Browsing: Region
The Fourth Criminal Court in Damascus Tuesday sentenced Bashar Al Assad and Atef Najib to death after convicting them of murder, torture, arbitrary detention and crimes against humanity.The rulings were rendered during the court’s ninth session in the case brought against Atef Najib, the former head of the Political Security Branch in Daraa province, and several fugitive defendants.The court, presided over by Judge Fakhr Al Din Al Aryan, convicted Bashar Al Assad of the intentional and premeditated killing of multiple people, including children.The death sentence also included Maher Al Assad, commander of the Fourth Division; Fahd Jassem Al Freij, the former defense minister; and several former high-ranking military and security officials such as Mohammad Ayman Ayoush, Louay Al Ali, Qusay Ibrahim Mihoub, Wafiq Saleh Nasser, and Talal Fares Al Aseimi. They were convicted of premeditated and intentional murder and torture leading to death.President of the National Commission for Transitional Justice Abdul Basit Abdul Latif said the ruling represents a watershed moment in the path toward ensuring justice for victims and strengthening the rule of law. Source link
A Syrian court on Tuesday sentenced former ruler Bashar al-Assad to death after a trial in absentia, convicting him of atrocities committed during the country’s nearly 14-year civil war.It is the first such ruling under Syria’s transitional leaders who ousted Assad in December 2024, vowing to provide justice and accountability for crimes committed under his rule. Assad fled to Moscow as Islamist-led forces closed in on Damascus after a lightning offensive. At a court in Damascus, Judge Fakhr al-Din al-Aryan convicted Assad for crimes including “premeditated murder, the intentional killing of more than one person, the intentional killing of children under 15 years… torture, torture leading to death, and deprivation of liberty on multiple occasions — classified as crimes against humanity and war crimes”. “He is therefore sentenced to death.” Syria in April began proceedings against Assad and other officials accused in person and in absentia of atrocities during the country’s civil war, which erupted with the former authorities’ brutal repression of pro-democracy protesters. Source link
Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani discussed in a phone call with his Pakistani counterpart Mohammad Ishaq Dar regional developments.The two ministers addressed joint regional and international efforts aimed at de-escalation and maintaining regional security and stability and ensure freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. They have also discussed issues of common interest. Source link
On Friday, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and Pakistan signed a trilateral collective-defence agreement that treats an armed attack against any one of the three states as an attack against all, establishing a new security framework spanning the Arabian Peninsula, South Asia and the eastern Mediterranean. The Makkah Joint Defence Agreement was signed by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo an and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The agreement is intended to strengthen collective deterrence and expand defence co-operation across multiple military domains. The pact follows the Saudi-Pakistan Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement signed in 2025 and provides for closer co-operation in areas including military readiness, training, intelligence, logistics, counterterrorism and defence industry. Its language, however, does not specify an automatic military response or the force contributions that would be required in the event of an attack. Officials from the three countries have described the arrangement as defensive and said it is not directed against a particular state. They have also rejected suggestions that it is intended to form a sectarian bloc or trigger a regional arms race. The agreement brings together three militaries with markedly different strengths. Pakistan contributes the largest standing force in the grouping, with approximately 660,000 active personnel, more than 2,500 main battle tanks and more than 420 combat-capable aircraft, including JF-17, F-16 and J-10C fleets. Its navy operates a growing submarine force, assessed at about eight boats, while the country retains extensive experience in high-intensity operations and in training and advising Gulf armed forces. Pakistan is also the only nuclear-armed member of the arrangement. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute estimates that its nuclear stockpile remained at approximately 170 warheads as of January 2026, although Islamabad continues to develop delivery systems and fissile-material production capacity. Saudi Arabia provides the grouping’s principal financial and procurement base. Riyadh’s defence expenditure is estimated at about $88bn, while its armed forces include roughly 250,000–257,000 active personnel, a modernising armoured force and an air arm centred on the F-15 family. The kingdom also brings substantial strategic geography. Its territory covers approximately 2.15mn sq km and contains energy infrastructure of global importance, as well as the Islamic holy cities of Makkah and Madinah. Saudi financial resources could support joint procurement, industrial partnerships, basing infrastructure and sustainment programmes. Türkiye contributes the grouping’s largest indigenous defence-industrial ecosystem and its strongest naval capability. Its armed forces include approximately 355,000 active personnel, around 2,200–2,300 tanks, about 300 combat aircraft and 12–13 submarines, although figures vary according to whether reserve, paramilitary and legacy equipment are included. An established Nato member, Türkiye also offers experience in alliance-standard interoperability and expeditionary operations. Its defence sector produces unmanned aircraft, missiles, naval platforms and electronic-warfare systems, while programmes such as the KAAN fighter are intended to expand national design and production capacity. Aggregate scaleOn commonly used 2026 open-source estimates, the three states together field:• About 1.27mn active military personnel.