Middle East & North Africa

16 Feb 2020; MEMO: Turkish and northern Cypriot officials met on Saturday in an abandoned town wrecked by war to discuss potentially re-opening the area after 46 years, a move that Ankara said was a “historic” opportunity to bring tourism and economic benefits, reported Reuters.

Maras, previously known as Varosha, a southern suburb of Famagusta, has been fenced off and abandoned since Turkey invaded northern Cyprus after a Greek-inspired coup in 1974.

16 Feb 2020; MEMO: Head of Sudan’s Transitional Government, General Abdul Fattah Al-Burhan, announced that Israel is to play a key role in removing his country’s name from the US blacklist, Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper revealed on Friday.

DUBAI, Feb 16 (NNN-STATE TV) – Iran’s week-long parliamentary election campaign started on Thursday, a vote seen as a popularity test for the clerical establishment, at a time when relations with Washington are at their worst, since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

The Guardian Council, which must approve candidates, rejected around 6,850 moderate or conservative hopefuls, in favour of hardliners from among the 14,000 applicants seeking to contest the Feb 21 vote.

The 7,150 candidates who are running for parliamentary elections have started campaigning on Thursday.

MUSCAT, Feb 16 (NNN-ONA) – Oman’s daily crude exports decreased by 17.88 percent month on month in Jan, to 756,586 barrels, said an official report, issued Saturday.

The country’s daily production of crude oil in Jan also decreased by 1.26 percent to 958,270 barrels, said the monthly report of the Omani Ministry of Oil and Gas.

However, China’s crude imports from Oman increased in Jan, the report noted.

As the largest importer of Omani oil, China imports 80 to 85 percent of the Omani oil exports.

SANAA, Feb 16 (NNN-SABA) – An airstrike in the Yemeni northeastern province of al-Jawf, on Saturday, killed at least 31 civilians and injured 12 others, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Yemen said in a statement.

“We share our deep condolences with the families of those killed and we pray for the speedy recovery of everyone who has been injured in these terrible strikes,” Lise Grande said in the statement.

BAGHDAD, Feb 16 (NNN-NINA) – Rockets struck near the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, early on Sunday (today), with no immediate word on casualties and the extent of damage, local media reported.

Warning sirens across the diplomatic compound were heard and a huge plume of smoke was seen rising over the area, witnesses were quoted as saying.

It is the latest in a spate of such attacks.

On Thursday, a Katyusha rocket landed on K1 military base, that houses U.S. troops in Iraq’s northern province of Kirkuk, without causing casualties.

(Reuters) - Several blasts hit a U.S.-led coalition military base in Baghdad early on Sunday from an apparent rocket attack, a U.S. military official said.

The official did not immediately say if the attack caused any casualties or significant damage.

Rocket attacks which Washington blames on Iran-backed militias have regularly hit near and occasionally on the U.S. embassy which is next to the base.

TRIPOLI, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- UN-backed Libyan Prime Minister Fayez Serraj on Saturday highlighted the cease-fire as a precondition for any negotiation.

"Agreement on lasting cease-fire means stopping all acts of violence, return of displaced people to their homes, and guaranteeing that the capital and other cities are safe from any threats," Serraj told a press conference in the capital Tripoli.

TUNIS, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Tunisian Prime Minister-designate Elyes Fakhfakh announced on Saturday the lineup of his proposed government.

The new cabinet is composed of 31 members, including 29 ministers and two secretaries of state.

Among the government members are six women of four ministers and two secretaries of state.

ISTANBUL, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that Turkey has "no intention to invade or annex the Syrian territory."

Speaking at an event of his ruling party in Istanbul, Erdogan noted that the problem in Idlib, the last rebel-held stronghold in Syria, would not be resolved until the government forces are drawn to the limits set by the Sochi deal.

"Otherwise, we will handle it before the end of February," the Turkish president stressed.