Syria's Assad Threatens to Attack Area under US-Backed Kurds

BEIRUT, LEBANON — 

Syrian President Bashar Assad threatened to attack a region held by U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters in northeastern Syria, saying in an interview broadcast on Russia Today channel on Thursday that American troops should leave the country.

The remarks reflect that despite pressure on multiple fronts, Assad is seeking to consolidate control after seven years of civil war.

With military backing from Russia and Iran, he has reclaimed most of the territory lost to rebels in the wake of the popular uprising that swept the country in 2011 and quickly descended into all-out civil war. But large patches of territory remain beyond his control, including the expansive region north of the Euphrates River that is administered by the Syrian Kurds.

Speaking to the Russian channel, Assad said he has opened the door to negotiations with the Kurdish-run administration while also preparing to “liberate by force.”

Forces loyal to Assad and the Syrian Kurds have clashed sporadically over the eastern oil province of Deir el-Zour. Last year, they led rival campaigns against the Islamic State group, and maintain a protracted front against each other along the Euphrates.

The United States, which supports the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, operates air bases and outposts in the Kurdish-administered region.

“The Americans should leave,” Assad said. “Somehow, they are going to leave.”

The Syrian president is also under pressure from Israel over growing Iranian influence in Syria. Iran, in conjunction with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, now operates a network of militias recruiting from across the Mideast to fight on Assad's behalf and maintains a command structure separate from the Syrian government. Israel in recent months ramped up its strikes on alleged Hezbollah and Iranian positions and weapons depots inside Syria, sparking fears of a regional war.

In the TV interview, Assad maintained there are no Iranian troops in Syria, only Iranian officers advising the Syrian army. He denied reports that Iranians have been killed in Israeli strikes.

“Actually, we had tens of Syrian martyrs and wounded soldiers,” he said.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the war through a network of activists on the ground, says at least 68 Iranian and pro-Iranian forces have been killed in Israeli strikes since April.

Assad said Israeli strikes destroyed a “big part” of Syrian air defenses, but added they have been rebuilt, “stronger than before, thanks to Russian support.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said his government won't accept a permanent Iranian presence anywhere in Syria.

Also Thursday, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman visited Moscow for talks focusing on Syria. Lieberman's Russian counterpart, Sergei Shoigu, said the two would discuss the situation in southwestern Syria, along its border with Israel.

The Syrian government's plans to recapture rebel-held parts of the region have raised Israeli concerns that its backers - Iran and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah - could take up positions along the frontier.

Russian news reports said Moscow wants to cut a deal that would see Russian military police deployed to areas near Israel. The agreement envisages Iranian forces pulling out from the entire area and Syrian rebels there surrendering heavy weapons.

The Observatory said Thursday that Iranian troops and Hezbollah fighters are preparing to withdraw from southern Syria, namely the regions of Daraa and Quneitra near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

A Syria-based official with the Iran-led axis of resistance, however, denied the report saying it is “untrue.” The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, gave no further details.

The U.S. and Russia, while backing rival sides in Syria's war, have coordinated their maneuvers in Syria and largely avoided direct confrontation.

But in February, U.S.-led coalition airstrikes killed several Russian private contractors that appeared to be advancing with pro-government forces on a position held by Syrian Kurdish forces in Deir el-Zour. Russia has maintained the Russian contractors in Syria are in the Mideast country of their own volition and are not the responsibility of the Kremlin.

In the interview, Assad said U.S. and Russian forces would have come in direct conflict long ago in Syria if it were not for Russia's prudence and judgment.

Asked about U.S. President Donald Trump comments in which he described the Syrian leader as “Animal Assad,” and asked if he has a nickname for the American president, Assad said: “This is not my language, so, I cannot use similar language. This is his language. It represents him, and I think there is a very known principle, that what you say is what you are.”

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US Condemns Syria for Recognizing Georgia's Breakaway Regions

The United States on Wednesday condemned Syria's decision to recognize two breakaway regions in Georgia and create diplomatic ties, saying it fully backed Georgia's independence and reiterating its call for Russia to withdraw from the area.

"The United States strongly condemns the Syrian regime's intention to establish diplomatic relations with the Russian-occupied Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia," U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement.

"These regions are part of Georgia. The United States' position on Abkhazia and South Ossetia is unwavering," the statement said.

The U.S. statement came one day after Georgia said it would sever diplomatic relations with Syria after Damascus moved to recognize the two regions as independent states.

Russia, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Nauru previously recognized the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, both of which broke away from Georgia following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Following that fight in the early 1990s, Georgia and Russia fought a war over the regions in August 2008.

The United States and European Union have backed Georgia in calling the Russian operation a naked land grab.

Last week, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pledged deeper security and economic support for Georgia. He also called on Russia to withdraw its forces from Abkhazia and South Ossetia under the ceasefire agreement that followed the 2008 war. The department echoed that request on Wednesday.

"We fully support Georgia's sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders, and call on all states to ... do the same," Nauert said.

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Pro-Government Forces Prepare for Assault on Vital Yemeni Port

CAIRO — 

A Yemeni commander says pro-government forces are planning an all-out assault on the Red Sea port of Hodeida, a lifeline for aid to the war-ravaged country.

Ahmed al-Kawkabani, who leads a force known as Tohama Brigade, said Wednesday the troops are 13 kilometers (eight miles) from the rebel-held city, but need time to prepare for a "swift takeover with minimal casualties."

A Saudi-led coalition has been locked in a stalemated war in Yemen with Iran-backed rebels known as Houthis since March 2015. Backed by coalition airstrikes, government forces have made advances along the coast in recent weeks.

The coalition accuses the Houthis of bringing Iranian arms in through Hodeida, accusations denied by the rebels.

The war has killed more than 10,000 people and displaced 3 million.

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Georgia Severs Relations with Syria

Georgia says it will sever diplomatic relations with Syria over its decision to recognize the breakaway Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent countries.

Georgian Foreign Minister Mikheil Janelidze said in a tweet on May 29 that "recognition of [the] independence of [the] historic regions of Georgia, Abkhazia and Tskhinvali [South Ossetia], by [the] Russian-manipulated [Bashar al-]Assad regime in Syria is another blatant violation of [international] law by Assad and should be condemned by the [international] community."

The Georgian Foreign Ministry said in a statement the same day that it had begun procedures to cut relations with Damascus.

The Georgian response came shortly after a separatist official in Abkhazia and an entity in South Ossetia announced Syria's recognition of independence.

A document on the website of de facto Abkhaz President Raul Khajimba said Abkhazia and Syria "agreed on the mutual recognition and establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries through embassies, which reflects their common [desire] to develop relations in all areas."

The same day, a statement on the website of the self-declared South Ossetian Foreign Ministry said the northern Georgian region and Syria had "established diplomatic relations."

The Syrian state news agency SANA also reported that Damascus had agreed to recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia "in appreciation of the supportive positions [they made] toward the terrorist aggression against Syria."

South Ossetia and Abkhazia are Russian-backed separatist regions that have declared independence from Georgia. Russia recognized the regions as independent states following a short war with Tbilisi in August 2008.

There are Russian troops and bases in the two regions.

Venezuela, Nicaragua, and the Pacific island of Nauru have also recognized the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Khajimba's statement said a meeting between the "ambassadors" of Abkhazia, Syria, and South Ossetia had met in Russia on May 28 and "exchanged the relevant notes."

It added that Abkhaz and Syrian officials had recently made "reciprocal trips" and that "close contacts were established."

Khajimba added that people in Abkhazia "highly value" Syria's recognition.

_{With reporting by Interfax and TASS}

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Israeli Military Reports Mortar Fire From Gaza

Israel's military said militants in the Gaza Strip fired 25 mortar shells Tuesday toward several sites in southern Israel.

The military statement said most of the projectiles were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system, while some landed in open areas. No injuries were reported.

Tensions along the border have been high for two months with Palestinians holding protests calling for a right to return to land they fled or were forced to leave when Israel was created in 1948. Protesters have also rallied against a blockade of Gaza that has been in place for more than a decade as well as the relocation of the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Israeli forces have killed at least 115 Palestinians during the protests, drawing criticism for the use of force. Israel has blamed the militant group Hamas for provoking violence and says it has acted to protect the border.

