Middle East & North Africa

DUBAI/JAKARTA (Reuters) - Iran has asked Indonesia to provide details about the seizure of an Iranian-flagged vessel, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Monday, a day after Jakarta said it had seized Iran and Panama-flagged tankers in its waters.

Indonesia said on Sunday its coast guard had seized the Iranian-flagged MT Horse and the Panamanian-flagged MT Freya vessels over suspected illegal oil transfer in the country’s waters.

Khatibzadeh said that the seizure was over a “a technical issue and it happens in shipping field”.

CAIRO, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Arab League (AL) welcomed on Sunday the understandings reached by the two parties of the conflict in Libya on unifying national institutions and sovereign positions.

Two delegations from the High Council of State of Libya and the Libyan House of Representatives concluded on Saturday two-day talks in the Moroccan city Bouznika, agreeing to form small working groups to take procedural steps concerning the occupants of the positions of sovereignty.

ISMAILIA, Egypt, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- Egypt started on Sunday vaccinating medical staff with Chinese Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine at a hospital in the northeastern province of Ismailia, according to a vaccination program by the Egyptian Health Ministry.

"Today, I announce launching the national campaign of COVID-19 vaccination from Abu Khalifa Hospital, starting with the medical staff," Egyptian Health Minister Hala Zayed told a news conference at Abu Khalifa Emergency Hospital in Ismailia.

BAGHDAD, Jan 24 (NNN-NINA) – Five paramilitary Hashd Shaabi members were killed and four others injured yesterday, in an attack by militants of extremist Daesh group, in Salahuddin Province, north of Iraq’s capital Baghdad, a provincial police source said.

The five Hashd Shaabi members killed, included the Brigade’s commander, Abu Alyaa al-Husseini.

Reinforcement troops were dispatched to the area to support the Hashd Shaabi members, he added, noting, there were no immediate reports about casualties of the extremist militants.

DUBAI (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates on Sunday approved establishing an embassy in the city of Tel Aviv in Israel, the UAE government said on its Twitter account, citing a cabinet decision.

The UAE and Israel agreed to normalise relations in August.

KUWAIT (Reuters) - Kuwait’s emir reappointed Sheikh Sabah al-Khalid al-Sabah as prime minister on Sunday after the cabinet resigned last week in a standoff with parliament over its vote to question the premier on issues including his choice of ministers.

Emir Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmed al-Sabah, facing his first big political challenge since taking power in September, tasked Sheikh Sabah with nominating a new cabinet for approval, state news agency KUNA said.

DUBAI (Reuters) - Bahrain’s Gulf Air is in talks with Airbus and Boeing to delay some aircraft deliveries as the pandemic continues to distrupt global travel, its acting chief executive said on Sunday.

Airlines around the world have pushed back deliveries and cancelled orders, expecting a years-long recovery from the pandemic that has crushed global travel demand.

State-owned Gulf Air expects Airbus A320neo deliveries to be put on hold until 2022, though it hopes to receive at least three larger A321neos this year, Acting CEO Waleed Abdulhameed Al Alawi told Reuters.

TEHRAN, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif will embark on a five-nation tour for talks on bilateral as well as regional issues, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh announced Saturday.

Zarif's tour will start on Monday and cover Azerbaijan, Russia, Armenia, Georgia and Turkey, said Khatibzadeh, according to the Ministry's website.

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Armed pirates attacked a Turkish cargo ship off the West African coast, kidnapping 15 sailors and killing one of them, officials said Sunday as Turkey sought to recover the captured crew.

The Liberian-flagged M/V Mozart was sailing from Lagos, Nigeria, to Cape Town in South Africa when it was attacked Saturday morning 100 nautical miles (185 kilometers) northwest of the island nation of Sao Tome and Principe.

23 Jan 2021; MEMO: Doha denied on Thursday holding meetings with Qatar, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, stressing that diplomatic relations were resumed solely through "written correspondences", Reuters reported.