https://www.voanews.com/z/598 middle-east https://www.voanews.com/Content/responsive/VOA/en-US/img/logo.png https://www.voanews.com/z/598 en 2024 - VOA 60 Sun, 15 Dec 2024 21:50:31 -0500 Pangea CMS – VOA Tripoli, Libya — One of Libya's main refineries in the west has been shut down after clashes between local armed groups erupted early Sunday and caused fires on infrastructure, state oil company NOC said. Several tanks at the Zawiya refinery, a town 45 km west of Tripoli and the only one in western Libya that supplies the local market with fuel, caught fire, according to videos posted on social media, before being brought under control.   Built in 1974, the Zawiya refinery, which is also a port terminal for importing and exporting fuels, is the largest in the country after that of Ras Lanouf (north), with a refining capacity exceeding 120,000 barrels per day. The NOC announced in a statement the suspension of production, declaring "a state of force majeure and a state of emergency level three (maximum degree) following the damage caused to several tanks at the Zawiya refinery in the early hours of December 15." "Clashes with heavy and medium weapons broke out between armed groups in the perimeter of the refinery, causing serious fires, brought under control by civil defense personnel," according to the statement. Libyan news sites reported a death toll of one dead and 10 injured among the armed groups, without official confirmation.   "All the fires that broke out in the refinery's tanks, which were hit by gunfire, have been brought under control," NOC spokesperson Khaled Ghulam told Libya al-Ahrar TV. "We reassure the residents of Zawiya and Tripoli that the fuel supply to the tanks of the Brega Oil distribution company is secure and that the distribution of gasoline to gas stations continues without interruption," the official added. Zawiya, the third largest city in Tripolitania after Tripoli and Misrata, is the scene of violent and recurring fighting between armed groups. In May, clashes between rival gangs left one dead and a dozen injured before the intervention of notables and tribal leaders.   Classes have been suspended in all schools and at the university in Zawiya, according to the Libyan news agency Lana. The coastal road linking the city to Tripoli has been reopened after a closure that lasted until early morning.   Invoked in exceptional circumstances, the "state of force majeure" allows an exemption from the NOC's liability in the event of non-compliance with oil delivery contracts. Since the fall and death of leader Muammar Gadhafi in 2011, Libya, which has the most abundant hydrocarbon reserves in Africa, has struggled to extricate itself from more than a decade of chaos and division, with two rival governments vying for power. Blockades of oil and gas sites have been frequent in recent years in Libya, linked either to social grievances, security threats or political disputes.   Thanks to a lull and new investments in infrastructure, production, which has been around 1.2 million barrels per day for the past ten years, rose to 1.4 million barrels per day at the beginning of December (compared to 1.5 to 1.6 million before the 2011 Revolt). https://www.voanews.com/a/one-of-libya-main-refineries-shut-down-after-fighting/7902249.html https://www.voanews.com/a/one-of-libya-main-refineries-shut-down-after-fighting/7902249.html Sun, 15 Dec 2024 18:51:33 -0500 Middle EastAfricawebdesk@voanews.com (Agence France-Presse) The United Nations will convene a technical committee of Libya experts to resolve contentious issues and put the country on the path to long-awaited national elections, the acting head of the U.N. mission in Libya (UNSMIL) said Sunday. A political process to resolve more than a decade of conflict in Libya has been stalled since an election scheduled for December 2021 collapsed amid disputes over the eligibility of the main candidates. The new committee of Libya experts will look for ways to overcome outstanding issues in electoral laws, the U.N. mission's (UNSMIL) acting head, Stephanie Koury, said in a video statement. They will also look for options to "reach elections in the shortest possible time including with proposed guarantees, assurances and a timeframe," she added. A Government of National Unity (GNU) under Prime Minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah was installed through a U.N.-backed process in 2021 but the parliament no longer recognizes its legitimacy. Dbeibah has vowed not to cede power to a new government without national elections. Libya has had little peace since a 2011 NATO-backed uprising, and it split in 2014 between eastern and western factions, with rival administrations governing in each area. While all major political players in the country have repeatedly called for elections, many Libyans have voiced skepticism that they genuinely seek a vote that could push most of them from positions of authority. "UNSMIL will also continue to work to help advance the unification of military and security institutions and, with partners, advancing national reconciliation," Koury said. https://www.voanews.com/a/un-launches-fresh-attempt-to-resolve-libya-election-impasse/7902243.html https://www.voanews.com/a/un-launches-fresh-attempt-to-resolve-libya-election-impasse/7902243.html Sun, 15 Dec 2024 18:33:55 -0500 Middle EastAfricawebdesk@voanews.com (Reuters) Doha, Qatar — Qatar's embassy to Syria is to resume operations Tuesday, the Gulf emirate announced Sunday as its diplomats visited the country and met with its transitional government following the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad. “Qatar announces the resumption of the work of its embassy in the sisterly Syrian Arab Republic starting the day after tomorrow, Tuesday,” the foreign ministry said in a statement. It also named a new head of mission to Syria, Khalifa Abdullah Al Mahmoud Al-Sharif. Doha closed its embassy in Damascus and recalled its ambassador in July 2011, early in the uprising against the Assad government that turned into a civil war. Unlike other Arab countries, Qatar never restored diplomatic ties with Syria under Assad, who was topped by the 11-day rebel advance that swept through major cities and then the capital Damascus. Doha said the return after the 13-year hiatus was "an expression of the State of Qatar's principled stand with the Syrian people's revolution" as well as a "categorical rejection of all the repressive policies of the regime" of Assad. Earlier, foreign minister spokesperson Majed al-Ansari told the official Qatar News Agency that a Qatari delegation was in Syria and had met with officials in the transitional government. The delegation "arrived in Damascus to complete the necessary procedures for the opening of the State of Qatar's embassy," Ansari said. In its meetings, "the delegation reaffirmed the State of Qatar's full commitment to supporting the Syrian people... following the success of their revolution," the spokesperson added. Ansari said the Qatari delegation had also "discussed with the Syrian side, ways to facilitate the flow of Qatari humanitarian aid and assessed the needs of the Syrian brothers during this important phase." This week, an official briefed on developments said Qatar had "established the first channel of communication" with the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which spearheaded the ouster of the former government. The official, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the discussions, added the "focus of the communication with HTS and others is on the need... to maintain calm and preserve Syria's public institutions during the transition period." Other governments that opposed Assad's rule, including Turkey and the United States, have said they too had established contacts with