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In Mosul, Young Volunteers Help Bring City Back to Life

MOSUL — 

A group of Iraqi university students have found a cause in the ruins of Mosul. They are salvaging what is left of its rich heritage, clearing rubble and distributing aid in a city crying out for help after the war against Islamic State.

The project began when Raghad Hammoudi and a group of students decided to launch a campaign to help rebuild the Central Library of Mosul University, burnt and bombed in the war. Its vast contents had been all but lost.

But they found buried under layers of ash some 30,000 books almost intact. Over 40 hot days, with the war still raging on the other side, the students moved the books one by one using holes made by rockets to carry them to safety.

“An entire city with a glorious past and ancient history lost its heritage and culture: the tomb of the Prophet Jonah, the minaret of Al-Hadba which is older than Iraq itself. It is great that we were able to save a part of this heritage,” said Hammoudi, 25, a nursing student.

Both the leaning minaret of Al-Hadba , part of the 12th century Grand al-Nuri Mosque, where in 2014 Islamic State’s Abu Bakr al Baghdadi declared a caliphate, and the ancient tomb of what is believed to be the Prophet Jonah were destroyed in the military campaign to retake the city.

Hammoudi says among the books salvaged were some handwritten by Mosul scholars. They included editions written in Moslawi, the distinct dialect of the region once known as a center for scholarly Islam and the pride of many for its ancient mosques, churches and Old City architecture.

Revolution within

Elsehwere, volunteers cleared rubble and garbage, opened roads, drilled water wells and distributed aid.

“The situation in Mosul is so much better now and this is because of the revolution that happened within Mosul, within its young people,” she said.

After living under Islamic State’s strict rule and then the war to retake the city, young women feel as though they have been liberated.

The team that set out to rescue the books was mixed, a rarity in Mosul’s society, where mingling between sexes outside the family or university was limited even before Islamic State.

“An unbelievable barrier has been broken, it might be a trivial thing for the rest of the world but for Mosul it is huge,” she said.

Months after Iraq announced full control of the city, life is back in many parts. But much of the Old City, where the last and the bloodiest battles were waged, is still in complete ruin.

Diyaa Al Taher, a resident who is helping rehabilitate homes, says most people, despite being impoverished, have returned to neighborhoods where the rubble has been cleared.

However, there are entire areas that are completely deserted.
Corpses fester under debris.

“Poverty can do more harm than Daesh. If the city remains like this and the poor can’t find anything to eat, they will do anything,” said Taher, 30.

Taher says his target is to rehabilitate 1,000 homes and has so far finished rehabilitating 75, relying solely on donations from locals.

Taher is regularly stopped by locals asking for help. He points to a collapsed home where an entire family was killed.

“Their belongings were taken to be sold for charity,” he said, skipping over the stream of sewage that split the road.

Miracle escape

Marwa Al Juburi,25, a divorcee, was one of the first to volunteer as soon as she and her family escaped the fighting.

“It was a miracle that we even made it. From then on I refused to accept to stay at home anymore. I refused to be silenced and I haven't since,” she said.

She says she had to overcome stigma both as a woman and a divorcee to carry out the work.

She runs activities for children and helps coordinate access to medical care and equipment for families. Her team organized the opening of a park previously used as a military training ground for the fighters who ruled the city for three years.

Al Juburi, who is still haunted by images of the night of their escape, says even if Mosul is rebuilt, people need help to get over the mental toll.

“In the end, the city will be rebuilt, even if it takes 1,000 years. But if the mind is destroyed, then the city will be lost with no hope of resurrection.”

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Syria Vows to Fight Rebels Despite US Warning

BEIRUT — 

A Syrian state-run newspaper said Monday that the government will keep fighting “terrorists” despite U.S. warnings against a new offensive against rebels in southern Dara’a province, while Russia said Syrian troops should deploy in the country's southwest, near Israel.

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Syrian troops should be positioned on the border with the Golan Heights, which have been occupied by Israel since the 1967 Mideast war. The area between Dara’a and the Golan Heights has emerged as a flashpoint in a wider standoff between Israel and Iran, and the United States has warned it will take action to protect a cease-fire there.

The Al-Baath daily said in an editorial published Monday that the U.S. threat underscores the “dirty American role in the terrorist war” against Syria. It stressed that the Syrian army was determined to retake all parts of Syria.

The United States, Russia, and Jordan agreed last year to include Dara’a in a “de-escalation zone” and freeze the lines of conflict there. But the area has been tense following a series of recent Israeli strikes on Syrian and Iranian forces. Iran is a close ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and its advisers are embedded with his troops.

Israel has warned it will not tolerate a permanent Iranian military presence in Syria. Earlier this month, it carried out a wave of airstrikes in response to what it said was an Iranian rocket attack on its positions in the Golan. It was the most serious confrontation between the regional archrivals to date.

Lavrov told reporters in Moscow that “the agreement on forming a de-escalation area in southwestern Syria envisaged the eventual withdrawal of all non-Syrian forces from this part of Syria.”

He added that the Russian and U.S. militaries have maintained regular contacts on the issue.

“The result of the ongoing work should be a situation in which troops of the Syrian Armed Forces will be stationed alongside the Syrian border with Israel,” he said.

Syrian government forces recently dropped leaflets on rebel-held areas in Dara’a, warning of an imminent offensive and urging the insurgents to lay down their arms.

The Lebanon-based Al-Mayadeen TV, which has reporters embedded with Syrian troops, said the army is sending reinforcements to southern Syrian in an apparent preparation for an offensive.

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Palestinian Leader Leaves Hospital after Weeklong Stay

RAMALLAH, WEST BANK — 

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was discharged from a West Bank hospital on Monday, ending a weeklong stay that drew new attention to the 83-year-old's long history of health problems and his refusal to name a deputy or successor.

Wearing a dark suit and speaking in a steady voice, Abbas said he would quickly return to work and thanked supporters around the world for checking in on him while he was in the hospital.

"Thank God I'm discharged from the hospital today in full health, and will return back to work from tomorrow," Abbas said.

But he hinted that the heavy work load and stress of the U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital had affected his health.

"If the Jerusalem issue put me in the hospital, I want to leave while Jerusalem is our capital," he told reporters in a brief statement.

The Palestinians strongly objected to the U.S. decision on Jerusalem, and the subsequent move of the American Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem this month. The Palestinians believe the U.S. move undercuts their claim to Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem as the capital of a future state, and Abbas has since frozen ties with the Americans.

The United States has denied prejudicing the final status of Jerusalem. But the standoff with the Palestinians has complicated U.S. plans to unveil a proposal for Mideast peace. U.S. officials have not said when the plan will be unveiled.

Abbas was hospitalized last weekend with a fever, just days after undergoing ear surgery. Palestinian officials said he had pneumonia and was on a respirator, receiving antibiotics intravenously. Abbas allies insisted he was in good health, but day after day he remained hospitalized, and on Sunday, plans to release him were abruptly pushed back.

Abbas, a longtime smoker with weight problems, has a long history of health issues, ranging from heart trouble to a bout with prostate cancer a decade ago.

Two years ago, he underwent an emergency heart procedure after suffering exhaustion and chest pains. More recently, a cardiologist moved into the presidential compound in Ramallah to monitor the longtime leader after a mysterious hospital visit in the U.S. That visit followed Abbas' address to the U.N. Security Council, in which he appeared weak.

The series of health scares have revived anxiety over a potential or even bloody succession battle.

After more than a decade of avoiding discussion of the post-Abbas era, Palestinian officials have cautiously begun to breach the matter in the open, mostly by playing down the crisis, even while potential successors are quietly jockeying for position.

"Some are using the president's illness for political gain. Shame on them," said Jibril Rajoub, a former security chief who is considered to be one of the would-be successors.

Abbas Zaki, a top official in Abbas' ruling Fatah party, dodged the question of succession, saying the Palestine Liberation Organization, an umbrella governing body, "will be in charge if the president's post is empty."

Abbas took over as a caretaker leader following the death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in 2004, and was elected for what was supposed to be a five-year term the following year.

A political split with Hamas - the Palestinian militant group that seized the Gaza Strip in 2007 - has prevented new elections. He has remained in office as president of the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority since then, governing parts of the West Bank.

Abbas assumed office with great hopes. Preaching a message of non-violence, he helped end a Palestinian uprising in the early 2000s and pursued peace talks with the Israelis in hopes of establishing an independent Palestinian state.

