Author: Steven Sahiounie

Sudan has agreed to hand ousted President Omar al-Bashir and others to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged war crimes in Darfur, a member of Khartoum’s ruling body said Tuesday. The Hague-based ICC has charged Bashir and three of his former aides with genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Sudan’s western region during a devastating conflict from 2003. “Those who have been indicted by the ICC, they have to go there,” Mohamed Hassan Al-Taishay, a member of the ruling sovereign council, said in a statement. “One of them is Al-Bashir and (there are) three others,” he later…

Forces loyal to Libya’s Khalifa Haftar have blocked UN flights to and from the country, in a move condemned by the United Nations, which has also warned of “severe consequences” to its humanitarian efforts. In a statement issued on Wednesday, the UN mission in Libya (UNSMIL) said it regretted that “its regular flights, which transport its staff to and from Libya, are not granted permission by the LNA (Haftar’s self-proclaimed army) to land in Libya.” UNSMIL spokesman Jean Alam said the mission there were no “security assurances from the LNA for landing of aircraft in western Libya.” Alam said the…

Iran has warned Israel against any act of aggression targeting its interests in Syria and the region, saying it will not hesitate to give a crushing response to any “foolish” act by the Tel Aviv regime. “The Islamic Republic of Iran will give a crushing response to any act of aggression or foolish move by the regime (Israel) against our country’s interests in Syria and the region, which will make them regret [their measure],” Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Mousavi said on Wednesday. Mousavi said that Iran has been present in Syria upon an invitation by and based on an…

Turkey’s inability to separate “opposition” from terrorist groups in Syria’s Idlib is one of the main reasons behind the ongoing escalation there, Russian Defense Ministry has said, warning Ankara against “uncoordinated” actions. The ongoing fighting in Syria’s Idlib region has been triggered by repeated attacks from “terrorist groups” in the government-controlled parts of the country, the Russian military said on Tuesday. These continual attacks – documented by both Russian and Turkish servicemen stationed in the area – ultimately triggered a Syrian government offensive against the terrorist . Ankara itself is partially to blame for the ongoing bloodshed, since it failed to separate…

The Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki has hailed the release of a UN Rights office report on companies with Israeli settlement ties. Maliki also urged UN-member states and the UN Human Rights council to “issue recommendations and instructions to these companies to end their work immediately with the settlements,” Reuters reports. “The publication of the list of companies and parties operating in settlements is a victory for international law,” said a statement issued by al-Maliki’s office. The UN human rights office said on Wednesday it had identified 112 business entities for which it has reasonable grounds to conclude to have ties to Israeli…

Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned that if Turkish soldiers are hit by Damascus forces again, the retaliation will not be limited to the Idlib area. He also discussed Syrian peace process in a phone call with Vladimir Putin. The Turkish leader made his comments during a speech in the nation’s parliament on Wednesday. I announce that we will strike the [Syrian] regime forces everywhere starting from today, without being bound to Idlib and by the Sochi Memorandum, if our soldiers at the lookout posts or elsewhere suffer any harm. The 2018 Sochi Memorandum established the de-escalation zone set up around Idlib…

Operation Inherent Resolve spokesman Myles Caggins previously stated that US-led coalition troops opened fire on civilians, claiming they had to do it in self-defence. One minor and an adult died when a coalition patrol opened fire on a crowd in Qamshli, according to a military source. “At 10 a.m. the US patrol including six armoured Humvee vehicles deliberately entered the area controlled by the Syrian authorities”, the Syrian military source said. “The US troops opened fire, as a result 10-year-old Juma Suleiman Barre was killed”. The source added that during the clashes one US soldier was injured and four armoured vehicles were…

Moscow believes that the reason for the recent deterioration of the situation in Syria’s Idlib de-escalation zone is Turkey’s failure to comply with previous agreements, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Wednesday. “We see the reasons for the current deterioration in Turkey’s chronic failure to fulfil its commitments under the Sochi memorandum of September 17, 2018, and the transfer by Ankara of Turkey-controlled units of the so-called moderate armed opposition to northeastern Syria into the zone of Operation Peace Spring and to Libya,” Zakharova said at a weekly briefing in Moscow. She stressed that Russia remains committed to the…

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force commander was killed by a US airstrike on 3 January 2020 near Baghdad International Airport. Washington claimed that Soleimani was planning to organise an attack on Americans in Iraq amid an escalation of tensions between US forces deployed to the country and a local Shia militia. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has stated that late commander Qasem Soleimani could have killed American generals multiple times during operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other countries – but opted not to do such things. “Commander Soleimani was a man who was pursuing stability and calm in the region”, Rouhani…

Almost 30 people have been hospitalised in Lebanon as a result of clashes between protesters and security forces in the capital city of Beirut, with 190 others receiving medical assistance on the ground, the Lebanese Red Cross said on Tuesday. “Downtown Beirut: as of now, 28 [people] have been transferred to nearby hospitals, and 190 injured have been treated on location,” the Lebanese Red Cross wrote on Twitter. ​Earlier on Tuesday, local media reported that security forces had used tear gas and water cannons to disperse protesters who gathered near the complex of government buildings to prevent the appointment of…