Middle East & North Africa

BEIRUT, Oct 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Lebanon’s former prime minister Saad Hariri said he was a possible candidate to head a new government to stem the country’s economic collapse after a massive port blast.

French President Emmanuel Macron last month extracted a pledge from all political sides in the former French protectorate to back speedy government formation as part of a roadmap out of the crisis, but efforts so far have failed.

“I am definitely a candidate” to head the next government, Hariri said during a live interview on the MTV television channel.

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey said on Friday efforts by France, the United States and Russia to end violence between Azeri and Armenian forces over Nagorno-Karabakh were bound to fail unless they also ensured a withdrawal of Armenian forces from the enclave.

As the region’s deadliest battles for more than 25 years raged, Russia was set to host talks with the Azeri and Armenian foreign ministers on Friday, a day after France, Russia and the United States launched peace diplomacy in Geneva.

(Reuters) - Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Friday called new U.S. sanctions on Iran’s banks an attempt to prevent purchases of medicine and food, state broadcaster IRIB reported.

“The President called the U.S. effort to create serious obstacles for fund transfers for the supply of medicine and food cruel, terrorist and inhumane,” IRIB said.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said on Friday he was suffering “difficult” symptoms after contracting coronavirus, but that things were “under control”.

Erekat, 65, a lawmaker from Jericho in the occupied West Bank, said on Twitter that he was in isolation and receiving medical treatment at home one day after he confirmed that he had caught the virus.

He has cancelled all meetings and appointments. There is heightened concern over his vulnerability because he underwent a lung transplant in the United States in 2017.

09 Oct 2020; MEMO: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that he will bring diplomatic accords with the United Arab Emirates before the Israeli parliament on Oct. 12, Reuters reports.

Israel and the UAE signed agreements in Washington in September to normalize diplomatic ties and to forge a broad new relationship.

Netanyahu said he intends to get cabinet and parliamentary ratification for the deal, which marks a strategic realignment of Middle East countries against Iran.

09 Oct 2020; MEMO: Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad claimed that US President Donald Trump’s plan to assassinate him is part of a rooted US policy that relies on assassination attempts, while stressing the need for an international balance to deter or punish the US administration for its “evil actions”.

09 Oct 2020; MEMO: An Israeli court ruled to demolish a newly-constructed Palestinian school located in the centre of the West Bank.

Anadolu Agency quoted anti-settlement activist Abdullah Abu Rahma stating that the Jerusalem District Court on Wednesday rejected the injunctive relief submitted in favour of the Ras El-Teen School in eastern Ramallah.

09 Oct 2020; MEMO: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan confirmed that his country would not stay in Syria indefinitely, pointing out that the Turkish military presence in Qatar “serves the Gulf stability.”

09 Oct 2020; MEMO: Turkey’s Central Bank increased the Turkish lira interest rate for swap transactions by 150 basis points on Friday, Anadolu Agency reports.

The rate, the bank uses in weekly currency swaps, rose to 11.75 per cent from 10.25 per cent, according to information obtained by an Anadolu Agency reporter.

09 Oct 2020; MEMO: The United States has compiled a list of 80 sites linked to Iranian-backed militias in Iraq and presented it to the government in Baghdad. The Americans have told the Iraqi government that they will target the sites and close the US Embassy if the militias are not reined in.