Middle East & North Africa

CAIRO, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- The League of Arab States renewed on Tuesday its call for a permanent cessation of military operations in Libya.

In a statement, the pan-Arab organization appreciated the progress made during the second round of the 5+5 Libyan Joint Military Commission (JMC) talks concluded on Sunday in Geneva.

The Arab League also welcomed the announcement by the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) that the rival Libyan parties came up with a draft cease-fire agreement to facilitate the return of displaced people.

AMMAN, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- Britain's Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, and the Duchess of Cornwall will start an official visit to Jordan on March 23 over bilateral ties, said a statement by Jordanian Royal Court on Tuesday.

During the visit, the two will meet King Abdullah II of Jordan and Queen Rania Al Abdullah.

The two sides will discuss ties between Jordan and Britain, and areas of mutual interest, according to a statement by the Royal Court, a copy of which was obtained by Xinhua.

The visit will be the third by Prince Charles to Jordan in seven years.

ANKARA, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- A Russian delegation will pay a visit to Turkey on Wednesday to discuss situation in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday.

"There is a process underway between Turkey and Russia regarding Idlib and Libya. We need to quickly resolve the Idlib issue. Russia provides the regime (Syrian government) with the highest level of support, including air support. We have confirmed this despite their denial," Erdogan told reporters before leaving for Azerbaijan.

ISTANBUL, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- A pilot of the aircraft, which slided off a runway in an airport in Istanbul earlier this month, was arrested on Monday for causing the death of three people and injuring 180 others, local media reported.

According to the state-run Anadolu agency, prosecutors in the capital Ankara issued the detention of the captain pilot for "causing death and injuries by negligence."

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Airstrikes on rebel-controlled northwest Syria killed at least 16 people Tuesday, including two students and two teachers, opposition activists said, as government forces captured a town considered a symbol of the uprising against President Bashar Assad.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The head of an Iranian government task force on the coronavirus who had urged the public not to overreact about its spread has tested positive for the illness himself, authorities said Tuesday, as new cases emanating from the country rapidly emerged across the Middle East.

Only a day earlier, a coughing and heavily sweating Iraj Harirchi said at a televised news conference in Tehran that “the situation is almost stable in the country.”

ALEPPO, February 25. /TASS/: Syrian army sappers who demine the settlement of Zahraa, recently liberated from terrorists, advance no more than 300 meters per day due to the sheer density of various explosive devices, including foreign-made ones, planted across the settlement. The military engineers say clearance of roads is a priority task at this moment.

DUBAI (Reuters) - Former Saudi energy minister Khalid al-Falih, who was removed last year, was tapped to head the kingdom’s newly-created investment ministry in a cabinet reshuffle announced on Tuesday that also created new ministries for tourism and sports.

According to royal orders published by state news agency SPA, the ministers of media and civil service were also removed.

25 Feb 2020; MEMO: Some 540 former Israeli Air Force officers have appealed to Israeli President Reuven Rivlin not to let current Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu form the next government, Arab48 reported yesterday.

In a letter, Arab48 said was reported by Yedioth Ahronoth, the pilots said: “In the State of Israel it is impossible for a situation to exist in which a man who is indicted for bribery, fraud and breach of trust will form a government.”

25 Feb 2020; MEMO: Eight men were executed yesterday in Egypt in what is thought to be the first death sentences carried out in the country so far in 2020.

The defendants were among 17 men who had been sentenced to death in a military court in May 2019 and accused of attacking three Coptic churches and a police checkpoint that killed 88 people in 2017. The executions were carried out at Borg El-Arab prison in Alexandria.