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Lebanon’s Hariri travels to UAE after resigning as PM in Riyadh

November 7, 2017 by administrator

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri is seen at the governmental palace in Beirut, Lebanon, October 24, 2017. (Photo by Reuters)

Lebanon’s Prime Minister Saad Hariri has reportedly left Saudi Arabia, where he announced his surprise resignation last week, for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to hold talks with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Hariri left Riyadh for Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, according to a report by Future TV, which is owned by the senior Lebanese politician.

Saudi Arabia’s Al-Arabiya television also confirmed the report, saying that Hariri had met with the Emirati crown prince, without further elaboration.

Hariri announced his resignation in a televised statement from Riyadh, citing many reasons, including the security situation in Lebanon, for his sudden decision. He also said that he sensed a plot being hatched against his life.

Hariri accused Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah resistance movement of meddling in Arab countries’ affairs; an allegation the two have repeatedly denied.

The surprise announcement has sparked a new political crisis at home in Lebanon, fueling speculations that the PM had been forced by the Riyadh regime into stepping down.

Lebanese Justice Minister Salim Jreissati said Tuesday that Hariri should return to the country and his resignation should be “voluntary” to be formally considered by President Aoun.

A few hours after the announcement of Hariri’s resignation in Saudi Arabia, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi vehemently rejected his remarks and said his resignation and rehashing of the “unfounded and baseless” allegations regularly leveled by the Zionists, Saudis and the US were another scenario to create new tensions in Lebanon and elsewhere in the Middle East.

Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary general of the Lebanese Hezbollah movement, also said the country’s prime minister had been under pressure to resign his post.

Nasrallah noted that the announcement of Hariri’s resignation came after a number of visits to Saudi Arabia, adding that the text and style of his resignation clearly showed that it was not his own text and was a Saudi text dictated to the Lebanese prime minister.

Hariri, a close Riyadh ally, became prime minister of Lebanon in November last year after reaching a deal with other factions.

That power-sharing deal saw Aoun become president and ended a long power vacuum in the country.

Back then, observers described Aoun’s rise to power as a political victory for Hezbollah, which would gradually diminish the Saudi influence in Lebanon’s political arena. Riyadh had been vigorously lobbying to prevent Lebanon’s presidency from being placed in the hands of Hezbollah’s allies.

SYRIA Mustafa Muslim: World powers will abandon the Kurds again after use

May 30, 2016 by administrator

According to Professor Mustafa Muslim, the great powers will abandon the Kurds again once their objectives achieved.
Mustafa Muslim, older brother Salih Muslim, co-chairman of the PYD, analyzed the situation of the Kurdish population in the region to the official Anadolu news agency.
He believes that the support of major world powers to the Kurds PYD leads to an uncertain future, recalling that already in the past, the Kurds were “used and then abandoned” by the

Turkish Gov’t Atrocity Photos reveal intensity of clashes in Cizre after curfew lifted

September 12, 2015 by administrator

A curfew that was imposed eight days ago in the restive soutehastern district of Cizre was lifted on Saturday morning with photos from the area revealing the intensity of clashes.

Hundreds of empty catridges scattered on the streets and devastated buildings were seen in initial photos from the district.

A curfew was imposed in Cizre on Sept. 4 as of 8 p.m. in what officials said to ensure security in the district in the wake of rising threat by the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Residents ventured out to stock up on groceries and check on their shops after authorities lifted a nine-day round-the-clock curfew at 7 a.m.

There were still strict measures in main points of the district. Armoured vehicles prowled the streets of Cizre just north of the Syrian border and security forces set up checkpoints on the town’s outskirts. The pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) said 21 civilians were killed during the fight in Cizre, a town of more than 100,000 near the Iraqi and Syrian borders.

The government said one civilian and some 32 militants died.

“We suffered from hunger and thirst in our homes for eight days. It was like scenes from Iraq or Syria. We don’t deserve this,” said Haci, a labourer and father of three who spoke to Reuters by phone from Cizre. He did not want his last name to be published.

“We are caught in the crosshairs. We don’t know how many people died. People were unable to bury the dead.”

Meral Danış Beştaş, an HDP lawmaker who visited Cizre on Saturday, told Reuters: “People are still unable to hold funerals, as bodies are at the morgue. It’s not possible to say that life has returned to normal. Food is scarce and so are medical services.”

Security forces had barred Bestas and some 30 other MPs who attempted to walk to Cizre to protest the violence. “This was the state at war with its own citizens … People are traumatised, they spoke of their fear and anger,” she said.

Communications were restored on Saturday after the state suspended mobile-phone and internet services with the curfew. Long lines formed Cizre’s bakeries, and television footage showed bullet holes covering the facades of homes and the wreckage of vehicles strewn in the streets.

The curfew left residents living in dire conditions due to constant gunfire and explosions that have destroyed many homes in the district. According to media reports, heavy weapons were used in the fight between security forces and Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) terrorists. In the district where gunfire was relentless, life completely came to a standstill.

Source: Zaman