But talks quickly broke down after the election of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 2009, and the two sides have been unable to agree on the terms of negotiations for nearly a decade.

The continued rift with Hamas has further hurt Abbas' legacy, and attempts at reconciliation among the Palestinians have repeatedly failed.

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2 Palestinians Killed in Israeli Tank Fire

The Palestinian Health Ministry says two Palestinians were killed by Israeli tank fire in the southern Gaza Strip Sunday.

Israel says the tank fire came after its troops detonated an explosive device that had been placed near the border fence.

Israel said in a statement: "The charge was placed last night near the border fence in the southern Gaza Strip in attempt to harm forces operating in the area and was neutralized this morning by IDF troops."

The defense forces tweeted "No injuries to IDF soldiers were reported. In response, an IDF tank targeted a military observation post in the southern Gaza Strip."

At least 118 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the Gaza Strip since mass protests and clashes broke out in March.

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New Bout of Heavy Fighting in Yemen Kills Dozens

SANA'A — 

Yemeni officials and witnesses say heavy fighting between pro-government forces and Shi'ite rebels in recent days has killed more than 150 people.

Government forces have been trying to seize rebel-held areas along the western coast, while an allied Saudi-led coalition has been targeting the rebels with airstrikes in the northwestern Saada province.

Security officials say a Saudi-led airstrike in the capital, Sana'a, killed four civilians on Saturday and wounded 10.

The officials spoke Sunday on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media, while the witnesses did so for fear of reprisals.

The coalition has been battling the Iran-allied rebels, known as Houthis, since March 2015 in a war that has killed more than 10,000 people. The Houthis control much of northern Yemen, including Sana'a.

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US Warns Syrian Government Not to Advance on South

The United States warned it would take "firm and appropriate measures" to protect a cease-fire in southern Syria if President Bashar Assad's forces move against rebels there.

The area in southwestern Syria, between the border city of Daraa and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, has emerged as a flashpoint in a wider standoff between regional archrivals Israel and Iran.

The U.S., Russia, and Jordan agreed last year to include Daraa in a "de-escalation zone" to freeze the lines of conflict. But government forces have recently dropped leaflets on rebel-held areas warning of an imminent offensive and urging fighters to lay down their arms, Syrian state media said Friday.

In a statement released Friday, the U.S. State Department said it was concerned by reports that Assad's forces were preparing for an operation in southwestern Syria. It warned the government against "any actions that risk broadening the conflict."

Assad has relied on Russia, Iran and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah to battle an uprising against his family's decades-long rule and roll-back an Islamic State insurgency that grew out of the country's seven-year civil war. Iran has sent military commanders to oversee battles and organize militias from across the Middle East to fight alongside Assad's troops.

The U.S. and Israel view Iran's extensive military presence in Syria as a threat to Israel and have threatened action. The Israeli military is believed to be behind dozens of airstrikes in recent years against Hezbollah, Iran, and Syrian military positions.

Earlier this month, Israel bombed Iranian military positions in Syria in what it said was retaliation for an Iranian rocket attack on the occupied Golan Heights. Israel called it its most serious operation in Syria since the 1973 Mideast war.

The government began moving reinforcements to Daraa province this week after expelling the last rebels and IS militants from around Damascus, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which closely monitors the war.

Leaflets dropped on northern Daraa, which is divided between rebel and government-controlled areas, warned: "The men of the Syrian army are coming."

The Syrian uprising began in Daraa in 2011. The cease-fire has slowly disintegrated as government warplanes have carried out airstrikes against rebel-held areas.

Meanwhile in Idlib, a car bomb in one of the northern city's main streets killed at least four people and wounded about 30 others on Saturday, according to the Syrian Civil Defense search-and-rescue group.

Idlib, the capital of a province by the same name, has suffered deterioration to its security in recent months as rebel and jihadist factions battle with the al-Qaida-linked Levant Liberation Committee for dominance. The province is one of the opposition's last remaining footholds in the country. The other is Daraa.

It was not clear who was behind Saturday's bomb blast. According to the Observatory, at least 119 people have been killed over the past month in the factional infighting in Idlib. Thirty-one of them have been civilians.

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Groups Says Masked Attackers Kill Five Syria Rescuers

Five Syrian rescue workers were killed in an attack by masked assailants Saturday on one of their centers in the northern province of Aleppo, the White Helmets said.

The rescue force said armed men stormed its Al-Hader center in a pre-dawn attack and fired on the first responders inside.

Four volunteers were killed on the spot and a fifth died later in hospital, it wrote on Twitter.

Founded in 2013, the White Helmets are a network of first responders who rescue wounded in the aftermath of air strikes, shelling or blasts in rebel-held territory.

The Al-Hader center lies in an area controlled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a jihadist organization whose main component was once Al-Qaeda's affiliate in Syria.

"At around 2:00 am, an armed group stormed the Al-Hader center, blindfolded the staff members who were on the night shift, and killed five of them," said Ahmad al-Hamish, who heads the center.

"Two others were wounded and another two were able to flee. The attackers were masked and escaped after stealing some equipment and generators," he said.

It was unclear whether the attack was a robbery-gone-wrong or if the center and its crew had been specifically targeted.

More than 200 White Helmets rescuers have been killed in Syria's seven-year war, usually in bombing raids or shelling on their centers.

While attacks like the one on Saturday are rare, they have happened before. In August, seven White Helmets members were killed in a similar assault in the town of Sarmin, in neighboring Idlib province.

Most of Idlib is held by HTS, as well as a part of Aleppo and the adjacent province of Hama.

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Jailed British-Iranian Aid Worker To Face Trial On Security Charges

A detained British-Iranian aid worker sentenced to five years in jail in Iran is to face a second trial on new security charges, the semi-official Tasnim news agency on Saturday quoted Tehran Revolutionary Court's head Musa Ghazanfarabadi as saying.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a project manager with the Thomson Reuters Foundation, was arrested in April 2016 at a Tehran airport as she was heading back to Britain with her two-year-old daughter after a family visit.

She was convicted of plotting to overthrow Iran's clerical establishment, a charge denied by her family and the Foundation, a charity organization that is independent of Thomson Reuters and operates independently of Reuters News.

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson discussed Zaghari-Ratcliffe's case with Iranian officials after flying to Tehran in December to try to seek her release.

"Ghazanfarabadi said the charge against Zaghari in the new case is security-related but did not say whether it was espionage or another charge," Tasnim reported.

"Zaghari is to present an attorney and then the court will convene," Ghazanfarabadi said.

Reuters was unable to determine the identity of the lawyer.

Asked for comment by Reuters, Britain's Foreign Office said on Saturday that it would not provide a commentary on "every twist and turn."

Her husband Richard Ratcliffe said it was not clear what the latest charges involved.

"To go back a week, she had met with the judge ... who said there would be a charge of spreading propaganda against the regime, that's a very mild form of security charge so hopefully it's just that," he told BBC TV.

In a statement on Monday, the Thomson Reuters Foundation said it totally rejected "the renewed accusations that Nazanin is guilty of spreading propaganda" and said it continued to assert her full innocence.

In response to an urgent question in parliament on Tuesday about her situation, British Foreign Office minister Alistair Burt said Prime Minister Theresa May had raised all consular cases with President Hassan Rouhani in a call earlier this month. He did not provide further details.

He also said the British ambassador in Tehran had spoken to Zaghari-Ratcliffe last Sunday.

"We remain of the assessment that a private, rather than public approach is most likely to result in progress in Nazanin's case and ultimately, her release, which is all any of us want," he said.

Iran does not recognize dual citizenship, which limits the access foreign embassies have to their dual citizens held there.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards have arrested at least 30 dual nationals during the past two years, mostly on spying charges, according to lawyers, diplomats and relatives, Reuters reported in November.

According to former prisoners, families of current ones and diplomats, in some cases the detainees are kept to be used for a prisoner exchange with Western countries. Iran denies the accusation.

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Egyptian Court Temporarily Bans Youtube Over Prophet Video

Egypt's top administrative court ruled on Saturday that regulators must block the video file-sharing site YouTube for one month over a video that denigrates the Prophet Mohammad, a lawyer who filed the case told Reuters.