• Approximately 5,800 main battle tanks.• About 14,000 armoured fighting vehicles and other armoured platforms.• Between 1,000 and 1,150 combat aircraft, within a total military-aircraft inventory of roughly 3,350.• Approximately 20–21 submarines, all operated by Türkiye and Pakistan.• A combined land area of about 3.7–3.8mn sq km.• A nominal combined gross domestic product of roughly $3.5tn, based on 2026-style IMF estimates. (The figures should be treated as indicative rather than definitive. Open-source inventories differ over the status of stored, reserve and legacy equipment, while aircraft totals can change substantially depending on whether trainers and light-attack platforms are counted). The distribution of capability is uneven. Saudi Arabia dominates in defence spending and access to advanced foreign procurement; Pakistan provides manpower, operational depth and the grouping’s nuclear dimension; and Türkiye supplies much of the industrial and naval capacity. The three countries’ munitions stocks and wartime logistics remain undisclosed. The agreement’s immediate value is likely to lie less in the creation of a fully integrated military command than in deterrence signalling, industrial co-operation and the gradual development of interoperability. Joint exercises, common communications procedures, intelligence-sharing arrangements, shared logistics and co-production could improve the sustainability of operations over time. Saudi financing, Turkish manufacturing and Pakistani operational experience offer a potentially complementary basis for such projects. The practical limits are equally clear. The signatories operate across widely separated theatres and retain different defence relationships, command structures and procurement standards. Converting numerical strength into a credible collective response would require political agreement under pressure, pre-planned reinforcement routes, compatible command-and-control systems and assured access to ammunition and spare parts. The pact should therefore be regarded as a strategic framework rather than an established military alliance in the Nato model. Türkiye’s possible return to the F-35 programme remains unresolved following its acquisition of Russia’s S-400 air-defence system. Saudi Arabia has also shown longstanding interest in advanced Western combat aircraft, but there is no confirmed imminent F-35 delivery to either country. These issues underscore the extent to which the three states will continue to depend on separate procurement channels even as they seek closer defence co-operation. The Makkah agreement gives its members a broader platform for collective deterrence. Its long-term significance will depend on whether the political commitment announced in Makkah produces deployable capabilities, rather than remaining primarily a diplomatic and strategic signal. Source link
A first group of Syrian Kurds were headed for the northeastern border town of Ras al-Ain Monday following years of displacement, months after an integration deal between the Kurds and Damascus.The January agreement on merging Kurdish forces and civil institutions into the state included the return of displaced Kurds but residents of Ras al-Ain had still been waiting, prompting appeals to authorities for assistance.Tens of thousands of Kurds were displaced when Turkiye and allied Syrian fighters seized an Arab-majority strip of territory along the Turkish border, including Ras al-Ain, from Kurdish control in 2019 during Syria’s civil war.Jawan Isso, from a committee representing displaced people from Ras al-Ain, told AFP that a “first batch” of some 2,500 people were headed home Monday.”This step is the result of efforts by all sides and ongoing coordination” between the Damascus and Kurdish authorities, he said, adding that “the second batch will be transferred in the coming days”.An AFP correspondent saw dozens of trucks loaded with furniture and other belongings waiting to set off from near the city of Hasakeh, with men, women and children eager to depart.”I’ve been waiting for this moment… it’s like a dream for a person to return to their home,” said returnee Nora Khodor, 37. “I’m happy for an end to this suffering.”Human rights groups say residents’ homes and belongings were seized or looted after the offensive.Some of the fighters subsequently settled in the area with their families, with some reportedly still living in Ras al-Ain, a formerly ethnically-mixed region in Syria’s northeast known as Sari Kani in Kurdish.Turkiye launched successive cross-border offensives against Kurdish-led forces in northern Syria before the new Syrian Islamist authorities ousted longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.The new authorities have been extending central government control across the country, including formerly Kurdish-held areas.”We are very happy about returning,” said Rawda Mohammed, 39.”I asked about my home,” she said. “They told me it is totally destroyed, but we didn’t get pessimistic because we’re happy to return, and when we get there we’ll see what we can do.”Some 5.5mn people remain internally displaced in Syria following the more than 13-year civil war, according to the United Nations.The committee representing displaced people from Ras al-Ain said Monday’s transfer was “the start of a path towards a full return”, emphasising the need to protect property, housing and land rights” and provide basic services and infrastructure for returnees. Related Story Source link
