reading...Fayez al-Sarraj says Khalifa Haftar’s attack on Tripoli ‘will spread its cancer through Mediterranean’
Hundreds of thousands of refugees could flee the fighting caused by Khalifa Haftar’s attempt to seize the Libyan capital, Tripoli, the prime minister of the country’s UN-recognised government has warned.
The warnings by Fayez al-Sarraj – who also claimed Haftar had betrayed the people of Libya – echo those given privately to the Italian government by its intelligence services, and are clearly designed to alert EU states to the possible consequences for European migration of a prolonged civil war in the country.
Continue reading...International organisations accused of ignoring local people’s knowledge and expertise and promoting foreigners to top jobs
When Sahra Koshin first returned to Somalia from the Netherlands in 2008, she was full of hope and courage.
Eager to use her expertise in gender development to rebuild her wartorn country, she immediately started work with one of the many UN agencies in Mogadishu.
Continue reading...Karen Nettleton finally gets the chance to embrace the orphaned children of Khaled Sharrouf
After more than five years of sleepless nights, Australian grandmother Karen Nettleton has finally had a chance to embrace her orphaned grandchildren – the children of Australia’s most notorious Isis terrorist, Khaled Sharrouf.
The emotionally charged moment when Nettleton was reunited with the children in a Syrian refugee camp was broadcast in an ABC TV Four Corners documentary on Monday night.
Continue reading...Long the target of reported abuses, refugees in Libya now claim they are being recruited by militias – a potential war crime
On the roofs of the highest buildings in Tajoura, a military complex and migrant detention centre in southern Tripoli, snipers are taking position.
“Tonight nobody will sleep because of fear,” said a refugee locked up there. “We can hear the sound of guns and explosion of bombs very close to the detention centre.”
Continue reading...Demonstrators say they formed a ring around sit-in zone to stop troops clearing the area
Sudanese protesters have moved to block an apparent attempt to break up their sit-in outside the defence ministry in Khartoum, where demonstrators have been pushing for a quick transition to civilian rule after Omar al-Bashir was ousted as president, a witness has said.
Protesters said they had joined hands and formed a ring around the sit-in area after troops had gathered on three sides and tractors were preparing to remove stone and metal barricades.
Continue reading...MPs to vote on granting president control over judiciary and boosting military power
Egypt’s parliament is to vote on a bill of sweeping constitutional changes this week that would increase President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi’s power and allow him to rule until 2030.
MPs are expected to overwhelmingly confirm the bill on Tuesday, triggering a referendum. The proposed reforms, which were moved swiftly through committee hearings and parliamentary debates, would grant Sisi control over the judiciary, increase the military’s political power and extend presidential terms to six years.
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