A lower administrative court had ordered that the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology block YouTube, owned by Google, in 2013 over the video, but the case was appealed and its ruling stayed during the appeal process.

The ministry at the time said it would be impossible to enforce the ruling without also disrupting Google's Internet search engine, incurring potentially huge costs and job losses in the Arab world's most populous country.

The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology was not immediately available for comment. YouTube appeared to be working in Egypt on Saturday as of 1250 GMT.

The film "Innocence of Muslims", a low-budget 13-minute video, was billed as a film trailer and made in California with private funding. It provoked a wave of anti-American unrest in Egypt and other Muslim countries when it appeared in 2012.

Mohamed Hamid Salem, a lawyer who filed the case in 2013, said the ruling also orders that all links that broadcast the film be blocked.

The ruling is considered final and cannot be appealed.

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Pompeo: US Not Pushing for Regime Change in Iran

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the Trump administration is not pushing for a regime change in Iran, but to achieve global consensus on how to get Tehran to "behave like a normal nation."

Pompeo told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Thursday the administration is "well along" with plans to impose previous and new sanctions against Iran with a goal "to deny Iran the wealth to do bad stuff."

Wednesday, the top U.S. diplomat told the House Foreign Affairs Committee the United States is looking to meet with allies, including European officials, in early to mid-June on the next steps in dealing with Iran's nuclear weapons development.

Planning for the meeting began after President Donald Trump earlier this month withdrew the United States from the 2015 international accord that restrained Tehran's nuclear program in exchange for lifting economic sanctions that had hobbled the Iranian economy.

The United States says it plans in the coming months to reimpose previous sanctions and impose new ones against Iran in hopes of pushing Tehran to the bargaining table for new negotiations over its ballistic missile tests and military advances in the Middle East. But the five other signatories to the international pact: Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia all have said they support the existing nuclear deal with Iran.

The signatories are trying to salvage the agreement, which Iran has threatened to abandon if it suffers from the reintroduction of U.S. economic sanctions.

The U.N. nuclear watchdog said in a report issued Thursday Iran is continuing to comply with the 2015 accord. The International Atomic Energy Agency urged Iran to go beyond its legal obligations to abide by the deal to increase global confidence in its commitment to the pact.

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UN Atomic Agency: Iran Complying With 2015 Nuclear Pact

UN: Attacks on Healthcare Facilities in Libya Likely War Crimes

GENEVA — 

The United Nations — in a joint report by the UN Human Rights Office and the U.N. Support Mission in Libya — condemns widespread, indiscriminate attacks by all armed groups in Libya against healthcare facilities and personnel, saying they could constitute war crimes.

The U.N. agencies have recorded 36 attacks on medical facilities, personnel or patients between May 2017 and May 2018. But, U.N. human rights spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani notes monitors are severely restricted in their movements in Libya and the actual number of attacks is probably significantly higher.

“Armed groups, including those formally integrated into the ministries, have assaulted, threatened and even unlawfully deprived healthcare workers of their liberty. Doctors and other hospital staff face insults, intimidation and beatings by fighters who are seeking preferential treatment for the injured members of their armed groups and their relatives.”

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, describes as utterly shameful behavior the threats against doctors and attacks against medical facilities that prevent sick and wounded people from receiving timely treatment.

His spokeswoman, Shamdasani, says these actions affect some of the most vulnerable people in Libya.

“These attacks are obviously a major violation of international law and a tragic disregard for our common humanity, intentionally directing attacks against medical facilities and personnel, willfully killing or harming sick or wounded people may constitute war crimes,” she said.

The U.N. calls on all parties in the conflict to minimize hits on medical facilities and workers during military operations. It also calls on Libya’s interim Government of National Accord to hold accountable those who attack and threaten healthcare providers.

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Once a Foe, US Now Hopes Iraqi Firebrand Shi’ite Cleric Becomes a Friend

Syrian Monitor: Dozen Die in Airstrike Likely Led by US

BEIRUT — 

A Syria war-monitoring group says at least 12 pro-government fighters were killed in airstrikes the previous night in the country’s east.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says none of the fatalities were Syrian nationals but foreign fighters.

Syria’s government forces have relied on support from the Lebanese militant Hezbollah group and also regional militias organized by Iran to wage war on rebels and Islamic State militants.

In Damascus, government media reported early Thursday that international coalition aircraft struck Syrian army positions near the front lines with IS in eastern Syria.

The Observatory says the U.S.-led coalition was likely behind the strikes but the Pentagon said it had “no information to substantiate those reports.”

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UN Envoy Urges Quick Action to Avoid Israel-Palestinian War

UNITED NATIONS — 

The U.N.'s Mideast envoy is calling for urgent action to avoid another Israeli-Palestinian war sparked by the violence in Gaza.

Nikolay Mladenov says "Gaza is on the verge of collapse" and urgent action is needed to alleviate the suffering of its "increasingly desperate" people.

He told the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday that the people of Gaza have survived three "devastating conflicts" and have lived under Hamas control for over a decade "with crippling Israeli closures and with diminishing hopes for an end to the occupation and a political solution."

Mladenov said Gaza is part of "the larger puzzle" linked to the need to unite all Palestinians, and to bring Israelis and Palestinians back to the negotiating table to end their decades-old conflict.

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Egypt Detains Activist Blogger Amid New Wave of Arrests

CAIRO — 

An Egyptian activist and blogger known for documenting police abuse was detained on Wednesday, security officials said, the latest in a new wave of arrests following elections earlier this year.

Wael Abbas was taken from his home in a Cairo suburb on accusations that include disseminating false news and joining an outlawed group, the officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media.

The Arabic Network for Human Rights said police raided Abbas' home at dawn, seizing his computer and mobile phones. It says he was blindfolded before being taken to an unknown location.

Abbas has campaigned against torture in Egypt for well over a decade, before and after the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime dictator Hosni Mubarak. He has published graphic videos showing torture and police abuse on his blog, misrdigital.com, and has been detained on a number of occasions.

His YouTube account was shut down in 2007, resulting in the removal of hundreds of videos showing protests and abuses by security forces. In December, he wrote on Facebook that Twitter had suspended his account without providing an explanation.

Authorities have arrested a number of secular activists since President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi was re-elected to a second four-year term in March. He faced no serious challengers, after several potentially strong candidates were arrested or intimidated into withdrawing from the race.

Earlier this month, Egyptian police arrested two prominent activists, Shady el-Ghazaly Harb and Haytham Mohamedeen, on an array of charges including belonging to an outlawed group and insulting the president. Shady Abu Zaid, a young comedian, was arrested on accusations that include spreading false news.

The latest arrests come amid a wider crackdown on dissent since el-Sissi led the military overthrow of a freely elected but divisive Islamist president in 2013. Thousands of people have been jailed, unauthorized protests have been banned and hundreds of websites, including many run by independent journalists and rights activists, have been blocked.

The government has said such measures are needed to restore stability and combat an insurgency in the northern Sinai Peninsula that has gained strength since 2013 and is now led by the Islamic State group.

On Tuesday, a military court sentenced a freelance journalist who reported on the Sinai insurgency to 10 years in prison on terror-related charges. Ismail Alexandrani was convicted of spreading false news and joining an outlawed group.

International rights groups condemned the sentence and urged his release.

"Hauling a journalist before a military court not only violates his rights as a civilian but sends a chilling message to the media that independent coverage of political dissent and security threats will not be tolerated by Egypt's rulers," said Robert Mahoney, of the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Sarah Leah Whitson, of Human Rights Watch, said the verdict "exemplifies the government's vicious retaliation against journalists who report on sensitive issues."

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Syrian Official Rejects US Demand for Iranian Withdrawal

MOSCOW — 

Syria on Wednesday dismissed American calls for the withdrawal of Iranian troops and Lebanese Hezbollah militants from the war-torn country.

Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mikdad told Russia's Sputnik news agency that "this topic is not even on the agenda of discussion, since it concerns the sovereignty of Syria."

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo issued a list of demands this week for a new nuclear deal with Iran, including the pullout of its forces from Syria, where they have provided crucial support to President Bashar Assad's government. Russia is also a key ally of Assad, and has been waging an air campaign in Syria since 2015.

Mikdad said in Wednesday's remarks that Syria "highly appreciates" Russia's military support as well as "advisers" from Iran and Hezbollah. He added that "we cannot let anyone even raise this issue" of the Iranian withdrawal.