Oman said Monday that it is working to contain an oil spill off its southern coast after a tanker ran aground in June inside a protected marine area, triggering calls for action by environmentalists.It follows an investigation by AFP that found the ship had been stranded for weeks near al-Qibliyyah island after it was rocked by explosions.The ship has been identified as the Caroline Bezengi.The Oman Environment Authority said Monday that the ongoing spill had affected roughly 390sq km, according to its most recent analysis.The slick was concentrated around Oman’s Hallaniyat archipelago off the country’s southern coast, where a marine reserve was established last year to protect sensitive ecosystems home to diverse marine life, including rare sea turtles.The country’s environment authority said rapid action is needed to protect the area’s biodiversity, including “coral reefs, turtle nesting areas, marine habitats and coastal areas of ecological importance”.A report in the state-backed Oman News Agency quoted an official with the transport ministry as saying that authorities were conducting aerial surveillance and had deployed divers.The official said authorities are in the early stages of developing a plan to transfer the vessel’s oil cargo “to reduce the risks arising from the incident, ensure navigational safety and protect the marine environment”.A spill of this scale requires dispersant be sprayed across the affected area by aircraft and the use of booms and other equipment to collect the oil before it reaches the shore or sinks to the sea floor, said Tony Gutierrez, professor of environmental microbiology and biotechnology at Edinburgh’s Heriot-Watt University.”If this oil is kept offshore, the impact will be much less than if the oil reaches shallower waters and the actual coastline,” he said, citing the impact on diverse marine life such as coral, birds and fish.”You could find oil still there years later. And that’s what happened with Exxon Valdez,” Gutierrez said.“Ten years down the line, there still were remnants of oil,” he said, referring to a 1989 spill in Alaska.Omani authorities have not yet identified the cause of the spill.However, British maritime security company Vanguard told AFP last week that the tanker was rocked by explosions in early June as it sailed off the coast of Yemen, causing water to enter several sections of the vessel.Advocacy groups Greenpeace and PAX told AFP that the spill was on the verge of causing an “environmental disaster”, saying the tanker was carrying around 1mn barrels of crude.Last week Greenpeace estimated the slick at around 600sq km, citing analysis of satellite imagery.An analysis by Reuters of satellite imagery and shipping specialists showed the spill from the stranded 274m (900’) tanker was still spreading at the end of last month, raising concern about possible environmental damage.The Caroline Bezengi loaded at Russia’s Black Sea port of Novorossiysk in April and passed through the Suez Canal at the end of May, ship-tracking data shows.Built in 2001, it is part of the so-called shadow fleet of older oil tankers used by Russia which lack Western insurance cover and sail under the flags of various nations to obscure their true ownership.It was listed on public shipping databases as flying the Cameroon flag but was among 39 vessels de-listed from Cameroon’s ship registry in June.The ship is subject to sanctions imposed by the European Union, Ukraine, the UK, Canada and Switzerland.Its registered owner is Rentoor Shipmanagement Ltd and its manager is Villar Shipmanagement Ltd, according to LSEG data.Reuters could not immediately reach those firms, which appear to be based in China.Tankers have been frequently targeted in the Gulf region over recent months as the US exchanged fire with Iran and its allied proxies. Source link
Turkish Parliament, Ankara, Turkey. REUTERS/File picture Turkish lawmakers on Monday voted through a bill offering limited amnesty for Kurdish PKK militants, a key step in the peace process that seeks to end decades of deadly violence. The law is Turkiye’s first legislative step towards ending the conflict and comes 18 months after Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed founder of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), urged his followers to disarm. The text, which passed by 468 votes in favour to 88 against, with six abstentions, envisages a return to civilian life for some of the PKK fighters who lay down their weapons without granting a total amnesty. But crucially, it does not specify what will become of Ocalan, 77, who has spent the past 27 years being held in solitary confinement on Imrali prison island near Istanbul. Ocalan has played a key role in efforts to end the conflict, issuing a historic call in February 2025 for his fighters to disarm and embrace democratic means to defend the rights of Turkey’s Kurdish minority. Backed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the pro-Kurdish DEM party, the bill suspends prosecutions and prison sentences for some offences for between five and 10 years. The move is expected to involve the release of around 3,500 PKK-linked detainees in an initial phase, lawmakers said — around a third of the number held in Turkish prisons. If those covered by the measure do not reoffend during that period, investigations would be dropped and sentences considered served. But those involved in serious crimes such as murder would be excluded — with the text making no mention of Ocalan. Last week, Turkiye’s vice president Cevdet Yilmaz told CNN Turk that Ocalan’s case “does not fall within the scope of this law” but said the ageing leader would be “in a position to contribute to the peace process” without giving further details. Aware of the misgivings of the Turkish public that has been scarred by decades of bloody conflict, the government has been careful to stress that the text is not a general amnesty law. Ahead of the vote, the tension was evident as lawmakers debated the bill in a session live on TRT public television. Related Story Source link