HTS. https://www.voanews.com/a/qatar-announces-embassy-in-syria-will-reopen-tuesday-/7902238.html https://www.voanews.com/a/qatar-announces-embassy-in-syria-will-reopen-tuesday-/7902238.html Sun, 15 Dec 2024 18:16:21 -0500 Middle Eastwebdesk@voanews.com (Agence France-Presse) Kyiv, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced Sunday that he would provide Syria with grain and other agricultural products on a humanitarian basis, a week after the fall of Moscow's ally, President Bashar al-Assad. "Now we can help the Syrians with our wheat, flour and oil: our products that are used globally to ensure food security," he said in his daily address. "We are coordinating with our partners and the Syrian side to resolve logistical issues. We will support this region so that stability there becomes a foundation for our movement towards real peace," Zelenskyy added. According to him, these possible deliveries will be part of the "Grain of Ukraine" program, launched in 2022 to provide food aid to the poorest countries. Even at war, Ukraine, one of the world's largest producers of grain, retains immense production capacities. And despite Moscow's threats to shoot ships sailing in the Black Sea, Kyiv has set up a corridor there to export its agricultural products from the summer of 2023. After an 11-day offensive, the rebel coalition dominated by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) on Dec. 8 overthrew Assad, who took refuge in Russia.   The fall was a serious setback for Moscow, which, along with Iran, was the former Syrian president's main ally and had been intervening militarily in Syria since 2015. https://www.voanews.com/a/zelenskyy-offers-syria-humanitarian-grain-deliveries/7902231.html https://www.voanews.com/a/zelenskyy-offers-syria-humanitarian-grain-deliveries/7902231.html Sun, 15 Dec 2024 17:56:54 -0500 Middle EastEuropeUkrainewebdesk@voanews.com (Agence France-Presse) DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israel said Sunday it will close its embassy in Ireland as relations deteriorated over the war in Gaza, where Palestinian medical officials said new Israeli airstrikes killed over 30 people including several children.  The decision to close the embassy came in response to what Israel's foreign minister has described as Ireland's "extreme anti-Israel policies." In May, Israel recalled its ambassador to Dublin after Ireland announced, along with Norway, Spain and Slovenia, it would recognize a Palestinian state.  The Irish Cabinet last week decided to formally intervene in South Africa's case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, which accuses Israel of committing genocide in Gaza. Israel denies it.  "We are concerned that a very narrow interpretation of what constitutes genocide leads to a culture of impunity in which the protection of civilians is minimized," Ireland's deputy premier and foreign affairs minister, Micheal Martin, said in a statement.  Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar's statement on the embassy closure said that "Ireland has crossed every red line in its relations with Israel."  Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris called the decision to close the embassy "deeply regrettable." He added on X: "I utterly reject the assertion that Ireland is anti-Israel. Ireland is pro-peace, pro-human rights and pro-international law."  Israeli strikes in Gaza kill a journalist and children  Israeli forces continued Sunday to pound largely isolated northern Gaza, as the Palestinian death toll in the war approached 45,000.  One airstrike hit the Khalil Aweida school in the town of Beit Hanoun and killed at least 15 people, according to nearby Kamal Adwan Hospital where casualties were taken. The dead included two parents and their daughter and a father and his son, the hospital said.  In Gaza City, at least 17 people including six women and five children were killed in three airstrikes that hit houses sheltering displaced people, according to Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital.  "We woke up to the strike. I woke up with the rubble on top of me," said a bandaged Yahia al-Yazji, who grieved for his wife and daughter. "I found my wife with her head and skull visible, and my daughter's intestines were gone. My wife was three months pregnant." His hand rested on a body wrapped in a blanket on the floor.  Israel's military in a statement said it struck a "terrorist cell" in Gaza City and a "terrorist meeting point" in the Beit Hanoun area.  Another Israeli airstrike killed a Palestinian journalist working for Al Jazeera, Ahmed al-Lawh, in central Gaza, a hospital and the Qatari-based TV station said.  The strike hit a point for Gaza's civil defense agency in the urban Nuseirat refugee camp, Al-Awda Hospital said. Also killed were three civil defense workers including the head of the agency in Nuseirat, according to al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital. The civil defense is Gaza's main rescue agency and operates under the Hamas-run government.  The war in Gaza began after Hamas and other militants from Gaza stormed southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking well over 200 hostage.  Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed almost 45,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. The ministry's count does not distinguish between combatants and civilians, but it says over half of the dead have been women and children.  Also Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he spoke with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump about developments in Syria and a recent push to secure the release of Israeli and foreign hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.  Netanyahu said he spoke with Trump on Saturday night about the issue.   Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, warned last week during a visit to the region that it would "not be a pretty day" if the hostages held in Gaza were not released before Trump's inauguration on January 20.  A Trump spokesperson on Sunday declined to give further details about the call.  https://www.voanews.com/a/israel-will-close-its-ireland-embassy-over-gaza-tensions/7902215.html https://www.voanews.com/a/israel-will-close-its-ireland-embassy-over-gaza-tensions/7902215.html Sun, 15 Dec 2024 17:02:14 -0500 Middle EastEuropewebdesk@voanews.com (Associated Press) Israel launched dozens more airstrikes into neighboring Syria over the weekend, claiming ongoing threats to its security. Syria’s new leadership calls those threats a false pretext, adding it has no desire for a new conflict. VOA’s Arash Arabasadi has more. https://www.voanews.com/a/israeli-airstrikes-target-syrian-military-depots/7902178.html https://www.voanews.com/a/israeli-airstrikes-target-syrian-military-depots/7902178.html Sun, 15 Dec 2024 15:19:38 -0500 Middle Eastwebdesk@voanews.com (Arash Arabasadi) DAMASCUS, Syria — A U.N. envoy called Sunday for a quick end to Western sanctions against Syria as the country’s new leaders and regional and global powers begin to chart a path forward following the fall of President Bashar al-Assad. The Syrian government has been under strict sanctions by the United States, the European Union and others for years as a result of Assad’s brutal response to what began as peaceful anti-government protests in 2011 and later spiraled into a civil war. The rebel alliance that ousted Assad and broke his iron grip on the country just days ago faces a nation wracked and deeply isolated by tough international sanctions, which compounded Syria’s previous economic troubles. But other challenges also complicate Syria's rebuilding: the new transitional leadership has not laid out a clear vision how the country will be governed, and the main group behind the offensive is saddled with a terrorist designation by the U.S. The U.N. envoy to Syria, Geir Pedersen, told reporters in Damascus that setting Syria back on track after the past few tumultuous weeks will be helped by a speedy relief of sanctions. “We can hopefully see a quick end to the sanctions so that we can see really a rallying around [re]building of Syria,” he said. Parts of Syria’s biggest cities remain damaged or destroyed by years of fighting. Reconstruction has been stymied largely by sanctions that aimed to prevent rebuilding damaged infrastructure and property in government-held areas in the absence of a political solution. Pedersen traveled to Damascus to meet with officials from the new interim government set up by the former opposition forces who toppled Assad, led by the Islamic militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). Officials in Washington have indicated that the Biden administration is considering removing the group's terror designation. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Saturday that officials have been in direct contact with the group. Over the weekend, Blinken attended an emergency meeting in Jordan where he said he secured the backing of the 12 foreign ministers from the Arab League, Turkey and top officials from the European Union and United Nations on how Syria should be run after decades of Assad family rule. They agreed that the new government should respect the rights of minorities and women, prevent terror groups from taking hold, ensure humanitarian aid reaches those in need, and secure and destroy any remaining Assad-era chemical weapons. Blinken has promised that the United States would recognize and support a new government that met those principles. With the clock on the Biden administration running out, it isn’t clear what approach President-elect Donald Trump will take on Syria. Syria's interim government is set to rule until March, but it has not yet made clear the process under which a new permanent administration would replace it. “We need to get the political process underway that is inclusive of all Syrians,” Pedersen said. “That process obviously needs to be led by the Syrians themselves.”  He called for “justice and accountability for crimes” committed during the war and for the international community to step up humanitarian aid. In a sign of Syrians’ yearning for a return to normalcy, even after the whirlwind rebel offensive of the past weeks, schools in Damascus reopened Sunday for the first time since the insurgents marched in the capital. At Nahla Zaidan school in the capital’s Mezzah neighborhood, teachers hoisted the three-starred revolutionary flag in place of the former government’s two-starred Syrian flag. “Syria is trying to build up this country with these children who came. Although I think some of them are afraid, they came to build Syria and to live the victories of this country,” said Maysoun Al-Ali, director of the school. “God willing, there will be more development, more security and more construction in this beloved country.”  https://www.voanews.com/a/un-envoy-calls-for-sanctions-relief-to-help-rebuild-syria/7902062.html https://www.voanews.com/a/un-envoy-calls-for-sanctions-relief-to-help-rebuild-syria/7902062.html Sun, 15 Dec 2024 11:32:21 -0500 Middle Eastwebdesk@voanews.com (Associated Press) JERUSALEM — The threats to Israel from Syria remain despite the moderate tone of rebel leaders who ousted President Bashar al-Assad a week ago, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Sunday, amid military moves by his country to counter such threats. "The immediate risks to the country have not disappeared and the latest developments in Syria increase the strength of the threat — despite the moderate image that the rebel leaders claim to present," Katz told officials examining the country's defense budget, according to a statement. Syria's de facto leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa, said on Saturday that Israel was using false pretexts to justify its attacks on Syria, but that he was not interested in engaging in new conflicts as the country focuses on rebuilding. Sharaa — better known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani — leads the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group that swept Assad from power last Sunday, ending the family's five-decade iron-fisted rule. Since then Israel has moved into a demilitarized zone inside Syria that was created after the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, including the Syrian side of the strategic Mount Hermon that overlooks Damascus, where its forces took over an abandoned Syrian military post. Israel, which has said that it does not intend to stay there and calls the incursion into Syrian territory a limited and temporary measure to ensure border security, has also carried out hundreds of strikes on Syria's strategic weapons stockpiles. It has said it is destroying strategic weapons and military infrastructure to prevent them from being used by rebel groups that drove Assad from power, some of which grew from movements linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group. Several Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Jordan, have condemned what they called Israel's seizure of a buffer zone in the Golan Heights. "Syria's war-weary condition, after years of conflict and war, does not allow for new confrontations. The priority at this stage is reconstruction and stability, not being drawn into disputes that could lead to further destruction," Sharaa said in an interview published on the website of Syria TV, a channel that sides with the rebels. He also said diplomatic solutions were the only way to ensure security and stability and that "uncalculated military adventures" were not wanted.   https://www.voanews.com/a/israel-sees-increased-threat-from-syria-despite-moderate-tone-of-rebel-leaders-/7901929.html https://www.voanews.com/a/israel-sees-increased-threat-from-syria-despite-moderate-tone-of-rebel-leaders-/7901929.html Sun, 15 Dec 2024 08:27:58 -0500 Middle Eastwebdesk@voanews.com (Reuters) Damascus — Students returned to classrooms in Syria on Sunday after the country's new rulers ordered schools reopened in a potent sign of some normalcy a week after rebels swept into the capital in the dramatic overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad. The country's new de facto leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa, faces a massive challenge to rebuild Syria after 13 years of civil war that killed hundreds of thousands of people. Cities were bombed to ruins, the economy was gutted by international sanctions and millions of refugees still live in camps outside Syria. Officials said most schools were opening around the country on Sunday, which is the first day of the working week in most Arab countries. However, some parents were not sending their children to class due to uncertainty over the situation. Pupils waited cheerfully in the courtyard of a boys' high school in Damascus on Sunday morning and applauded as the school secretary, Raed Nasser, hung the flag adopted by the new authorities. "Everything is good. We are fully equipped. We worked two, three days in order to equip the school with the needed services for the students' safe return to school," Nasser said, adding the Jawdat al-Hashemi school had not been damaged. In one classroom, a student pasted the new flag on a wall. "I am optimistic and very happy," said student Salah al-Din Diab. "I used to walk in the street scared that I would get drafted to military service. I used to be afraid when I reach a checkpoint." As Syria starts trying to rebuild, its neighbors and other foreign powers are still working out a new stance on the country, a week after the collapse of the Assad government that was backed by Iran and Russia. Ending sanctions? Sharaa - better known by his rebel nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Golani - leads the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, the Islamist group that swept Assad from power last week. HTS is a group formerly allied with al-Qaida that is designated a terrorist organization by many governments and is under United Nations sanctions. U.N. Syria envoy Geir Pedersen said on Sunday he hoped for a swift end to the sanctions to help facilitate economic recovery. "We will hopefully see a quick end to sanctions so that we can see really rallying around building up Syria," Pedersen said as he arrived in Damascus to meet Syria's caretaker government and other officials. Top diplomats from the United States, Turkey, the European Union and Arab nations met in Jordan on Saturday and agreed that a new government in Syria should respect minority rights, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. https://www.voanews.com/a/syrian-authorities-reopen-schools-a-week-after-upheaval-that-overthrew-assad-/7901916.html https://www.voanews.com/a/syrian-authorities-reopen-schools-a-week-after-upheaval-that-overthrew-assad-/7901916.html Sun, 15 Dec 2024 08:13:29 -0500 Middle Eastwebdesk@voanews.com (Reuters) DAMASCUS, SYRIA — At Damascus' international airport, the new head of security — one of the rebels who marched across Syria to the capital — arrived with his team. The few maintenance workers who showed up for work huddled around Maj Hamza al-Ahmed, eager to learn what will happen next. They quickly unloaded all the complaints they had been too afraid to express during the rule of President Bashar Assad, which now, inconceivably, is over. They told the bearded fighter they were denied promotions and perks in favor of pro-Assad favorites, and that bosses threatened them with prison for working too slowly. They warned of hardcore Assad supporters among airport staff, ready to return whenever the facility reopens. As Al-Ahmed tried to reassure them, Osama Najm, an engineer, announced: "This is the first time we talk." This was the first week of Syria's transformation after Assad's unexpected fall. Rebels, suddenly in charge, met a population bursting with emotions: excitement at new freedoms; grief over years of repression; and hopes, expectations and worries about the future. Some were overwhelmed to the point of tears. The transition has been surprisingly smooth. Reports of reprisals, revenge killings and sectarian violence have been minimal. Looting and destruction have been quickly contained, insurgent fighters disciplined. On Saturday, people went about their lives as usual in the capital, Damascus. Only a single van of fighters was seen. There are a million ways it could go wrong. The country is broken and isolated after five decades of Assad family rule. Families have been torn apart by war, former prisoners are traumatized by the brutalities they suffered, tens of thousands of detainees remain missing. The economy is wrecked, poverty is widespread, inflation and unemployment are high. Corruption seeps through daily life. But in this moment of flux, many are ready to feel out the way ahead. At the airport, al-Ahmed told the staffers: "The new path will have challenges, but that is why we have said Syria is for all and we all have to cooperate." The rebels have so far said all the right things, Najm said. "But we will not be silent about anything wrong again." Idlib comes to Damascus At a torched police station, pictures of Assad were torn down and files destroyed after insurgents entered the city December 8. All Assad-era police and security personnel have vanished. On Saturday, the building was staffed by 10 men serving in the police force of the rebels' de facto "salvation government," which for years governed the rebel enclave of Idlib in Syria's northwest. The rebel policemen watch over the station, dealing with reports of petty thefts and street scuffles. One woman complains that her neighbors sabotaged her power supply. A policeman tells her to wait for courts to start operating again. "It will take a year to solve problems" he mumbled. The rebels sought to bring order in Damascus by replicating the structure of its governance in Idlib. But there is a problem of scale. One of the policemen estimates the number of rebel police at only around 4,000; half are based in Idlib and the rest are tasked with maintaining security in Damascus and elsewhere. Some experts estimate the insurgents' total fighting force at around 20,000. Right now, the fighters and the public are learning about each other. The fighters drive large SUVs and newer models of vehicles that are out of reach for most residents in Damascus, where they cost 10 times as much because of customs duties and bribes. The fighters carry Turkish lira, long forbidden in government-held areas, rather than the plunging Syrian pound. Most of the bearded fighters hail from conservative, provincial areas. Many are hardline Islamists. The main insurgent force, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, has renounced its al-Qaida past, and its leaders are working to reassure Syria's religious and ethnic communities that the future will be pluralist and tolerant. But many Syrians remain suspicious. Some fighters sport ribbons with Islamist slogans on their uniforms and not all of them belong to HTS, the most organized group. "The people we see on the streets, they don't represent us," said Hani Zia, a Damascus resident from the southern city of Daraa, where the 2011 anti-Assad uprising began. He was concerned by reports of attacks on minorities and revenge killings. "We should be fearful," he said, adding that he worries some insurgents feel superior to other Syrians because of their years of fighting. "With all due respect to those who sacrificed, we all sacrificed." Still, fear is not prevalent in Damascus, where many insist they will no longer let themselves be oppressed. Some restaurants have resumed openly serving alcohol, others more discretely to test the mood. At a sidewalk café in the historic Old City's Christian quarter, men were drinking beer when a fighter patrol passed by. The men turned to each other, uncertain, but the fighters did nothing. When a man waving a gun harassed a liquor store elsewhere in the Old City, the rebel police arrested him, one policeman said. Salem Hajjo, a theater teacher who participated in the 2011 protests, said he doesn't agree with the rebels' Islamist views, but is impressed at their experience in running their own affairs. And he expects to have a voice in the new Syria. "We have never been this at ease," he said. "The fear is gone. The rest is up to us." Fighters make a concerted effort to reassure On the night after Assad's fall, gunmen roamed the streets, celebrating victory with deafening gunfire. Some security agency buildings were torched. People ransacked the airport's duty-free, smashing all the bottles of liquor. The rebels blamed some of this on fleeing government loyalists. The public stayed indoors, peeking out at the newcomers. Shops shut down. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham moved to impose order, ordering a nighttime curfew for three days. It banned celebratory gunfire and moved fighters to protect properties. After a day, people began to emerge. For tens of thousands, their first destination was Assad's prisons, particularly Saydnaya on the capital's outskirts, to search for loved ones who disappeared years ago. Few have found any traces. It was wrenching but also unifying. Rebels, some of them also searching, mingled with relatives of the missing in the dark halls of prisons that all had feared for years. During celebrations in the street, gunmen invited children to hop up on their armored vehicles. Insurgents posed for photos with women, some with their hair uncovered. Pro-revolution songs blared from cars. Suddenly shops and walls everywhere are plastered with revolutionary flags and posters of activists killed by Assad's state. TV stations didn't miss a beat, flipping from praising Assad to playing revolutionary songs. State media aired the flurry of declarations issued by the new insurgent-led transitional government. The new administration called on people to go back to work and urged Syrian refugees around the world to return to help rebuild. It announced plans to rehabilitate and vet the security forces to prevent the return of "those with blood on their hands." Fighters reassured airport staffers — many of them government loyalists — that their homes won't be attacked, one employee said. But Syria's woes are far from being resolved. While produce prices plunged after Assad's fall, because merchants no longer needed to pay hefty customs fees and bribes, fuel distribution was badly disrupted, jacking up transportation costs and causing widespread and lengthy blackouts. Officials say they want to reopen the airport as soon as possible and this week maintenance crews inspected a handful of planes on the tarmac. Cleaners removed trash, wrecked furniture and merchandise. One cleaner, who identified himself only as Murad, said he earns the equivalent of $15 a month and has six children to feed, including one with a disability. He dreams of getting a mobile phone. "We need a long time to clean this up," he said. https://www.voanews.com/a/a-week-into-a-new-syria-rebels-aim-for-normalcy-and-syrians-vow-not-to-be-silent-again/7901858.html https://www.voanews.com/a/a-week-into-a-new-syria-rebels-aim-for-normalcy-and-syrians-vow-not-to-be-silent-again/7901858.html Sun, 15 Dec 2024 04:41:29 -0500 Middle Eastwebdesk@voanews.com (Associated Press) MAGARACIK, TURKEY — Finally home in Turkey, Mehmet Erturk cannot eat the bread his wife has made him. After 20 years jailed in Syria, half his teeth are missing and the other half are threatening to fall out. "It was torture after torture," he told AFP, miming the truncheon blows to the mouth the guards would give him at a notorious Damascus prison known as the Palestine Branch, where he spent part of his time incarcerated. Arrested in 2004 for smuggling, Erturk finally made it back to his home to Magaracik on Monday evening, a village perched at the top of a winding road dotted with olive trees some 10 minutes from the Syrian border. "My family thought I was dead," said the 53-year-old, whose face and manner of walking make him look 20 years older. On the night of his release, he heard gunshots and began to pray. "We didn't know what was happening outside. I thought I was finished," he said. Then he heard loud hammer blows and within minutes the prison gates were flung open by the rebels who ousted Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad. 'Like being in a coffin' "We hadn't seen him for 11 years. We had no hope," admitted his wife, Hatice, sitting cross-legged outside their home preparing bread with their youngest daughter, who was barely 6 months old when her father was arrested. After he was sentenced to 15 years, the prison authorities left this father of four to languish in an underground dungeon, at the mercy of brutal guards. "Our bones would pop out of the socket when they hit our wrists with hammers," he said. "They also poured boiling water down the neck of one prisoner. The flesh from his neck just slid all the way down" to his hips, he said. Pulling up his right trouser leg, he shows his right ankle, the skin darkened by the chain he wore. "During the day, it was strictly forbidden to talk... there were cockroaches in the food. It was damp, it stank like a toilet," he said, recalling days "without clothes or water or food." "It was like being in a coffin." And there was huge overcrowding. 'Threw the dead into skips' "They put 115, 120 people in a cell for 20 people. Many people died of starvation," he said. And the guards just "threw the dead into rubbish skips." Erturk said he paid the price for the hatred Syria's authorities bore for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who early in the war urged Assad to leave. "We Turks suffered a lot of torture for that," he told AFP, saying he was refused medication on grounds of his nationality. He sank so low he even hoped they would hang him. "They were taking us to a new prison block and I saw a rope hanging from the ceiling and I said, 'Thank God, I'm saved,'" he said. As he recounted the horrors, he often broke off to thank "our dear president Erdogan" for him being back, alive with his family and not one of the countless victims of Syria's brutal prison system. Those could number more than 105,000 people since the war began in 2011, according to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH). One of his sisters passes him a handful of old photos. In one, he is pictured with a lifelong friend called Faruk Karga, who ended up in the same prison with him shortly after the picture was taken. But Karga never came home. "He died of starvation in prison in around 2018," said Erturk. "He weighed about 40 kilos."  https://www.voanews.com/a/endless-torture-turkish-inmate-recalls-hell-of-syria-jails/7901831.html https://www.voanews.com/a/endless-torture-turkish-inmate-recalls-hell-of-syria-jails/7901831.html Sun, 15 Dec 2024 02:05:43 -0500 Middle Eastwebdesk@voanews.com (Agence France-Presse) DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES — The Iranian currency extended its fall Saturday, hitting a new all-time low against the U.S. dollar amid uncertainties about Donald Trump's imminent arrival in the White House and tensions with the West over Tehran's nuclear program.  The rial plunged to 756,000 to the dollar on the unofficial market Saturday, compared to 741,500 rials on Friday, according to Bonbast.com, which reports exchange rates. The bazar360.com website said the dollar was being sold for about 755,000 rials.  Facing an official inflation rate of about 35%, Iranians seeking safe havens for their savings have been buying dollars, other hard currencies, gold or cryptocurrencies, suggesting further headwinds for the rial.  The dollar has been gaining against the rial since trading around 690,000 rials in early November amid concerns that once inaugurated in January, Trump would re-impose his "maximum pressure" policy against Iran with tougher sanctions and empower Israel to strike Iranian nuclear sites.  Iran's currency again declined after the board of governors of the U.N. nuclear agency IAEA passed a European-proposed resolution against Tehran — increasing the risk of new sanctions — and following the downfall of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, a long-time ally of the Islamic Republic.  Trump in 2018 reneged on a nuclear deal struck by his predecessor Barack Obama in 2015 and re-imposed U.S. economic sanctions on Iran that had been relaxed. The deal had limited Iran's ability to enrich uranium, a process that can yield fissile material for nuclear weapons.  Iran's rial has lost more than 90% of its value since the sanctions were re-imposed in 2018.  https://www.voanews.com/a/iran-currency-slips-to-new-lows-amid-us-europe-tensions-/7901604.html https://www.voanews.com/a/iran-currency-slips-to-new-lows-amid-us-europe-tensions-/7901604.html Sat, 14 Dec 2024 17:44:25 -0500 Middle Eastwebdesk@voanews.com (Reuters) India's Supreme Court has said it would review the controversial speech by a top court judge in which he said that the country would function according to the demands or wishes of the Hindu majority community.  Many are demanding the impeachment of the judge, Shekhar Kumar Yadav, who practices at the High Court of Allahabad, the topmost court in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.  