"Those who ask for something like that — and this is definitely not our Russian friends — are considering the possibility of intervention in all parts of Syria, including the support of terrorists in Syria and elsewhere in the region," Mikdad said.

At a meeting with Assad, who visited Sochi last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin noted that a political settlement in Syria should encourage foreign countries to withdraw their troops.

Putin's envoy for Syria, Alexander Lavrentyev, later commented that the Russian leader's statement was aimed at the United States and Turkey, along with Iran and Hezbollah. It marked a rare instance in which Moscow suggested Iran should not maintain a permanent military presence in the country.

Russia has argued that its troops have deployed at the Syrian government's invitation, while the military presence of the U.S. and others has been illegal.

Lavrentyev's statement appeared to reflect a difficult balancing act for the Kremlin, which hopes to maintain good relations with both Iran and Israel. Israel has warned it will not accept a permanent Iranian military presence in Syria, and Israel struck a number of Iranian targets there earlier this month after what it said was a cross-border Iranian missile attack.

During the talks with Assad, Putin also encouraged him to send representatives to a commission in Geneva that would work out proposals for Syria's new constitution as part of a peace process.

Mikdad said, however, that Damascus isn't ready yet to nominate its candidates to the body.

"It is too early to speak about (candidates), but there are many people who are able to represent Syria and the Syrian government in these talks," he said.

In Moscow, Col. Gen. Sergei Rudskoy of the Russian military's General Staff, pointed at the Syrian troops' recent gains, saying Wednesday that "all the necessary conditions have been created for the revival of Syria as a single, unified state."

He noted the government's capture of the last remaining rebel enclave in southern Damascus from Islamic State militants, which brought the entire capital and its far-flung suburbs under full government control for the first time since the civil war began in 2011.

The general also said Russia, Iran and Turkey set up nearly 30 checkpoints to monitor the de-escalation zone in the northern province of Idlib as part of a deal the three countries brokered.

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Israel Court Freezes Deportation Order Against Rights Worker

JERUSALEM — 

Human Rights Watch says an Israeli court has frozen an expulsion order against its local director, allowing him to remain in the country while he fights the planned deportation.

Israel this month ordered Omar Shakir to leave the country, claiming he supports boycotts of Israel. The group says that neither it nor Shakir, a U.S. citizen, support boycotts and accuses the government of trying to stifle criticism of its human rights record.

Shakir had been given until midnight on Thursday to leave, even though he has filed an appeal to overturn the deportation.

In its decision Wednesday, a Jerusalem court ordered the Interior Ministry to allow him to remain in Israel for the duration of the legal proceedings.

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France: New US Sanctions on Iran Could Destabilize Region

Syrian Army, Police Celebrate Recapturing All of Damascus

BEIRUT — 

Syrian government forces raised their flag over the Yarmouk Palestinian camp in Damascus on Tuesday as state media promoted what it said was the "liberation" of the last quarters of the capital from rebels and Islamic State group militants.

Police motorcycles flying the flag roared into what was left of the neighborhood in a show for state media, and a detachment of soldiers raised the government's standard from the roof of what is now a shell of a building.

The ceremonies, broadcast on state-affiliated al-Ikhbariya TV, was meant to assure residents that Damascus was secure for the first time since protests broke out against President Bashar Assad in 2011. The government cracked down violently on the demonstrations, igniting the ongoing civil war.

Syria's military announced it had recaptured the camp and surrounding neighborhoods from Islamic State group militants on Monday, bringing the entire capital and its suburbs under full government control for the first time since the 2011.

Police officers and soldiers standing in formation in the rubble of the Hajr al-Aswad neighborhood chanted half-heartedly for the president in what has become a ritual of pageantry after every advance by the government against the crumbling opposition movement and separate IS insurgency.

But after the ceremony, the soldiers erupted in a cheer and let off bursts automatic gunfire into the air. They promised the cameras they would be heading to Daraa, a city near the border with Israel, which was the first to revolt against Assad in the Arab Spring protests earlier this decade.

Daraa remains split between government and rebel control.

The battles for Yarmouk and Hajr al-Aswad left both neighborhoods catastrophically damaged. Yarmouk, once home to about 200,000 Palestinian refugees, was deserted by most of its inhabitants as the government laid siege to it and Islamic State militants moved in in 2015. In the last month, the government began bombing the neighborhood intensively.

The advance put the capital out of range of insurgents' mortar fire and shelling for the first time in nearly seven years.

The Haq news agency, affiliated with the IS group, put out a statement on Tuesday saying the militants left the south Damascus neighborhoods "with their heads high" after forcing the government to agree to let them evacuate instead of pursuing a stalemated ground battle.

With Iran's help, Assad's forces have been making steady gains since 2015, when Russian launched an air campaign on behalf of his forces. In December 2016, government forces captured rebel-held eastern neighborhoods of the northern city of Aleppo, in Assad's biggest victory since the conflict began.

With a mix of military pressure and surrender deals brokered by Russia, thousands of opposition fighters capitulated and were evacuated in March and April from Damascus suburbs known as eastern Ghouta after a crushing government offensive.

Syrian troops and their allies are expected to turn their attention to opposition-held parts of southern Syria, including Daraa province, in a push that could bring allied Iranian forces even closer to the increasingly tense frontier with Israel. Idlib, in the north, remains a major rebel bastion, but government forces are expected to leave that confrontation to a later stage.

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UN Condemns Collective Expulsions of Migrants From Algeria

GENEVA — 

The U.N. human rights office is calling on the government of Algeria to stop the collective expulsions of thousands of migrants, mainly from sub-Saharan Africa, condemning this practice as a violation of international human rights law.

Between March 8 and April 19, the U.N. human rights office reports Algerian authorities carried out at least six mass round-ups of sub-Saharan African migrants in Oran, Duira and Boufarik.

Spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani says raids reportedly are carried out on construction sites, in neighborhoods where migrants live, and some are picked up in the street and detained. She tells VOA the problem with the collective expulsions is no distinctions or individual assessments of the migrants are made.

“We are told that people are often just arrested and detained without even checking their documents," she said. "Of the 25 people that my colleagues spoke to in Niger, only one said that she actually had her passport checked and most of them were asked to provide thumb prints on documents in Arabic. Now, most of them do not read Arabic.”

Shamdasani says many of the migrants were not allowed to pick up their belongings before they were expelled and had to leave everything they had behind. She says some migrants were transferred rapidly to Niger. Others, she says were detained in reportedly inhuman and degrading conditions in military bases.

"Nigeriens are transferred by bus to Agadez in Niger, while the others are crammed into big trucks to be transferred to the Nigerien border where they are then abandoned and left to walk for hours in the desert heat to cross the border into Niger. We heard testimony indicating the migrants who do remain in Algeria are, understandably, very fearful,” she said.

Shamdasani says U.N. monitors have conveyed their dismay about these collective expulsions to the Algerian authorities. She will not discuss their response, but notes many governments raise so-called security issues as reasons for deportations.

Under International human rights law, migrants shall not be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention, nor arbitrarily deprived of property or documents. It says returns should be carried out in safe conditions and with dignity.

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Group: Egyptian Army Intensifies Home Demolitions in Sinai

CAIRO — 

An international rights group says the Egyptian military has intensified home demolitions in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula as part of its campaign against a local affiliate of the Islamic State group.

Tuesday's report by Human Rights Watch says the military has vastly expanded widespread destruction of homes, commercial buildings and farms in Northern Sinai province since February 9.

It says "the new destruction, including hundreds of hectares of farmland and at least 3,000 homes and commercial buildings, together with 600 buildings destroyed in January, is the largest since the army officially began evictions in 2014."

HRW says the destruction has extended well beyond two government-designated security buffer zones in the cities of al-Arish and Rafah.

Egypt has struggled for years to contain a long-running insurgency in Sinai.

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Palestinians Ask ICC for 'Immediate' Probe Against Israel

THE HAGUE — 

The Palestinian foreign minister asked the International Criminal Court on Tuesday to open an "immediate investigation" into alleged Israeli "crimes" committed against the Palestinian people.

The step was sure to worsen the already troubled relations between the internationally backed Palestinian Authority and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government. Peace talks have been frozen for over four years, and contacts between the two sides are minimal.

