Middle East & North Africa

08 Jan 2021; MEMO: The Libyan army's confidence in renegade General Khalifa Haftar's commitment to the ceasefire has been "shaken", a spokesperson said yesterday.

08 Jan 2021; MEMO: A high-level US delegation arrived in Algeria on Wednesday to discuss bilateral cooperation, the Western Sahara file and the situation in Libya and the Sahel.

The delegation includes Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, David Schenker, and the Commander of the US Air Force in Europe and Africa, General Jeffrey Harrigian.

08 Jan 2021; MEMO: Turkey and France are working on a roadmap to normalise ties and talks are going well, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Thursday, adding Ankara was ready to improve ties with its NATO ally if Paris showed the same willingness, Reuters reports.

08 Jan 2021; MEMO: Israeli occupation warplanes have struck sites where the militias of the Bashar Al-Assad regime and Iran are stationed, south of the capital of Damascus and near the governorate of As-Suwayda, south of Syria.

Local sources reported that an airstrike launched by Israel using missiles last night targeted the Radar Brigade in As-Suwayda, causing damage to equipment, however, no casualties were reported.

08 Jan 2021; MEMO: Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani confirmed that Qatar would not alter its relations with Iran and Turkey after signing the reconciliation agreement to end disputes with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Egypt.

KHARTOUM, Jan 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Sudan signed the “Abraham Accords” paving the way to normalising ties with Israel, alongside an aid deal to access $1 billion annual World Bank financing, during an unprecedented visit by the US treasury chief.

The deals were signed less than a month after Washington removed Khartoum from its “state sponsors of terrorism” blacklist, following Sudan’s agreement to normalise ties with Israel in October.

ADDIS ABABA, Jan 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The African Union hailed the diplomatic rapprochement to end a blockade against the Gulf nation of Qatar.

“I wish to commend Saudi Arabia, Egypt, United Arab Emirates and Bahrain for restoring full diplomatic ties with the state of Qatar,” tweeted Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat.

“I also congratulate Kuwait for their effort in this important development for the region, key for the betterment of relations between Africa and the Gulf states,” Mahamat added.

DUBAI (Reuters) -Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Friday Tehran was in no rush for the United States to rejoin a 2015 nuclear deal, but that sanctions on the Islamic Republic must be lifted immediately.

“We are not insisting nor in a hurry for the U.S. to return to the deal,” Khamenei said in live televised remarks. “But what is logical is our demand, is the lifting of the sanctions. These brutal sanctions must be lifted immediately.”

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel tightened a national lockdown on Friday in a bid to curb a sharp rise in new coronavirus cases, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promising that all Israeli adults could be vaccinated by the end of March.

With a population of nine million, Israel is leading the world in a swift rollout of vaccinations, but the number of new infections has climbed to about 8,000 a day, the highest in months.

DUBAI (Reuters) - Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei banned Iran’s government on Friday from importing COVID-19 vaccines from the United States and Britain.

“Imports of U.S. and British vaccines into the country are banned. I have told this to officials and I’m saying it publicly now,” Khamenei said in a live televised speech.

“If the Americans were able to produce a vaccine, they would not have such a coronavirus fiasco in their own country.”