Author: Steven Sahiounie

The two major warring parties in the Libyan civil war have for the first time sat down for commission-level talks in Geneva. The meeting was agreed at the Libya summit in Berlin, after a peace process started by Russia and Turkey. Officials from the UN-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) and Libya’s National Army (LNA), which is led by General Khalifa Haftar, have gathered in Geneva for the first session of the Libyan Joint Military Commission. The talks are UN-brokered and are moderated by the UN Special Representative Ghassan Salamé. Each side sent five of its officers to the meeting.…

Previously, the Turkish president slammed the Syrian military for attacking Turkish troops in Syria’s Idlib province, cautioning that Ankara will not leave such acts unanswered. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has characterised the current developments in Syria’s Idlib province as “unmanageable”. He added that around one million refugees from the province have started moving towards the Turkish border with the Arab Republic, claiming that this is a result of Damascus’ offensive in Idlib. The president said that it would be difficult for Turkey to receive so many refugees. He further stated that the number of dead among Turkish soldiers due to Syrian shelling…

Steven Sahiounie, political commentator Imagine a lawsuit being tried in a courtroom. The case is coming to a close, and one side is sure of their position of being ‘in the right’, and then the opposing side offers a ‘deal’ to settle the case out of court. However, the deal they offer is empty and does not satisfy the basic legal claims. They decide to reject the offer, and wait for the chance of winning their full rights, depending on the justice system, and the merits of their case as presented. Details of the deal The “Deal of the Century”…

A shelling incident in Syria in which Turkey said four of its soldiers were killed may have been caused by the failure of the Turkish side to warn about the movement of their convoy, the Russian military said. “Units of the Turkish military conducted movement within the Idlib de-escalation zone during the nighttime from February 2 to February 3 without informing the Russian side and came under fire by the Syrian government troops, which were targeting terrorists west of Saraqib,” the Russian center for Syrian reconciliation said on Monday. The statement stressed that there are established lines of communications between Russian…

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) will allocate a hefty sum to stabilize the currency market and ensure there is enough liquidity in the country’s financial institutions, which remain thwarted by the sweeping coronavirus epidemic. PBOC has announced that it will deploy as many as 1.2 trillion yuan ($173 billion) “in order to maintain reasonable and abundant liquidity of the banking system and stable operations of the currency market” during China’s fight against the novel virus. That money will arrive on Monday when Chinese markets reopen after a 12-day pause. Investors expect volatility as China’s currency, bond and stock markets have remained closed since January 23. The…

Iraq’s leading Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, has condemned the use of force to disperse protest camps across the country. He also renewed calls for early elections to be held in a free and fair manner. Sistani, who delivered his message through a representative at Friday prayers in the holy city of Kerbala, also “heavily condemned” US President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace plan, Reuters reported. Earlier this month, Sistani condemned the US-Iranian military confrontation taking place on Iraqi soil, saying it risked plunging the war-ravaged country and the wider Middle East into deeper conflict.

People in Lebanon have held a protest rally near the US embassy in capital Beirut to express their dissent against American President Donald Trump’s Middle East plan, known as the so-called deal of the century, on Israeli-Palestinian conflict. On Sunday, protesters, both Palestinian refugees and Lebanese, chanted anti-US and anti-Israel slogans and waved flags near the US diplomatic mission in Beirut’s northeast district of Awkar. They tried to reach the embassy but were stopped as security forces blocked a road to the compound. “The ‘deal of the century’ shall not pass,” read a huge banner in the colors of the…

The deployment of a Japanese Navy vessel to the Middle East reportedly comes after approval was sought by Tokyo in a careful bid to keep a delicate balance to avoid poor relations with Washington while maintaining ties with Tehran. JMSDF Takanami-class destroyer JS Takanami DD-110 has left Yokosuka Base and is heading toward the Middle East, according to an order from the Japanese Self-Defence Forces (SDF), the 47News media outlet said Sunday. ​According to the media report, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was present at the departure ceremony and addressed the public on the high importance of this navy mission.…

Drones downed on Sunday near Russia’s Hmeimim airbase in Syria were launched from the Idlib de-escalation zone, Maj. Gen. Yuri Borenkov, the commander of the Russian Centre for Syrian Reconciliation, said. “On 1 February, at about 11 p.m. Moscow time [20:00 GMT], Russian Hmeimim airbase airspace control means discovered unmanned aerial vehicles launched from an area of the Idlib de-escalation zone under the control of illegal armed units. Means of electronic warfare of the airbase intercepting and disabled all UAVs by disrupting their control systems”, the message read. No casualties and damage have been registered at the base after the attack,…

“Israel” has reportedly been supplying natural gas to Egypt since late 2019. A supply line was attacked late on Sunday in the Sinai Peninsula, according to reports. There has been no information on casualties. “Tel Aviv” has confirmed that there was attempted sabotage of the pipeline, the Israeli energy minister, Yuval Steinitz, told reporters, adding that the gas supply remains unaffected and a probe has been launched. “At this time, the natural gas is flowing from Israel to Egypt. The matter of the explosion, as it was, was examined by the ministry in coordination with all relevant parties”, Steinitz said,…