Speaking to reporters at the ICC in The Hague, Netherlands, Foreign Minister Riad Malki said he submitted the "referral" to the court during a meeting with the ICC's chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda.

The referral sought an investigation into Israeli policies in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza Strip since the state of Palestine accepted the ICC's jurisdiction in 2014, he said.

This includes Israeli settlement policies in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, as well as the recent round of bloodshed in the Gaza Strip, where Israeli fire killed over 100 Palestinians during mass protests along the Gaza border, Malki added.

"There is a culture of impunity in Israel for crimes against Palestinians," Malki said. "This referral is Palestine's test to the international mechanism of accountability and respect for international law."

The ICC has been conducting a preliminary probe since 2015 into alleged crimes in the Palestinian territories, including Israel's settlement policy and crimes allegedly committed by both sides in the 2014 Gaza conflict. Tuesday's referral could speed up a decision on whether to open a full-blown investigation that could ultimately lead to the indictment of high-ranking Israelis.

The move comes with Israeli-Palestinian relations at their lowest point in years in the aftermath of the U.S. Embassy move to Jerusalem and the recent bloodshed on the Gaza border.

Israel has said it was defending its border and accused Gaza's ruling Hamas militant group using the unrest to carry out attempted attacks and of using civilians as human shields.

In response to Tuesday's move at the ICC, Israel said it took a "severe view" of the Palestinian request, calling it a "cynical" and "absurd" step. It accused the Palestinians of violent incitement against Israel and exploiting women and children as human shields. It also said the ICC had no jurisdiction in the case because Israel is not a member of the court.

"Israel expects the ICC and its prosecutor not to yield to Palestinian pressure, and stand firm against continued Palestinian efforts to politicize the court and to derail it from its mandate," the Israeli statement said.

Israel is not a member of the ICC, but its citizens can be charged by the court if they are suspected of committing crimes on the territory or against a national of a country that is a member. The ICC has recognized "Palestine" as a member state.

While the ICC can indict suspects, it has no police force and has to rely on cooperation from member states to enforce arrest warrants.

The Palestinians appear to have an especially strong case in the matter of settlements. In 2004, the United Nations' highest judicial organ, the International Court of Justice, ruled in an advisory opinion that the settlements breached international law.

In late 2016, the U.N. Security Council also declared the settlements to be illegal.

Over 600,000 Israelis now live in the West Bank and east Jerusalem — territories sought by the Palestinians as parts of their future state. Israel captured both territories from Jordan in the 1967 Mideast war.

Under international law it is illegal to transfer populations out of or into occupied territory.

Israel claims east Jerusalem as an inseparable part of its capital — though its annexation is not international recognized.

Israel claims the West Bank is not occupied because it was captured from Jordan, not the Palestinians, and Jordan does not make a claim to the territory.

Since the Palestinians never ruled the West Bank, Israel says this territory is disputed and its final status should be resolved in negotiations. It also claims that settlements can be torn down and therefore do not prejudice the final status of the territory. It notes that in the case of Gaza, for instance, it uprooted all settlements there when it withdrew in 2005. Israel also captured Gaza in the 1967 war.

While the Gaza withdrawal removed some 8,000 settlers, the much larger population in the West Bank and east Jerusalem would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to move.

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Pompeo Vows 'Unprecedented' Sanctions Against Iran

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday unveiled a far-reaching list of demands for any new nuclear deal with Iran, and threatened economy-crushing sanctions if Tehran does not change its behavior. The new warning came in a speech laying out the Trump administration's strategy following the US decision to pull out of the Iran nuclear agreement. VOA's Bill Gallo reports.

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Despite Malnutrition, Egypt Wastes Food

Despite having one of the world’s highest child malnutrition rates, advocates say Egypt also is – ironically – among the biggest wasters of food with the average Egyptian throwing away 73 kilograms each year. The pattern is especially evident during the Muslim holy season of Ramadan, when families have a large nightly feast after their daily fast - and food left over from the feast is thrown away. While some Egyptians adhere to the old habits of throwing away unconsumed food, some are learning ways to make use of it – and reduce the waste.

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Pompeo Vows 'Unprecedented' US Sanctions Against Iran

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has unveiled a far-reaching list of demands for any new nuclear deal with Iran, and threatened economy-crushing sanctions if Tehran does not change its behavior.

The demands were made a speech Monday at the conservative Heritage Foundation that laid out the Trump administration's strategy after pulling out of the Iran nuclear agreement earlier this month.

Under any new deal, Pompeo insisted, Iran must indefinitely abandon nuclear weapons work, end its proliferation of ballistic missiles, and stop its "destabilizing activities" across the Middle East.

If Iran does not change course, the United States "will apply unprecedented financial pressure," Pompeo warned.

"These will be the strongest sanctions in history by the time we are done," said Pompeo."The [Iranian] regime has been fighting all over the Middle East for years.After our sanctions come into full force, it will be battling to keep its economy alive."

The Trump administration has vowed to re-impose the sanctions that were lifted as part of the 2015 nuclear agreement, which was signed between Iran, the United States, and several European countries.

The European countries are holding talks with Iran to try to salvage the deal. But it is not clear whether the European effort can succeed.

Iran's foreign minister, Javad Zarif, said the European Union's "political support for the nuclear agreement is not sufficient," according to Iranian state media.

But it's also not clear whether the United States can muster sufficient financial pressure on Iran without the support of European companies.

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Despite Fatwa, Transgender People in Iran Face Harassment

Syrian Government Resumes Anti-IS Offensive in Damascus

BEIRUT — 

Syrian government forces on Monday resumed their offensive against the Islamic State group in the south of Damascus, after evacuating a group of civilians from the area, Syrian state TV reported.

The TV quoted an unnamed military official as saying a truce had been in place to evacuate women, children and elderly on Sunday night from Damascus' southern neighborhood of Hajar al-Aswad.

Shortly before noon Monday, when the truce was supposed to end, government warplanes struck IS held areas as Syrian troops began pounding and advancing slowly in the remaining IS-held neighborhoods in Damascus, according to state TV.

"The Daesh terrorist organization is living its last hours" in the Damascus area, the TV's reporter said, using an Arabic acronym to refer to IS.

Damascus residents said warplanes were flying over the city again. The fighting resumed in the Hajar al-Aswad neighborhood and the nearby Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitoring group, said some IS fighters were permitted to leave Yarmouk and the adjacent al-Tadamon neighborhood. Syria's state media denied a deal was reached to evacuate fighters.

The Observatory said Monday that a new batch of fighters and their families left late Sunday, heading east toward the Syrian desert. It added that IS fighters have been setting their offices and vehicles on fire so that government forces would not be able to seize equipment or documents belonging to the group.

President Bashar Assad's forces launched an offensive against IS militants in southern Damascus a month ago. The offensive has brought more than 70 percent of the area under government control.

The capture of these southern neighborhoods would bring the entire Syrian capital under government control for the first time since the civil war began in 2011.

In Tehran, the Foreign Ministry's spokesman said Iranian forces will not be leaving Syria but would continue fighting "terrorism" there, at the request of the Syrian government.

Bahram Ghasemi told reporters Monday that no one can force Tehran to do anything it doesn't desire to do.

"Our presence in Syria has been based on request by Syrian government and Iran will continue its support as long as the Syrian government wants," he said.

Vladimir Putin's envoy for Syria, Alexander Lavrentyev, said on Friday that the Russian president's statement about the need for foreign troop pullout from Syria referred to Iran, Assad's key regional ally.

Putin told Assad during a meeting Thursday that a political settlement in Syria should encourage foreign countries to pull out their troops from Syria.

Russia and Iran have been Assad's strongest backers and have joined the war on his side.

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Paraguay Opens Embassy in Jerusalem

Saudi Women Thrilled that Ban on Driving Is Nearing Its End

Weeks before they will officially be allowed to drive for the first time, women in Saudi Arabia are gearing up for the big day. While some are taking driving lessons, others have already picked out their cars and can’t wait to take them for a spin. VOA Correspondent Mariama Diallo reports.

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Doctor: Palestinian President Hospitalized, Condition 'Reassuring'

Iran: EU Not Doing Enough to Support Nuclear Deal

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said Sunday that Europe's political support to save the 2015 international nuclear accord after the U.S. withdrawal was not sufficient if too many European companies end their investments in Iran.

