Middle East & North Africa

BEIRUT (AP) — Libya’s judicial authorities have formally asked Lebanon to release one of the late dictator Moammar Gadhafi’s sons, held without charges in Lebanon since 2015 because of his deteriorating health, officials said Monday.

The health of Hannibal Gadhafi has been deteriorating since he went on hunger strike on June 3, to protest his detention without trial. He was taken to hospital at least twice since then and has been only drinking small amounts of water.

CAIRO (AP) — In a rare televised speech Monday, the head of Sudan’s military accused the rival paramilitary force of committing war crimes as all-out civil war threatens to engulf the northeast African country.

Sudan was plunged into chaos in April when months of simmering tensions between the military, led by Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces, commanded by Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, exploded into open fighting in Khartoum and elsewhere.

DAMASCUS, Aug 13 (NNN-SANA) – Syria yesterday blamed the United States, for the deadly attack that was carried out by the Daesh against a Syrian military bus, which resulted in the killing of at least 33 soldiers on Friday.

In a statement released last night, the Syrian Foreign Ministry viewed the attack as part of the ongoing American campaign, against Syria’s sovereignty and independence, accusing the United States of supporting the Daesh to destabilise Syria.

JERUSALEM, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Israel ruled out on Sunday any eventual physical mission in Jerusalem for the first Saudi envoy to the Palestinians, even as they cast his appointment as endorsement of their goal of a state that would include part of the city as its capital.

Saudi Ambassador to Jordan Nayef Al-Sudairi on Saturday expanded his credentials to include non-resident envoy to the Palestinians. A social media post by his embassy said "consul-general in Jerusalem" was also now among Al-Sudairi's duties.

BEIRUT, Aug 13 (Reuters) - The Jordanian military on Sunday downed a drone carrying crystal meth that was flying into Jordanian territory from neighbouring Syria, the state news agency Petra reported.

War-torn Syria has become a hub for a multi-billion-dollar drugs trade, with Jordan a main transit route to the oil-rich Gulf states for a Syrian-made amphetamine known as captagon, Western anti-narcotics officials and Washington say.

Citing a source within the Jordanian armed forces, the state agency said in a statement the drone was "taken control of and downed".

TEHRAN, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- A total of 733 people have sought medical treatment due to health problems caused by severe sandstorms in the southeastern Iranian province of Sistan and Baluchestan since Thursday, the official news agency IRNA reported on Sunday.

Majid Mohebi, head of the province's Disaster Mitigation and Management Organization said that respiratory, heart and eye problems were the most common conditions reported by the patients, of whom 58 have been hospitalized.

TEHRAN, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Iran's crude oil output has risen to approximately 3.2 million barrels per day (bpd) and is projected to hit 3.3 million bpd by the end of August, the country's Oil Minister Javad Owji said on Sunday.

The minister also mentioned that Iran currently produces about 700,000 to 800,000 barrels of gas condensates daily, according to the Shana News Agency, which is connected to the oil ministry.

Also on Sunday, Iran announced its oil exports have surpassed the governmental target of 1.4 million bpd, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — A gunman opened fire Sunday night at a prominent shrine in southern Iran, killing one person and wounding eight others in an attack that followed another assault there months earlier, authorities said.

Officials offered no immediate motive for the attack in the city of Shiraz at Shah Cheragh, which draws Shiite pilgrims to its domed mosque and the tomb of a prominent member of the faith from its earliest days.

Chabahar, IRNA – The project to desalinate water from the Sea of Oman and transfer it to Sistan and Baluchestan province and other eastern provinces is 12% complete, Iran’s Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade, Abbas Aliabadi has announced.

The government has allocated over $3.2 billion for the project, which will provide fresh water to people in the eastern provinces, Aliabadi.

Aliabadi plans to visit the strategic project that transfers desalinated water from the Sea of Oman to cities and villages in the eastern provinces, especially Sistan and Baluchestan.

Tehran, IRNA – Mohammad Jamshidi, the Iranian president's deputy chief of staff for political affairs, has said that the US prisoners will remain in Iran until the full transfer of Iranian assets in South Korea which are said to be unfrozen following a prisoner swap deal with the US.

Jamshidi said on Friday that the process of releasing Iran’s total assets in South Korea has begun after the release of the country’s assets in Iraq.