The chief justice of India (CJI), Sanjiv Khanna, said that the Supreme Court would review what Yadav said at a program organized by the right-wing Hindu organization Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and held on December 8.  The Supreme Court had seen newspaper reports on Judge Yadav's speech and sought its "details and particulars" from the Allahabad High Court, a statement by the highest court in India said Tuesday.  Supreme Court Bar Association President Kapil Sibal and others have called for the judge's impeachment.  Yadav's bias is "written largely in his expression of views" and his speech was "unworthy of any judge," said former Indian supreme court justice Madan Lokur.  "Given his proclivity of making highly controversial statements, this is really the last straw and the proposal to impeach him is justified," Lokur told VOA in an email.  Justice Yadav, who was frequently seen supporting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had courted controversies and polarized public opinion with his judicial orders and past public statements.  In 2021, while denying bail to a man accused of cow slaughter, he called for the cow to be declared India's national animal and claimed that "scientists believe cows are the only animals that inhale and exhale oxygen."  In his order, Yadav noted that ghee or clarified butter made from cow's milk, which is used in yajnas, the Hindu ritual of fire sacrifice, "provides special energy to sun rays which ultimately causes rain." A mixture of cow milk, curd, ghee, urine and cow dung "helps in the treatment of many incurable diseases," he said in his order.  On Sunday, while speaking on the Uniform Civil Code at the VHP program, Yadav said that he had "no hesitation" in saying that India would function "according to the wishes of the majority community (Hindus) living in the country."  "This is the law … the law, in fact, works according to the majority ... Only what benefits the welfare and happiness of the majority (Hindus) will be accepted (by the law)," he said.  Yadav targeted Muslims, calling the religious minority a "kathmulle," a derogatory term used to stereotype Muslim men as illiterate and stubborn.    "In your (Islamic) culture, from a young age, children are exposed to the slaughtering of animals. How can you expect them to be tolerant and compassionate?" he asked.  "Kathmulles are harmful to this country and hinder our progress. We should stay cautious about such people," Yadav added.  The Campaign for Judicial Accountability and Reforms (CJAR) — an NGO working to ensure a judicial system with increased accountability in India — requested Tuesday in a letter that Chief Justice Khanna set up a committee and conduct an in-house inquiry into the case.  "Such communally charged statements at a public event, by a sitting judge of the High Court, not only hurt religious sentiments but completely erode faith of the general public in the integrity and impartiality of the judicial institution," the letter from the CJAR said.  "Justice Yadav also used unpardonable and unconscionable slurs against the Muslim community, bringing shame and disrepute to the high office of a judge of the Allahabad High Court and the judiciary as a whole, besides undermining the rule of law."  Supreme Court lawyer Balraj Singh Malik told VOA that Yadav's statement was "anti-national and anti-constitutional" in a text response on WhatsApp.  "Mr. Yadav's words go against the spirit of the oath he took at the time of his appointment. He should be kept away from hearing any cases. Many such types of judges, having tutored mentality of RSS [a Hindu right-wing paramilitary group], are in the judiciary now," Malik told VOA.  "There is no place for such judges in India, who have a mindset heavily influenced by the RSS. This has been an issue since the BJP came into power in 2014," he said.  The Hindu nationalist BJP or Bharatiya Janata Party is India's federal ruling party headed by Narendra Modi.  Activist Apoorvanand, who goes by one name, said that while it is a "known fact" that the Indian judiciary is populated by judges who follow the RSS and the BJP's ideology of Hindu majoritarianism, Yadav expressed a sentiment that "even the top BJP leaders shy away from."  "He justified the demolition of the Babri Mosque, an act which the Supreme Court has deemed criminal," Apoorvanand, a Delhi University professor, told VOA.  "Yadav's speech proves that he does not believe in the constitution of India which is secular and is a partisan judge from whom no Muslim or non-Hindu can expect justice from. He is therefore a dangerous person as a judge and should not be allowed to continue in his post," Apoorvanand added.  Rights activist Harsh Mander said that Yadav's comment "brazenly violates" the Indian constitution, upholding which is the judge's highest duty.  "The constitution, after all, guarantees equal citizenship rights in every way for religious minorities as compared to the Hindu majority," he told VOA in a text via the Signal Messenger app.  "But even if this assurance was not the soul of the Indian constitution, it lies at the core of any justice process anyway," he said, adding that Yadav violated not just the Indian constitution but also the core idea of justice.  Former chairman of the Delhi Minorities Commission Zafarul-Islam Khan said that with his speech, Justice Yadav has exposed his leanings toward Hindutva.  Hindutva is a right-wing Hindu nationalist political ideology that seeks to establish Hinduism and Hindu culture as dominant in India and aims to turn India into an overtly Hindu nation-state. Hindutva forces have been rising in India since the BJP came to power in 2014.  "The judge not only exposed his beliefs, he also let out a well-known secret about the Indian judiciary that over the past decades believers in hard-core Hindutva have sneaked into the system," Khan told VOA.  "It is a serious matter for a secular country that its judiciary is now partially at least controlled by judges who do not believe in secularism — for them Hindutva and Hindu interests are supreme.  https://www.voanews.com/a/india-s-supreme-court-takes-note-of-judge-s-communal-speech/7901590.html https://www.voanews.com/a/india-s-supreme-court-takes-note-of-judge-s-communal-speech/7901590.html Sat, 14 Dec 2024 17:18:01 -0500 Middle EastSouth & Central Asiawebdesk@voanews.com (Shaikh Azizur Rahman) DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES — In the final days leading to his ouster, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad complained to Iran's foreign minister that Turkey was actively supporting Sunni rebels in their offensive to topple him, two Iranian officials told Reuters this week. Five decades of rule by Assad's family ended Sunday when he fled to Moscow, where the government granted him asylum. Iran had backed Assad in Syria's long civil war, and his overthrow was widely seen as a major blow to the Iran-led "Axis of Resistance," a political and military alliance that opposes Israeli and U.S. influence in the Middle East. As rebel forces from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, formerly aligned to al-Qaida, seized major cities and advanced toward the capital, Assad met Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Damascus on December 2. At the meeting, Assad voiced anger over what he said was Turkey's intensified efforts to unseat him, according to a senior Iranian official. Araghchi assured Assad of Iran’s continued support and promised to raise the issue with Ankara, the official said. The next day, Araghchi met with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan to express Tehran’s deep concerns over Ankara’s support for rebel advances. "The meeting was tense. Iran expressed its unhappiness with Turkey's alignment with U.S. and Israeli agendas and conveyed Assad's concerns," a second Iranian official said, referring to Ankara's support for rebels and cooperation with Western and Israeli interests in targeting Iran's allies in the region. Fidan, the official said, blamed Assad for the crisis, asserting that his failure to engage in genuine peace talks and his years of oppressive rule were the root causes of the conflict. A Turkish Foreign Ministry source familiar with Fidan's talks said that those were not the exact remarks by Fidan and added that Araghchi did not bring and convey any messages from Assad to Turkey, without elaborating. Fidan told reporters in Doha, Qatar, on Sunday that the Assad regime had "had precious time" to address Syria's existing problems but did not, instead allowing "a slow decay and collapse of the regime." Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Wednesday that Assad's toppling was the result of a plan by the United States and Israel. He said that one of Syria's neighbors also had a role and continues to do so. He did not name the country but appeared to be referring to Turkey. NATO member Turkey, which controls swathes of land in northern Syria after several cross-border incursions against the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, was a main backer of opposition groups aiming to topple Assad since the outbreak of the civil war in 2011. Assad's downfall stripped Iran and the Lebanese group Hezbollah of a vital ally. Tehran's ties to Damascus had allowed Iran to spread its influence through a land corridor from its western border via Iraq all the way to Lebanon to bring arms supplies to Hezbollah. Iran spent billions of dollars propping up Assad during the war and deployed its Revolutionary Guards to Syria to keep its ally in power. Hezbollah also played a major part, sending fighters to support him, but had to bring them back to Lebanon over the last year to fight in a bruising war with Israel — a redeployment that weakened Syrian government lines. https://www.voanews.com/a/before-ouster-syria-s-assad-told-iran-turkey-was-aiding-hts-rebels/7901509.html https://www.voanews.com/a/before-ouster-syria-s-assad-told-iran-turkey-was-aiding-hts-rebels/7901509.html Sat, 14 Dec 2024 13:21:44 -0500 Middle EastIranwebdesk@voanews.com (Reuters) AQABA, JORDAN — American officials have been in direct contact with the terrorist-designated rebel group that led the overthrow of Syrian President Bashar Assad, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Saturday.  Blinken, speaking at a news conference in Jordan, was the first U.S. official to publicly confirm contacts between the Biden administration and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, which led a coalition of armed opposition groups that drove Assad from power and into asylum in Russia last weekend.  Along with counterparts from eight Arab nations and Turkey and senior officials from the European Union and United Nations, Blinken signed off on a set of principles meant to guide Syria's transition to a peaceful, nonsectarian and inclusive country.  Blinken would not discuss details of the contacts but said it was important for the U.S. to convey messages to the group about its conduct and how it intends to govern in a transition period.  "Yes, we have been in contact with HTS and with other parties," Blinken said in the port city of Aqaba. He added that "our message to the Syrian people is this: We want them to succeed and we're prepared to help them do so."  Blinken also stressed that "the success that we've had in ending the territorial caliphate" of the Islamic State group remains "a critical mission." And citing the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, the Kurdish fighters who in recent years drove IS out of large areas of Syria, he said it was "very important at this moment that they continue that role because this is a moment of instability" in which IS "will seek to regroup and take advantage of."  HTS, which was once an affiliate of al-Qaida, has been designed as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department since 2018. That designation carries with it severe sanctions, including a ban on the provision of any "material support" to the group or its members. The sanctions do not, however, legally bar U.S. officials from communicating with designated groups.    In an interview Saturday on Syrian television, the group's leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, did not address any direct contact with the United States, but said the new authorities in Damascus are in touch with Western embassies.  He also said that "we don't intend to enter any conflict because there is general exhaustion in Syria."  HTS has worked to establish security and start a political transition after seizing Damascus and has tried to reassure a public both stunned by Assad's fall and concerned about extremist jihadis among the rebels. Insurgent leaders say the group has broken with its extremist past.  A joint statement after the meeting of foreign ministers urged all parties to cease hostilities in Syria and expressed support for a locally led transitional political process. It called for preventing the reemergence of extremist groups and ensuring the security and safe destruction of chemical weapons stockpiles.  "We don't want Syria to fall into chaos," Jordan's foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, told journalists.  A separate statement by Arab foreign ministers called for U.N.-supervised elections based on a new constitution approved by Syrians. Their statement condemned Israel's incursion into the buffer zone with Syria and adjacent sites over the past week as a "heinous occupation" and demanded the withdrawal of Israeli forces.  U.S. officials say al-Sharaa has been making welcomed comments about protecting minority and women's rights but they remain skeptical that he will follow through on them in the long run.  On Friday, the rebels and Syria's unarmed opposition worked to safely turn over to U.S. officials an American man who had been imprisoned by Assad.  U.S. officials are continuing their search for Austin Tice, an American journalist who disappeared 12 years ago near Damascus. "We have impressed upon everyone we've been in contact with the importance of helping find Austin Tice and bringing him home," Blinken said.  In other developments:  —Turkey reopened its embassy in Damascus, becoming the first country to do so since the end of Assad's rule. The embassy suspended operations 12 years ago due to insecurity during Syria's civil war.  —Al-Sharaa said in the TV interview that "the pretexts that Israel uses have ended" for its airstrikes that have destroyed much of the Syrian army's assets in recent days. He said "the Israelis have crossed the rules of engagement" but that the insurgent group is not about to enter a conflict with Israel.  —The leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah militants said the group has lost its military supply line through Syria but that the new authority there might reinstate the route.  —A Syrian war monitor and a citizen journalist said gunmen attacked members of a Syrian insurgent group, Failaq al-Sham, in the country's coastal region, killing or wounding 15 of them on Saturday. That region is home to many members of Assad's minority Alawite sect.  https://www.voanews.com/a/blinken-us-in-direct-contact-with-syrian-rebels-that-ousted-assad/7901462.html https://www.voanews.com/a/blinken-us-in-direct-contact-with-syrian-rebels-that-ousted-assad/7901462.html Sat, 14 Dec 2024 12:21:25 -0500 Middle EastUSAwebdesk@voanews.com (Associated Press) At least 18 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza Saturday, medics said, while the Israeli military said it targeted gunmen operating from shelters and aid storages. At least 10 people were killed in an airstrike near the municipality building in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, where people gathered to receive aid, medics said. Casualties were being carried by foot, on rickshaws and private cars from the site of the attack to the hospital, medics said. The strike killed the head of the Hamas-run administrative committee in central Gaza, a Hamas source said. The Israeli military was looking into the report, a spokesperson said. Earlier, Israeli aircraft struck militants and weapon caches near an aid warehouse, the military said, after gunmen fired rockets into Israel from there. A separate strike in Gaza City on a former shelter housing displaced people targeted Hamas fighters, the military said. At least seven people were killed in that attack, Palestinian medics said, including a woman and her baby. It was unclear whether any of the other people killed were fighters. The military said it had taken precautions to reduce risk of harm to civilians. A separate strike in Gaza City killed a local journalist, medics said. The military was looking into the report, a spokesperson said. The war in Gaza began when the Palestinian militant group Hamas stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking more than 250 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli authorities. Israel then launched an air, sea and land offensive that has killed at least 44,000 people, mostly civilians, according to authorities in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, displaced nearly the entire population and left much of the enclave in ruins. A fresh bid by Egypt, Qatar and the United States to reach a truce has gained momentum in recent weeks. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Saturday discussed with visiting U.S. officials efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza and a hostages-for-prisoners deal in the Palestinian enclave, Sisi's office said. https://www.voanews.com/a/at-least-18-killed-in-israeli-gaza-strikes-palestinian-medics-say/7901379.html https://www.voanews.com/a/at-least-18-killed-in-israeli-gaza-strikes-palestinian-medics-say/7901379.html Sat, 14 Dec 2024 10:52:59 -0500 Middle Eastwebdesk@voanews.com (Reuters) With the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, Turkey is preparing for nearly 3 million Syrian refugees to return to their country. But experts say the process will be challenging. Metin Corabatir, head of the Research Center on Asylum and Migration, discusses the complexities of their return. Click here for the full story in Kurdish. https://www.voanews.com/a/voa-kurdish-turkey-prepares-for-return-of-3-million-refugees-to-syria/7901375.html https://www.voanews.com/a/voa-kurdish-turkey-prepares-for-return-of-3-million-refugees-to-syria/7901375.html Sat, 14 Dec 2024 10:43:30 -0500 Middle EastImmigrationwebdesk@voanews.com (Eyyüp Demir) Dozens of women in Diyarbakır held a demonstration in the city square, protesting wars and deaths everywhere, but particularly in Syria and the Kurdish areas, which faces threats from armed groups. Click here for the full story in Kurdish. https://www.voanews.com/a/voa-kurdish-in-diyarbakir-women-demonstrate-against-war/7901371.html https://www.voanews.com/a/voa-kurdish-in-diyarbakir-women-demonstrate-against-war/7901371.html Sat, 14 Dec 2024 10:35:21 -0500 Middle Eastwebdesk@voanews.com (Hatice Kamer) At the iconic Umayyad Mosque in Damascus on Friday, Syrian caretaker Prime Minister Mohammed al-Bashir called on Syrians to seek justice without revenge after the government’s collapse. But some worshippers say those who committed crimes against their families deserve the harshest punishment. VOA’s Heather Murdock reports from Damascus. https://www.voanews.com/a/at-damascus-mosque-syrian-leader-calls-for-justice-without-revenge/7901359.html https://www.voanews.com/a/at-damascus-mosque-syrian-leader-calls-for-justice-without-revenge/7901359.html Sat, 14 Dec 2024 10:22:51 -0500 Middle Eastwebdesk@voanews.com (Heather Murdock) Top diplomats from the United States, the Arab League and Turkey are meeting in Jordan to discuss how to assist Syria’s transition after the fall of Bashar Assad's government a week ago. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken joined foreign ministers and senior officials from the European Union and United Nations in Jordan on Saturday to try to find consensus on what Syria's new leadership should prioritize. No Syrian representatives were set to attend. The collapse of the Assad family’s more than half-century of rule has sparked new fears of instability in a region already shaken by the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and hostilities between Israel and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah despite a tenuous ceasefire. The United States is making a renewed push for a ceasefire in Gaza, where the war has plunged more than 2 million Palestinians into a severe humanitarian crisis. Israel’s war against Hamas has killed over 44,800 Palestinians in Gaza, more than half of them women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not say how many were combatants. The Israeli military says it has killed over 17,000 militants. The October 2023 Hamas attack that sparked the war killed some 1,200 people in Israel, mostly civilians, and around 250 others were taken hostage. Some 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead. Turkey reopens its embassy in Syria Turkey reopened its embassy in Syria on Saturday, becoming the first country to do so since the end of Bashar Assad’s rule last weekend. The Syrian insurgents who overthrew Assad received vital help from Turkey. The Turkish flag was raised above the compound in Damascus for the first time since diplomatic ties were cut in 2012. The embassy suspended operations 12 years ago due to insecurity during the Syrian civil war. Several countries maintained diplomatic ties with Assad's government during the 13-year conflict, while others reopened their diplomatic missions in recent years as they sought to normalize relations. Blinken wraps up regional tour in Jordan Blinken says broad consensus exists among regional partners that Syria’s new government must be inclusive, must respect women and minority rights, reject terrorism and secure and destroy suspected Assad-era chemical weapons stockpiles. Blinken is wrapping up a three-country regional tour in Aqaba after visiting Iraq, Turkey and Jordan once already this week. Earlier Saturday in a meeting with U.N. Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pederson, Blinken said he expected to talk about the challenges ahead for Syria and “our determination to work together to support a Syrian-led transition where the United Nations plays a critical role, particularly when it comes to the provision of assistance, to the protection of minorities.” Pederson agreed, saying: “What is so critical in Syria is that we see a credible and inclusive political process that brings together all communities in Syria. And the second point is that we need to make sure that state institutions do not collapse, and that we get in humanitarian assistance as quickly as possible. And if we can achieve that, perhaps there is a new opportunity for the Syrian people.” In announcing Saturday’s meetings, the Jordanian Foreign Ministry said the ministers would “discuss ways to support a comprehensive political process led by Syrians to achieve a transitional process,” which “ensures the reconstruction of Syrian state institutions, and preserves Syria’s unity, territorial integrity, sovereignty, security, stability and the rights of all its citizens.” https://www.voanews.com/a/top-diplomats-from-us-arab-league-turkey-discuss-syria/7901321.html https://www.voanews.com/a/top-diplomats-from-us-arab-league-turkey-discuss-syria/7901321.html Sat, 14 Dec 2024 10:00:12 -0500 Middle Eastwebdesk@voanews.com (Associated Press)