"The cascade of decisions by EU companies to end their activities in Iran makes things much more complicated," Zarif said after meeting with European Union energy commissioner Miguel Arias Canete.

Iranian state broadcaster IRIB quoted Zarif as saying, "With the exit of the United States from the nuclear deal, the expectations of the Iranian public towards the European Union have increased... and the EU's political support for the nuclear agreement is not sufficient."

With the threat of reimposed U.S. sanctions against European companies doing business in Iran, several foreign firms have already pulled out of the country.

French oil major Total said it is abandoning its $4.8 billion investment in Iran unless it gets a sanctions waiver from the U.S., while another energy company, Engie, said it plans to stop its engineering work in Iran before November, when U.S. says it will reimpose sanctions.

"The European Union must take concrete supplementary steps to increase its investments in Iran," Zarif said. "The commitments of the EU to apply the nuclear deal are not compatible with the announcement of probable withdrawal by major European companies."

EU leaders have pledged to try to keep Iran's oil trade flowing, but conceded it would not be easy.

Arias Canete said, "We have to preserve this agreement so we don't have to negotiate a new agreement. Our message is very clear. This is a nuclear agreement that works."

If the nuclear deal falls apart in the aftermath of President Donald Trump withdrawing the U.S., Iran has threatened to resume industrial uranium enrichment "without limit."

Tehran's economy was hobbled by the sanctions imposed before the international agreement was reached to restrain Iran's nuclear development, in exchange for ending the sanctions. Even as Trump withdrew the U.S., the remaining five signatories --Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China -- have all said they intend to stay in the pact with Tehran.

The U.S. has said it wants to reimpose sanctions to force Iran to negotiate a new deal with tighter curbs to prevent its development of nuclear weaponry, end its ballistic missile tests and rein in its military advances in the Middle East.

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Iraq's al-Sadr Says Next Government Will be 'Inclusive'

BAGHDAD — 

Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, whose coalition won the largest number of seats in Iraq's parliamentary elections, has sought to reassure Iraqis about their next government, saying it will be "inclusive" and mindful of their needs.

No single bloc won a majority in the May 12 vote, raising the prospect of weeks or even months of negotiations to agree on a government. Major political players began talks soon after the election's partial results were announced last week. The latest round was held late Saturday night between al-Sadr and Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, whose bloc made a surprisingly poor showing in the election.

Speaking after the talks, al-Sadr said the first postelection meeting between the two "sends a clear and comforting message to the Iraqi people: Your government will take care of you and will be inclusive, we will not exclude anyone. We will work toward reform and prosperity."

He did not elaborate, or provide details about what he and al-Abadi discussed.

Al-Sadr, whose followers fought U.S. forces in Iraq after the 2003 invasion, won 54 of the chamber's 329 seats. Al-Abadi's "Victory" bloc took 42 and a coalition of government and Iranian-backed paramilitary forces came in second.

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Monitor: IS Fighters Leave Damascus Enclave

A Syrian monitor says Islamic State fighters are being evacuated from the last insurgent enclave near Damascus, a move that will restore state control over the area.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the evacuation of the fighters and their families from Yarmuk Palestinian refugee camp began Sunday. Buses were carrying the fighters and their families to the Syrian Desert, east of the capital.

Reuters reports the enclave is the last besieged insurgent area in western Syria.

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Gazans Observe Ramadan While Mourning their Dead

In Gaza, the beginning of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan has been marked by violence between Palestinian protesters and Israeli forces at the border. Protesters are angered by Israel's policies in the region, as well as the U.S. decision to move its embassy to the disputed city of Jerusalem. VOA’s Patsy Widakuswara reports on how Gazans are observing Ramadan as they mourn for those killed in the clashes.

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Saudis Arrest Activists Who Campaigned for Women's Right to Drive

Gaza Mourns as Islamic Holy Month Begins

As the Islamic holy month of Ramadan begins in the Gaza Strip, markets are open but business is sparse.  Funerals are being held for the more than 60 people that died this week in protests at the border with Israel. And as families prepare for the most somber holiday season in recent memory, many say they feel hopeless, angry and forgotten after 70 years of conflict.  VOA’s Heather Murdock has this from Gaza.

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In Speech, Pompeo to Call for 'Broad Support' Against Iran

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will outline a "diplomatic road map" next week that he hopes will convince European and other allies to apply pressure on Iran and force it back to the negotiating table, a senior U.S. official said on Friday.

Rebuffing appeals from France, Germany and Britain, U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew the United States 10 days ago from a landmark 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six major powers, saying the agreement did not adequately curb Iran's nuclear ambitions or address Iran's ballistic missile program and what the Trump administration views as its destabilizing role in the region.

In his first foreign policy speech on Monday, Pompeo will call for broad support to address "the totality of Iran's threats," said Brian Hook, senior U.S. policy advisor, adding that Washington is seeking a diplomatic outcome with Iran.

"The goal of our effort is to bring all necessary pressure to bear on Iran to change its behavior and to pursue a new framework that can resolve our concerns," Hook told reporters.

"We very much want to be, to have a kind of uptempo diplomacy, one that's very focused and very determined to achieve our national security objectives," he said, adding: "Our broad approach now that we have been emphasizing is that we need a new, a framework that's going to address the
totality of Iran threats."

It was not immediately clear whether Britain, France and Germany would agree to join the U.S. coalition as Washington moves to reimpose sanctions against Iran and they try to salvage economic and trade ties with Tehran that followed the 2015 nuclear deal.

Under the agreement, reached to halt what Western countries long suspected was Iran's attempt to develop nuclear weapons, Tehran agreed to limits on its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of sanctions against it. Iran has denied it sought in the past to develop an atomic weapon, saying its nuclear program has always been for purely peaceful purposes.

Hook said the Iran nuclear accord had given countries a false sense of security and the United States wanted to ensure any new agreement covered not only Iran's nuclear and missile capabilities, but also curbed its regional activities.

"This involves a range of things around its nuclear program, missiles, proliferating missiles and missile technology and support for terrorists and its aggressive and violent activities that fuel civil wars in Syria and Yemen," said Hook.

Pompeo had been in discussions with European allies since Trump's announcement Washington was withdrawing from the deal and Hook said he believed differences could be overcome.

"We have a period of opportunity to work with our allies to try to come up with a new security architecture, a new framework," said Hook, "I think people are overstating the disagreements between the U.S. and Europe."

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Turkey Urges Muslim Nations to Stand with Palestinians

US General: US-Iraq Military Ties Not Impacted by Election

The US military's relationship with Iraq's security forces will not be impacted by the election win of Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr, whose followers fought US troops in past years, a top general said Friday.

General Joe Votel, who heads the US military's Central Command, which oversees forces in the Middle East, told AFP he had confidence in the positive dynamic built up while the Iraqis fought the Islamic State jihadist group for three years.

"They are very focused on continuing to provide protection for their people and increasing the capabilities and professionalism of their force, so I think we have a very good relationship. And their military — much like our military — is very apolitical," Votel said in a phone interview.

Sadr's gains have called into question the presence of US forces in Iraq, where more than 5,000 troops are indefinitely deployed to work with Iraqi counterparts and help prevent a resurgence of IS.

Votel said he did not want to wade into Iraq's politics, but noted that he supported the electoral process.

"As the Iraqi parliament and various parties begin to form their government, we will do everything we can to continue to be the good supporting partner that we are," Votel said.

"But this of course is a decision by the people of Iraq, not by me."

Sadr and his militia played central roles in the wave of sectarian bloodshed that peaked in 2006-2007, but he eventually froze the militia's activities in a move the US credited with sharply reducing violence.

While his family of religious scholars historically has close ties with the Islamic revolutionaries in Iran and he spent years living there, Sadr opposes the heavy influence that Tehran exercises over Iraq.

President Donald Trump last week pulled America out of the Iran nuclear deal, prompting uncertainty about how Iran's military might react in the region.

Votel said that so far, he had seen no changes, including with Tehran-backed militias in Iraq.

"We are certainly playing very close attention to the possible reaction from Iran or any of its proxy elements that might be operating in the area, but we have not yet seen any kind of response," he said.

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Yemen Hit by Storms as Rare Tropical Cyclone Sagar Nears

SANAA, YEMEN — 

A U.N. agency has issued a warning for the rare tropical cyclone Sagar in the Gulf of Aden, saying it threatens flash flooding, as authorities say it has struck Yemen's southern coastline.

