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BreakingNews @en - page 12

Third Force retakes Brak Airbase in southern Libya

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New acts of violences between the rebel of Third force, and General Haftar forces, Dignity Operation. The Third Force of the Libyan Army took control on Thursday of Brak Al-Shati Airbase, south Libya, hours after a massive offensive on forces of Dignity Operation inside the airbase. Conflict took place 60km at the North of Sabbha. Members of Dignity Operation was constrained to flee in the desert around the city, others have been arrested by Third Force group. Reports said there were more than 60 deaths among Dignity Operation forces including Mohammed Ben-Nayal’s senior aide Ahmed Ben-Nayal. Dignity Operation weapons and military vehicles were also seized in the attack.

 

 

Turkey calls for removal U.S. envoy to counter ISIS over Kurdish policy

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Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu accused the U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for the Coalition Forces to counter Islamic State (ISIS), Brett McGurk, of supporting Kurdish forces in Syria, and called for the removal of McGurk from his position. “Brett McGurk, the USA’s special envoy in the fight against Daesh [Islamic State], is definitely and clearly giving support to the PKK [Kurdistan Workers’ Party] and YPG [People’s Protection Units]. It would be beneficial if this person is changed,” Cavusoglu told NTV television on Thursday (May 18). Turkey sees the YPG and the Democratic Union Party (PYD) as “terrorist organizations” as it says they have ties with the PKK, which is designated as a terror group by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU. The comments by the Turkish foreign minister came after McGurk, along with officials from the State Department, paid a visit to Syrian Kurdish controlled areas on Tuesday (May 16) in order to meet Kurdish officials there. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he told U.S. President Donald Trump that Turkey would not hesitate to attack if it faced any sort of attacks from the YPG, according to Turkish media. “We clearly told them this: if there is any sort of attack from the YPG and PYD against Turkey, we will implement the rules of engagement without asking anyone”, Erdogan said being cited by Sabah newspaper. In the battle to free Raqqa from ISIS, the U.S. has actively supported the YPG-led SDF, but was initially wary of allying directly to the YPG due to concerns from NATO ally Turkey. U.S. ties with the Syrian Kurds have grown deeper despite the concerns of NATO ally Turkey, which views the YPG as a terrorist group because of its links to the PKK.

Iran election results to be released gradually: Official

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Iran’s Interior Ministry reversed its decision on how to release the results of the forthcoming presidential election, a deputy minister announced, saying the vote counts are going to be made public in a gradual process upon closure of the polls. Deputy Interior Minister Mohammad Hossein Moqimi said on Wednesday night that the ministry, in charge of holding the election, has decided to publicize the ballot counts gradually after consultations with the Guardian Council and receiving the supervisory body’s interpretation of the rules. During a press conference on Wednesday morning, Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli had announced that he would declare the results of Friday’s election only once they are finalized, citing a rule that forbids piecemeal release of the vote counts. During the previous elections, when the results of vote counts in different provinces were released intermittently, the number of votes of candidates swung remarkably, the minister explained, arguing that such swinging numbers led to wild speculations. Thereafter, the Guardian Council, which is in charge of supervising the elections, said it is not of the same mind with the decision not to publicize the ballot counts gradually. There are four candidates seeking presidency in Friday’s polls, including incumbent President Hassan Rouhani, Ebrahim Raisi, Mostafa Hashemitaba, and Mostafa Aqa-Mirsalim. Two other hopefuls, Eshaq Jahangiri and Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, dropped out of the race in favor of Rouhani and Raisi, respectively. Election campaigning drew to a close on Thursday morning, 24 hours before polls open, according to the law.

 

Egypt supports Libyan unity, territorial integrity: Army's Chief of Staff tells Haftar during Benghazi visit

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Egypt supports ongoing efforts to preserve the unity of Libya and its territorial integrity, the Egyptian army’s Chief of Staff Mahmoud Hegazi told Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar during a Wednesday visit to Benghazi. In an official statement by the Egyptian armed forces, spokesman Tamer El-Refai said Hegazi, told that main topic was domestic policies and international developments. Egypt envoy also congratulates Haftar the third anniversary of Dignity Operation. Haftar said he valued Cairo’s support for the Libyan National Army, referring to the exchange of experience and training with their Egyptian counterparts in various fields. He also praised Cairo’s ongoing support for solving the Libyan crisis and ending terrorism in the country.Hegazi’s visit comes only a few days after Haftar visited Cairo to meet with Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi.

