Middle East & North Africa

28 Jan 2020; MEMO: The former Grand Mufti of Jerusalem called on Monday for the Palestinians to stand united and develop a “clear strategy” to confront the US “deal of the century”.

“It is no secret that [the “deal of the century”] is not in our favour in any way, and we would be naive if we do not realise that it is in fact a creation of the Zionist lobby with an American veneer,” explained Sheikh Ekrima Sabri. “If we all reject the deal, then where is the strategy to block it and prevent its implementation?”

JIGJIGA, Ethiopia (Reuters) - Mustafa Muhumed Omer began demanding justice after his uncle disappeared and continued despite threats to his mother and sister, and the torture and death of his brother.

Now in charge of the sprawling Ethiopian Somali region, the former activist and aid worker has seven months before people vote on his reforms to a system where extrajudicial killings were rife.

28 Jan 2020; MEMO: Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister said Israelis were not welcome to visit the kingdom after Israel decreed that Israeli citizens could visit Saudi Arabia under certain circumstances, CNN reported on Monday, Reuters reports.

“Our policy is fixed. We do not have relations with the state of Israel and Israeli passport holders cannot visit the kingdom at the current time,” the US broadcaster quoted Prince Faisal bin Farhan as saying.

DUBAI (Reuters) - A motion for Iran to quit the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) was introduced in parliament on Tuesday, the assembly’s news site ICANA reported, in a move that appears to raise the stakes in Tehran’s confrontation with the West.

The report did not say when parliament might vote on the motion. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the highest authority in the Islamic Republic, makes the final decisions regarding the country’s nuclear policy.

DUBAI (Reuters) - Qatar’s ruler has appointed a new prime minister, the office of Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani said on Tuesday, choosing a close associate for an influential role that seeks to ensure the emir’s writ runs throughout the Gulf State’s administration.

The change comes as Qatar gears up to host the 2022 World Cup, which it hopes will boost its economy and international influence, and coincides with surging U.S.-Iran tensions and a lingering quarrel between Qatar and some Gulf Arab neighbors.

TEHRAN, Iran, Jan 28 (NNN-TASNIM) – Iran’s Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, on Monday, said that, the U.S. President, Donald Trump’s so-called “Deal of the Century” for the Middle East is “delusional.”

“Instead of a delusional ‘Deal of the Century’ – which will be D.O.A.- self-described ‘champions of democracy’ would do better to accept Iran’s democratic solution,” Zarif tweeted.

On Monday, Trump said that, he will reveal his Middle East peace plan on Tuesday (today).

BEIRUT, Jan 28 (NNN-NNA) — Lebanon’s Parliament endorsed, on Monday, the 2020 state budget, Al-Jadeed local TV channel reported.

The 2020 state budget estimates revenues to stand at 13,325 billion Lebanese pounds (8.8 billion U.S. dollars), which are not enough to pay the public sector salaries, social aid and debt servicing, according to head of the finance and budget committee, Ibrahim Kanaan.

BAGHDAD, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Caretaker Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday talked over the phone and condemned the rocket attack on the U.S. embassy in the Green Zone of Baghdad.

The two sides discussed strengthening the procedures of the Iraqi security forces responsible for protecting the U.S. embassy and other diplomatic missions, as well as following up investigations to bring those responsible for the attacks to justice, according to a statement issued by Abdul Mahdi's media office.

BEIRUT (AP) — The Islamic State group’s self-styled “caliphate” across parts of Iraq and Syria seemed largely defeated last year, with the loss of its territory, the killing of its founder in a U.S. raid and an unprecedented crackdown on its social media propaganda machine.

But tensions between the United States and Iran and the resulting clash over the U.S. military presence in the region provide a comeback opportunity for the extremist group, whose remnants have been gradually building up a guerrilla campaign over the past year, experts say.

SANAA, Yemen (AP) — A drastic escalation in fighting between the Saudi-led military coalition and Houthi rebels in Yemen has killed and wounded hundreds of people over the past week, officials and tribal leaders said Monday.

The U.S.-backed Arab coalition battling to restore Yemen’s internationally recognized government stepped up airstrikes on rebel targets northeast of the capital, Sanaa, following a monthslong lull, while Houthis shelled government-held areas.