The Health Ministry's emergency center says that an elderly woman has died after her house caught on fire Friday because of the storm, and that her family failed to rescue her in Khor Maskar in Aden. Another building was evacuated after a balcony collapsed.

The center says that flash flooding has caused sewage to pour onto the streets of the city that has suffered severe infrastructure deterioration since the country's civil war began in 2015.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations says the heavy rains could cause favorable breeding conditions for desert locusts.

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Kosovo Jails Eight for Plotting to Attack Israeli Soccer Team in 2016

US References to Libya Model Ahead of Kim Summit Confuse

Libya is suddenly on the lips of President Donald Trump and his hawkish national security adviser John Bolton ahead of the much-vaunted summit with North Korea leader Kim Jong Un, or more precisely, the "Libya model" is.

There seems to be a disconnect between the two on what that actually means — and it won't be assuaging anger in Pyongyang, already bubbling over this week with leverage-seeking threats to skip the summit in Singapore on June 12.

Bolton was referring to the nuclear deal in 2003, which saw the north African nation give up its weapons of mass destruction in exchange for sanctions relief, whereas Trump has focused on events eight years later which saw the mercurial Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi toppled and killed in 2011.

Trying to address the North Korean concerns, Trump said if Kim were to agree to denuclearize, "he'll get protections that would be very strong." But Trump warned that failure to make a deal could have grave consequences for Kim. Mentioning what happened in Libya when it gave up its nuclear program, Trump said, "That model would take place if we don't make a deal."

"The Libyan model isn't the model we have at all. In Libya we decimated that country," Trump added. "There was no deal to keep Gadhafi."

Some analysts say bringing up Libya at all jeopardizes progress in negotiations with North Korea.

Keeping the West at bay with WMD deal

Gadhafi was the leader who ruled his oil-rich nation for decades, reviled by successive western governments, and blamed for orchestrating terror attacks in Europe and the Middle East, who came in from the cold in late 2003. South African leader Nelson Mandela had also publicly thanked Gadhafi for his support for the African National Congress throughout apartheid's darkest days.

In the post 9/11 and Iraq War era, he was obsessed with deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's fate.

With great fanfare President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair announced the deal. Gadhafi had agreed to dismantle all his weapons of mass destruction. And it kept him safe until the Arab Spring.

Death in the desert

The Libyan chapter of the Arab uprisings sweeping the region in 2011 was the first to take a violent turn, spiraling into civil war with atrocities committed both by Gadhafi's forces and popular opposition forces. Western forces intervened on the rebels' side, with punishing air strikes which proved a major catalyst to Gadhafi's fall.

In gruesome images many around the globe saw almost in real-time on October 11, 2011, with the age of social media in full flow, Gadhafi was captured in his native Sirte by rebels from Misrata, a region that had suffered greatly at his hands. They humiliated him in his death throes as he pleaded, "What did I do to you?" They then paraded his corpse for days so the nation would believe he was dead.

Kim took power weeks after Gadhafi's death. North Korea sees Gadhafi's death as a cautionary tale to, in part, justify its own nuclear development in the face of perceived U.S. threats.

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EU Mulls Direct Iran Central Bank Transfers to Beat US Sanctions

BRUSSELS — 

The European Commission is proposing that EU governments make direct money transfers to Iran's central bank to avoid U.S. penalties, an EU official said, in what would be the most forthright challenge to Washington's newly reimposed sanctions.

The step, which would seek to bypass the U.S. financial system, would allow European companies to repay Iran for oil exports and repatriate Iranian funds in Europe, a senior EU official said, although the details were still to be worked out.

The European Union, once Iran's biggest oil importer, is determined to save the nuclear accord, that U.S. President Donald Trump abandoned on May 8, by keeping money flowing to Tehran as long as the Islamic Republic complies with the 2015 deal to prevent it from developing an atomic weapon.

"Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has proposed this to member states. We now need to work out how we can facilitate oil payments and repatriate Iranian funds in the European Union to Iran's central bank," said the EU official, who is directly involved in the discussions.

The U.S. Treasury announced on Tuesday more sanctions on officials of the Iranian central bank, including Governor Valiollah Seif,. But the EU official said the bloc believes that does not sanction the central bank itself.

European Energy Commissioner Miguel Arias Canete will discuss the idea with Iranian officials in Tehran during his trip this weekend, the EU official said. Then it will be up to EU governments to take a final decision.

EU leaders in Sofia this week committed to uphold Europe's side of the 2015 nuclear deal, which offers sanctions relief in return for Tehran shutting down its capacity, under strict surveillance by the U.N. nuclear watchdog, to stockpile enriched uranium for a possible atomic bomb.

Sanctions-blocking law

Other measures included renewing a sanctions-blocking measure to protect European businesses in Iran.

The Commission said in a statement it had "launched the formal process to activate the Blocking Statute by updating the list of U.S. sanctions on Iran falling within its scope," referring to an EU regulation from 1996.

The EU's blocking statute bans any EU company from complying with U.S. sanctions and does not recognize any court rulings that enforce American penalties. It was developed when the United States tried to penalize foreign companies trading with Cuba in the 1990s, but has never been formally implemented.

EU officials say they are revamping the blocking statute to protect EU companies against U.S. Iran-related sanctions, after the expiry of 90- and 180-day wind-down periods that allow companies to quit the country and avoid fines.

A second EU official said the EU sanctions-blocking regulation would come into force on August 5, a day before U.S.

sanctions take effect, unless the European Parliament and EU governments formally rejected it.

"This has a strong signaling value, it can be very useful to companies but it is ultimately a business decision for each company to make [on whether to continue to invest in Iran]," the official said.

Once Iran's top trading partner, the EU has sought to pour billions of euros into the Islamic Republic since the bloc, along with the United Nations and United States, lifted blanket economic sanctions in 2016 that had hurt the Iranian economy.

Iran's exports of mainly fuel and other energy products to the EU in 2016 jumped 344 percent to 5.5 billion euros ($6.58 billion) compared with the previous year.

EU investment in Iran, mainly from Germany, France and Italy, has jumped to more than 20 billion euros since 2016, in projects ranging from aerospace to energy.

Other measures proposed by the Commission, the EU executive, include urging EU governments to start the legal process of allowing the European Investment Bank to lend to EU projects in Iran.

Under that plan, the bank could guarantee such projects through the EU's common budget, picking up part of the bill should they fail or collapse. The measure aims to encourage companies to invest.

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UN Human Rights Chief: Gaza is a 'Toxic Slum'

The United Nations human rights chief has slammed Israel for the systemic deprivation of Palestinian human rights.

Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein said Friday at a special session of the U.N. Human Rights Council to discuss "the deteriorating situation in the occupied Palestinian territories" that 1.9 million people in Gaza are "caged in a toxic slum from birth to death."

The special session could establish a commission of inquiry into the violence along the Gaza border that escalated this week, leaving more than 60 people dead and 2,700 injured.Among the dead were women and children - including an 8-month-old girl.

The Israeli ambassador to the U.N. human rights council said a commission investigating Gaza violence "won't change the situation on the ground one iota."

The protest escalated Monday as the U.S. opened its embassy in Jerusalem.The demonstrators charged fences separating Gaza from Israel, tearing down sections of the wire barrier and throwing rocks.

Israeli forces fired into the crowd. Tear gas was lobbed over the border and rained down from drones overhead.Nearly 60 demonstrators were killed on Monday alone.

U.N rights chief Zeid said the protesters' "actions alone do not appear to constitute the imminent threat to life or deadly injury which could justify the use of lethal force."He said Israel's response to Gaza was "wholly disproportionate."

The International Criminal Court, the world's permanent war crimes court expressed "grave concern" earlier this week about the escalating violence in Gaza and said alleged crimes could be investigated.

"Nobody has been made safer by the horrific events of the past week," Zeid said at the human rights council."End the occupation and the violence, and insecurity will largely disappear."

In another development, Egypt has announced the opening of the Rafah border crossing with Gaza for the entire Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fatah el-Sissi announced on Twitter that the opening would "alleviate the burdens of the brothers in the Gaza Strip."

The Rafah crossing is Gaza's main outlet to the outside world, but only has sporadic openings.

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