Hamas: Killers of top commander admit to working with Israel

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The March 24 killing of Mazen Faqha, a senior member of Hamas’ military wing, stunned the movement, which has prided itself on restoring security since wresting control of the Gaza Strip from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas a decade ago.Faqha was shot several times in the upper torso. His body was found in his car in the garage under his Gaza City apartment building. Hamas accused Israel of killing him by recruiting local collaborators, and launched a manhunt.On Tuesday, Hamas announced it had arrested 45 alleged collaborators with Israel, including three purportedly involved in killing Faqha. It was the largest such sweep since the 2007 Gaza takeover.A Hamas official said the man had been kicked out of Hamas for “moral crimes” four years ago and had joined an al-Qaida-inspired group known as the Army of Islam. The official spoke on condition of anonymity. At a press conference, Hamas released a 14-minute video showing the suspects apparently confessing to the assassination and saying they carried out the killing on the orders of Israel’s Shin Bet security agency. The video shows the three suspects at the scene of the killing, walking around the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood in Gaza, being interviewed, revealing personal details, and admitting their involvement in the killing.

Gorran says it welcomes serious efforts to resolve issues in Kurdistan Region

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Change Movement (Gorran) said it welcomes serious efforts to resolve issues in the Kurdistan Region, adding that the party hopes that current issues will be resolved at their root. Gorran released a statement regarding the Kurdistan Region’s situation on Wednesday  saying there have been attempts to silence the Kurdistan Region and its capital through the continued deactivation of the Kurdistan Parliament. “Attempts to subdue one voice and one color, frightening, politicalizing everything and monopolizing power, parliament, government, presidency, security institutions, banks, relation departments, markets and university are principles of the previous regimes and they have damaged the experience of the Kurdistan Region and the beautiful image of this city [Erbil]”, the statement read. The Kurdistan Parliament is the “only institution” to represent all the political parties and the people of the Kurdistan Region, Gorran said. “When the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) felt its bad philosophy of governance was facing changes and its private interests faced danger, it closed parliament and paralyzed the government”, the statement added. “Gorran hopes all the issues in the Kurdistan Region will be resolved at the root as soon as possible. In this regard, we welcome any serious effort and project which considers balance and public interest”, it stated. Regarding Kurdish independence and a referendum on the issue, Gorran said the party won’t allow a similar experience to that of South Sudan to be repeated in the region, adding that an independent Kurdistan should also not mirror a Saudi-like power structure. “We don’t want a state like Saudi [Arabia], where a group and a family have seized the nation’s benefits. We don’t want a person to give himself the right to remain on the chair of power and to be above law”, the statement said. Gorran also referred to an agreement with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) saying there are people within the PUK who are blocking the agreement from being carried out. “Total block to accomplish the agreement is inside the PUK. It is the PUK Leadership [that] doesn’t step up to fulfill it. They behave opposite of the content of the agreement. However, the small gang in the PUK who’re blocking the Gorran-PUK agreement will not stop our march, we will deal with the genuine PUK”.

Iran's election campaign dominated by social media

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With the Iranian presidential election only days away, the campaigns of both Rouhani and hardline cleric Ebrahim Raisi, have launched a social media free-for-all unprecedented in Iranian political history. By far the most popular social media outlet is Telegram, a chat service that is a niche player in most Western countries but has some 20 million users in Iran, according to a report by the Iranian Students’ News Agency (ISNA). “Lack of trust in these organizations [state television] has led to a situation where the youth and the educated try to get news via social media such as Telegram, or Whatsapp and Viber or other available social media services”, Iranian Mostafa Koshki said. In Tehran, shopkeeper Mehdi Shahriyari said he believed that social media provided more accurate information than state television and that was why Iranians were turning to more modern forms of news collection. “In my opinion, social media provides us with more accurate and reliable information”, Shahriyari said. “The range of information available on social media is wider, therefore its better, and it does not support any special person [candidate]. Everyone is supporting their own candidate”. Telegram allows users to set up “channels” to broadcast pictures, videos and other messages to a wide following. For Iranian reformers in particular, that offers a way to get out messages that otherwise would be thwarted by censorship. Iran has a young, tech-savvy population: approximately 60 percent of the population of 80 million is under 30.

Voter turnout estimated at 72%, no gradual announcement of results

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Interior Minister Rahmani Fazli said voter turnout for Friday election is estimated at 72%, adding the results will not be announced gradually but only after the vote count is done. Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli in an interview with IRIB Tuesday night said the latest reliable surveys show voter turnout at 72%, adding the number is predicted to rise in the next two days. He noted a 63 per cent decrease in violations and offenses regarding the presidential campaigns compared to previous elections. According to Rahmani Fazli, 350,000 people are in charge of maintaining security during the voting process; about 70,000 inspectors will be present at the polling stations, with 100,000 government officials and 100,000 representatives from the Guardian Council. Each station will have 17 people in charge of overseeing the voting process. The security during the election will be provided by the police, IRGC, Basij and Intelligence Ministry officers, he added. “56,410,234 people are eligible to vote”, said Rahmani Fazli, adding “it is expected that the election results will be determined in the first round and there will be no need for a runoff”.