Israel is deliberately crippling the transportation, storage, and freight system in the Gaza Strip by destroying trucks, targeting drivers, and preventing the entry of spare parts and operational materials, the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor (Euro-Med Monitor) has warned. It added that these actions obviously obstruct the delivery of food and medicine for humanitarian purposes and push the Strip back toward the risk of famine. In a statement yesterday, Euro-Med Monitor said Israeli authorities are implementing an integrated policy to dismantle the supply chain from the moment aid crosses the crossings, stressing that Israel’s mere permission for some trucks to enter presents a misleading picture as long as the logistical infrastructure for transportation and storage remains destroyed or disabled by Israeli restrictions and practices. The Monitor cited NahedShuhibar, head of the Private Transport Association in the Gaza Strip, as saying that the Strip’s transport fleet has fallen from around 1,200 trucks before the start of the war to only around 300 trucks currently fit for operation, equivalent to 25 % of its previous capacity. This followed the destruction of hundreds of trucks and the breakdown of an additional 100 trucks due to the arbitrary ban on the entry of tyres, oils, batteries, and spare parts, in addition to the enormous increase in the cost of scarce operational materials, Shuhibar remarked. He noted that Israeli attacks have resulted in the killing of more than 20 truck drivers, the detention of 15 others, and the destruction of more than 150 trucks while they were carrying out their duties, particularly on roads leading to or near the Kerem Shalom crossing. The decimation of the headquarters and warehouses belonging to around 150 transport companies has also resulted in large quantities of frozen food and medical supplies spoiling before reaching those in need due to slow inspections and delays lasting between 24 and 72 hours, Shuhibar cautioned. The rights watchdog pointed to assessments by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), which project that more than 1.4 mn people, or around 67% of the enclave’s population, are braced for acute food insecurity through the end of this year. It stressed that the humanitarian situation of the population remains extremely precarious and that any disruption to relief services could bring a famine redux.The Monitor affirmed that Israel, as the de facto occupying power, is violating its obligations under the Fourth Geneva Convention. Source link
The Palestinian Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs said on Sunday that the Israeli occupation authorities had acknowledged the death of Ihab Mohamad Abdul Qader Diab, 36, from the Gaza Strip, who had been detained since Dec. 12, 2023.In a statement, the Commission stated it had received a response from the Israeli Occupation Prison Service confirming Diab’s death. The response attributed his death to a health condition, a claim rejected by his family, who said he was in good health when he was arrested and had no illnesses. The Commission said he is believed to have died on Sep. 18, 2024. The Commission said Diab’s death brings to 328 the number of Palestinians who have died in Israeli prisons since 1967, including 91 since Oct. 7, 2023, of whom 53 were from the Gaza Strip. It stressed the urgent need for international intervention to end torture and ill-treatment in Israeli prisons and detention centers, saying such practices have resulted in the deaths of dozens of prisoners, particularly those detained from the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs said it has numerous testimonies documenting the deaths of detainees under torture, which it said the Israeli occupation authorities have yet to acknowledge.The Commission further noted that the occupation authorities continue to pursue a policy of enforced disappearance and immoral, inhumane secrecy. ( Source link
Lebanese President Gen. Joseph Aoun discussed with Regional Director for the Middle East Department at the World Bank Dahlia Khalifa and her accompanying delegation avenues for strengthening cooperation and keeping up with Lebanon’s exigent priorities in the upcoming phase on the occasion of her assuming her new duties, which cover Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Iraq and Iran.Khalifa stressed that the Bank is committed to continuing its partnership with Lebanon and promptly responding to its pressing needs. She underlined her readiness to direct priorities within the existing programs toward the most affected areas.For his part, Aoun underscored that his country is in need of support from the Bank and its partners at this stage, particularly to help respond to the needs of more than 600,000 citizens who have returned to their areas amid the large-scale damage inflicted on a large number of towns and villages, some of which suffered near-total devastation. Source link