Middle East & North Africa

TEHRAN, Oct 22 (NNN-IRNA) – Iran supports role of Syrian national constitutional committee, in the country’s political peace process, senior assistant to the Iranian Foreign Minister for Special Political Affairs, Ali Asghar Khaji, said yesterday.

“Building trust among members of the committee is the principled position of Iran,” Khaji was quoted as saying.

The Iranian official made the remarks at a meeting with visiting Russian President’s Special Syrian Envoy, Alexander Lavrentiev.

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran summoned the Swiss envoy on Thursday to protest against what it called “baseless” U.S. claims that Tehran has tried to interfere with the 2020 presidential election in November.

“Iran’s strong rejection of American officials’ repetitive, baseless and false claims was conveyed to the Swiss ambassador...As we have said before, it makes no difference for Iran who wins the U.S. election,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh told state TV.

Switzerland represents U.S. interests in Iran because Washington and Tehran have no diplomatic ties.

BEIRUT, (Reuters) - Lebanon’s leading Sunni Muslim politician Saad al-Hariri secured enough support in parliamentary talks on Thursday to be named prime minister and try to form a government to tackle the worst crisis since the country’s 1975-1990 civil war.

A tally by Reuters and local media of nominations declared by politicians after consultations with President Michel Aoun showed Hariri had won the backing of 47 parliamentarians, more than the number of MPs yet to formally declare their stance.

(AP) --- The Guantanamo detainees were promised they were being sent to a Muslim country for rehabilitation that would help integrate them into society, opening the way to jobs, money, and marriage, according to their lawyers and families.

It was a lie.

Instead, the detainees -- 18 Yemenis and one Russian, swept up from Afghanistan and Pakistan after the Sept. 11 attacks -- have languished in custody in the United Arab Emirates for as long as five years, their families and lawyers tell The Associated Press.

JERUSALEM (AP) — While the world will be closely watching the U.S. election, some countries will be watching more closely than others.

A number of world leaders have a personal stake in the outcome, with their fortunes depending heavily on the success – or failure – of President Donald Trump.

Perhaps none has so much riding on a Trump victory as Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. The Israeli leader, who had a rocky relationship with President Barack Obama, has praised Trump as “the greatest friend” Israel ever had in the White House.

BAGHDAD, Oct 21 (NNN-NINA) – Iraqi security forces, found a mass grave containing the remains of over 50 people, believed to be killed by Daesh militants, in Kirkuk province, the Iraqi military said, yesterday.

A federal police force found the bodies in one of the villages, while hunting for the militants near the provincial capital Kirkuk, some 250 km north of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, Yehia Rasool, spokesman of the commander-in-chief of the Iraqi forces, said in a statement.

AMMAN, Oct 21 (NNN-PETRA) – Jordan announced that it will impose a comprehensive curfew on Fridays, until the end of 2020, and tighten restrictions on the public and business.

At a press conference in the capital, Amman, Prime Minister, Bisher Khasawneh, said, business sectors would be allowed to open until 10:00 p.m. local time, and the public can move freely until 11:00 p.m., after which all movement will be banned until 6:00 a.m., in a bid to curb the surge of COVID-19 cases.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - An Israeli official predicted on Wednesday that the United States would announce another deal establishing ties between Israel and an Arab or Muslim country before the U.S. election.

“I have a reasonable basis to believe that the announcement will come before Nov. 3 - that, if you’ll permit me, is what I understand from my sources,” Regional Cooperation Minister Ofir Akunis told Israel’s Army Radio.

JERUSALEM, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Israeli military announced Tuesday that it has uncovered a cross-border tunnel entering Israel from the Palestinian coastal enclave of Gaza Strip.

The underground tunnel, discovered inside the Israeli territory, was dug from Khan Younis, a city in the south of the Gaza Strip, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said.

The IDF has so far uncovered about 20 such tunnels in recent years, the last one over a year ago.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli prosecutors on Wednesday recommended charging a police officer with reckless killing in the deadly shooting of an autistic Palestinian man in Jerusalem’s Old City earlier this year.

The decision came nearly five months after the shooting of Eyad Hallaq. Hallaq’s family, which had criticized the slow pace of the investigation and prosecutors’ claim that security cameras in the area had malfunctioned, condemned Wednesday’s decision. They said prosecutors should have filed much tougher charges.