 

Iran Urges Removal of Trade Barriers with India

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Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif called for efforts to remove the obstacles to trade and banking ties with India. In a meeting with Foreign Secretary of India Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in Tehran on Tuesday, Foreign Minister Zarif expressed the hope for closer relations between Iran and India in light of the history of their mutual cooperation and the issues of common interest. Zarif also stressed the need for the removal of obstacles to banking interaction between Tehran and New Delhi and for efforts to help and support the Iranian students in India. For his part, Jaishankar said he saw a positive prospect of relations with Iran, and hailed the results of his meetings with Iranian officials in Tehran, particularly with Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh. The two diplomats also discussed the ways to promote cooperation in the energy industry, transit industry, and completion of the North-South Corridor, an international transport route connecting Central Asia to the Persian Gulf. Iran and India, two major members of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), have increased efforts in recent years to establish closer trade ties. India is one of the major customers of Iran’s crude oil. Last month, Iran’s Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan proposed the idea of cooperation with India “at a strategic level”, highlighting the far-reaching impacts of military and defense cooperation on regional security.

 

 

Three debates of presidential candidates in brief

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Candidates of the 12th presidential elections, slated to held on May 19, expressed their views about various economic, political and social issues in the framework of three rounds of televised debates. The candidates included Ebrahim Raeisi, Custodian of the Imam Reza Holy Shrine in Mashad; First Vice-President Eshaq Jahangiri; Mayor of Tehran, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf; former minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Mostafa Mirsalim; former Minister of Physical Education Mostafa Hashemi Taba, and President Hassan Rouhani. The debates were held on April 28, May 5 and May 12 respectively. The following is a summary of the major issues raised in the debates: The first debate was focused on economic and social topics including emigration to big cities, the need to establish e-government, unemployment of the Iranian youth, tax policies, particle pollution and environmental problems. The second debate was held with the political and cultural issues in the spotlight. Major issues discussed in the second debate included the foreign policy, interacting with critics, defense policy, national security and Iranian-Islamic lifestyle as well as Iran’s nuclear rights. Commenting on the landmark nuclear deal also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) signed in 2015 between Iran and six world major, all candidates agreed that it is an international agreement which should be respect by all parties. However, a number of the candidates including, Mirsalim and Raeisi believed that the deal has failed to completely serve the interests of the Iranian nation. Raeisi, a 56-year-old principlist candidate, said the JCPOA has failed to end Iran’s economic recession and remove all banking sanctions. Mirsalim, a 70-year-old conservative candidate, said the nuclear agreement proved to the world that Iran does not seek to develop nuclear weapons. However, Rouhani defended performance of his administration regarding the JCPOA noting that the deal has led to the removal of all nuclear-related sanctions. Jahangiri, the 59-year-old ally of President Rouhani, described the nuclear deal as one of the greatest achievements in the history of Iran without which the country’s oil exports could have been stopped. However, in the third and last debate the six candidates expressed their plans on economic challenges facing the country including smuggling and imports, dependence on oil revenues, reduce crude oil sales, banking issues, domestic production, subsidies and economic growth. Mirsalim said he plans to reduce crude oil sales in favor of exporting domestic products. He added that the sales of crude oil have made the country more dependent on other countries. Supporting Mirsalim’s idea, Raeisi said that building of refineries in various provinces would reduce crude oil sales. Meanwhile, Hashemi Taba, 70, opposed to the idea of building refineries in different parts of the country arguing that would not be economical. He also said that an “export-oriented” economy would help reduce smuggling of goods and promote the policy of Economy of Resistance. The six candidates continued their campaign by addressing people in different meetings both in the capital Tehran and other cities. However, one of the candidates, Qalibaf officially quitted the presidential race in a letter sent to the Elections Headquarters on Wednesday (May 17). He had earlier announced that he would support Raeisi in the presidential elections and asked his supporters to vote for the principlist candidate. Jahangiri, another candidate has also dropped out from the presidential race in favor of Rouhani. Releasing a statement on May 16, Jahangiri told his supporters to vote for Rouhani. Another presidential candidate, Hashemi Taba, had earlier announced in a message that he would vote for Rouhani but he did not explicitly said that he quitted the race. The Elections Headquarters announced that according to elections law any candidate wishing to quit presidential campaign should deliver his resignation in writing to the election headquarters and supervisory board.

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